A review by shriyani
The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

4.0

Well I picked it up with a dwindling heart. I read too many people criticising it, too many negative comments, but yet I read it.
Yes, the one thing I did was I read it with an open mind. I didn’t try to judge or compare it by other write ups of her. May be, just may be that’s the reason I didn’t find it difficult to read or disheartening.
This is a good novel(again please you shouldn’t compare it with other novels of hers). But I was able to finish it in one go.
“What it is to live without love? To believe you would never have it and cling to anything that resembled it”
That’s what I felt when I was reading it. There are very few authors who can pen down simple stories in a way that you want to go with it. This is one of them for sure. There is no fascinating magic, no extraordinary person or love but yet it’s wonderful, worth your time.
When Luzia thought “ why could this being to the women in ballads, to poets and playwrights, but never to her?” I felt it. It’s so true. We, the mango people find solace in reading about love or reading how some ordinary character of an ordinary book get their always and forever. Well, that’s probably the only reason I liked this book.
What else? I don’t think I can judge Lee for her writing skill, we all know how good she is. Storyline okay, characters okay, plot twist(?) okay( if you call it that)
In short it’s a okay story and definitely one time read. All I can assure you, you won’t find it that difficult to finish the book in no time.