CBR18 Book 28: "The Familiar" by Leigh Bardugo

Page count: 385 pages

Audio book length: 12 hrs 57 mins

Rating: 4 stars

Dark Corner Selection: March 2026

Defeat the Goblin TBR 26: The Bog book - A book you started, but never finished (started it in May 2025, but only made it about 30%)

Buzzword Cover Challenge 26: Metallic element

In a different version of 16th-century Spain, young Luzia Cortado works grudgingly as a scullery maid for the miserable and petty Doña Valentina. Luzia can use what she calls "small magics" to make her life easier. She can mend seams, multiply the groceries, unburn bread or reassemble broken things. She performs these little spells, learned from generations of her Jewish ancestors, by singing quietly. Luzia is a convert; she dutifully goes to Mass and hides any traces of her Jewish lineage to escape the clutches of the Inquisition. 

However, when Doña Valentina discovers Luzia's powers, she sees an opportunity to increase her social standing. She makes Luzia perform for dinner guests, and before long, powerful and ambitious men show interest in Luzia's abilities. To improve her abilities, she is put under the tutelage of the mysterious Santangel, rumoured to be immortal. 

This book, a medieval alternate history, is very different from all of Leigh Bardugo's previous books. As someone with a Master's degree in European medieval history, I was really interested in this book, yet when I first tried reading it, in 2025, I couldn't get very far into it, and eventually decided to put it down until the time was right.

This year, my book club decided to vote for most of our books of the month. When The Familiar became the book of the month for March, I figured it was a sign from the universe that now the time was right. While I made it all the way through this time, I can see why I put it down the first time. It has a very slow start, something that was also remarked on by many of the members of my book club. I did discover that had I just kept going for a few more chapters the first time, I would have finished it. 

I really liked the unusual setting for this book. I liked that it tells the story of three very different women (Luzia, Valentina, and Luzia's aunt), who are all just trying for a better life. The magic used is interesting. I agree with several of the members of my book club that the romantic subplot involving Luzia and Santangel is entirely unnecessary, and that the conclusion of it is frankly quite disturbing, if you think about the power dynamics of the whole thing. There is also a lesbian subplot introduced towards the end that was definitely a bit unexpected, and considering how much is made of the power of the Inquisition and how feared they are, it seemed unlikely that these women would have been able to safely and rather publicly make a life with one another. But that's a minor niggle. 

I hope this remains a standalone book and that Bardugo doesn't decide to write a sequel at some point. 

Judging a book by its cover: Even with the scorpion crawling out of the lacy sleeve, this cover seems more like it belongs on a historical literary fiction book. Except for the name of the author, there is really nothing that marks this out as fantasy. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.