Here’s my review of Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo. If you haven’t read Shadow and Bone and/or my review of Shadow and Bone, here’s your disclaimer of potential spoilers. 🙂
CW/TW: Emotional abuse, Violence, Death, Blood, Toxic Relationship
Synopsis (via 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.
What is infinite? The universe and the greed of men.
Review:
There may be some spoilers in this review for both Shadow and Bone and Siege and Storm.
Star rating: 5/5 stars.
Alright, I definitely enjoyed this book more than the first one. I love the new characters that have been introduced. I’m definitely psyched about where the plot is going.
I was definitely annoyed or mad at Mal for most of the book. How he’s treating Alina now that she’s a Grisha, and a powerful one at that, really annoys me. He can’t seem to get his head around the idea that Alina is different now. He really seems to want the Alina pre-Grisha more than who she is now. And that seriously bothers me. Especially since she’s still in love with him.
Nikolai has definitely become my new favorite character. I’m definitely excited for his duology, King of Scars. I think he has the kind of arrogance that is not problematic. Given that he’s also Sturmhond, the way he acts kind of makes sense. And he treats Alina well and not like she needs to change who she is.
The character development of Alina in this book is great. She really seems to begin to learn what being a Grisha means to her. And how powerful she could become. She was seen as a Saint by people in Ravka and I’m definitely curious if she actually does become a Saint in Ruin and Rising.
When people say impossible, they usually mean improbable.
Who do I recommend this book to?
If you enjoyed the first book even a little bit, I think you’ll enjoy this one. It’s a good sequel and builds off of the first book really well. And it doesn’t feel like it suffers from “middle book syndrome”.
Have you read Siege and Storm? How did you feel about it? Let me know in the comments!
❤ Kimberly
Autumnfire Pages 
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