Review: Siege and Storm (The Grisha #2) by Leigh Bardugo

Published: June 4, 2013 by Henry Holt and Co.
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Format: ebook
Source: Purchased

Goodreads Summary

Darkness never dies.

Hunted across the True Sea, haunted by the lives she took on the Fold, Alina must try to make a life with Mal in an unfamiliar land. She finds starting new is not easy while keeping her identity as the Sun Summoner a secret. She can’t outrun her past or her destiny for long.

The Darkling has emerged from the Shadow Fold with a terrifying new power and a dangerous plan that will test the very boundaries of the natural world. With the help of a notorious privateer, Alina returns to the country she abandoned, determined to fight the forces gathering against Ravka. But as her power grows, Alina slips deeper into the Darkling’s game of forbidden magic, and farther away from Mal. Somehow, she will have to choose between her country, her power, and the love she always thought would guide her--or risk losing everything to the oncoming storm.

"A dead martyr was less trouble than a living saint."

Golden Sunbursts

My favorite part of this one is the character of Sturmhond. He is a privateer that comes out of nowhere and it's hard to see where he stands. He's mischievous, full of swagger, and surrounded by powerfully loyal friends. I loved his entry into the story and all the twists and turns that he brought with him. I loved his personality and his quick wit. I also appreciated the two characters of Tolya and Tamar that worked alongside Sturmhond. They are twins, incredibly loyal, and a pair that you definitely want on your side.

Alina and Mal in the beginning of Siege and Storm are on the run. It's actually quite entertaining to see them on the run though you'd expect that to be the boring part. I liked their characters a lot better in the beginning.

I continue to appreciate all the side characters and how every single character in the series has both good and bad in them. This makes them far more realistic and also harder to tell who deserves to be rooted for.

Martyrdom

This book suffered from 2nd book syndrome in my opinion though I'm sure others will disagree with me. It became all angsty instead of revving up the action. As far as I'm concerned the beginning was good and the ending was good (though it's a cliff hanger), the rest was quite tame and boring. Our heroine who has so much incredible power barely even uses it, instead gets captured time and again. She also embraces her own death at one point which incredibly infuriated me. I fail to see how her death would've helped at all. The romance was horribly disappointing.

Proposals Everywhere

The romance in this one is terrible. Just figure out what you want! I don't even give a crap who it is with, just that all this angst and wanting with no resolution finally go somewhere.

Into the Unsea

The side characters are fantastic. The world building and powers included are quite fascinating. However, the action lowered and parts of this read were just lackluster. The angst was on high and everything else was on low. I will read the next book as I'm quite enthralled by the characters and have to know now how all this ends, but this one was not as good as the first.

Excerpts

I could cut the Darkling in two with my power. I could crack this whole saintsforsaken building right down the middle. But not before Ivan opened Mal's throat.

So this must be Sturmhond. He looked too young to be the captain of anything.

He was watching me in that cold, assessing way that always made me feel as if he were reading me like words on a page, his fingers moving over text, gleaning some secret knowledge that I could only guess at. I tried not to fidget, but the irons at my wrists chafed.