by Leigh Bardugo ★★★☆☆
When I went to choose a category for The Familiar, I initially chose "Fantasy". Then I chose "Historical Fiction". My mouse even hovered over "Romance" for a moment. I'm not really sure where it belongs, and I'm not sure it does either.
I've been a fan of Leigh Bardugo since before Netflix exposed a much broader audience to Shadow and Bone. Her ability to craft a stellar heist novel made Six of Crows my favorite book of 2015, and I've read most of what she's written on the heels of that excellent introductory experience. Across those novels, she has been consistently strong, developing excellent characters and thrusting them into situations where we could watch their evolution. The Familiar has some of those trademark components, but it also failed to execute on them in the same way as previous Bardugo novels.
The book is set in Spain during the late 1500s. King Phillip II sits on the throne, but he's shaken from the recent defeat of the Spanish Armada. The Spanish Inquisition is in full force, rounding up witches, Jews, and heretics and subjecting them to torture until they "confess". Our main character is Luzia, a scullion who works in the kitchens of a household that strives to present a high society face on a middle class budget. Luzia has a bit of magic -- she's able to create small helpful changes in her daily life, like making a burned loaf of bread unburnt, or turning six eggs into a dozen if she had an unsuccessful bartering day at the market. She hides her talents, but a series of events result in the mistress of the house, Doña Valentina, discovering Luzia's gift, and parading her in front of dinner guests to increase the family's social status. Before long, word of Luzia's talents reaches the ears of some powerful patrons, and she is thrust into a tournament to vie to become the king's holy champion. Pitted against three other young miracle workers, Luzia must use her talents as well as her guile to survive and win.
It sounds compelling, right? I, for one, am a sucker for any type of tournament or competition, and upon the setup of that primary plot thread, I was excited and interested about where this novel could go. But from there, things started to get a bit shaky. The novel went from a young woman's fight to become a champion into...something else. A romance is introduced, but it makes little sense; Luzia's interactions with her fellow competitors are muddled; the three trials of the tournament were a bit convoluted and uninspired; and, most surprisingly, the plot was peppered with holes, something I never would have expected from Bardugo.
I don't know if The Familiar started out as one thing and morphed into something different over the process of its composition, or if the intention was always to make it a sort of historical romance novel with an undercurrent of magic, but it didn't come together for me. Luzia's powers grow over the course of the novel, yet she fails to use them time and again to extract herself from a sticky situation or take revenge on her enemies. After so many tightly plotted books under her belt, I didn't expect it from Bardugo.
This was also her first book (at least as far as I can remember) with some serious romance. I don't know what inspired that -- perhaps the success of Fourth Wing / A Court of Thorn and Roses and the rise of "romantasy" as a popular category? -- but it did not work for me at all. Clunky and contrived, and it really took the story in a strange direction that didn't feel believable.
Despite all of the challenges, there were still some solid moments -- this is, after all, an author that I have consistently enjoyed over several books, and that talent didn't evaporate overnight. Those bright spots -- the concept, the world rendering, the historical accuracy -- reassure me that this was likely just a weird blip that didn't resonate with me and that Bardugo's next effort will have her back on track.