A Brilliant Spanish Fantasy

This was a fantastic telling of a really enticing story. The fantasy elements blended so well with the Spanish setting and made for a great read.

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Beautiful story telling

Leigh Bardugo again builds a beautiful world filled with magic and amazing characters - loved this book and Lauren’s narration is once again amazing!

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a bit boring

i have read a lot of books by bardugo but this one just didnt have much tension. it is more adult in nature which i really appreciate. but i just wish the book did... more. bardugo explore similar themes as before but i dont know if she brought anything new to them.

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What the hell?

I have a habit of not DNFing books, but every now and then, a story appears that seriously tests my resolve.

The only way I can explain why this book has even made it to the stores is that sometimes, an author´s name is big enough that their book is published with no questions asked because it is a given that it will sell well. If an editor was even involved in creating The Familiar (which I highly doubt), they should be sacked on the spot.

I don´t enjoy writing reviews like this, especially because Leigh Bardugo is one of my favourite authors, and especially because she said multiple times during the marketing campaign that the story holds personal significance to her. Unfortunately, I can honestly say I could not find a single redeeming quality that would change my mind.

If I didn´t know The Familiar takes place in 16th century Spain from the blurb, nothing in the way this story is told makes it apparent to a reader. The language is far too contemporary and the way the characters interact with each other is in no way authentic.

None of the characters are properly fleshed out, which means I didn´t connect with anyone enough to root for or against them. The romance is the absolute height of nauseating cliché tropes and it is completely unnecessary here. I was actually very surprised the author half-arsed it so badly because she usually nails the will they / won´t they tension perfectly.

The pacing is completely off as well. Most of the book drags on horribly, with a ton of exposition and virtually no action, only to give us an ending that is too rushed and feels very sloppy.

The magic system is not properly established, which results in many scenes feeling terribly convenient. The whole tournament angle is also very vague and the promised result provides no enticing incentive for the participants or the readers.

And none of this is to say The Familiar had no potential. On the contrary, there was plenty, it´s the awful execution that killed this story for me. Honestly, it felt like a first draft of a complete novice that would probably never have got published if it wasn´t backed up by Ms Bardugo´s credentials.

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3 people found this helpful

Felt nothing for any character

This was such a disappointment after six of crows and ninth house. Like another reviewer mentioned feel bad writing this as it’s so personal to the author but there was nothing compelling about the characters or the plot. I felt no tension in the story the characters didn’t feel well developed at all and I just didn’t care what happened to them. I gave up at 28% I very rarely dnf a book but this feels like it was written by someone else

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1 person found this helpful

Oh no 🙈

One of my most anticipated books of this year, started well but just couldn’t connect to the characters, story was just ok.

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