The Familiar

Title: The Familiar

By: Leigh Bardugo 

Length: 400 pgs

I have never read a Leigh Bardugo book. Holy smokes what a book to start on. Im not going to lie to you (why would I?) I lost my shit at the end of this book. The romance was so well done, I was rooting for it before it really became a thing, picking up on the subtle sparks planted by the author. I may be adding more Leigh Bardugo books to my wishlist as we speak. I additionally love how magic is treated throughout the book, in the sense that its never really explained, and theres barely limits set. Normally Im a stickler for very intense magic systems with rules and histories that explain everything (looking at you Eragon!) but with this story, it just flowed, there was no real need for it. A book that gives me similar vibes is Scarlett by Genevieve Cogman, which is about the French Revolution and vampires. Both books I read nearly in one sitting, however I have to say the characters in The Familiar were more compelling. 

A minor thing I will highlight about this book is it does throw alot of names at you fairly quickly (I suppose most do) and I did have a few moments where I confused the maid and the lady of the house. 

SPOILERS. Now lets get to the meat of it. As mentioned, I was losing my mind at the end of this book. That was an amazing bait and switch. Ive never been so fooled by a book before. My heart sank when it said only one of main cast was returning to house alive, as I was already shipping Luiza and Santangel as well as having sympathies for Valentina. I even started trying to figure out how I would write their ends, with Santangel making a dramatic sacrifice (I mean he tried to, multiple times). But they all got AMAZING ends! I swear I was elated they survived the fire, and found the actions of the random pirate who escaped his fate providing a nice relief from an intense moment story wise. I was very prepared for them to die for the cause, as some metaphor to the king that all his “Miracles” were either devils or burnt before his eyes. Speaking of which, the depiction of the oppression of the church was also very impactful. I'm not Jewish, so I cant and wont speak to that aspect, but I found the concept that so many of the people able to preform these “Miracles” were A) very concerned about religious persecution B) actually tested to see if they were demons? C) quite a few of them were legitimately persecuted! To be so intriguing. Id almost connect it with Babel and its themes of power and corruption. Outside of the main pair, I was also very happy with Valentinas arc and end. Im glad she found happiness. I was upset over Aunt Hualit, but that was the point, and the victory of killing the guard with her cannot be ignored. Overall one of the most satisfying endings I’ve read in a while. 

As mentioned Im actually glad they didnt go very far into explaining where the magic comes from. I suppose one could believe they actually were miracles, if they were so inclined, but I dont personally think miracles from a god would be so controllable. Im going to continue to refer to it as magic. The magic was there, but the people were the story, and adding a bunch of complex rules would have made it far too droll. I initially added the book on hold because I had heard of Leigh Bardugo and knew that this was her new book. I took the title in a more traditional sense, thinking a Witches Familiar, black cat, etc. I was a bit confused as to why the book was named as it was for alot of the book. The official definition of a familiar (google of course) claims its a demon that obeys a witch, often in animal form. I dont necessarily feel like our boy Santangel fits that description, but not everything is meant to be 100% literal all the time. 

I dont have alot of thoughts to conclude on. I do plan on re-reading this book, and I know have several Leigh Bardugo books planned in my line up. This book was well written and really takes you on a ride. There are some hang ups, such as considering Santangels real age vs Luiza’s which if you consider too deeply would surely give most people the ick, but this is fantasy, so some age gaps are excusable I suppose. Overall, Its a solid book I would recommend to people. Id be very curious to see if people have the same reaction as I did.