Publisher: Henry Holt & Co.
Release date: June 4, 2013
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 0805094601
Pages: 435
Goodreads || Book Depository
Siege and Storm is the second book in the Grisha trilogy, so this review contains some spoilers for Shadow and Bone. You have been warned.
SIEGE AND STORM SYNOPSIS
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.
MY THOUGHTS
I enjoyed Siege and Storm quite a bit more than Shadow and Bone but I thought that it was a little bit of an unnecessary book. As with Shadow and Bone, my main issue with this second instalment is the lack of plot. I really enjoyed the first half of the novel and the amount of action that was in it. Almost straight away, we are thrown into conflict between Alina and the Darkling and I thought this section was thrilling and exciting. However, this is then followed by a long period of inaction and the plot doesn’t move forward at all. There is an epic encounter at the end of the book but these 30-50 pages don’t make up for the long stretch of nothingness that was Siege and Storm.
Nothing new is really learnt in this book. We make one or two important discoveries at the beginning and end of the book, but the rest of the book added nothing new to the world or the overall story arc of the trilogy. There is some mention of magic vs the ‘small sciences’ that the Grisha are known for practicing, but there wasn’t enough of it for me to latch on to and be excited about. Hopefully this will be explored further in Ruin and Rising. Most of Siege and Storm is spent exploring the tensions between Alina and Mal, and while I like the two together, I wanted less romance and more Grisha action.
Alina still remains weak as a character but I enjoyed her a lot more in this second book. There’s not very much development in her in this book, but I found her to be slightly more likeable. There were still times when I thought she was boring and frustrating, but there’s a lot more focus in this book on the characters and Alina’s internal struggles, which made it easier for me to relate to her. I appreciated being able to learn more about Alina and I liked her moments of assertiveness (though sometimes it felt a little bit out-of-character).
The character that declined a little for me was Mal. He became really whiny and needy and he was a bit of a jerk at times. But I ended up still liking him because I can see where it’s all coming from. The Darkling only made very small appearances in Siege and Storm and I wished we could have seen a little bit more of him. He’s one of the most interesting and dynamic characters in the trilogy and I wanted to know more about him. His character in this novel became a little bit flat and I felt like there was nothing more to him than just your everyday evil, power-hungry villain.
Siege and Storm saw the addition of some really great new characters and I liked these characters the most in the book. We have Sturmhond who is amazing. He reminded me a lot of Will Herondale in his attitude and behaviour and I loved him! I did guess his identity quite early on though. I also loved the twins, Tolya and Tamar. They were fantastic additions to the book and provided many great moments. I also liked being able to see more of David in this book – he was one of my favourite side characters in Shadow and Bone. David and Genya is probably the only ship that I fully support in this trilogy, at this point.
Siege and Storm is definitely a step up from Shadow and Bone. I enjoyed and was much more interested in the characters in this instalment and I liked the changes to the Grishaverse. What I’m still missing in this book is action and plot. Like Shadow and Bone, this book suffers from lack of development in the overall story arc. The book was great but it hasn’t really taken us anywhere…
Reading with Jenna || book blog 
Dang girl, you’re just popping out reviews for this trilogy! I’m so glad you liked this book more, and Ruin and Rising certainly has the most interesting plot developments so I can’t wait to see what you think of it. I was looking back at my review for S&S before I became a blogger, and it was full of incoherent rants on Mal (oops) 😛 The twins were awesome! They were my faves, not gonna lie.
LikeLike
Hehe I actually marathoned them all in three days and then wrote the reviews all in one day 😀 It was so hard to forget everything I knew about the next book and review only this one book. But omg yes I loved Ruin and Rising! You’ll get my thoughts on that on Saturday 😉 OMG I loved the twins so much too, but Sturmhond… *fans myself*
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yay, I’m so glad the sequel was better for you! Everyone says SAS and RAR are wayyy better than Shadow and Bone, so this definitely makes me excited to start the series. I still don’t want to read the trilogy first before I dive into Six Of Crows, but I keep hearing I’ll be spoiled so looks like I’ll be sucking it up and getting them read
lol
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve heard people recommend that The Grisha trilogy be read first because it gives you a better background and understanding of the Grishaverse but I don’t think it’s necessary to read it first. I have lots of friends who have only read Six of Crows and enjoyed it just the same.
LikeLike
Mal is really frustrating. And STURMHOND IS AMAZING PEOPLE. I love Sturmhond he is awesome and I would so hook up with him. I loved your review and had pretty much the same thoughts! I finished the trilogy and I had a book hangover for a long time, where I cursed all book series’ because they had to end, but Six of Crows is on my TBR. Ruin and Rising is much better, promise.
Love and books,
Veda
LikeLiked by 1 person
I actually don’t mind Mal that much! I admit that if there was more Sturmhond, I would probably ship him with Alina more… but sadly he was barely in Ruin and Rising at all! So disappointed. He was my favourite character in the whole trilogy. But I’m pretty happy with the Mal that we got.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am actually reading this series right now. I finished the first one earlier this weekend and I didn’t love it. I had a lot of the same issues as you. Weak world building, no plot and a very unlikable character. But I am continuing with the series and your reviews have been great to push me to continue!
LikeLiked by 1 person
The series definitely gets better so I hope you enjoy Siege and Storm and Ruin and Rising at little bit more!
LikeLike
I remember the Darkling only had like two real appearances (and not those weird apparition things) in this, which made me so bummed when I read it. T.T Hehe, I agree! Nikolai definitely reminds me of Will! I think I gave S&S the same rating as S&B but I actually liked it a little less (probably because of the Darkling thing still, lol) despite the improvement in development.
LikeLiked by 1 person
In this book, I had such a hard time understanding why everybody loved the Darkling… since he just seemed like a classic villain to me. He was definitely more interesting in S&S and R&R. I loved Nikolai so much that I kind of completely forgot about the Darkling. (And I probably gave the book a higher rating than S&S because Nikolai was so awesome!)
LikeLiked by 1 person