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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
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:
Complicated
Wow.
So I just finished Siege and Storm and... I am so conflicted!
On the one hand, this installment is better than Shadow and Bone. . It's more complex, darker and there are fun new characters introduced. I loved Nikolai and Tamar and Tolya. The stakes are higher and everything is more epic and grand.
On the other hand, it's worse. It got boring and draggy sometimes, cringy and cheesy at others. There is also so much less Darkling and so much more Mal. And since I feel very passionate about these two characters I'm going to rate this lower than the 3.5 stars (rounded up) I gave Shadow and Bone.
About the love triangle
(which, by the way, turned into a love square/pyramid in this book)
Mal is incredibly boring. He is also rude, annoying, and immature. He's whiny and pretty much unbearable sometimes. I hate him with a passion.
I have no idea why anyone would love him. Especially Alina. But I guess he's beautiful which is enough for her (more on that later).
On top of all that, the main problem with Mal is that they are so incompatible. They have literally nothing in common, completely different wants and goals in life, Mal is not Grisha while Alina is, and they have zero chemistry and zero spark. They are absolutely no fun together. Thankfully At least choose Nikolai if you can't choose the Darkling.
Yes, the Darkling is evil and in real life, I would be rooting against him. But he honestly makes a good point: he and Alina are more compatible. Plus he is just so much more interesting than Mal? So much more complex. He and Alina might not be the picture of a healthy relationship, but it would make for a more exciting book. But
Alina herself is an only okay character for me. She seems to attach her worth to her beauty, which I don't like. There are some interesting things that can be done with that, but the author didn't do any of them and didn't do much to challenge that idea of worth=beauty. There's also some girl hate, which is always annoying. And much like in the first book, I found myself wishing she would grow a backbone sometimes.
That being said, I liked her, for example when she did grow a backbone a couple times. And she is far more interesting than Mal... but that's not saying much.
Nikolai is pretty great, and I have to say, I'd be happy and content if Alina chose him. Mostly because that would be such a relief she didn't choose Mal I'd be fine with anyone except him He's witty, charming and cute. I liked him. The Darkling remains my favorite of the three, but he's a second.
Honestly... it felt like the author played it too safe. Alina could have been an interesting antihero, but most of the time she was kind of a wimp. The Darkling could have been in it way more, it could have been filled with his, but instead we got whiny Mal. Every time the story went in the direction I wanted it to go, like at It turned back around and I was like "awww." So many missed opportunites! This could have been a great book if those opportunities had been taken. There were still some great moments and great characters, and the nice writing and setting. There were well-written battle scenes and tense scenes. I like the world of the Grisha, and am really excited for Six of Crows set in the same universe.
In conclusion, I am very conflicted on my feelings about this book. I think overall I liked it, and I felt very passionate about the characters and was engaged enough to read through the boring parts to the end, so three stars? 2.5? I'll go with that.
What I want in the third book: Alina exploring her dark side, way more Darkling, more Genya, more Nikolai, Mal to go jump off a cliff less Mal, some more characterization for Zoya
So I just finished Siege and Storm and... I am so conflicted!
On the one hand, this installment is better than Shadow and Bone. . It's more complex, darker and there are fun new characters introduced. I loved Nikolai and Tamar and Tolya. The stakes are higher and everything is more epic and grand.
On the other hand, it's worse. It got boring and draggy sometimes, cringy and cheesy at others. There is also so much less Darkling and so much more Mal. And since I feel very passionate about these two characters I'm going to rate this lower than the 3.5 stars (rounded up) I gave Shadow and Bone.
About the love triangle
(which, by the way, turned into a love square/pyramid in this book)
Mal is incredibly boring. He is also rude, annoying, and immature. He's whiny and pretty much unbearable sometimes. I hate him with a passion.
I have no idea why anyone would love him. Especially Alina. But I guess he's beautiful which is enough for her (more on that later).
On top of all that, the main problem with Mal is that they are so incompatible. They have literally nothing in common, completely different wants and goals in life, Mal is not Grisha while Alina is, and they have zero chemistry and zero spark. They are absolutely no fun together. Thankfully
Spoiler
Alina addresses this at the end. Hopefully this means Mal isn't her final choice in Book 3!Yes, the Darkling is evil and in real life, I would be rooting against him. But he honestly makes a good point: he and Alina are more compatible. Plus he is just so much more interesting than Mal? So much more complex. He and Alina might not be the picture of a
Spoiler
I feel at this point he is kind of unredeemable. He's pretty evil, and this series doesn't seem to be going in the direction I want it to (which is, Alina becoming an antihero + ending up with the Darkling)Alina herself is an only okay character for me. She seems to attach her worth to her beauty, which I don't like. There are some interesting things that can be done with that, but the author didn't do any of them and didn't do much to challenge that idea of worth=beauty. There's also some girl hate, which is always annoying. And much like in the first book, I found myself wishing she would grow a backbone sometimes.
That being said, I liked her, for example when she did grow a backbone a couple times. And she is far more interesting than Mal... but that's not saying much.
Nikolai is pretty great, and I have to say, I'd be happy and content if Alina chose him.
Honestly... it felt like the author played it too safe. Alina could have been an interesting antihero, but most of the time she was kind of a wimp. The Darkling could have been in it way more, it could have been filled with his, but instead we got whiny Mal. Every time the story went in the direction I wanted it to go, like at
Spoiler
the ending, where it seemed like Alina was going to go with the darkling, or the few times she felt kind of evilIn conclusion, I am very conflicted on my feelings about this book. I think overall I liked it, and I felt very passionate about the characters and was engaged enough to read through the boring parts to the end, so three stars? 2.5? I'll go with that.
What I want in the third book: Alina exploring her dark side, way more Darkling, more Genya, more Nikolai,
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
nikolai made this book worth reading i think. better than the first one but quite honestly i don’t remember much besides nikolai<3
adventurous
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
adventurous
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
Definitely compelling novel. I like the way it went into politics as well as religion, and think Alina’s development is really well written. I love Nikolai and still think the Darkling is a baddie. Mal is meh (and I’m still mad there wasn’t more on him kissing Zoya). The cliffhanger at the end of the book is also nice
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
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