Siege and Storm (The Grisha #2) - Leigh Bardugo [Review]

This review may contain spoilers.

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

Title: Siege and Storm

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Publisher:  Henry Holt and Co.

Series: The Grisha #2

Release Date: June 4th 2013

Pages: 435

Rating: ★★★★☆

Blurb:

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.

Review:

Siege and Storm was a great sequel to Shadow and Bone. I was very afraid of the 'Sequel Syndrome', but the book was at least as good as the first book.

The book begins where Shadow and Bone ended: Alina and Mal on the run from the Darkling. Unfortunately they are captured by the Darkling pretty quickly and brought to sea on Captain Stormhund's ship. They escape with Stormhund's help to the Little Palace and the rest of the book is about Alina's struggle to find a way to defeat the Darkling.

I have to admit I had to come into the story at first. The first few chapters were a bit slow-paced and lacking action, but after Alina and Mal were captured by the Darkling the pace picked up and I could not put it down until the end.

The world-building and writing and the detailed fantasy and Russian elements were fantastic again. These were probably the main reasons I liked Shadow and Bone so much and the same goes for the sequel. In Siege and Storm there is even more fantasy: new magical creatures (dragons!) and new (dark) powers. 

The greatest addition to the story was the character of Stormhund. He brought the necessary humour to the book. He was lively and fun and I thought he made the book less dark. Alina paints him off as a liar and someone who wants to take advantage of her, but I thought he seemed like a genuine person and a potential friend (or more..).

Alina has changed very much since Shadow and Bone. She went from a shy, weakly person to  a strong woman and in Siege and Storm to an even stronger, sometimes even creepy powerful person. She struggles with her hunger for power and with the question if she is really different from the Darkling. Her newly found power made her quite a cold person sometimes, by threathening everyone who will not do as she said. This made her a bit unlikeable, but later she would feel guilty about it and I would forgive her coldness:) Overall she has become a stronger person, sometimes a bit frightining. I hope for her that she won't go dark in book 3.

I thought Mal was (a little) irritating in Siege and Storm. He was very different from the sweet, supporting Mal in Shadow and Bone. Alina gave him less attention and Mal grew insecure because of that. He became jealous and grumpy, and competed in all sorts of weird fighting competitions, to forget about Alina. On the one hand I understand why he acted like that, he just did not feel at home in the Little Palace and on the other hand I really disliked him for acting so mean to Alina, who was just trying to do the right thing. Overall, his character did not improve in this book.

I missed the Darkling in this book. He appeared only in the beginning and the end. I don't think the Darkling is a loveable character, but he is very intruiging and I would have loved to learn more about him and have some character development.

I would definitely recommend this book. It is at least as good as Shadow and Bone, no sequel syndrome here. The setting, the characters, the plot and the world-building are just amazing. I cannot wait to read book 3, Ruin and Rising.

Stars: 4 out of 5