Book Review: Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

Siege and Storm

by Leigh Bardugo
Series: The Grisha Trilogy #2
Published: June 4, 2013
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Format: Hardcover (435 pages)
Source: Purchased

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....

Spoiler free even if you haven’t read the first book in this series. 

The action starts right from the beginning.  There is no time wasted to get straight to this plot full of twists and turns that kept me surprised.  I like to try and predict what is going to happen, but in this book I honestly had no clue.  It was so much fun!

The story from Shadow and Bone was much more complex than I remember.  There were a lot of layers, events, and characters that were referred to in Siege and Storm that were a little fuzzy to me.  It wasn’t so bad that I was lost, but I definitely want to read all three in a row when the last book comes out.  There is so much detail and layers going on that I want to get it all!

I love Alina and Mal. They tease each other like best friends but it’s easy to see how their relationship has grown into more. Mal is a lovely gentleman.  But their relationship goes through quite the wringer in this book.  There are outside forces trying to tear them apart.  There are secrets between each other that they might not be able to recover from.  Usually, one person hiding something really bugs me because it’s so obvious and easy to fix.  But this time I kind of got it.  The good and bad that happened to their relationship was so touching to me.

The new characters were so interesting.  They come to life so fast and easily.  Alina is spunky and daring. She cares about other people.  My favorite thing about her character and her quest is that there are no easy answers. There’s not a clear path to what is right or wrong.  A lot of the things she does are not completely good but it’s hard to say that they were completely evil.  Part of the reason I am dying to read book 3 is because I want to see if she really is on the right path even though she had to do things that felt wrong to her.

I got a few Harry Potter vibes from some details in the book.  There’s an old, common book with clues and myths that seem to come to life.  The Darkling turns into a seductive kind of Voldemort.  I mean, if Voldemort was in any way sexy he would be the Darkling.

There are pirates. I love pirates.

One of my favorite things about the first book was the beautiful imagery.  And we get more of it in this book.  A dragon in the cold sea. A sailing ship that flies.  I love this unique world and how alive it is. I want to save it just as much as Alina.

I liked picking out the little things that remind me of Russian culture – the samovar clattering on the floor, the divide between peasants and aristocrats, and the saints as an important part of their religion.  The guns in the story give it this modern twist to a world that feels epic and mythical.

Overall, it was epic, tragic, full of love and sacrifice, power and death set in a mythical world that you won’t forget.

Content Rating: Medium, for violence, some of which is a little graphic.  A few swear words.  Some sensuality.

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