Why we chose Leigh Bardugo’s The Familiar

Leigh Bardugo is a popular author in the blogosopher who I’ve never read, whereas the Grishaverse books are some of Ash’s favourite. So when The Familiar was announced with a premise that interested more than any of Bardugo’s other works, I suggested we buddy read it for Family Reads.

In a shabby house, on a shabby street, in the new capital of Madrid, Luzia Cotado uses scraps of magic to get through her days of endless toil as a scullion. But when her scheming mistress discovers the lump of a servant cowering in the kitchen is actually hiding a talent for little miracles, she demands Luzia use those gifts to better the family’s social position.

What begins as simple amusement for the bored nobility takes a perilous turn when Luzia garners the notice of Antonio Pérez, the disgraced secretary to Spain’s king. Still reeling from the defeat of his armada, the king is desperate for any advantage in the war against England’s heretic queen—and Pérez will stop at nothing to regain the king’s favor.

Determined to seize this one chance to better her fortunes, Luzia plunges into a world of seers and alchemists, holy men and hucksters, where the line between magic, science, and fraud is never certain. But as her notoriety grows, so does the danger that her Jewish blood will doom her to the Inquisition’s wrath. She will have to use every bit of her wit and will to survive—even if that means enlisting the help of Guillén Santangel, an embittered immortal familiar whose own secrets could prove deadly for them both.

Goodreads

Our Discussion 💬

**Discussion best enjoyed if you have already read the book – spoilers ahead!**

First Page Impressions

Our first impression was not great. We both thought page one was a boring way to kick off a story. We were not into the long-winded paragraph at all. And unfortunately, that little foreshadowing type of statement (ex. “Perhaps if Luzia had gotten a haircut that day everything would be different” [please note I don’t remember if this is a direct quote or a parphrase lol]) crops up more than once in this book. Okay yes we are aware of the butterfly effect and how it can apply to literally everything that has happened ever. We both think an author can get away with something like that maybe once, in a prologue, but it can easily come across as pretentious/annoying/unnecessary…

Romance ‘Subplot’?

Neither of us cared for the romance subplot. Was it even a subplot? Did anyone know there was going to be a romance plot before they started reading The Familiar?? Not us! If we knew the plot was going to be, say, 50% fantasy and politics and 50% romance, we would not have picked it up. And that ratio is generous. As I commented on Peat’s review, even if I was the sort of reader to enjoy a love plot, I don’t know that I would have enjoyed this book any more.

I wasn’t that invested in Luzia or Santangel, and their ‘romance’ felt uninspired and lacklustre to me… this book felt pretty YA to me and I think the portrayal of their relationship was a big part of that. Or as Ash sums it, it was a lot of “Teehee I like you” with nothing else going on. Ash saw one review where someone described the romance as tender and a bit sexy without the smut. I will say I found it neither.

Adult vs YA

What made this an adult read? Ash found it felt the same as Bardugo’s YA novels. To me the only things about this book that made it not YA were the touches of violence and swearing. There weren’t any on-page sex scenes. Tone-wise, it didn’t feel any different from YA. I suppose one could make an argument that YA has been so aged up, we feel like this is YA? But still… Ash pondered if it is considered adult because it draws on real-world awful history? But that doesn’t make sense. Neither of us have read Bardugo’s other adult fiction so can’t say how this compares.

Historical Context

Ash understands the theory is Bardugo did a lot of research into the historical context, but it also felt underdeveloped. I theorized that’s because the actual story was a bit meh. The historical context seemed practically irrelevant. (I realize if I described this book in more detail, that statement would sound a bit absurd. But again, I think it’s the way that the plot doesn’t fully make use of the historical setting that makes it feel ‘irrelevant’ when compared to other historical tales.)

Ash compared it to the Grishaverse. While the deevelopment admittedly takes place across multiple books, even compared to the first book alone, the world was much more developed. I wondered a couple times if I was reading about a real historical person, but it barely mattered. I find the best historical fiction has me looking up the real-world facts for comparison. I wasn’t motived to do that while reading The Familiar.

More Thoughts on Plot

Ash noted that the story wasn’t fully romance, wasn’t fully historical fanatasy, wasn’t fully political intrigue. It tries to be too many types of stories at once and ended up excelling at none of them. We would have enjoyed it more if the romance was dropped and the political intrigue heightened. That’s what the book originally seemed to be promising… but then we got this uninspired romance. Ash didn’t even realize the climax had happened. The narrative sort of piddles out. Madrid feels like a convenient backdrop rather than a character in the story, especially when Ash compared it to the setting in Six of Crows.

Some Notes on Characters

The characters fell flat for us. The only one I found mildly interested was the woman-child competitor, whose name escapes me now. Valentina was practically the most interesting, for her conflicting feelings and actions. Luzia pretends to be a dull boring baby in order to escape notice… she has some spunk which I practically cheered for when it emerged… but then it’s almost like she gets to into her roleplaying and she really is just a boring baby.

The immortal concept was kind of interesting but we both thought we were going to read about a fantsy world where familiars/immortals were common beings. That was not the case at all.

The purpose of the tournament felt extremely removed from the experience of the characters.

Final Thoughts 💭

We both gave this book ★★. It wasn’t necessarily baaaaaaad… but it’s definitely not our kind of story. Ash personally would probably always recommend something else ahead of The Familiar, because there are better fits for the various topics/subjects covered in this book. We wouldn’t expect The Familiar to top any ‘best of’ lists.

Further Reading 📰

🍂 Read an excerpt
🍂 Author website
🍂 Interview @ NPR
🍂 Reviews: Peat @ Peat Long’s Blog, Shay @ Required Reading, Fatma @ The Book Place, Athena @ One Reading Nurse, Bianca @ Life With Bee, L @ Broken Engines, Simona @ Jewish Book Council

Have you read any of Leigh Bardugo’s books?
Do you prefer your historical fantasy with or without romance?