Politics, magic, and political magic.
The Church owns miracles. Not scullion girls and street prophets.
Synopsis
In a shabby house, on a shabby street, in the new capital of Madrid, Luzia Cotado uses scraps of magic to get through her days of endless toil as a scullion. But when her scheming mistress discovers the lump of a servant cowering in the kitchen is actually hiding a talent for little miracles, she demands Luzia use those gifts to better the family’s social position.
What begins as simple amusement for the bored nobility takes a perilous turn when Luzia garners the notice of Antonio Pérez, the disgraced secretary to Spain’s king. Still reeling from the defeat of his armada, the king is desperate for any advantage in the war against England’s heretic queen—and Pérez will stop at nothing to regain the king’s favor.
Determined to seize this one chance to better her fortunes, Luzia plunges into a world of seers and alchemists, holy men and hucksters, where the line between magic, science, and fraud is never certain. But as her notoriety grows, so does the danger that her Jewish blood will doom her to the Inquisition’s wrath. She will have to use every bit of her wit and will to survive—even if that means enlisting the help of Guillén Santangel, an embittered immortal familiar whose own secrets could prove deadly for them both.
The latest instalment to the world of Bardugo is her most ambitious, and probably the closest to her heart. The story follows a serving girl, or scullion, Luzia, who is born with the gift of magic in a world where magic is rare, but not impossible. After being discovered, Luzia soon finds herself caught up in a world of politics, wealth and chaos, as she fights to prove herself in a tournament to secure the king’s favour. Along the way, however, she must hide her Jewish lineage from the Spanish Inquisitors, and protect those who matter most to her.
It’s clear that Bardugo herself, being of Jewish-Spanish descent, has written The Familiar as an homage to her heritage, and the love with which she researches the history of this period shines through the prose. Some readers might find the pacing a bit slow, but I enjoyed how she took her time to explain the historical intricacies and cultural tidbits, many of which served double purposes as social commentary on our own customs. I don’t normally enjoy historical fiction at all, but I really liked this one. I also felt that Bardugo’s description of Luzia’s Jewish lineage and its effect on her magic (specifically the use of languages, sayings and song), was done masterfully.
You cannot imagine the degradation it required to make a new name and a new history for myself, to prune our family tree just so.
The romance felt genuine and was integral to the plot in a way that didn’t feel cheap or obligatory. I was initially worried that it was going to become an unnecessary addition, tacked on to give readers a new 2D love interest to swoon over, but it quickly became a core part of the story, and was genuinely emotionally moving in the third act. Bardugo’s description of the relationships between men and women at this time are so fascinating, especially the differing dynamics between the women, some of whom use sexuality as power, others who do the same with their “purity”; or the contrast between women in deeply loving relationships, and women in purely transactional ones. A core theme of the story is the exploration of female ambition, and its place in a society that suppresses women’s power.
I did think it was actually lacking action at times. It felt strange that Luzia was apparently so powerful, but at times, became so powerless so quickly. I think Bardugo wrote herself into a bit of a corner by making Luzia so strong magically, and she couldn’t quite get herself out of it when she had to make Luzia struggle against mortal powers.
In the same vein, I felt the whole tournament arc was a bit underwhelming. The word “tournament” had me expecting something Hunger Games-esque, where the characters fight to the death, but all we got was a rather tepid series of theatrics. While this is a magical novel, it is not the sort of novel where those characters use magic to fight; it’s more a story of politic and law.
All in love, I loved this novel. It is VERY similar to The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, so if you liked that novel by V.E. Schwab, be SURE to read The Familiar while you’re waiting for the sequel.
If you enjoyed this book you might like:
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.
Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.
But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.
Some thoughts from other reviewers
Phantom of the opera meets the Spanish Inquisition in a spellbinding, powerful standalone about a young girl who wants more from her life.
Booksblabbering || Cait❣️
Goodreads
The ending kind of came out of nowhere, and while I’m not sure yet if I liked it or not, I do appreciate it and the message it was communicating.
Korynne
Goodreads
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