Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo [Joint Review]

5 out of 5 Robots!

  

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
Series: Grishna #2
Genre: Fantasy YA
Release: June 4, 2013
Hardcover: 432 pages
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
My Copy: Purchased
Reviewer: Shannon
Buy the Book: Amazon

Book 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.

Julia and Shannon's Thoughts: 
1. Rate the level of awesomeness on a scale of 1 to Awesomeness 
Julia: AWESOMENESS. I loved it. I read it really slow so I could savor the awesomeness.

Shannon: Yes.  Total awesomesauce!  I also tried to take my time with it because I wanted to really experience it.  

 

2. Compare and contrast the awesomeness of this book with the first book. 

Julia: The first book was also brilliant. I loved Mal more in the first book, he frustrated me in the second. But then I fell in love with new people in the second.... sooooo.... second book wins. Just sayin'

Shannon: The first book really blew me away.  It was unlike anything I had read before.  I loved the tension between Alina and The Darkling and then the ending scenes with Mal and Alina.  But I also thought the second book was a tighter story.  It seemed to flow better.  I loved the new characters and all the plot twists! 

 

3. Love triangle?  Try love quadrangle! 

Julia: I could do without all the she loves him, but he loves her, she loves him but wants to kiss this other guy and then this other dude wants to make her his slave. And yadda yadda yadda. I mean, it all makes for a very satisfying read and I can't put it down with all of this soap opera goodness...... but yeah I think I'm just frustrated because I'm ready for some decisions to be made. The next book will clear this up for me though ;) 

Shannon: Mal, Mal, Mal.  What the heck, Mal?  Mal's insecurities and subsequent asshat behavior killed me in this book.  It was my least favorite part of the book.  But on the other hand, it all made sense, I guess.  I WAS happy to see that The Darkling isn't really in the mix. After what he did to Alina, I would lose all respect for Bardugo as an author if she tried to trump up romance on Alina's part.    

 

4. What was your favorite part of awesomeness?  What did not live up to being awesome? 

Julia: The chemistry between Mal and Alina is lacking in this book. I feel like that's how Leigh Bardugo wanted it to be though, which is fine, but they had such an amazing thing going in book one that I was just sort of like, well boo! Her chemistry with Nikolai is brilliant though. They would be the ultimate power couple and I'm crossing my fingers that she chooses her country, power and Nikolai over Mal. Things with Mal are just so complicated, I'm interested to see what will happen if she let's him go. The action scenes are the most awesomeness of this book though - fighting Grisha!

Shannon: Sturmhond was definitely the one the best parts of this book.  I LOVED how everything went down on the ship. And the fighting Grisha was awesome!  I also liked the expanded worldview we got.  There is much more than just the Little Palace!  I also liked how Bardugo ended it.  Some things were left on the verge of mending and that gave me hope for the next book.  I think we can both agree that the rocky relationship between Alina and Mal was painful.  I kind of wanted to slap Mal across the face and scream "get ahold of yourself!".  Alina also needed to just TALK to Mal.  Geez. 

  

5. The new characters:  awesome or not? 

Julia: AWESOME. AWESOME. AWESOME. And again, AWESOME. They add so much personality to the story. I only wish they had been introduced to me sooner.

Shannon: They definitely breathed some life into the story!  I loved them all and so excited to see them again in the next book!  

Other books in this series in the order that they should be read:
1. Shadow and Bone
2. Siege and Storm