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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
Liked this one better than the first - eager to see what happens. And I liked it a whole lot better than the show on Netflix.
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance, Fiction, Fantasy, Magic, Adventure, Paranormal,
Actual rating: 4.5/5 stars!
Wow. I was really happy that this turned out to be so great! I really loved the beginning and end of it. So many twists and turns throughout this. I had no guesses to the way this was going to go at all.
I still think I ship Alina with the Darkling. Mal in this book just wasn't my favorite at all. But holy hell, Nikolai? HELLO SIR YAS. As I was reading this, Leigh Bardugo announced the books she's doing about Nikolai and I'M SO EXCITED FOR THEM!!
I loved the introduction of all the new characters that we got in this. I loved that we see development in the ones we already had met in book one.
I'm not too sure about Alina fully. She really took a different turn than what I was expecting with how she wanted all of the power of the amplifiers. I'm not sure how I'm going to feel about her. Like I do like her character but at the same time her obsession for the power is a tad annoying.
I love the setting for these books. It's such an interesting place and I like seeing it evolve throughout the books.
The way this ended, makes me really excited to see how this trilogy concludes!
Wow. I was really happy that this turned out to be so great! I really loved the beginning and end of it. So many twists and turns throughout this. I had no guesses to the way this was going to go at all.
I still think I ship Alina with the Darkling. Mal in this book just wasn't my favorite at all. But holy hell, Nikolai? HELLO SIR YAS. As I was reading this, Leigh Bardugo announced the books she's doing about Nikolai and I'M SO EXCITED FOR THEM!!
I loved the introduction of all the new characters that we got in this. I loved that we see development in the ones we already had met in book one.
I'm not too sure about Alina fully. She really took a different turn than what I was expecting with how she wanted all of the power of the amplifiers. I'm not sure how I'm going to feel about her. Like I do like her character but at the same time her obsession for the power is a tad annoying.
I love the setting for these books. It's such an interesting place and I like seeing it evolve throughout the books.
The way this ended, makes me really excited to see how this trilogy concludes!
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I can say that this second book of the Grisha trilogy is quite slow, so if you expect a lot of epic battles between Grisha and the Darkling, then this book will seem boring, especially in the middle of the book. The main focus is on the military strategy, which is presented with a little bit of romance, unfortunately for me the romance story is a bit annoying, especially Mal's character who suddenly becomes very selfish, like i understand what made him behave like that but I think he's trapped in his own utopia, so when reality doesn't live up to it, he rebels.
There's four reasons that makes it better for me, first is Nikolai, second is NIKOLAI, THIRD IS NIKOLAI, AND FOURTH IS THE FUCKING NIKOLAI!
There's four reasons that makes it better for me, first is Nikolai, second is NIKOLAI, THIRD IS NIKOLAI, AND FOURTH IS THE FUCKING NIKOLAI!
adventurous
challenging
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I feel like I owe it to this book and to Leigh to adjust my review of Siege and Storm, which I reread for the sake of the Netflix show coming out on April 23rd.
I want to commend Leigh for her way of writing, which I have always liked. I like her style, her precise word choice, and her decisions she makes with regard to themes and metaphor. These things stand out here as they do in all her works because she is that dang good.
That being said, rereading Siege and Storm still did not elevate it above Shadow and Bone, and I doubt it will beat Ruin and Rising, either. It's my least favorite of the three because it very much feels like a transitional novel, one meant to fill the space from Alina's humble beginnings in Book 1 to the Saint role she is meant to fill in Book 3. This book is essentially her stepping up to the plate and giving her best effort at fulfilling her destiny, while coming to terms with hard truths and her inner darkness along the way.
This book made me love Alina. I liked her in the first book, but her growth and badassery here did not disappoint. I know some people find her bland and boring and whiny, but I guess I take liberty in choosing to notice the human aspects that make her shine (no pun intended) rather than the ones that make her look worse. I like that she (and Mal for that matter) are immature, insecure and downright irritating in some parts of this book because it actually makes them realistic teenagers.
