Leigh Bardugo

I was a little annoyed at the various time jumps that took place in the beginning of the book. I hate that trope in TV shows and movies where they show a scene from the ending as a hook at the beginning and to me, that's just lazy writing. It interrupts the flow of the story and doesn't usually serve the story. I'd rather see the story progress naturally. But that's a minor pet peeve of mine. Overall, I found the book to be very enjoyable, although many problems could be avoided or eased if Alex would just communicate with people more. There were almost too many villains in this one, what with the demons, the vampire, the antagonistic adults, and the drug dealer. But it somehow worked. The story resolved in a mostly satisfying way. I hated what happened to Tripp at the end and felt that Alex and crew should have tried harder to get in touch with him when things were really dangerous. I feel like it might seem that I'm complaining a lot, but I really did enjoy this book.… (mere)

I enjoyed this but gave it only 3.5 stars because I didn't understand so much of it. I gave both books in her Alex Stern series 4 stars even though there were parts I didn't understand either. However, by the end of those books everything became clear. At the end of The Familiar I was still wondering what happened. It's about a scullery maid in 16th century Spain, the daughter of conversos, who is able to work small magic using Hebrew songs. Of course, big magic and power struggles ensue. I'm sure there are people who wouldn't find it as confusing as I, and they will like it more.… (mere)