Quiz The familiar Leigh Bardugo

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo: 20-Question Quiz

How well do you know Luzia Cotado, Santángel, and the dark magic of 16th-century Madrid? This quiz covers chapters 1–55 of Leigh Bardugo’s novel The Familiar. Questions are divided into plot and sequence, character motivation, theme and symbol, and synthesis. Write your answers on a separate sheet, then check the answer key at the bottom.

Plot and Sequence (8 questions)

  1. (Multiple choice) What object does Luzia first repair with her secret magic at the Ordoño household?
    A. A torn dress
    B. A burnt loaf of bread
    C. A broken glass goblet
    D. A cracked plate

  2. (Short answer) Where is the Torneo Secreto held?

  3. (Multiple choice) Who is revealed to have sent the scorpion that is found in Luzia’s hairbrush?
    A. Fortún Donadei
    B. Gracia de Valera’s patron
    C. Teoda Halcón
    D. Doña Beatriz

  4. (Short answer) What does Luzia create from the shards of a broken glass during her first performance at Antonio Pérez’s salon?

  5. (Multiple choice) Which rival contestant is arrested by the Inquisition after Calvinist texts are found in her father’s luggage?
    A. Gracia de Valera
    B. Teoda Halcón
    C. Fortún Donadei
    D. Lucrecia de León

  6. (Short answer) What is the name of Santángel’s underground prison cell beneath Víctor de Paredes’s estate?

  7. (Multiple choice) During the third trial at Las Mulas, Fortún Donadei secretly turns his illusion of a cross into what object?
    A. A galleon
    B. A crown of thorns
    C. A flock of birds
    D. A burning bush

  8. (Short answer) In the final chapter, what three languages does Luzia combine to bring Santángel back from ash?

Character Motivation (5 questions)

  1. (Multiple choice) Why does Doña Valentina deliberately tear a seam in her dress?
    A. To test her maid’s loyalty
    B. To force Luzia to reveal her magic
    C. To embarrass Marius at dinner
    D. To create a reason to visit the tailor

  2. (Short answer) What does Santángel hope to gain by training Luzia to win the Torneo Secreto?

  3. (Multiple choice) Why does Hualit eventually refuse to let Luzia stay with her in Chapter 6?
    A. She fears the Inquisition will investigate her house
    B. She cannot afford to feed another person
    C. She believes Luzia must learn to defend her own honor
    D. She is jealous of Luzia’s youth

  4. (Short answer) What is Fortún Donadei’s primary motivation for entering the torneo?

  5. (Multiple choice) At the end of Chapter 55, why does Luzia say she had to let her father die?
    A. She gave him a coat that he gave away, leaving him to freeze
    B. He refused to flee Madrid with her
    C. She was too weak to pull him from the river
    D. He died of the plague before she could help him

Theme and Symbol (4 questions)

  1. (Multiple choice) What does the pomegranate that Santángel gives Luzia in Chapter 19 primarily symbolize?
    A. Eternal life
    B. Love and sacrifice
    C. Choice and ambition
    D. The blood of martyrs

  2. (Short answer) The scorpion in Luzia’s hairbrush is a symbol of what literal and figurative threat?

  3. (Multiple choice) What does Luzia’s thick black curly hair represent in the context of her identity?
    A. Her servitude
    B. Hidden Jewish heritage and resistance
    C. Her vanity and pride
    D. A curse placed by her aunt

  4. (Short answer) The refranes that Luzia uses are rooted in which secret language passed down through her family?

Synthesis (3 questions)

  1. (Multiple choice) Which of the following best describes the relationship between Santángel’s immortality and Luzia’s magic?
    A. Her magic is a separate power that has no effect on him
    B. Each use of her magic transfers power to him, healing his heart
    C. His immortality makes her magic stronger each time she uses it
    D. He gains youth from her spells but loses memory

  2. (Short answer) Why does Luzia choose to confess to heresy and treason during the Inquisition trial, even though Santángel had tried to take all the blame?

  3. (Multiple choice) The final chapter suggests that Luzia and Santángel achieve freedom only by:
    A. Fleeing to the Netherlands and living as ordinary humans
    B. Becoming immortal and endlessly traveling the world, with Santángel dying each dawn and being resurrected by Luzia
    C. Winning the king’s favor and receiving a royal pardon
    D. Hiding in Valencia under false names after changing their appearance

Answer Key with Explanations

  1. B. A burnt loaf of bread – In Chapter 5 (Hoofdstuk 1), Luzia secretly uses folk magic to fix the burnt bread that Valentina smelled, making it perfect.
  2. La Casilla – The tournament is held at Antonio Pérez’s estate, La Casilla (Chapter 13).
  3. B. Gracia de Valera’s patron – In Chapter 28, Santángel learns that Gracia de Valera’s patron sent the scorpion (Hoofdstuk 28).
  4. The Pleiades constellation (Pérez’s horoscope) – Luzia levitates the shards into a cloud that forms the Pleiades (Chapter 27).
  5. B. Teoda Halcón – Teoda is arrested after Calvinist texts are found in her father’s luggage (Chapter 38).
  6. The Scorpion’s Hole – Santángel is imprisoned in Víctor’s underground cell called the Scorpion’s Hole (Chapter 49).
  7. A. A galleon – Fortún transforms the cross into a galleon to betray Luzia (Chapter 45).
  8. Castilian, Latin, and Hebrew – Luzia prays in all three and then speaks the combination to resurrect him (Chapter 55).
  9. B. To force Luzia to reveal her magic – Valentina tears her dress so Luzia must use magic to repair it (Chapter 7).
  10. His freedom from centuries of servitude to the de Paredes family – Víctor promises Santángel freedom if Luzia wins (Chapter 13).
  11. C. She believes Luzia must learn to defend her own honor – Hualit refuses to protect Luzia’s honor, telling her she cannot always run away (Chapter 6).
  12. To escape the sexual demands of his patroness, doña Beatriz – Fortún confesses this to Luzia in Chapter 31.
  13. A. She gave him a coat that he gave away, leaving him to freeze – Luzia recalls buying her father a coat; he gave it to a beggar and died of exposure (Chapter 56).
  14. C. Choice and ambition – Santángel uses the pomegranate to symbolize choice, telling Luzia it belongs to her and she must decide her own path (Chapter 19).
  15. The threat of the Inquisition and betrayal from within the household – The scorpion is both a literal trap meant to frame Santángel and a metaphor for the hidden danger of the Inquisition (Chapter 29).
  16. B. Hidden Jewish heritage and resistance – Santángel forbids anyone from cutting her hair, and Luzia reflects that her hair connects her to her mother and her family’s Jewish identity (Chapter 24).
  17. Ladino – The refranes are a defining feature of Ladino, the Judeo-Spanish language of Luzia’s ancestors (Chapters 60 and throughout).
  18. B. Each use of her magic transfers power to him, healing his heart – Santángel reveals that Luzia’s magic sustains his life (Chapter 34).
  19. She refuses to let Santángel sacrifice himself alone and chooses agency over subjugation – Luzia speaks out not to save herself but to reclaim her own story and defy Víctor’s control (Chapter 51).
  20. B. Becoming immortal and endlessly traveling the world, with Santángel dying each dawn and being resurrected by Luzia – In Chapter 55, Luzia resurrects Santángel each morning, and they wander forever, never aging.

Want to discuss your answers? Visit our The Familiar discussion page or read the ending explained. For a full summary, see the main book page.