Siege and Storm
by Leigh Bardugo
Series: The Grisha #2
Published on June 4th, 2013
by Henry Holt & Co.
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased
Amazon | B&N | BookDepository | Goodreads
Also by this author: Shadow and Bone, Siege and Storm, Ruin & Rising, Shadow and Bone, Ruin and Rising
Darkness never dies.
Hunted across the True Sea, haunted by the lives she took on the Fold, Alina must try to make a life with Mal in an unfamiliar land. She finds starting new is not easy while keeping her identity as the Sun Summoner a secret. She can’t outrun her past or her destiny for long.
The Darkling has emerged from the Shadow Fold with a terrifying new power and a dangerous plan that will test the very boundaries of the natural world. With the help of a notorious privateer, Alina returns to the country she abandoned, determined to fight the forces gathering against Ravka. But as her power grows, Alina slips deeper into the Darkling’s game of forbidden magic, and farther away from Mal. Somehow, she will have to choose between her country, her power, and the love she always thought would guide her--or risk losing everything to the oncoming storm.
Siege and Storm is yet again a marvelous book. I loved it, but not as much as I loved Shadow and Bone to be honest.
Siege and Storm starts off around where Shadow and Bone ended. Alina and Mal are still on the run from the Darkling and his Grisha, who have now completely defected from Ravka. Of course it’s not long before the Darkling finds them again, takes them prisoner and drags them along to find the second Morozova amplifier, the ice dragon Rusalye. They also meet privateer Sturmhond, who at first doesn’t seem to care what the Darkling’s plans are, until he helps Alina and Mal escape.
Now after that most of the book is about Alina, Mal and Sturmhond aka Prince Nikolai Lantsov, the youngest son of the King of Ravka preparing for war. I think that revelation was one of the most exciting parts of the book to be honest. Though the ending of the book wasn’t bad either, we get to see the Darkling again and Alina showing she’s quite a powerful Sun Summoner.
The story is as beautifully written as the previous one, but like I said I loved it less than Shadow and Bone because of a lot of reasons. One of the biggest reasons (besides the whole endless reading of preparation for the coming war) is the constant conflict between Mal and Alina and occassionally Sturmhond as well. I got so frustrated whenever Mal and Alina got into another one of their fights, I just wanted to slap them both and tell to get their act together. It also didn’t help that Alina was being stubborn and keeping some big secrets from Mal.
As for the characters themselves, I’m not going to go into much details, all I can say is both Alina and Mal frustrated me, but while I still loved Alina … I am just not able to connect with Mal at all! In this book especially the only feeling I felt for him was annoyance. Sturmhond on the other hand was a breath of fresh air and I LOVE him! He’s smart, witty, nice when he wants to be and I jsut can’t get enough of him.
All that being said, Bardugo created a wonderful book even with it’s flaws and now I’ll be off to read Ruin and Rising and see how everything ends.
About Leigh Bardugo
Leigh Bardugo is the #1 New York Times bestselling and USA Today bestselling author of Six of Crows (awarded starred reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, VOYA, SLJ, and the BCCB) and the Grisha Trilogy: Shadow and Bone, Siege and Storm, and Ruin and Rising. She was born in Jerusalem, grew up in Los Angeles, graduated from Yale University, and has worked in advertising, journalism, and most recently, makeup and special effects. These days, she lives and writes in Hollywood where she can occasionally be heard singing with her band.
I use most of my free time doing either of those three things. When I'm not reading, writing or gaming, then I'll go watch movies with my best friend, Bee or I'll treat myself to dinner at a fancy restaurant.
- {Movie Madness} Power Rangers (2017) // It’s Morphin’ Time!! - April 22, 2017
- {Effie Reviews} Death’s Queen by Janael Falor - April 9, 2017
- {Blog Tour ~ Effie Reviews} A Crown of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi - April 2, 2017
Leave a Reply