The Familiar
by Leigh Bardugo
GENRE: Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Dark
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 improve the family's social position.
What begins as simple amusement for the 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 lines between magic, science, and fraud are 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 Santángel, an embittered immortal familiar whose own secrets could prove deadly for them both.
Leigh Bardugo is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Familiar, Ninth House and the creator of the Grishaverse (now a Netflix original series) which spans the Shadow and Bone trilogy, the Six of Crows duology, the King of Scars duology—and much more. Her short fiction has appeared in multiple anthologies including The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy. She lives in Los Angeles and is an associate fellow of Pauli Murray College at Yale University. - Author's website
Booklist
/* Starred Review */ Servant Luzia Cotado hides her talent for milagritos (little miracles) in fear that their discovery would also uncover her Jewish roots and the Ladino spells she uses to fix burnt bread and broken glasses, bringing the Inquisition to her door. But when her magic is discovered, it attracts the attention of a patron who’s desperate for the favor of the king—and she’s quickly tossed into a contest of miracles that is at the center of the politics of a struggling Spain. As she begins lessons under the mysterious, dark force of nature Santángel, she realizes that survival is not enough for her; Luzia wants to show the world what she’s capable of. The Familiar highlights all of the things that make Bardugo (Hell Bent, 2023) so well loved: a romance with maddening chemistry, an artfully built world, side characters with their own deep backstories, and a plot full of dark twists and spiderweb connections. The Sephardic Jewish representation is intricate and lovely. Luzia is reminiscent of many favorite YA heroines—Katniss Everdeen comes to mind—and the historical fantasy built around her is vivid. Fans of historical fantasy, tortured love interests, and Bardugo’s Grishaverse will fall hard for this new novel. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: A new Bardugo is a major event for adult and teen readers alike, and this historical fantasy is sure to dazzle. -- Leah von Essen (Reviewed 2/15/2024)
Publisher's Weekly
/* Starred Review */ Two people with magical powers and sketchy pasts plot their escape from the Spanish Inquisition in this poignant romantic fantasy from bestseller Bardugo (Hell Bent). After Luzia Cotado, a housemaid hiding her Jewish heritage, allows her ambitious employer a glimpse of her ability to cast spells using “refranes” (Hebrew-Spanish proverbs), he enters her into a competition for royal miracle workers. Sponsored by Víctor de Paredes, a wealthy social climber, Luzia is trained by his “familiar ,” Guillén Santángel, an undying retainer who long ago traded away his luck and freedom for immortality. Despite being initially suspicious of each other, Luzia and Santángel find that among the competition’s fake psychics, dangerous real magicians, and even more deadly patrons, they can only rely on their own powers and their growing mutual attraction. Bardugo puts an earthy spin on heavenly miracles, with much attention given to the mundane drudgery of daily life that is not erased—even with magic that can unburn bread. Luzia’s pursuit of her powers, even at risk of burning at the stake, comes across as both empowering and practical compared to a life of unrewarding toil, making it easy to root for her through the competition. The sharp realism mixes with a genuine feeling of enchantment to create a top tier historical fantasy. (Apr.)
Kirkus
/* Starred Review */ In 16th-century Madrid, a crypto-Jew with a talent for casting spells tries to steer clear of the Inquisition. Luzia Cotado, a scullion and an orphan, has secrets to keep: “It was a game she and her mother had played, saying one thing and thinking another, the bits and pieces of Hebrew handed down like chipped plates.” Also handed down are “refranes”—proverbs—in “not quite Spanish, just as Luzia was not quite Spanish.” When Luzia sings the refranes, they take on power. “Aboltar cazal, aboltar mazal” (“A change of scene, a change of fortune”) can mend a torn gown or turn burnt bread into a perfect loaf; “Quien no risica, no rosica” (“Whoever doesn’t laugh, doesn’t bloom”) can summon a riot of foliage in the depths of winter. The Inquisition hangs over the story like Chekhov’s famous gun on the wall. When Luzia’s employer catches her using magic, the ambitions of both mistress and servant catapult her into fame and danger. A new, even more ambitious patron instructs his supernatural servant, Guillén Santángel, to train Luzia for a magical contest. Santángel, not Luzia, is the familiar of the title; he has been tricked into trading his freedom and luck to his master’s family in exchange for something he no longer craves but can’t give up. The novel comes up against an issue common in fantasy fiction: Why don’t the characters just use their magic to solve all their problems? Bardugo has clearly given it some thought, but her solutions aren’t quite convincing, especially toward the end of the book. These small faults would be harder to forgive if she weren’t such a beautiful writer. Part fairy tale, part political thriller, part romance, the novel unfolds like a winter tree bursting into unnatural bloom in response to one of Luzia’s refranes, as she and Santángel learn about power, trust, betrayal, and love. Lush, gorgeous, precise language and propulsive plotting sweep readers into a story as intelligent as it is atmospheric. (Kirkus Reviews, March 1, 2024)
