Books That Might Cure Your The Familiar Hangover

If you know, you know...

This might get me kicked off of Bookstagram, but I have to admit that I've always been lukewarm on Bardugo. While I enjoyed the Six of Crows duology–mostly because I love a good heist and morally grey character–I was never able to get past Shadow and Bone in the rest of the Grishaverse. And despite Ninth House being my husband's absolutely favorite fantasy book, I got bored about halfway through the first one and never picked it back up.

However, I am here to say that The Familiar is exactly my shit. It’s an immersive, atmospheric, and at-times violent tale about ambition and feminine rage. And, underneath all the magic is a detailed, well-researched historical tale about the horrors of the Spanish Inquisition. Oh... and there's a leave-you-breathless, "I've waited centuries for you" romance with a might-be demon... if that's your thing.

So, if you're like me, and trying to claw your way out of the hole Bardugo buried and left you in at the end of this novel, here's some books that might help.

Dark/Historical Fantasies

The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling

• If You Want More Of: Dark magic and elite societies set within a historical, gothic setting
• The Quick Overview: A woman enters into a "marriage of convenience" to preserve her independence and gets sucked into a living nightmare

The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden

• If You Want More Of: Deeply researched historical fantasy that let's reality deliver the true horror
• The Quick Overview: A WWI combat nurse searches for her brother, while he struggles to cope with the trauma of his own experiences

Feminine Rage & Ambition

Weyward by Emilia Hart

• If You Want More Of: The history of witchcraft as a way to confront a woman's place in society & cope with... well... men
• The Quick Overview: The story of three women across time finding freedom and solace in their connection to the natural world

Projections by S.E. Porter

• If You Want More Of: Oppressed women discovering their own power and using to give men their much-needed comeuppance
• The Quick Overview: A woman is doomed to haunt her murderer for centuries in a fantasy realm where people can hear nothing but her dying scream

Spanish Inquisition & Witch Hunts

The Witches of New York by Ami McKay

• If You Want More Of: A realistic feeling historical-tale that uses "witch hunts" to address the dynamics of power and gender in society
• The Quick Overview: Three women have their quiet life of solace interrupted when they become the targets of a demonic witch hunter

Incantation by Alice Hoffman

• If You Want More Of: A historical tale about the Spanish Inquisition through the eyes of a young Jewish girl
• The Quick Overview: A YA coming-of-age story about a Jewish girl trying to protect herself and family, while staying true to her self and her faith

Character-Driven Historical Fiction

Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann

• If You Want More Of: Speculative historical fiction that combines real events with fantastical elements, and a large cast of secondary characters
• The Quick Overview: A retelling of the myths behind an infamous German trickster told through the eyes of the fictionalized lives of very real people in history

The Dance Tree by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

• If You Want More Of: The ways women have grasped for and exercised their power in the bounds of patriarchal society
• The Quick Overview: A dancing plague sweeps through Strasbourg in 1518, and a woman is forced to face the secrets within her family, the church, and herself

Morally Grey/Doomed Romance

Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

• If You Want More Of: A classic YA take on a young girl coming into her own magical power through the instruction of a sorcerer with questionable intentions
• The Quick Overview: A library warden is forced to partner with her sworn enemy and his demon familiar to track down a dangerous grimoire

Where the Dark Stands Still by A.B. Poranek

• If You Want More Of: Stories of magical beings (i.e. morally grey love interests) trapped by time and circumstance and the love that thaws their cold, dead hearts
• The Quick Overview: A young girl who has always feared her power enters into a bargain with the guardian of a dangerous and magical Polish forest

Bonus/The Classics

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

• Look, I think Addie LaRue walked so The Familiar could run. I won't say more than that.

A Song for Achilles by Madeline Miller

• Literally only adding this because of the gorgeous prose at the end of the Song for Achilles that had me drying my tears in a way that felt like a kindred soul to the last chapter of The Familiar.