I picked up The Familiar as it was the June selection for my local Waterstones book club. This isn’t my first Bardugo novel, as I’ve read and enjoyed some of her Young Adult series in the past. I’ll be reading Ninth House – Leigh Bardugo’s first horror novel from 2019 – later this year.

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo
Series: Standalone
Genre: Historical Fiction, Adult
Pages: 389
Published: April 9, 2024
Publisher: Orbit Books

Book Blurb:

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.

My thoughts:

I was a little disappointed with this novel overall. I thought this was going to be Bardugo’s attempt to break into general fiction with what is essentially a historical fiction novel with a sprinkling of magic. It started off promising but then devalues into your typical fantasy tournament arc with surface level characters and mediocre drama.

The novel is set in 16th century Spain. This was a very tumultuous time for Spain and the rest of Europe. Throughout the book references are made to Elizabeth I, reigning Queen of England at the time, and the Spaniards attitude towards her, highlighting the tense political rivalry between these two nations. This sets up the novel very well, giving the reader the need to be invested in the tournament as the future of Spain and the King’s hopes depend on its success.

Through Luzia and her aunt we get an insight into some of the clashes between culture, religion and the movements of peoples through Europe at this period in history. Luzia’s struggle with her magic stems from a lack of understanding of where it comes from. She’s unable to figure out exactly which languages the words derive from and this impacts her ability to confidently understand and use her power. Though after the first mishap with her magic she doesn’t make any more mistakes, becoming a skilled conjurer overnight. The tournament’s tests would’ve been a lot more intrusting if she had to struggle through them.

The romance between Luzia and Santangel- The Familiar – is surface-level dull; reminiscent of romances found in Bardugo’s earlier works.

Valentina is easily the most well-rounded character in the book and is the only one who is actually believable. Despite being a side character for most of the novel she has the most personal development by the end. Starting off as a typical disgruntled middle-class wife to discovering her own agency able to stand up and justify her opinions and actions.

I will say Bardugo’s prose has improved greatly. The writing is a lot more lyrical than her previous works. While reading I could picture the scenery so vividly and could smell the orange blossoms.

I found the ending a little overkill, especially in its need to have a “happy” ending.

*Spoilers*
After Luzia and Santangel escape from the burning pyre, they share one final day together before he burns to ash. I initially thought this was a lovely and meaningful ending since he was able to finally live as a free man with the woman he loves, just for a day. Then Luzia just poofs him back into existence with her magic. Her repeating this for seemingly forever just feels so silly. The line “They may be travelling still.” literally made my eyes roll. It took all the emotional impact away from the ending.