Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

15 reviews

punktilious's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Siege and Storm is the sequel to Shadow and Bone, of which it delivers nothing less or more. While I still recommend it, do not expect anything particularly special.

The trend of romance being a huge factor continues even though there is no romance label. Alina is now involved in a "love square", that is, she has 3 suitors… While I do not mind romance, it is a major motivation for Alina. And, again, it was not what was advertised. With Genya no longer by her side, she also has few friends. It seems her love interests are the main characters she interacts with, which limits the way she can develop. In the first book, it took getting over Mal to awaken her powers. What sort of development would occur if Alina had different people by her side?

I wonder. There is an unfortunate lack of character development for all characters, not just Alina. It seems the characters wrestle with the same issues over and over again. Some characters, such as Mal, seem to have no purpose behind their actions and feelings. Why was he so proud of his position in the First Army? What made him fall in love with Alina, when he had paid her no mind?

Alina is dependent, despite her strength. Mal is insecure. Nikolai is concerned with only Ravka. The Darkling wants power. Everyone else is either ignorant, scared or too concerned with tradition. They are all stuck in their ways and therefore do not promote the development of the story. The only thing keeping the book moving is the goal: finding the Firebird and taking down the Darkling.

It is the development of one of the goals that was handled in an… interesting way. The climax WAS the end of the book, it happened abruptly and was quite unsatisfying. I look forward to how Leigh Bardugo wraps this story up in the third book.

With this seemingly negative review, why did I say that I still recommend the book? While the characters are a bit of a drawback, the world is wonderful. Throughout Siege and Storm, we get to learn more about the setting and the "magic" system. The book, despite not being the best thing I have ever read, still kept me on the edge of my seat. It was fun. While Siege and Storm is certainly not a must-read, it is still worth it if you are…

• an enjoyer of "trashy" (said with affection) romances
• looking for an easy read
• a fan of Leigh Bardugo
• interested in the Grishaverse

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Stalking, Alcohol, War, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Child death, Confinement, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Forced institutionalization, and Grief

uselesspirateraven's review

adventurous funny hopeful tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War

Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Body horror and Self harm

undecidedpersonality's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Torture, and Classism

Minor: Child death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, and Fire/Fire injury

mckiheather's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Confinement, Death, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail

matthiasreads's review

adventurous

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, and Violence

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault, Torture, Xenophobia, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Incest, Infidelity, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Alcohol

prettynerdy3's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

saoreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Even after all that drama, the heroine was back to square one and it seemed like the story was just repeating like a never-ending cycle. Someone must have loved the villain too much, because reading this can become exhausting after a few chapters. Affairs, way too many affairs, yet it was obvious the characters were set, though it wouldn't miss the chance to make it tiresome to read at some point. There's the drag of influence and the point of view of Alina, who simply can't make up her mind, which adds up to make you vex over it. So far, there haven't been any notable characters to recall, which is a bit disappointing. For the nth time, the continuing chapters were simply dragging. Reading the midmost parts felt like a chore, sadly. For the sake of honing the character, it's unbelievable how there's a crowd of love lines just for one person. Though it was a good read overall, it's not something I'd happily consume for a day. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and War

aliyachaudhry's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Cursing, Infidelity, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

brandie_abbie19's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail