Review: Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

Posted by Jessi (Geo) on November 20, 2013 | 10 Comments


Review: Siege and Storm by Leigh BardugoSiege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
Series: The Grisha Trilogy #2
Published by Henry Holt & Co (6.4.2013)
Genres: High Fantasy, Young Adult
Format: Hardcover, 432 pages
Source: Library
Buy on Amazon


2.5 Stars

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.

My thoughts

I wasn’t a big fan of Shadow and Bone. I was the black sheep on that one. I was hoping that Siege and Storm would blow the first book out of the water and I would love it, like everyone else did. Sadly, I was wrong. It was exactly the same for me as Shadow and Bone was: Meh.

I did fare a bit better with all of the foreign/made up terms in this one, because there was a map and a short glossary (which was not in the e-galley of Shadow and Bone I had). But I found the prose to be dry, and the few action scenes were cumbersome and choppy. I was very bored through 90% of the book. I feel as if this book was far too long and some of it could have been cut out to keep the plot moving. The pacing was extremely slow for me. I think most of that had to do with my inability to care about the story or the characters.

I usually love high fantasy, but for some reason it just didn’t work for me. I really think it was the fact that the writing was dry and boring to me. I didn’t care about the characters, either – same problem as the first book. They all fell flat for me, except for the Darkling, and he had a very minimal part.

Alina and Mal pissed me off. I didn’t care about their relationship to begin with, but all of their little spats irritated me more and more as the story went on. I wanted to knock their heads together! Whatever happened to portraying strong relationships that get stronger when bad things happen? It annoys the shit out of me when couples argue over everything and fail to show each other any understanding. If your significant other is going through a rough patch, you’re supposed to support them. If they do something wrong, realize that they are only human (well, in this case human with extraordinary powers) and make mistakes. Forgive them, don’t look for petty revenge! Argh. I kind of hated Alina at times. 

“You know, for two people with a love eternal, you’re awfully insecure.”

Seriously.

Despite all that, I still loved the idea of it. It’s very unique! I love the idea of all of the powers the Grisha have, which was the main reason I continued the series. That, and I wanted more of the Darkling ;)

The story did improve for me, but only at the very end. I’ll admit I’m kind of curious to see what happens in book 3, and I still want to see more of the Darkling. Before you get discouraged, remember that I was the black sheep on this one. If you loved Shadow & Bone, I would definitely still encourage you to read this one, because most everyone loved it.

Side note: I looooove these covers. And I love how the first book has stag horns and this one has a dragon. I’m guessing book 3 will have wings for the phoenix!

Overall Assessment

Plot: 2.5/5 
Premise: 5/5 
Writing style: 2.5/5 
Originality: 5/5 
Characters: 2/5 
World-building: 3.5/5 
Pace: 1/5 
Feels: 1/5 
Cover: 5/5 
Overall rating: 2.5/5

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Jessi (Geo)

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10 responses to “Review: Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

  1. I only enjoyed Shadow and Bone because of the fabulous world building. I kind of have this thought that all high fantasy books will be enjoyable since I love learning about new worlds that authors have created.

    As like you, I didn’t like the characters from the first book, and I thought that the side stories (the love triangle, particularly) were odd and a bit irritating. I own a copy of this one, but I’m not sure if I should still read it…

    • I did like the uniqueness of the world in the first book, and that’s what made me still try the second even though I just felt meh about the first. It’s a shame, really, because I usually love fantasy for that reason: to visit new worlds.

      If you do read it, let me know what you think. I hope you like it better than I did!

  2. AAAW. I’m sorry Jessinator! I did enjoy Shadow and Bone quite a bit, but I’ve been thinking I rated it to high haha. I’m honestly not sure what I’ll think of this book. All my friends who were blown away with S&B LOVED S&S. I didn’t love it as much as them, but I liked it more than you…I guess I’ll just have to try and find out. :D Haha.

    Whatever. I’m sorry this didn’t work for you! I hate it when sequels just mess things up. I had that recently too. Merp. Awesome review as always!
    <33 Inky

  3. I agree with you about Alina and Mal.. I was so mad at them! Ugh. I hate it when relationships just fall apart in book 2.

    I guess I liked book 1 more than you did, but I kind of liked this book about the same as you.. not a ton.

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