Overall, what do you think of The Familiar (no spoilers)

Overall, what do you think of The Familiar (no spoilers)

I loved this book! I was interested in it due to the setting and time period of Jewish history but it had me opening up to more of the mystical issues of the story.

I truly enjoyed this book and had trouble putting it down. It made me seek out other works by the same author. She did an amazing job of creating the feeling of the period. Many characters were well-drawn, and the stories was just complicated enough, with many different webs woven.

I LOVE reading books! However, I usually first borrow books from the library (occasionally from family/friends) and then if I feel the novel deserves five stars AND I would happily re-read it, I will purchase it for my own collection.  This is primarily because I have limited space and limited funds. Occasionally I do buy a work of fiction immediately-when it is part of a series I already have or it is just so intriguing I am 100% confident it meets my criteria.
I was surprised by how quickly I became engrossed in Leigh Bardugo's latest book, "The Familiar."   I have other works by Bardugo, but it usually takes a chapter or two for me to become totally invested in the characters, setting and plot.  Luzia is such an intriguing protagonist-smart, feisty and resilient! So grateful to BookBrowse and Flatiron books for the ARC!!

I loved this book. Luzia is one of my favorite female characters I have had the pleasure of reading in a while. She’s strong and smart and captivating.

I loved spending time in this world. The politics and magic were intriguing. And of course I love love love Santángel.

Would highly recommend this book to multiple readers

I liked this book, even though I felt the ending was anti-climactic. It's like if you were stranded on a desert island with a means to escape but only used those means after a lot of unnecessary suffering.

I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed this novel. I'm not really much for magic, but I love historical fiction, which is why I selected the book. I was pleased with the historical aspect, but I simply fell in love with the characters.

In the past, I have loved Bardugo’s books, tho her adult series took a dark turn that I did not enjoy as much. However, this book was just not my jam. I love fantasy for the world building and the magic; this one lacked much of that. I was familiar historically with this times period, thus no world building for me. And the time period is not my favorite so it just was a drag most of the way for me, forcing myself to read.

I liked the book. I enjoy historical fiction. Recently it seems like I have read more books dealing with magic/fantasy. This was well written, it kept my interest. I enjoyed the relationship between Luzia and Santangel.

I liked it but can’t say I loved it. I found it an entertaining read and liked that it had doses of magical fantasy thrown in along with the historical fiction.

Actually I’m not wild about fantasy. For me it takes away from the reality of the story.

Not being a real fan of fantasy, I at first plodded through the beginning of the book only to be captured by the story. A young woman is forced to work basically as a slave in a kitchen for a questionably middle-class family, as is seemingly a good Christian woman but learns she is probably a Jewish “converso” with some special powers. From there on the story is powerful, inventive, and although labeled as fantasy is quite spell bounding.

I wanted to read this book because I love Spain. It is such a beautiful country. In a few cities in Spain, I visited areas that were abandoned by the Jews when they were forced out or forced to convert to Catholicism, so I was aware of the Spanish Inquisition. This story deepened my understanding of the Spanish Inquisition by showing the fear of the people and the horrific methods of interrogating people suspected of heresy.

This story makes me very grateful to be living now and not when women were at the mercy of their circumstances with almost no way to improve their lives. Luzia, a scullion, lives an impoverished life full of drudgery with almost no way out. Still, everyone has dreams, and in this story, everyone wants more of something.

This is my first Bardigo Novel and I’m a fan! I love historical fiction, fantasy with magic and who doesn’t love a good love story set in a time period of danger and intrigue?! I enjoyed this read because it was set in Spain during the Spanish Inquisition, the interesting court politics, the social boundaries and consequences that different characters had to deal with, the magic which was fun and inventive, and the love story was just an added addition for me. I quickly became invested in all the characters and there situations especially Luzia and Santángel. This was a fast paced fun novel for me and I couldn’t put it down! Looking forward to reading another Bardugo novel!

I am a huge fan of Bardugo and was excited to read her new novel.
I think I was expecting a fantasy like Hell Bent or Ninth House.
I initially was disappointed but soon warmed to her very well researched historical fiction. With some magic thrown in!
Her prose is captivating and the period was interesting.
I ended up really enjoying it

This is the first time I've read a book by Leigh Bardugo. I was captured right from the first paragraph and had trouble putting the book down from that point on. To read a historical fiction work that skillfully weaves mysticism through its fabric with seamless quality, was a pleasure. II look forward to reading more of her novels.

The story drew me right in and I really enjoyed the book. The story was well plotted, the characters interesting, and the use of magic was just enough. Leigh Bardugo's writing is vivid and engaging.

I really enjoyed this historical novel. It was well-written, imaginative and engaging. I especially liked the development of all the characters and the way the author could make me about their fates.

Overall I liked the book but found myself confusing some of the secondary characters and having to go back to answer “now which one was he?”. Perhaps this was because of my unfamiliarity with Spanish names and pronunciations, or maybe because I rarely was able to read this book in large chunks of time due to the busy-ness of life at this time. I do enjoy historical fiction and this was one time period I had read very little about. I did like the story.

I agree with kdowney25. I got the names confused at times too. I was wishing I had my Kindle so I could press on the name to help me keep the characters straight.

I am a huge fan of historical fiction. In that regard, I enjoyed reading this book. The fantasy aspects of the book were a bit hard for me to swallow! I am not a big fan of fantasy writing. Overall, I would recommend this book.

I enjoyed the book with its mixture of historic fiction and fantasy. Every now and then, I find it very freeing to allow my imagination to accept the fantastical and flow with the story. I found the ending to be very satisfying and love the idea of these two people bound together and witnessing the world age.

I really enjoyed this book. This is the first book by Leigh Bardugo that I have read and it won't be my last. I thought the historical and fantasy were blended really well and Luzia is a great character - really interesting and surprising. It did lag a bit in the middle, but really picked up around the 70% mark.

I loved Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House, so I was eager to read The Familiar. I had a bit of trouble getting into the book, but when it grabbed me it didn’t let go. Luzia was formidable character that was greatly underestimated in the begin by myself as well as the other characters in the book. I loved seeing her come into her own. I would highly recommend reading this book over a short time period so that the flow is not lost.

There were parts of the book that I really enjoyed and other parts that I felt I had to wade through. I was expecting something like Ninth House which I loved. It may have been better if hadn't had those expectations. I really enjoyed the historical background and the connections to Judaism as well as the interactions between Luiza and the others who were thought to be similar to her.

I was excited to read this book as I love historical fiction, fantasy and magic. However, I just could not get into it. The story telling was a bit slow and I had trouble remembering characters. I found myself setting the book down and not picking it up for days at a time.

I'm enjoying the book tremendously. Very different from other Barduga novels, but as in all her books, so intricately researched, it's like a lesson in Spanish history. Further enlightening me on the position of women in society, and the persecution of Jews during the inquisition.

I loved this book. It pulled me in quickly and kept me turning pages late into the night.

I found the book bleak and slow at first, but then I got completely hooked. By the end, I couldn't put it down. I loved the way Bardugo grounded her story in actual historical events and at the same time made the characters and the magic so believable. The details were rich without being overwhelming; I often felt like I was right there in the scene. I also came to really care about several of the characters.

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. I had not read any other books by this author, so I did not know what to expect. It took me a little while to get into it, but as Kathleen L wrote above, "but then I got completely hooked." The characters were so vivid and enchanting, and the mystical elements added to the story's allure.