Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

7 reviews

novel_nibbles's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

As a long time fan of Bardugo I was delighted to get tickets to her recent UK event in London and pick up a  @waterstones special edition. 

I throughly enjoyed this magical standalone. I’d forgotten how much I enjoy historical romance and the addition of magic was just *chefs kiss*. I was rooting for Luzia from the start I enjoyed her transformation as she stopped hiding her true nature and personality. 

I enjoyed the romantic element but I would have prefer to experience more of the developing relationship on the page. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death of parent, Physical abuse, Slavery, Bullying, Misogyny, Abandonment, Confinement, Antisemitism, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Infertility, Fire/Fire injury, and Torture

morganish's review

challenging dark informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The Familiar is hard to fit into a genre, because it's too magical to be purely historical fiction. And it's dark, but it's not exactly horror? I'm gonna go ahead and designate a new genre of my own making that this fits into, along with several other books I've read this year like Lone Women and Vampires of El Norte: the Dark Fantasy Historical. 

What Worked For Me

The Historical Setting: Similar to the other books I mentioned, the best thing about this book is that it takes a hyperspecific look at a historical time and place, one which I know very little or nothing about, and centers it. In this case, the book is set in Spain during the Spanish Inquisition; with a focus on the Jewish-Spanish experience. That was by far the most engaging part of the book for me. With as much vague cultural knowledge as there is floating around about the Spanish Inquisition, reading this was illuminating, and made me realize how very little I actually know about Spanish history or this particular period.

The Characterization: I expected this story to be a little bit more straightforward in its depictions of good guys versus villains, but this one kept me guessing. Not every character gets what a reader might think they deserve, but its done in an interesting way that always kept me surprised. It felt a bit more truly adult for that. And in a way that's hard to describe, feels a little bit more like escapism for me personally, when I'm kept guessing and things aren't all predictable.

The Prose: The writing wasn't distractingly flowery, but there were moments of writing that felt beautiful and timeless. The writing style felt a little bit like it was leaning toward and influenced by fairy tales at times, and the last few paragraphs solidified that in a way that was really emotionally impactful for me. 

What Wasn't My Thing

The Distance From Characters: The downside to that narrative style is that sometimes I felt like there was an emotional separation between me and the characters. Which probably worked when it came to writing about some of the grislier things that happen in the story But made it harder to connect to them and get truly invested.

The Romance: I think that, because the story was a little removed emotionally, and because it's more historical, the romance didn't really work for me here. Especially because it followed a certain kind of trope which kind of seems like it's been done a lot (maybe that's just my age speaking). It almost felt like the writing decided it could skip big parts of the characters getting to know or fall for each other. The downside of that, for me as a slow-burn fan, is that it all felt really fast and I wasn't invested enough when I think the story expected me to be. 

Who This Is For

I think this is going to appeal to historical fiction readers who don't mind a hint of dark fantasy. And for fantasy readers who like the more fairy tale-esque/YA style of stories and are okay with it having much darker, more adult elements. Existing fans of Leigh Bardugo's gritty underdog/outsider characters, dark worldbuilding & magic systems, and gothic-inspired romances would like this, even though the writing style, subject matter, and pacing felt very different from her usual. 

My Personal Rating System

Still shying away from wanting to rate books like a product; it's not my place to say if a story deserves to exist, and I firmly believe 99% of all art has a place and an audience who needs it. Following my personal rating system just to show how much I personally connected with a given book:

5 stars: I got so invested that it's definitely on my agenda to read other books by this author
4 stars: I would be excited to read another book by this author, but it's not a priority
3 stars: don't plan to read more by this author, but if assigned for a book club, I'd be cool with it
2 stars: don't plan to read more by this author, & if assigned for a book club, I'd be like, ugh, ok, fine
1 star: I will never pick up a book by this author again if I can help it (usually due to overt bigotry)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, and Torture

Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Gore, Misogyny, Infidelity, Slavery, Infertility, Grief, Sexual content, Bullying, Colonisation, and Death of parent

probablytoolate's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Infertility, Blood, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Torture, Murder, Antisemitism, Sexual content, Sexism, Body horror, Death, and Domestic abuse

torturedreadersdept's review

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Classism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Blood, Body shaming, Cursing, Gaslighting, Violence, Confinement, Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Antisemitism, Body horror, Hate crime, Torture, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Infidelity, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Abandonment, and Bullying

chasinggrace's review

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

*Update: I reread this right after finishing it and I am bumping to a 4.5⭐️ review. The prose and foreshadowing in this book are beautiful. 

Leigh Bardugo you have DONE IT AGAIN!! A dark romantic fantasy set in 1400’s Spain that features a determined girl and a cursed immortal man. The pure YEARNING from this man absolutely made the book for me. The way he phrased his love for her was beautiful - this writing was fantastic. 

This is gothic fantasy, so slightly slower and darker than epic or ramantasy novels. But I loved it just the same. Not all of the characters were likable, and many were hatable. I found myself thinking, “this is gonna end badly” so many times because I couldn’t see a way out for our FMC. 

I’m SO HAPPY that this book had a positive ending for Santangel and Luzia. I needed a fantasy book with a happy ending and they are such a beautiful couple ❤️

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Slavery, Classism, Genocide, Infertility, Misogyny, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Confinement, Cursing, Murder, and Suicidal thoughts

quiet_reader's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Murder, Violence, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Blood, Classism, Gore, Sexism, Antisemitism, and Torture

Moderate: Confinement, Bullying, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Genocide, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Colonisation, Ableism, Mental illness, Islamophobia, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

uranaishi's review

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, and Confinement

Moderate: Death, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Abandonment, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gore, Murder, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Classism, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, and Violence

Minor: Pregnancy, Vomit, Antisemitism, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Medical content, Bullying, Child abuse, Colonisation, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Terminal illness, War, Outing, Homophobia, and Rape