Siege and Storm: Book 2 (Grishaverse, #2) (Shadow and Bone Trilogy, #2)

by Leigh Bardugo

"The Hunger Games meets Potter meets Twilight meets Lord of the Rings meets Game of Thrones; basically epic magical fantasy but completely for grown-ups." STYLIST MAGAZINE The first book was Shadow and Bone. Now Alina's story continues. Darkness never dies. Alina and Mal are on the run. Hunted and haunted, but together at last, they can't outrun Alina's past or her destiny forever. The Darkling has emerged from the Shadow Fold with a terrifying new power and he needs Alina to realise his dangerous plan. There are others who would like to use Alina's gift too. And as her power grows, somehow, she must choose between her country, her power, and her love - or risk losing everything to the oncoming storm. Glorious. Epic. Irresistible. Romance. Perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore and Laini Taylor.

• ISBN10: 1780621132
• ISBN13: 9781780621135
• Publish Date: 6 June 2013 (first published 4 June 2013)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 22 May 2014
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Hachette Children's Group
• Imprint: Indigo (an Imprint of Orion Children's)
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 400
• Language: English

Reviews

[Katie King]

This was quite disappointing. I surprisingly enjoyed Shadow and Bone, after resisting reading it for a while. I naturally picked up Siege and Storm but I had a completely different experience.

This felt like crap to me. She has these little kerfuffles with the Darkling but most of the time she just sits in the Little Palace doing nothing. Engaging in petty drama I guess. Fighting over different boys, one I absolutely hate but can tell she will end up with. The other one I like much better but you barely see him and clearly it's not happening. Even the Darkling is a better love interest.

I guess I might be confused on this but why is there all this hate for the Darkling? Obviously he is a.major antagonist but he doesn't seem super villainous to me. His followers talk about whatever he's doing is for the good of Ravka....getting rid of the Fold. I agree....that would be good. Sure he's not handling it in the best way but isn't what hes trying to something good? I'm not sure why everyone is against that. It seems to me like it's just Alina battling an ex over their failed relationship. Idk.

[cornerfolds]

When I finished reading Shadow and Bone recently, I was pretty irritated with myself for waiting so long to start this series. This book has left me with mixed feelings. On the one hand, I'm still really upset with myself for missing out on such an amazing story for so many years. On the other hand, I'm SO excited that I get to binge all three books in a row without having to wait a year in between! So, yes, this book was incredible too.

Siege and Storm picks up right where the first book left off. Mal and Alina are together and trying to live a simple life far away from the Darkling and his Grisha. Having successfully evaded capture, they seem to be doing a decent job of this. Then they're found and just as suddenly as they found freedom, they're back in the hands of the Darkling and are quickly making their way back across the sea. On the way, though, Alina meets new people and finds help in some pretty unlikely places. Help from those who also want to defeat the Darkling and put an end to his evil agenda.

In the second book in The Grisha series, Alina has found herself with even more power than she ever thought possible. Despite that, she is still an incredibly sympathetic character and I loved her maybe even more than I did in book one. It's easy to understand why she feels she has to do the things she does and why she needs the power that she takes for herself. Alina's goal in life seems to have transformed. She wants to save her country from destruction and she needs every ounce of power and every bit of loyalty she can get if she has any chance of succeeding. But guess who doesn't understand this?

Dan Humphrey Mal is the one who doesn't seem to get it, and now I can put my finger on why I didn't care for him in Shadow and Bone.



Dan Mal is the worst kind of love interest there could possibly be in a book. He's the kind of guy who cannot deal with the woman he loves being anything other than what he wants her to be. It has become very obvious throughout the course of these two books that Dan Mal doesn't love Alina, he loves the idea of Alina. Did he love her when they were living a life in hiding and posing as normal people? Yep. And he treats her like dirt from the second she claims the power she's going to need to defeat The Darkling. As far as I'm concerned, Dan Mal can take his crap right out of Ravka and leave Alina to someone who deserves her.

