Review of The Familiar: historical fiction with a 2010s YA soul

My Review of The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo has SO much to discuss. As a huge fan of Leigh Bardugo since 2010s YA (she published Shadow and Bone in 2012), I have even interviewed her! But The Familiar is a different kind of book, historical fiction with a touch of fantasy. Will you like it? I’m here to help you decide!

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

Published by Flatiron Books on April 9 2024

---

Review of The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

The Familiar seems like a daunting book at first.

Both the Shadow and Bone series (and the Six of Crows series) were set in the Grishaverse, an elaborate and invented fantasy land that seemed to incorporate Slavic, Asian and European elements.

The Familiar is set in a very specific place and time:

Namely, 1500s Madrid at the time of the Spanish Inquisition. (I didn’t know that the Spanish Inquisition actually spanned centuries, but based on the clues the book offers, I think that it is set in the 1500s. Though in the acknowledgments, Leigh Bardugo says she had to shift some dates a bit.)

What do you remember learning about the Spanish Inquisition?

I didn’t remember much, but after a little research and reading the acknowledgments, realized that The Familiar is heavily grounded in real events. Plus, a hint of magic and the supernatural, which itself is actually true to the time.

To a reader who doesn’t usually read much historical fiction, or whose high school certainly didn’t teach any European history (me!) that somehow makes reading the book feel a bit more like work. Instead of exploring a completely new fantasy world, the reader is trying to orient themselves to actual events in a specific time and place.

But I am actually here to argue in this Review of The Familiar that The Familiar feels very Familiar (haha). What do I mean?

To me, the familiar feels very 2010s YA

It felt very Shadow and Bone to me, and should please those Darklina (Darkling and Alina) shippers. I was one … until Sturmhold. And I didn’t watch the Netflix Shadow and Bone show, but that just stirred up more Darklina talk on social media. Why can’t Sturmlina be a thing????

Let’s run down the similarities between Luzia/Santángel and Alina/Darkling:

• Surly heroine. Do you 2010s YA readers remember ALL the complaining about Alina’s bad attitude? Go to Goodreads and check out some of the one-star reviews of Shadow and Bone. People were harsh!
• But our lead girl is a special snowflake. She’s hiding the fact that she has magical powers.
• This draws the attention of a enigmatic, cynical, and possibly evil guy
• Who has striking grey eyes the color of quartz (Darkling) or silver coins (Santángel.)
• He becomes her mentor/protector but also might BETRAY HER!
• He has a dark/tragic past
• They have a make-out sesh/or MORE…. (yes there’s very minor spice in The Familiar)
• Magical powers are lost and then maybe regained
• But endings of these two relationships might be quite different

The Familiar has other tropes that readers of 2010s YA will recognize:

• A makeover sequence (of course, this is REQUIRED in 2010s YA fantasy and dystopian fiction. NO exceptions.)
• A royal tournament /competition (also very popular. Think The Selection, Throne of Glass)

I know you are asking: is the Familiar by Leigh Bardugo SPICY?

I guess it depends on your definition of “spicy.” Yes, characters sleep together at a level of description that I would call PG-13. It’s more than you’d get in most YA books, but not super explicit.

---

To a not-very enthusiastic-historical-fiction-reader (me!) The Familiar is also a really readable piece of historical fiction

I learned a LOT about Spanish history and the Spanish inquisition, how it connects to the English Tudor period (which I know more about.)

The Familiar does an amazing job of incorporating real historical details and in what I thought was a fascinating way.

If you’re going to read the book (or have), I recommend that you:

Reading back over that helped me see some of the thematic parallels between the Shadow and Bone series and The Familiar:

• a girl that others consider insignificant and weak learns her own power
• people who are not what they seem to be
• the cost of magic

In addition to that, I have a spoiler discussion:

I think this post could help you a lot if you’re feeling lost.

But if you are really lost, you can download book club questions and details about who in the book is real and who is fictional.

If you have any other questions at all, or have read The Familiar, please leave a comment!