“ℌ𝔢 𝔰𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔰𝔞𝔶 𝔫𝔬. ℌ𝔢 𝔰𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔯𝔦𝔰𝔢 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔤𝔬, 𝔰𝔭𝔢𝔫𝔡 𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔡𝔢𝔰𝔦𝔯𝔢 𝔦𝔫 𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔡. 𝔉𝔬𝔯 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔞𝔨𝔢 𝔬𝔣 𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔥𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔱 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔩𝔦𝔣𝔢 𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔡𝔬 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔰𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔰. 𝔅𝔲𝔱 𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔢𝔫𝔡, 𝔞𝔣𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔰𝔬 𝔪𝔞𝔫𝔶 𝔩𝔦𝔣𝔢𝔱𝔦𝔪𝔢𝔰, 𝔥𝔢 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔬𝔫𝔩𝔶 𝔞 𝔪𝔞𝔫.”

Published: 09/04/24

Genre: Historical fantasy 

Page count: 387

Format read: 🎧

Other books read by this author: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞, 𝐍𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐡 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞, 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐭

A historical fantasy set during the Spanish Golden Age, 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫 tells the story of Luzia Cotado, a scullion who gets through the day with scraps of magic passed down through her family. When her mistress Valentina Ordoño discovers Luzia’s talents & determines to use them for her own social advancement, she finds herself on the radar of Víctor de Paredes, ‘the luckiest man in Spain’, along with his strange & mistrusted familiar Guillén Santángel. Determined to better her position, Luzia becomes entangled in a deadly world of politics, with the King desperate for an advantage in the war with England’s Protestant Queen, & the ever present threat of the Inauisition determined to root out any trace of heresy. 

I was absolutely enraptured by this novel from the very beginning & genuinely struggled to put it down. I adored Luzia, an unconventional heroine, the historical yet fantastical setting, & the vast supporting cast of flawed heroes & masked villains, but my absolute favourite was Santángel; from the whispered accusations of household staff & the story of his cursed existence, to the changes wrought in him by his interactions with Luzia. 

Leigh Bardugo is a Queen who can do no wrong. I loved 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞, but her adult novels are in another league entirely. I only regret not reading this the second it was released!