And wouldn't you know it? There's a third option. Sturmhond is a pirate privateer who has mad skills in pretty much everything. He also happens to have connections in high places and is just the person Alina needs to make sure she is able to do everything she can to save her country. Sturmhond is, of course, gorgeous, and while it isn't really hammering anyone over the head, he is definitely another option for Alina's end game (I would not be devastated). I really enjoyed him and the other characters who came along as his crew.

"But what about the Darkling?" you ask. Well, he's there. There's just much less of him because this book is primarily about Alina, Mal, and Sturmhond preparing to kick his Darkling butt. I loved watching as Alina really came into her own and took control of the things she needed to win. I loved everything about this book, to be honest. Again, Leigh Bardugo has done an amazing job of adding even more to this world and making it totally engrossing. I really never want to leave! Once again, I loved every single scene with The Darkling. I honestly cannot make myself hate him and I'm not sure what's wrong with me! I'm STILL not convinced that there isn't good in him.

Siege and Storm was 200% incredible! I have read so many middle books in trilogies that suffered from middle book syndrome and made me seriously question reading the next one. This book only makes me want to read Rise and Ruin as soon as possible! (And I have a copy sitting in the next room, so I think I'll do that today!)

[readingwithwrin]

Pretty positive this was the fastest I've read a book in a long time.

The storyline of this one has been my favorite out of the two so far.

Alina grew so much in this one, which I was so happy to see. She still had some naive moments but nothing compared to the first one.

I really wasn't surprised though that her relationship with Mal didn't workout. While I would have loved for it to there was no way it was plausible. Especially since she is somehow seeing the darkling. (I think I've figured out how thats happening but I will wait to let you know after I read the third book.)

While we did get new characters I surprisingly liked the majority of them. I think my favorite one was Nikolai, while he is a bit of social chameleon... okay a lot of one. You can tell he is over compensating for all the rumors about who his father is.

That ending though... Just rip my heart out why don't you. Genya... poor Genya. My hatred for the darkling at that moment reached a new high. I loved seeing David come out of his shell finally.

I know that cant be the end of it though. There still has to be more fighting to happen since she didn't get to finish. I am really worried for her though and how she is going to deal with having to potentially relearn certain stuff.

Read my review of Shadow and Bone

See more reviews like this on my blog

[KitsuneBae]

Actual: 2.5 stars

[Chelsea]

Quick Thoughts:

1. Why did I wait so long to read this?
2. I hate Mal. I don't know why (probably because he's whiny and annoying) but I really don't like the scenes with him in it.
3. I liked how everyone banded together. I was nice seeing all that teamwork.
4. I love the Darkling. He's an excellent and very smart villain.
5. I'd recommend this to anyone!

[Nessa Luna]

Read this review, and many more on my blog October Tune!

After finishing Shadow and Bone last month, I immediately ordered Siege and Storm because I had to know the rest of the story. I regret not buying Ruin & Rising immediately as well, because now I finished S&S I just HAVE to get the last book. I HAVE TO.

Nine out of ten times, the second book in the series is not just as good as the first book, and I hardly ever find a second book that is better than the first, but this time I can say that I love Siege and Storm just as much as Shadow and Bone; maybe even a bit better, though I'm still not sure. But I loved it I loved it I loved it so much!

A lot of the characters from the first book make their appearance in this book as well, but we also meet some new characters, like Sturmhond, Tamar and Tolya. I didn't really like them in the beginning, but I grew kind of attached to them throughout the story, mostly to Tamar and Tolya because they were just really awesome. They are brother and sister (twins? I thought they were but I'm not sure), and they are really good at fighting and they are both Grisha as well. Yes they were my favourite two characters from this book.

And yeah, the Darkling. Wow. I both love and hate him a lot. I think this is the first time I actually love a villain, instead of hating him but thinking he's attractive. I mean, yes, of course I hate the Darkling for what he did (especially for what he did to Baghra and Genya, S E R I O U S L Y ?!); but I just can't stop imagining him as Richard Armitage and I just love that guy so much. Yeah. Thank you Leigh for making me love a villain for the first time (in foreveeeeeeeer *sings*).

