I now blog over at The Eyre Guide! This blog is an archive of my past posts.


Monday, June 10, 2013

Review: Siege and Storm

Posted by Charlene // Tags: , ,
Siege and Storm (Grisha #2)
by Leigh Bardugo

Plot Summary:

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.

Review:

I read Shadow and Bone a few months ago, so I thankfully didn't have to wait too long for the awesome sequel to that awesome book.  With the great characters introduced in the first book - well-rounded, idiosyncratic, and believable - there are even more stand out characters in this book!  Sturmhond, Tolya and Tamar are especially near and dear to my heart and introducing such unique personalities gave so much dimension to the story.  And even more dimension was added through the expanded world-building.  More was revealed of Ravka, through the land, the people, the religion, and their politics.  The political jockeying especially plays an important role in the decisions of the main characters making the story much more complex.  Because everyone has hard decisions to make and good and bad is never clear-cut or easy to judge.

Alina and Mal's story was just as touching and romantic as in Shadow and Bone but of course not easy, and the way the author develops their relationship - with such realistic reactions to the issues and problems they are facing - I thought the author's take on their evolving relationship was so astute and believable.  And there was certainly a lot of fodder for the Darkling fans (raises hand) - he is just as mysterious and ambiguous in his motivations.  And he's more dangerous, more seductive, and yet understanding, capable and intelligent.  Is he really so bad?  (I hope not!)  It definitely seems much more complex than that.

What I think is the best part of this second book is that it is so unpredictable.  There are so many unexpected twists and turns and more importantly the author is not afraid to give her characters some very difficult experiences.  No one is safe or completely trustworthy and it makes this novel that much more meaningful and engaging and just a rapturous delight of storytelling.

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7 comments:

  1. I've been excited for this book too but I've seen a couple of reviews that make it seem like this book wasn't all that great.

    I am so confused right now about whether to read this or not.

    Great review :)

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    1. Oh really? I think if you liked the first book, this one continues the story so well! This one is at least as enjoyable as the first one. :)

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  2. Thank you! I'm excited to read your review when you get a chance to read it! It's so good! :)

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  3. Shadow and Bone has been on my reading list forever (will the list ever get shorter?). I've heard nothing but glowing things about these books, so I really should just bite the bullet and snap them up (woot, two cliches in one sentence!).

    Thanks for the review. It added extra desire to get off my butt and read both books. Also, I gotta say, this cover looks amazing against your lovely blog theme.

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    1. Nope, I don't think the reading list ever gets shorter! :) LOL I think you should bite the bullet, you won't regret it! And the reds and gray in the cover does match my blog pretty well - maybe that's another reason why I really "get" these books. :D Thanks for stopping by Krista!

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  4. Glad you loved it too...gah how long do I have until the next book now?!? LOL

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    1. I know! It's a hard life for the book reader. :D

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