Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

$0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
The Familiar cover art

The Familiar

By: Leigh Bardugo
Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Sins on Their Bones cover art
A Tempest of Tea cover art
Cascade Failure cover art
Fathomfolk cover art
To Shape a Dragon's Breath cover art
The Pale Dreamer cover art
Dark Rise cover art

Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

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 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 Santangel, an embittered immortal familiar whose own secrets could prove deadly for them both.

From the Sunday Times bestselling author of Ninth House, Hell Bent and creator of the Grishaverse comes a bewitching historical novel set in the Spanish Golden Age, brimming with peril and dark deeds.

©2024 Leigh Bardugo (P)2024 Penguin Audio
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: Romance

Love Books? You'll Love Audible.

Transform your day

Transform your day

Replace endless scrolling with endless listening. Chores can be fun.

Listen everywhere

Listen everywhere

You can’t turn pages while you drive—but you can press play.

Carry your entire Library

Carry your entire Library

Your stories go where you go. Audiobooks don’t weigh a thing.

Listen and learn

Listen and learn

Discover stories that can change your mind, your well-being, and your life.

Reach your reading goals

Reach your reading goals

Download titles to listen offline, wherever you are in the world.

Find your niche

Find your niche

WIth thousands of titles to explore, there’s something for everyone.

Try for £0.00 £7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

What listeners say about The Familiar

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    56
  • 4 Stars
    21
  • 3 Stars
    13
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    3
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    70
  • 4 Stars
    17
  • 3 Stars
    6
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    55
  • 4 Stars
    22
  • 3 Stars
    11
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    3

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Dark, spellbinding and entertaining

Desire, greed and fortune are more complicated when there is magic involved. A simple maid with a complicated history finds herself embroiled in intrigue and a series of escalating problems and opportunities as she reveals a secret power. From obscurity to revelation, Lucia and the women around her make the most of their varied and difficult circumstances, drawing the eye of the powerful and in Lucia's case of a mysterious familiar. set in Spain at the time of the inquisition, this fantastic story is not without pain and misery but is also filled with a howling humour and twists that keep the reader gripped with every intrigue.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Not my favourite

The six of crows is my favourite book and I’ve loved everything Leigh Bardugo writes and I’m gutted I didn’t fall in love with this book. She is a master mind of weaving together stories and this is the case here. You can easily enjoy the story telling. Ultimately, it is a heavy listen and I didn’t warm to the characters. The story based in Inquisition Spain is really interesting. What the book missed is the amazing world building of her other books.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A lovely story

Well written and beautifully read. I was engaged from the very start. It was the kind of book which I didn’t want to end.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful story telling

Leigh Bardugo again builds a beautiful world filled with magic and amazing characters - loved this book and Lauren’s narration is once again amazing!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Captivating

Five stars all around. Love the story and character developments. The reader did a great job and actually liked the ending!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic as expected from Leigh Bardugo and Lauren Fortgang

The writing is luxurious, attention to detail is luscious. There is a something baroque about Leigh Bardugo’s writing. Like sampling a very rich red wine and a mouthful of dark chocolate black forest gateau.

Or that’s how The Familiar felt like, smelled like, tasted like. I enjoyed the plot, the mystery of it being set in 16th century Madrid, the weaved in magic and the threat of inquisition against all things ‘devil’ and the cleverly weaved in the lives and fight of the ‘marranos’. The darkness, the greed and ambition of the characters felt like a bewitchment in itself.

There is something very alluring about this novel, even if historical genre was supposedly no longer a genre I enjoy. The narration of Lauren Fortgang is now a part of the brand, alongside the beautiful writing of Leigh Bardugo. Fantastic duo of artists and I enjoyed this very much.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Adult fantasy standalone

Loved almost everything about this book. The narrator did an amazing job: loved her singing Luzia’s milagritos😍

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A Brilliant Spanish Fantasy

This was a fantastic telling of a really enticing story. The fantasy elements blended so well with the Spanish setting and made for a great read.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Maddening narration

The story is good but the narrator speaks no Spanish so that names of people and places are unintelligible, which detracts from the plot.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

One of life’s true storytellers

I have enjoyed every book written by Leigh Bardugo, this is no exception.
The imagery, the detail, the magic, were all just wonderful

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!