Though I thought there was a lack of action (some in the beginning, some near the end), I really thought the story was very thrilling and I couldn't put it away. The action parts that were in the book, were described amazingly and when I read those parts I didn't dare put the book down because I wanted to know how it ended. When I reached the last sixty pages, I actually read until it was around 1 am even though I had my alarm clock set for half past eight the next morning. I ended up not sleeping at all that night because I kept on thinking I had to get my hands on Ruin and Rising.

Spoiler ahead: There was one thing that I didn't really like though, and that was the fact that there was another (or perhaps two) love-interest for Alina. We got Mal and the Darkling in Shadow and Bone, and in Siege and Storm we got Nikolai (aka Sturmhond), the prince that was never there in S&B. And we might also add Vasily, because he 'proposed' to Alina as well, even though it felt to me he only did that because his brother did it. Yeah, not really a fan of this. I just want her to end up with Mal, ok.

The writing was very good, just like in Shadow and Bone, and I really hope Leigh Bardugo is going to write more books after this series, because I want to read everything she writes. The world she made up in the Grisha trilogy is just so amazing, and the maps, THE MAPS! As you all know, I LOVE maps in books, and in this book the map is even more extended, to the lands across from the sea, not just Ravka, but Kerch and Novyi Zem, I just love it! I would love it to become a poster, so I can hang it up in my room, just like my map of Middle Earth.

But everything was just so well written, from the characters to the action scenes to the love scenes and everything in between; everything just made me so happy. I wish I could write such an amazing story as Leigh Bardugo has written, because wow wow wow. After finishing the book, I actually sat in bed for a while, clutching it to my chest (did the same with the Hunger Games series, Harry Potter and the Divergent series). The Grisha trilogy is definitely going onto my 'favourite series of all time' shelf.

In the end, I just loved Siege and Storm, and I am definitely getting myself a copy or Ruin & Rising this month because I NEED TO KNOW HOW IT ENDS! And I definitely recommend this series to everyone. Just everyone. (I am very bad at writing reviews of books that I love. Because I just can't stop saying that I really love the book and that I really love the writing. Meh).

My opinion of this book in one gif:

(In which I am the Doctor, and everyone else is Rory). 

[anne]

Quippy dialogue in places. Ending not so great - typical of sequels. Nikolai is a fun character.

Even though this is a re-read, I'm absolutely blown away yet again. All the emotions came flooding back and had my heart racing. Wonderful.
Full review to come.

[vagasker]

I loved it! Though I dont like Mal and Alina's relationship anymore. But Nickolai is an amazing character and I hope to see a lot of him in Ruin and Rising!

[Angie]

I enjoyed Siege and Storm quite a bit more than the first book! It starts off with a bang, and then ends with a boom! At the start, Alina and Mal have escaped, but it's not too long before old foes catch up with them. Then it's time to hunt the second amplifier! No Grisha is meant to have this amount of power, but Alina knows it's the only way she'll able to save the world from darkness. Power is changing her, and not for the better.

While I loved the opening chapters of Siege and Storm, the middle is super boring. There's some great characterization, but I'm not really a character focused reader, so I found myself wanting more. Alina spends all of her time conflicted with gaining more power, and trying to hold on to herself, the girl who Mal loves. She's also studying Grisha history, the Saints, really anything she can get her hands on hoping to find something that can help. This is all well and good, but didn't hold my interest.

However, once the romance started to creep forward, I found I was completely and totally invested! I was getting noticeably angry at Alina and Mal. At one point I wanted to throw the book, then pick it up and bash Mal's head in, then shove their faces together to kiss! It's so frustrating! Then there's another component added to this love geometry and I was like aahhh! I adore all of the characters separately (Sturmhond!), but I only have room in my heart for Mal and Alina. Even if they made me mad.

The end of Siege and Storm was fantastic! So much tension and action, and I couldn't tell what was going to happen next! It didn't have any of the predictability that Shadow and Bone had for me. I was genuinely surprised at the things happening. I don't know what's to come, but I do know that I need more Darkling and Nikolai!

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.