Review: Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

Written By: Kellie - Jun• 09•13

Siege and Storm

Series: The Grisha, #1
Publisher: Henry Holt & Co.
Publish Date: June 4th, 2013
Source: ARC
Goodreads

Rating: 4/5 – A fantastic adventure story filled that I will absolutely be rereading!

About the book: 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. -Goodreads

Thoughts: Gotta love The Grisha! I was halfway through reading this book when I left for BEA, but bringing a book with you to BEA when you need to reserve every inch of space to bring books back, is crazy. So, I waited… and it was a little bit like torture. Where Shadow and Bone did a wonderful job of creating the world of The Grisha, Siege and Storm brought that world to life with a non-stop adventure.

It was easy to jump back into the fantasy world that Leigh Bardugo has created, despite there being a fair sized time gap between the end of the first book and the beginning of the second. Alina and Mal are still the same character you remember, and Mal is so easy to fall in love with. We get to see more of the two of them together in this book, and it’s really fun to read. Their relationship continues to evolve throughout the story and Bardugo handles the nuances really nicely.

Of course, there are some other familiar faces in this book, as well as a lot of new ones. Somehow, the secondary character (at times) seem even more fleshed out than Alina and Mal, which makes for a fantastic read as the entire cast comes alive on the page. The Darkling has to be one of my absolute favorite baddies right now.

I’ve seen a lot of reviews comment on how this book reads really differently from the first, and I can’t disagree there, although it isn’t necessarily a fault. While book one took a lot of time to buildup the world, the government, the magic, the lore, there isn’t as much of that in this book. There’s a lot more going on, a lot of new characters to get to know, and Alina does a lot of moving around, and at times it does feel a little like her story could have been told in any other fantasy world. So there is that. But it’s still a pretty safe bet that if you enjoyed the first book and Leigh Bardugo’s writing style, you’re going to love this one.

Can’t wait for book three, Ruin and Rising! Also, I just realized that there are two novellas that go with the series, so I’ll definitely be checking those out.

Purchase Siege and Storm
@Amazon (US) @Amazon (CAN) @The Book Depository

Second Opinions
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