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).