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Library Journal
/* Starred Review */ In Madrid, under the reigns of the king and the Catholic Church, during the time of the Inquisition, lives a scullion maid named Luzia who is hiding her ability to create little miracles such as restoring burned bread to new and stitching torn dresses. Luzia is hiding not only her abilities but also her Jewish lineage, both of which could get her executed for heresy. When Luzia's mistress discovers the scullion maid's abilities, she uses them to gain social power, only to have Luzia discovered by the wealthy Víctor de Paredes. Víctor is looking for someone to submit into a tournament for the king's holy champion, as being the patron of the king's champion would give him a chance to obtain even more power. Víctor provides Luzia with a mentor—his immortal familiar , Guillén Santángel—to improve her chances of winning the tournament. Santángel has been bonded with Víctor's family for generations, but Víctor offers to release him from service if Luzia succeeds. Soon, Santángel's feelings for Luzia complicate things. VERDICT Bardugo (Hell Bent) masterfully weaves magical realism with historical fiction and romance, which makes this book impossible to put down. Great for fans of Rebecca Ross, Heather Fawcett, and Holly Black. --Leigh Verburg (Reviewed 02/01/2024)
The Bear and the Nightingale
by Katherine Arden
At the edge of the Russian wilderness, winter lasts most of the year and the snowdrifts grow taller than houses. But Vasilisa doesn't mind--she spends the winter nights huddled around the embers of a fire with her beloved siblings, listening to her nurse's fairy tales. Above all, she loves the chilling story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon, who appears in the frigid night to claim unwary souls. Wise Russians fear him, her nurse says, and honor the spirits of house and yard and forest that protect their homes from evil.
After Vasilisa's mother dies, her father goes to Moscow and brings home a new wife. Fiercely devout, city-bred, Vasilisa's new stepmother forbids her family from honoring the household spirits. The family acquiesces, but Vasilisa is frightened, sensing that more hinges upon their rituals than anyone knows. And indeed, crops begin to fail, evil creatures of the forest creep nearer, and misfortune stalks the village. All the while, Vasilisa's stepmother grows ever harsher in her determination to groom her rebellious stepdaughter for marriage or confinement in a convent.
As danger circles nearer, Vasilisa must defy even the people she loves and call on dangerous gifts she has long concealed--this, in order to protect her family from a threat that seems to have stepped from her nurse's most frightening tales.
Spinning Silver
by Naomi Novik
Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders, but her father's inability to collect his debts has left his family on the edge of poverty -- until Miryem takes matters into her own hands. Hardening her heart, the young woman sets out to claim what is owed and soon gains a reputation for being able to turn silver into gold. When an ill-advised boast draws the attention of the king of the Staryk -- grim fey creatures who seem more ice than flesh -- Miryem's fate, and that of two kingdoms, will be forever altered.
Set an impossible challenge by the nameless king, Miryem unwittingly spins a web that draws in a peasant girl, Wanda, and the unhappy daughter of a local lord who plots to wed his child to the dashing young tsar. But Tsar Mirnatius is not what he seems. And the secret he hides threatens to consume the lands of humans and Staryk alike. Torn between deadly choices, Miryem and her two unlikely allies embark on a desperate quest that will take them to the limits of sacrifice, power, and love.
The Pomegranate Gate
by Ariel Kaplan
Toba Peres can speak, but not shout; sleep, but not dream. She can write with both hands at once, in different languages, but she keeps her talents hidden at her grandparents' behest.
Naftaly Cresques sees things that aren't real, and dreams things that are. Always the family disappointment, Naftaly would still risk his life to honor his father's last wishes.
After the Queen demands every Jew convert or face banishment, Toba and Naftaly are among thousands of Jews who flee their homes. Defying royal orders to abandon all possessions, Toba keeps an amulet she must never take off; Naftaly smuggles a centuries-old book he's forbidden to read. But the Inquisition is hunting these particular treasures-and they're not hunting alone. Toba stumbles through a pomegranate grove into the mirror realm of the Mazik: mythical, terrible immortals with an Inquisition of their own, equally cruel and even more powerful.
With the Mazik kingdoms in political turmoil, this Inquisition readies its bid to control both realms. In each world, Toba and Naftaly must evade both Inquisitions long enough to unravel the connection between their family heirlooms and the realm of the Mazik. Their fates are tied to this strange place, and it's up to them to save it.
