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A review by zimr
The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo
sad
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.25
I actually STRUGGLED to finish this book and now that I finally have I can't decide if it was worth it at all. It's just very typically Leigh Bardugo. Nothing much new going on here. It follows the same chosen one trope, with a young girl who is plucked from obscurity by a bunch of ambitious people who mean to show her off to the king, who will then use her as a weapon against his enemies.
Sounds familiar? Yeah.
This book is just a Shadow & Bone fanfiction that nobody asked for. It's basically a “what if the darkling was nice?” au and as an ardent darklina myself, I don't mind getting served with fanfics of my favorite pairing but this one is just so very bland and dull?? Every character in this book put me to sleep.
For a book that's supposed to be Leigh's most character-driven work, the characters don't offer much and failed to evoke any strong emotion in me. Luzia and Santángel were very plain and so was their romance. You couldn't come up with a single reason as to why they fall in love with each other aside from the fact that the author wanted them to. Their chemistry with each other is lukewarm at best.
The side characters didn't help either. They were just there. The only character that intrigued me was Valentina and I think that's because she felt a lot less tropey and repetitive than our heroine. I liked that she was flawed and how her loveless marriage shaped her into this bitter and cruel mistress to Luzia but the way her story is concluded felt sloppy and disappointing.
All in all, this was a yawn fest, I gave 3 stars because I like how she blended the magic aspect with historical Spain (I will never not love historical fiction) but I think that Bardugo desperately needs to branch out.
I'll also say this that her very gendered perception of morality & how manipulation and seduction, especially if it's done by physical/sexual means works was very obvious in this book and it's just the many things that contributed to it not being that great.
Sounds familiar? Yeah.
This book is just a Shadow & Bone fanfiction that nobody asked for. It's basically a “what if the darkling was nice?” au and as an ardent darklina myself, I don't mind getting served with fanfics of my favorite pairing but this one is just so very bland and dull?? Every character in this book put me to sleep.
For a book that's supposed to be Leigh's most character-driven work, the characters don't offer much and failed to evoke any strong emotion in me. Luzia and Santángel were very plain and so was their romance. You couldn't come up with a single reason as to why they fall in love with each other aside from the fact that the author wanted them to. Their chemistry with each other is lukewarm at best.
The side characters didn't help either. They were just there. The only character that intrigued me was Valentina and I think that's because she felt a lot less tropey and repetitive than our heroine. I liked that she was flawed and how her loveless marriage shaped her into this bitter and cruel mistress to Luzia but the way her story is concluded felt sloppy and disappointing.
All in all, this was a yawn fest, I gave 3 stars because I like how she blended the magic aspect with historical Spain (I will never not love historical fiction) but I think that Bardugo desperately needs to branch out.
I'll also say this that her very gendered perception of morality & how manipulation and seduction, especially if it's done by physical/sexual means works was very obvious in this book and it's just the many things that contributed to it not being that great.