Title: The Familiar

Author: Leigh Bardugo

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 line between magic, science, and fraud is 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.

In 16th century Madrid, Luzia is a scullion but her magic is discovered by her show off mistress who hopes to raise herself in society and, due to this, she then catches the eye of the greedy, ambitious Antonio Perez who wants to get back into the King’s good graces.

Antonio entrusts Luzia’s training to Santangel, an immortal……and sparks fly!

It was dark, there was magic, and it gave overall a solemn tone.

I must admit I enjoyed the 2nd half more than the first but the historical fantasy with added romance story was spot on. (3.5)