The Familiars

3.5 stars

I've gone back and forth on a rating and review for this one, as there are many things this does well but also things which, after thinking longer on them, just irritated me.

So one of the strongest elements of this story is the setting and the atmosphere, from the very start you really get a sense of the time period and how stark life was for people who weren't part of the gentry and how people's minds could be swayed by someone in power. The entire idea that women who worked with herbs were branded witches by the King and therefore everyone immediately hated and hunted them. In a modern world, this type of mass thinking is baffling.

The main issue I had with the book was the main character, she was a walking contradiction. At 17 and onto her 4th(!!) pregnancy, she is naturally concerned about losing another baby but just rides around the country on her horse willy nilly until literally giving birth. And when she finds out her husband has a mistress hidden away at her old house, of course she's angry and refuses to speak to him, but then a few chapters later "Oh I forgive him everything". Girl, just no.

So yes, very conflicted. Overall I did enjoy it as a historical story, but when the main character is really just a bit of an idiot it's hard to root for her.