Book Review – The Familiar

28 Oct 2024 Leave a comment

by Clare in Books, Reviews Tags: , , , , , , , ,

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo is a new stand-alone novel set in late 16th century Spain that incorporates significant fantasy elements. I have enjoyed several of Bardugo’s other books, so read on below to see what I thought of this one (paid links).

You can find my review of her other books here:

I read this in hardcover.

Here is the blurb:

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.

This book opened more slowly than some of the author’s other stories, but Luzia’s life was richly depicted and it was easy to get drawn in to the sense of place that was established in the opening. As she gets drawn into the schemes of those better off, she tries to grasp some small piece of agency for herself, making her choices more understandable as she knowingly puts herself at risk.

Like much of Leigh Bardugo’s other novels, there was an element of romance within this story. This threw me at first, because I had not read the description of one character accurately and had made some incorrect assumptions. However, I was able to reorient myself and this ultimately didn’t take anything away from the story for me.

I felt like I didn’t understand the magical aspects of this world quite as well as I would have liked. Perhaps that was because this was a stand-alone novel and I simply had fewer pages to become comfortable with the backstory and myths that were revealed as the plot unfolded.

Despite these nitpicks, I did enjoy this novel. I found it to be a refreshingly different type of story from the author, and while I would love to discover another novel that was as good as Six of Crows, it is also great to know that she can vary her work to keep it fresh.

Which of Leigh Bardugo’s books have you read? Which was your favorite? Let me know in the comments (above)!

Find more of my reviews here.

Book Review – King of Scars

17 Jan 2024 Leave a comment

by Clare in Books, Reviews Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo is the first book in another duology set in the Grishaverse (paid links). I listened to this as an audiobook, narrated by Lauren Fortgang. You can read my reviews on other books set in this world here:

I listened to the audiobook edition.

Here is the blurb:

The dashing young king, Nikolai Lantsov, has always had a gift for the impossible. No one knows what he endured in his country’s bloody civil war–and he intends to keep it that way. Now, as enemies gather at his weakened borders, Nikolai must find a way to refill Ravka’s coffers, forge new alliances, and stop a rising threat to the once-great Grisha Army.

Yet with every day a dark magic within him grows stronger, threatening to destroy all he has built. With the help of a young monk and a legendary Grisha general, Nikolai will journey to the places in Ravka where the deepest magic survives to vanquish the terrible legacy inside him. He will risk everything to save his country and himself. But some secrets aren’t meant to stay buried–and some wounds aren’t meant to heal.

I think that Nikolai’s character is a fan favorite, and he certainly is one of mine, so I was excited to find out more of his fate in this book. Even though the Darkling was defeated by Alina in the finale of the Shadow and Bone series, remnants of his evil magic still linger in the world. Ravka has been weakened by that recent struggle, leaving it vulnerable to those same enemies that the Darkling purportedly schemed to protect them from. And the grisha-enhancing/enslaving drug jurda parem is still out there, despite the efforts of the Crows to destroy it in the previous series.

This book is told through the viewpoints of three characters: Nikolai, Zoya, and Nina. The blurb above makes this out to be Nikolai’s story, but I think it is more of Zoya’s story, especially in the next book (but that will be my next review). At first I had mixed feelings about this, because Zoya was never a friendly person in the earlier books, but her character grew on me. By the end I understood why she had developed that personality and empathized with her.

Nina, one of the “six” from Six of Crows, is also a highlight in this novel (paid link). In that earlier series, Nina suffers some devastating changes and losses, so it makes sense to see her again in a new story, because her tale isn’t done. Her plot gives us a new look inside Fjerda where she tries to deal with her grief while staying true to her mission.

I was shocked by the ending of this book, but I can’t say anything else for fear of major spoilers. Have you read it? Let’s discuss that ending in the comments (above).

Find more of my reviews here.

Book Review – Crooked Kingdom

27 Dec 2023 Leave a comment

by Clare in Books, Reviews Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

I had meant to continue my review of this series sooner, but I have been struggling with an injury to my hand. I had to limit the amount of typing I did, and so unfortunately my blog suffered from this. However, I did finish reading several more books and I might get 50 books read for 2023 (I’ll let you know next week)!

For my final book review of 2023, I need to talk about Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo. This was probably my favorite book by the author (even including others I haven’t had a chance to review here yet). This is the concluding book in the Six of Crows duology (paid links).

