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Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

23 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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oldemort's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I've decided to rate this book 4 ⭐️. I still really enjoyed it, just less than the first book. 🥲

Let's be real, the reason I didn't like this book as much was the lack of the Darkling content and the ton of Mal content. 😅

Character wise, I still found Alina a bit immature and annoying at times, but I think I liked her a bit more than in Shadow and Bone. 🙂 Obviously, I still love the Darkling and I wish there was way more of him in this book. 😍

The only thing that I didn't really like that he did was making his monsters hurt Genya like that. 😬 I mean, I get why he did it, because she'd kind of betrayed him and all, but still. 🫣

Mal, I COMPLETELY HATED WITH EVERY BONE IN MY BODY. 🤬He's so annoying and petty and throughout the whole book just seemed to be trying to start arguments with Alina and was constantly blaming her for things that weren't even her fault. 😤

Also when he said:

"At least she doesn't flinch when I touch her,"

That was so disgusting! 🤢 And this is the character I'm supposed to like?! 😧

Anyway, I quite liked Nikolai,

although I guess that was because in some ways he was similar to the Darkling, like the way he's constantly just trying to annoy Mal. 🤭

He was also funny sometimes. 😂 As for Tamar and Tolya (I'm pretty sure that's their names), they were okay. 😐 I liked how they were looking after Alina,

but the whole "plot twist" with them secretly, like, following the Apparat person didn't really bother me much. 🤷🏼‍♀️ Like, I wasn't gob-smacked. 😶 I didn't expect it, but I didn't really care about it. 🫤 Like, obviously he's creepy and a weirdo, but meh. 🫥Although I think it would be cool if there was, like, a plot twist in the next book that was something to do with him. 😎 It just kind of seems weird that he's still such an important character if he isn't going to be involved in a plot twist of some sort. 🥸

Plot wise, the end of this book made me sad. 😭

Like, the poor little Darkling thought Alina was going to be nice to him and help him and then she was just like "sike, I wanna take your power". 😣 He's just so misunderstood. 😔 I really liked the plot twist with Vasily thinking he'd made a great deal because I was thinking "Surely he can't actually do anything good or smart" and then BAM! 🤯 He was a massive idiot and basically helped the Darkling get to them. 🤦🏼‍♀️ He kind of deserved to die, he was rude and arrogant. 😤 And then obviously I didn't like when Alina tried to take the Darkling's power because that was just rude! 😠 How dare she! 😡 I really thought for a second she was just going to go with him. 😞 She clearly picked up a few manipulative tactics from the Darkling (and Mal). 🫣 Honestly, Mal was really annoying when he decided to save Alina. 😒 Like, I think it would've been a good ending if they'd have both just died. 🥲 But now, because of Mal, Alina has no power and they're basically just doomed. 😬 It's kind of cool that Alina has white hair now though. 😅 I wonder if the Darkling lost his power too? 🤔 Or if he's still got his power and he's got Alina's as well now? 🧐

Anyway, I'm excited to see what happens in the next book,

especially with Alina not having her power now. 🤩

My ideal ending would be either Alina and the Darkling dying because, I don't know, that just seems like a peaceful ending, or with Mal dying and Alina and the Darkling ending up together (which I don't think is very likely). 🙃

However, I think that the Darkling will die (seeing as that's the only actual way to, like, ensure that he can never do evil again) and that Mal and Alina will live and be together and live happily ever after, even though I obviously don't want that to happen. 😣 (Also, my prediction may end up being correct, so that's why this is in the spoiler bit, just in case. 😌 I mean, my ideal endings could also come true, but I highly doubt it.) 🙃

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nonotyoshi's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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nellsir's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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midnightcomets's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional slow-paced

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

3.5

Ι love these characters and this story, but I really couldn't handle that amount of romantic drama, at least not currently. Of course I will continue with Ruin and Rising at some point!

P.S I could write an entire essay on Alina's journey and its connection to trauma

Content Warnings

as610's review

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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natreadthat's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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? It's complicated

3.5

The friends who warned me this book was slower than the first were not wrong. But when you’re stuck on an airplane with only one book, you read on. There wasn’t a ton of action for the second book of a trilogy, but I could feel the build-up to a (hopefully) action-packed third installment.

Alina and Mal race across land and sea in an attempt to outrun the Darkling and discover how Alina’s powers can save their world as they know it. Their romance was all over the place and no where at all, but not in a fun way. I needed more from them but luckily, some new characters held this book on their backs, so here’s to seeing where those storylines end up!

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talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

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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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sea_sea's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

This book focused a lot on Alina and Nikolai building up defenses against the Darkling. I think I almost liked it more that the first book. It ended on such a Cliffhanger though ;^;.
Sometimes this book is a bit week from a storytelling perspective, but the characters definitely make up for it!!! Alina, David, Genya, Nikolai, Tolya, Tamar, Zoya - literal PERFECTION!!!!

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david_slack110507's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

This book is much better than the first one in my opinion yet I feel unable to give it a 4-star rating. I feel like it's closer to a 3.5 or 3.75 rounded down but I may bump it up after I let my thoughts ruminate on it.

I found that this book was much more gripping that the previous one which very much felt like the first book in a trilogy (Not a bad thing but it definitely had that feeling) whereas while the long chapters remain in this one (And I'm assuming in all of Leigh Bardugo's work) I found it much easier and enjoyable to get through as well as it taking me less time. I liked a lot of the new characters the obvious being Nikolai who I feel brought a lot of charm to the novel and his back and forth with Alina was probably one of my favourite parts of the novel. Speaking of Alina, this time around while she still doubts herself and has her insecurities she felt a lot more involved in the action and getting to see her utilise the Cut and her power was nice to see throughout the novel.

I also really liked that we got to see more of the military-type operation and world of the Grishaverse/Ravka and Alina coming into control of the Second Army was really cool to see as it was a nice change of pace to have her decide to fight back against the Darkling (As briefly mentioned above). Tolya and Tamar were also a pretty good addition to the ensemble of characters even if they don't get a lot of backstory or much to do besides protecting Alina.

I can definitely see how some may not like this book as like how I feel with the first book feeling like the first book in a trilogy the same could be said for this one which can definitely feel like the second book and middle-point in a trilogy with its main goal being to set up the 3rd book/conclusion and filling out the rest of time with character dramas and a larger focus on dialogue and development that action (E.g the main real conflicts only come at the beginning and the end and The Darkling remains out of the picture for nearly all of the book aside from the final confrontation and appearing physically to Alina throughout after her nichevo'ya bite)

Overall, I might have the unpopular opinion that I preferred this book to the first and found it to be much more engaging (Perhaps due to the first book having set up everything that the second book could easily and comfortably ease back into the world). I'm planning on trying to finish this series as soon as possible rather than taking a couple of months break in between like I did with this book and the first.

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