Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time
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“Writing gives you the power to shape your own world when the real one hurts too much”

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

May 14, 2026 by Malin Leave a Comment

Dark Corner Selection: March 2026 In a different version of 16th-century Spain, young Luzia Cortado works grudgingly as a scullery maid for the miserable and petty Doña Valentina. Luzia can use what she calls “small magics” to make her life easier. She can mend seams, multiply the groceries, unburn bread or reassemble broken things. She performs these little spells, learned from generations of her Jewish ancestors, by singing quietly. Luzia is a convert; she dutifully goes to Mass and hides any traces of her Jewish […]

Filed Under: Audiobooks, Fantasy, History, Mystery Tagged With: 16th Century Spain, alternate history, audiobook, cbr18, feminism, historical fantasy, Lauren Fortgang, Leigh Bardugo, LGBTQIA, magic, Malin, religious persecution, the Dark Corner, The Familiar, The Inquisition

Malin's CBR18 Review No:28 · Genres: Audiobooks, Fantasy, History, Mystery · Tags: 16th Century Spain, alternate history, audiobook, cbr18, feminism, historical fantasy, Lauren Fortgang, Leigh Bardugo, LGBTQIA, magic, Malin, religious persecution, the Dark Corner, The Familiar, The Inquisition ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

“She would build herself a life of plenty. She would force her world to bloom as she’d made the pomegranate tree grow, and Santángel would help her do it. Even if blood watered the soil.”

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

June 21, 2024 by narfna Leave a Comment

The Familiar is an atmospheric historical fantasy set in the late 1500s Spain, when the Inquisition was up and running at full power. Our heroine is Luzia Cotado, a scullion in the house of a poor noble family who uses small ancestral magics taught to her by her secretly Jewish family to get through the day: unburning burnt bread, multiplying the potatoes when there wasn’t enough coin at market, heating water, fixing a seam. The plot kicks off when Luzia’s mistress, Doña Valentina, catches her at […]

Filed Under: Fantasy Tagged With: #fantasy, historical fantasy, Jewish history, Leigh Bardugo, narfna, Spain, The Familiar, The Inquisition

narfna's CBR16 Review No:32 · Genres: Fantasy · Tags: #fantasy, historical fantasy, Jewish history, Leigh Bardugo, narfna, Spain, The Familiar, The Inquisition ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments


Recent Comments

  • esmemoria
    on Painfully Unfunny
    You got that right!
  • BlackRaven
    on Painfully Unfunny
    Sounds like this book was 167 pages too long
  • BlackRaven
    on The Joke’s On You
    Sounds like The Stench was all the title needed
  • esmemoria
    on The Joke’s On You
    Practically every sentence is a joke omg, I recently finished a book like this. Hated it.
  • esmemoria
    on Eat the Rich
    and the recognition that love isn’t going to cure trauma This is a perspective that is unusual to find. Sounds...
See More Recent Comments »

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