A review by candicen423
Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

adventurous dark mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

AHHHHHHHH I’m so mad my library doesn’t have the third book this the seriessssss! I’m really really not ok with this…Like, at all

To start I just want to say something about how incredible of a world builder Bardugo is. Creating a fantasy realm full of magic and mythical creatures and saints is not easy and yet Ravka feels so tangible that I could take a vacation there over Christmas. It’s absolutely incredible and I can’t wait to read more of these books and watch this world grow and develop even more.

Now I’m not going to say these characters are perfect, because they aren’t. But characters, or even writing at that, wouldn’t be human without flaws. Alina in particular gets far far more hate than she deserves. I’ve seen a lot of people saying things like she’s a flat character, she makes the worst decisions, she (fill in the blank your favorite insult), but personally I feel not her personality, but her actions all throughout this book perfectly encompass who she is as a character and her personal journey.

So much of this book is watching Alina struggle this new hunger for power that the her second amplifier introduced to her. So she’s basically turning into the Darlkling… the Lightling? You get my point.

If she was this perfect, even tempered, well… Santka through this book so much of the depth and complexity of this book would be completely lost.

She’s possibly the savior of the world, but also it’s possible doom, her best friend won’t even look at her, she’s being proposed to left and right (even by people she hates), being treated as an object of negotiation, being viewed as either a traitor or a saint, and being expected to lead an army while dealing with levels of overwhelming power no Grisha should have access to! How can you expect her to be ok??

On the same note I loved the whole sub-plot (if you can even call it that) involving

Alina’s supposed visions of sorts of the Darkling. Her whole journey of trying to figure out if she was going insane, if it was some strange effect of the nichevo'ya bite, or if he was actually somehow there

was so well written it kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. And speaking of the nichevo'ya, the monsters in these books are so unique and so delightfully creepy! 

Although the whole thing was amazing the ending is what truly made this book for me.

Again, so much of this book is watching Alina fall prey to practically limitless power. This whole ending scene was incredible because it was the first time we really fully saw the extent to which the power had changed her. Yes, it was an attempt to kill the Darkling, and she nearly did, but she was not only willing to take herself out in the process to save everyone else, she seemed rather on board with the idea of not having to deal with the power anymore. It was raw and emotional and beautifully written. If Mal hadn’t pulled her away she’d be gone and that was just as much her intention as wiping out the Darkling.

 

This whole book goes to show power is as glamorous as it is dangerous. It can build kingdoms but destroy a person. With

Alina’s powers now seemingly gone(??!!?)

the finale could go so many different directions. Leigh, keep doing what you’re doing because I’m obsessed.