Bardugo brilliantly explores the wavy line between the supernatural and the divine ... When Bardugo chooses to venture further into the darkness, it’s that much more devastating because of how much fun the reader has been having. In fact, she is a master of anticlimax: She builds apprehension for huge events that do not come to pass, then blindsides the reader with something totally unexpected instead ... A thrilling addition to her canon about oppression and liberation, and anyone interested in this historical period and the themes she’s exploring will find it engrossing.
Richly drawn ... Reading Bardugo is an immersive, sensual experience ... One can’t help sinking into Luzia and Santángel’s world and wishing never to leave.
A rich and lyrical mix of genres and tropes ... This is not a book I suspect many of us would have expected Bardugo to write—the magical elements, while important, are not truly the story’s primary focus—but its absorbing mix of real-life history, complex female characters, entertaining wordplay, and generational resilience makes for a genuinely enchanting whole ... Deft ... Bardugo’s book is thoughtfully grounded in realistic details from the era ... Is there anything Leigh Bardugo can’t do?
A book where candles cast deep shadows and even sunlit scenes take on an air of unease ... Bardugo’s most assured and mature work yet, a remarkable portrait of the magic of exiles and the traumatic echoes of the Spanish Inquisition.
The Familiar is considerably slower and less showy than many of Bardugo’s other books. Perhaps that was always destined to happen, given the story’s subject matter and connection to the author’s own family. But the deliberate care with which it treats its historical setting—as though it’s practically another character in its own right—and the lush prose in which it is rendered make sixteenth-century Spain come alive, and its propulsive plotting means the story never drags. At this point it seems fair to wonder—-is there anything Leigh Bardugo can’t do?
Part fairy tale, part political thriller, part romance, the novel unfolds like a winter tree bursting into unnatural bloom in response to one of Luzia’s refranes, as she and Santángel learn about power, trust, betrayal, and love. Lush, gorgeous, precise language and propulsive plotting sweep readers into a story as intelligent as it is atmospheric.
