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A review by margueritestjust
Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book is definitely a stronger novel than its prequel. That being said, I really don't remember much of what happened in this book after reading its sequel, which is probably why I should have written this before reading the final book in this trilogy. That being said, let's get into it.
The character work is much stronger and the author makes bolder choices concerning the morality of the main character, which I enjoyed a lot more. I had some issues with the pacing of this book, especially since the middle is one giant yawning blank spot in my memory, but again, overall, a better venture than the first book. The beginning of the book was perhaps the most frustrating part for me - technically I guess it's not really spoilers but also? Idk, I'll tag it anyways.It seemed like there was no point to Mal and Alina having escaped from the Darkling at the end of the first book. There wasn't any growth to their characters during the maybe one chapter where they were free in Novyi Zem. The Darkling got to them again and then there were in the exact same spot they'd been at the end of the first book. Also, I'm a little mad that the hunt for the second amplifier took literally only 1 week, and it was accomplished before the first third of the book was even over. Like...okay. Glad it was that easy to find the magical grail you needed so that your main character doesn't have to actually work for her magic. As for Stormhond being Nikolai, I already knew due to him being in Crooked Kingdom and having read that first but it didn't bug me too much.
Everyone raves about Nikolai and I am glad to say that they are right. While he does seem a bit too perfect, I like how calculating he is. Nikolai really did carry so much of this book. Plus, the man gives me strong Sir Percy Blakeney vibes, which I'm always going to adore. The love square or whatever Alina has got going on I could without, though. I can't wait for the show viewers who haven't read the books all fall into chaos again when he gets introduced into the show and all the Darklina shippers and Malina shippers get to now have to contend with the Nikolina(???) shippers. Weirdly enough, I think that the Darkling and Alina's ~romantic~ dynamic was the most interesting, which I rarely feel considering that I generally dislike the whole enemies/lovers type thing whenever it crops up in books. I think that Alina's descent into more moral greyness made this a lot more possible as they ended up becoming a foil to each other, and I do hope that that crops up in the show. Who knows, though. Also I really can't stress how much of this book was a love square and even Vasily proposed marriage; that's when I really started to lose it. A shame that so much of the good character work happens when there's a love square going on. Also, Zoya and Alina's continued conflict was so forced.
Everyone also dislikes Mal in this book, and yeah, I can see it. I think Alina annoyed me more, though. It's particularly the whole "I never asked for this responsibility" thing, which was not quite as much of a crime as it has been in other media *cough cough*Clarke Griffin in The 100*cough cough*, but it's one of my very personal pet peeves in fiction.
One of the really good things that I got out of this book was insight into my own writing, so that was nice.
Again, I'd really just say that this book is an improvement, but not a whole lot happens. I should have written this review while I still remembered the contents.
The character work is much stronger and the author makes bolder choices concerning the morality of the main character, which I enjoyed a lot more. I had some issues with the pacing of this book, especially since the middle is one giant yawning blank spot in my memory, but again, overall, a better venture than the first book. The beginning of the book was perhaps the most frustrating part for me - technically I guess it's not really spoilers but also? Idk, I'll tag it anyways.
Everyone raves about Nikolai and I am glad to say that they are right. While he does seem a bit too perfect, I like how calculating he is. Nikolai really did carry so much of this book. Plus, the man gives me strong Sir Percy Blakeney vibes, which I'm always going to adore. The love square or whatever Alina has got going on I could without, though. I can't wait for the show viewers who haven't read the books all fall into chaos again when he gets introduced into the show and all the Darklina shippers and Malina shippers get to now have to contend with the Nikolina(???) shippers. Weirdly enough, I think that the Darkling and Alina's ~romantic~ dynamic was the most interesting, which I rarely feel considering that I generally dislike the whole enemies/lovers type thing whenever it crops up in books. I think that Alina's descent into more moral greyness made this a lot more possible as they ended up becoming a foil to each other, and I do hope that that crops up in the show. Who knows, though. Also I really can't stress how much of this book was a love square and even Vasily proposed marriage; that's when I really started to lose it. A shame that so much of the good character work happens when there's a love square going on. Also, Zoya and Alina's continued conflict was so forced.
Everyone also dislikes Mal in this book, and yeah, I can see it. I think Alina annoyed me more, though. It's particularly the whole "I never asked for this responsibility" thing, which was not quite as much of a crime as it has been in other media *cough cough*Clarke Griffin in The 100*cough cough*, but it's one of my very personal pet peeves in fiction.
One of the really good things that I got out of this book was insight into my own writing, so that was nice.
Again, I'd really just say that this book is an improvement, but not a whole lot happens. I should have written this review while I still remembered the contents.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Animal death