That being said, while I'm fine with Mal overall, I can see his problems in this book. The last third brought out a lot of his bad side, which people tend to focus on a lot more than all the good he does. I think Leigh could have definitely done a better job with him (both in this book and in the series overall). It's easy to forget he's a kind, good person when notable personality traits only come out when he's fighting with Alina. He's given no real plot in this book at all, has hardly any good dialogue (which is where Leigh really shines the most in her books), and really has no character other than his relationship with Alina. Could he be worse? Certainly. But could he have been done much better? Yes.
The Darkling not being around was great. He's mildly interesting, but he is nowhere near the best part of these books and I will fight anyone on that. I remain unimpressed with him, just as I was in the first series. He's still, to me, an underdeveloped husk of a character that had tons of potential. I also don't like the weird sexual tension he has with Alina. It makes me uncomfortable, and I will take an angsty teen over a creepy shadow murderer as Alina's love interest any day of the week.
Nikolai is best boy. There's no debate. His whole character and Alina's development are my favorite part about this particular book, and I am very excited to read King of Scars and see what he's up to.
I am giving this book 3.5 stars, which to me is a solid rating. My personal enjoyment of this book probably brought the score up from where it would have been had I been strictly critical about characters and writing and such. I understand that this first series has a lot of discourse surrounding it and a lot of issues. But I enjoy it anyway, so that must count for something.
I want to commend Leigh for her way of writing, which I have always liked. I like her style, her precise word choice, and her decisions she makes with regard to themes and metaphor. These things stand out here as they do in all her works because she is that dang good.
That being said, rereading Siege and Storm still did not elevate it above Shadow and Bone, and I doubt it will beat Ruin and Rising, either. It's my least favorite of the three because it very much feels like a transitional novel, one meant to fill the space from Alina's humble beginnings in Book 1 to the Saint role she is meant to fill in Book 3. This book is essentially her stepping up to the plate and giving her best effort at fulfilling her destiny, while coming to terms with hard truths and her inner darkness along the way.
This book made me love Alina. I liked her in the first book, but her growth and badassery here did not disappoint. I know some people find her bland and boring and whiny, but I guess I take liberty in choosing to notice the human aspects that make her shine (no pun intended) rather than the ones that make her look worse. I like that she (and Mal for that matter) are immature, insecure and downright irritating in some parts of this book because it actually makes them realistic teenagers.
That being said, while I'm fine with Mal overall, I can see his problems in this book. The last third brought out a lot of his bad side, which people tend to focus on a lot more than all the good he does. I think Leigh could have definitely done a better job with him (both in this book and in the series overall). It's easy to forget he's a kind, good person when notable personality traits only come out when he's fighting with Alina. He's given no real plot in this book at all, has hardly any good dialogue (which is where Leigh really shines the most in her books), and really has no character other than his relationship with Alina. Could he be worse? Certainly. But could he have been done much better? Yes.
The Darkling not being around was great. He's mildly interesting, but he is nowhere near the best part of these books and I will fight anyone on that. I remain unimpressed with him, just as I was in the first series. He's still, to me, an underdeveloped husk of a character that had tons of potential. I also don't like the weird sexual tension he has with Alina. It makes me uncomfortable, and I will take an angsty teen over a creepy shadow murderer as Alina's love interest any day of the week.
Nikolai is best boy. There's no debate. His whole character and Alina's development are my favorite part about this particular book, and I am very excited to read King of Scars and see what he's up to.
I am giving this book 3.5 stars, which to me is a solid rating. My personal enjoyment of this book probably brought the score up from where it would have been had I been strictly critical about characters and writing and such. I understand that this first series has a lot of discourse surrounding it and a lot of issues. But I enjoy it anyway, so that must count for something.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Book 2 in the Grishaverse series! I am really loving this series!
The battle for Alina the Sun Summoner, Mal and all the Grisha’s and the people of Ravkan to defeat the Darkling’s power.
Nikolai and Tamar CARRY this book, and you know what? I’m okay with that.
I know Nikolai is technically a “cliché character” but I will EAT IT UP EVERY TIME HES SO ENTERTAINING
I know Nikolai is technically a “cliché character” but I will EAT IT UP EVERY TIME HES SO ENTERTAINING