I listened to the audiobook version of Crooked Kingdom, narrated by a cast of Jay Snyder, Brandon Rubin, Fred Berman, Lauren Fortgang, Roger Clark, Elizabeth Evans, and Tristan Morris.

You can find my reviews for other books by Leigh Bardugo here:

Paid links help to support this blog.

Here is the blurb:

Kaz Brekker and his crew of deadly outcasts have just pulled off a heist so daring even they didn’t think they’d survive. But instead of divvying up a fat reward, they’re right back to fighting for their lives.

Double-crossed and badly weakened, the crew is low on resources, allies, and hope. As powerful forces from around the world descend on Ketterdam to root out the secrets of the dangerous drug known as jurda parem, old rivals and new enemies emerge to challenge Kaz’s cunning and test the team’s fragile loyalties.

A war will be waged on the city’s dark and twisting streets – a battle for revenge and redemption that will decide the fate of the Grisha world.

So of course things didn’t go as planned at the end of book 1, Six of Crows… leaving us with this crazy caper as the Crows try to rescue Inej, prevent the spread of jurda parem, and destroy all of the enemies they have made.

While the plot felt less focused in this second book, compared to the first one with the specific goal of a heist, the twists kept coming. Even when I thought everything had been resolved, the author surprised me again. The characters continued to develop and their story arcs and banter were the best part of this series.

I don’t want to give any spoilers about the ending. All I can say is that it is both heartbreaking and satisfying, and I’m glad that some of these characters (Nina, especially) appear in the next series. However, I would LOVE to see the others again if the author decides to write more of their stories.

The audiobook production continues in the same format as Six of Crows, with each character’s chapter being voiced by a different actor. While I generally prefer only one or two narrators, by this point in the series, I’ve adjusted to it and liked this format.

Have you read any of Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse books? Which are your favorites? Let me know in the comments (above).

Find more of my reviews here.

Book Review – Six of Crows

05 Dec 2023 Leave a comment

by Clare in Books, Reviews Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

I have been reading a lot over the past few weeks, but I wanted to step back to review some books that I read earlier in the year. I had really enjoyed the Shadow and Bone series by Leigh Bardugo and have since finished a read-through of her other novels. Most of them are set in her Grishaverse world, so I’m going to start with those. Next up in the reading order after the Shadow and Bone trilogy are the Six of Crows Duology books: Six of Crows and then Crooked Kingdom (paid links). I listened to the audiobook version of Six of Crows, narrated by a cast of Jay Snyder, Brandon Rubin, Fred Berman, Lauren Fortgang, Roger Clark, Elizabeth Evans, and Tristan Morris.

You can find my reviews for other books by Leigh Bardugo here:

I listened to the audiobook edition.

Here is the blurb:

Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone. . . .

A convict with a thirst for revenge

A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager

A runaway with a privileged past

A spy known as the Wraith

A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums

A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes

Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don’t kill each other first.

It’s hard to even know where to begin with this book, but it was by far one of my favorite reads in the past few years. At it’s heart, it’s a heist story with the six characters in the blurb taking on a seemingly impossible task. Yet where this book shines is the characters. Each one has their own reasons for being there and secrets abound. While they are all criminals of some sort, it was easy to root for them and to understand the circumstances that brought them to this life.

While this book is set in the Grishaverse, it takes place in parts of the world that did not feature in the Shadow and Bone trilogy. Grisha magic is also less of a factor here, although the group still has a renegade grisha. There is romance woven through the plot as well, and it is torturously good. Just don’t expect a payoff from any of the characters’ relationships in this first book.

I think that you could also read Six of Crows without having read the Shadow and Bone books. The events of the earlier trilogy are mentioned, but none of that is directly relevant to this story. The grisha powers might be a little confusing, but since those play a smaller role here, it shouldn’t limit the enjoyment of the book.

The audiobook used a different narrator for each character’s chapters. This worked well and I was able to adjust to the different voices easily. One difference in my reading when I listen to an audio performance of a book is that I don’t always have a good sense of how much of the book is left. However in this story, I realized that I had too many minutes of the book left when I thought it was almost done. While that isn’t specifically a spoiler, I knew that something more was going to happen, which I think actually added to the tension at the end, making it tragically perfect.

Find more of my reviews here.

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