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charliauthor 's review for:
The Familiar
by Leigh Bardugo
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I was looking forward to this one but it didn't turn out to be as hard hitting as I'd hoped.
I've come to expect a lot from LB after the incredible Ninth House and Hell Bent and I'd hoped this would follow in a similar vein but frustratingly it did not.
It started out well enough with a good location, premise and intriguing characters that had a lot of potential but they didn't end up meeting it for me.
Luzia is a scullion living in the home of a petty woman called Valentina who discovers that she has powers. Luzia can be imprisoned and even killed for this so when they conveniently have some kind of tourney to test magic powers, the stakes of the whole thing fell abit flat.
Luzia's aunt is the mistress of a bad dude called Victor who has a weird looking dude who follows him around a lot. We learn that he's his sinister sidekick and while he doesnt do much to prompt fear or passion, Luzia apparently falls for him, her for her and then it turns into some kind of love story.
Where this didnt work for me is that there was no proper build up of their relationship to warrant the story moving in this direction. What was meant to be a stake filled tournament to evade persecution from zealots and soldiers, turned into a romance that was tepid at best.
The whole book felt like it was tittering on the edge of being dark and refused to go over the edge into the abyss of heated passions, black magic and religious inquisitions.
Why I gave this a three is that despite the above leaving me disappointed, the writing was great. At no point was i struggling to read. The chapters were good lengths, the setting was interesting and we finally did get a character who shined a little bit more than the rest. Valentina ended up being the breakout star of this despite what was expected of her from the blurb.
In terms of Leigh's catalogue, its not my favourite and i feel she could have done a lot more with this. However, for those who like historic settings, mild romance and a dash of the occult/magics, then you may well enjoy. It picks up at the end despite a lagging middle but is still enjoyable enough to prompt discussion.
I've come to expect a lot from LB after the incredible Ninth House and Hell Bent and I'd hoped this would follow in a similar vein but frustratingly it did not.
It started out well enough with a good location, premise and intriguing characters that had a lot of potential but they didn't end up meeting it for me.
Luzia is a scullion living in the home of a petty woman called Valentina who discovers that she has powers. Luzia can be imprisoned and even killed for this so when they conveniently have some kind of tourney to test magic powers, the stakes of the whole thing fell abit flat.
Luzia's aunt is the mistress of a bad dude called Victor who has a weird looking dude who follows him around a lot. We learn that he's his sinister sidekick and while he doesnt do much to prompt fear or passion, Luzia apparently falls for him, her for her and then it turns into some kind of love story.
Where this didnt work for me is that there was no proper build up of their relationship to warrant the story moving in this direction. What was meant to be a stake filled tournament to evade persecution from zealots and soldiers, turned into a romance that was tepid at best.
The whole book felt like it was tittering on the edge of being dark and refused to go over the edge into the abyss of heated passions, black magic and religious inquisitions.
Why I gave this a three is that despite the above leaving me disappointed, the writing was great. At no point was i struggling to read. The chapters were good lengths, the setting was interesting and we finally did get a character who shined a little bit more than the rest. Valentina ended up being the breakout star of this despite what was expected of her from the blurb.
In terms of Leigh's catalogue, its not my favourite and i feel she could have done a lot more with this. However, for those who like historic settings, mild romance and a dash of the occult/magics, then you may well enjoy. It picks up at the end despite a lagging middle but is still enjoyable enough to prompt discussion.