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Series: The Grisha (#2)
Paperback, 464 pages
Published June 17th 2014 by Square Fish (first published June 4th 2013)
Source: Purchased
My Rating: 4.5 Stars
From Goodreads:
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, all while keeping her identity as the Sun Summoner a secret. But 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 the second book in Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha Trilogy.
Well crap. How exactly do I review this? Especially without giving away all kinds of spoilers for Shadow and Bone? I guess I will keep it pretty short and simple.
Again, Leigh Bardugo hits it out of the park. Seriously, this series… And to think I wasn’t even going to read it. At this point, since everyone and their mom has read this book and I am late to the party, I am just going to make a like/dislike list (though the dislikes won’t be numerous!), sum it up, and call it a day, ‘kay?
Likes:
-Alina. Because it’s Alina. She has transformed. I mean, the changes that she’s undergone are tremendous, which makes complete sense because her whole life has kind of been completely turned upside down, ripped apart, and sewn back together only to be ripped apart again. It is a never-ending cycle for this girl. So yeah, there is a lot of upheaval going on with her.
-Mal. No, this isn’t a popular opinion methinks. Mal is irritable, moody, and quite frankly, awful more often than not. But he feels this way for really good reason. Plus, I am kind of sick of dudes just blindly following the female protagonist around like a lost puppy, so it is awesome that Mal has his own personal struggles in all of this.
-Sturmhond. Done and done. That is all you are getting about him. Oh, fine, he is also epic, and amazing, and full of win.
-The Plot. Because for real, I could not put this book down. Sleep took a serious toll this week, because I couldn’t stop with the reading.
–All the relationships. So very complex, and so very entertaining.Romantic relationships, friendships, political, whatever. They all are pretty much amazing.
Dislikes (Or rather, minor “meh” moments, because I think “dislike” is too strong a term.)
-There were a few spots in the middle of the book were I was just a wee bit bored. More toward the middle beginning, and it passed, but it is worth noting, and my reason for the .5 deduction.
– The Darkling. Man, I hate that guy. And I just think he is Not at all likeable (another unpopular opinion in these parts, I think.)
Bottom Line: Clearly, the good far, far outweighs any slight issues I may have had. If you’ve read Shadow and Bone, I have no doubt you’ll be picking this up, and you will not be disappointed!
The Tailor Mini-Review
I did not know that The Tailor was included in this paperback edition, so it was a pleasant surprise for me when I got to the end. If you do not have the paperback version that contains this story, it can be found here.
This is a story told from the POV of Genya, during events that took place in Shadow and Bone. It is nice to read Genya’s thoughts, to get a glimpse of what she was going through, especially relating to events that unfold in both books. Genya was definitely one of my favorite characters in Shadow and Bone, and her struggles are really heartbreaking. It provides a lot of solid insight on her motivations in general, and what leads to the choices she makes.
This is a quick story, but contains valuable character insight. While this is not to be missed, don’t read it before reading Shadow and Bone, because it definitely will spoil it!
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