Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo is the sequel to Shadow and Bone, a trilogy I decided to get into since the hype tripled with the release of its Netflix show. You can read my Shadow and Bone review here.
This is Leigh Bardugo’s first trilogy–I believe Shadow and Bone was her first-ever book. If I had known that when I wrote the first review, perhaps I would have been kinder, but I felt it didn’t live up to the hype. That being said, Siege and Storm was significantly better.
While I gave Shadow and Bone three stars, I would raise Siege and Storm to four stars. The reason for the whole star jump? Nikolai.
I am so in love with this new character. He is charming and sarcastic, with the best one-liners. He has a good heart while also looking out for his own interests. In a lot of ways, he reminds me of my love, Thorne, from The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer.
The first half of Siege and Storm was slow-going, particularly before we meet Nikolai. Alina is still annoying and whiny throughout the book. However, now the plot has higher stakes, involving political intrigue and an epic battle, and I am for it.
That being said, I still cannot stand the romance. Before, I said I don’t get why Mal receives so much hate. Well, now I do. Alina, annoying as she is, is going through so much and I can feel a stroke of sympathy for her when Mal demand her to care for his fragile ego, too. I honestly don’t know why she keeps going back to him again and again. I wanted to stop reading each time he was on the page.
If I was in Alina’s place, I’d go for Nikolai. Anyway….
In the first book, I thought the Darkling was an intriguing villain and he still is but he is hardly in this book. Surprisingly, I liked it that way. It kept him mysterious, especially as Alina could never guess what he was planning or what army he was building. I no longer love the Darkling, though. I want to be the kind of girl that falls in love with the bad guys, but I get angry when innocent people get hurt. I suppose I can’t be the badass, then. *shrugs*
Finally, I liked the touch of the religious fanatics and what they might mean for Alina. It all still feels loosely connected but I trust Bardugo to take care of that in the final installment of the trilogy.
If things continue to improve, maybe Ruin and Rising can be five stars! Or, at least four and a half.
Leigh Bardugo’s Instagram here.
Trailer for Shadow and Bone here.
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