Siege and Storm (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy, #2) in Book Nerds Unite

Sep 10, 2021 Amrita rated it liked it · review of another edition

Okay, I'll have to make it short or else I'll loose my mind. It may contain a few tiny spoilers, but only those, who are already obvious.

~Plot~ was not so great. The most of the book went by Alina, Mal and Nikolai planning a war against the Darkling, despite the odds. Though, the starting and the ending was nice, it was good, really. The middle portion was the same and dragged.

~Worldbuilding~ It's mostly the same. It's just that we get the same view from a deeper sense. Ravka is falling apart. ...more

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Nov 21, 2021 kinley grace rated it really liked it

I’M IN LOVE WITH NIKOLAI (3.5 stars)

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Jul 26, 2022 Morgan rated it liked it

I want to give it four stars but I can't justify it with the unhealthy-persistent codependency relationship between Alina and Mal. I feel like they will probably will be end game which is just disappointing. I just can't agree with Mal as the central love interest because it is not giving how someone should love. He wants her to basically regress and doesn't love the "true" Alina. The writing in this book is much better than the Shadow and Bone but still felt a little repetitive. I am still inte ...more

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Mar 30, 2022 anika rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favs

Title: Siege and Storm
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Dark fantasy
Published: 2013
Publisher: Macmillan
Source: Physical (paperback)
Pages: 388
Rating: 5/5

“Like calls to like.”
Leigh explored more of the world she built, the politics, rules, and such of the Ravkan society, which were lacking in the first book were a lot more prominent in the second book. The first book was focussed on character building, the second on world building, leading me to believe that the third book would be the perfect amalgam Title: Siege and Storm
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Dark fantasy
Published: 2013
Publisher: Macmillan
Source: Physical (paperback)
Pages: 388
Rating: 5/5

“Like calls to like.”
Leigh explored more of the world she built, the politics, rules, and such of the Ravkan society, which were lacking in the first book were a lot more prominent in the second book. The first book was focussed on character building, the second on world building, leading me to believe that the third book would be the perfect amalgamation of world and character building. The world building was fantastic; however, the character building was splendid too. I never felt like the characters were in the backseat. The attention to detail was remarkable. The characters were built as a product of their world, the part they grew up in and where they were in Siege and Storm. Their reactions were perfectly understandable (particularly Alina’s jealousy, when Mal was MIA for a couple of days or when Zoya was involved, was understandable given the player Mal was known for), which made the characters more human.

“You two have a bad habit of acting like fools and calling it heroic.”
The book is in first person from Alina’s perspective, and the reader spends the most time in her head. Alina’s mind was a wondrous place. She was, of course, an unreliable narrator, but the way in which she told the story made her seem extremely reliable. Her perception of the world was extremely different from anyone else’s as she grew up an orphan, before becoming a cartographer and then a Summoner, and lastly, ‘Sankta Alina’, Ravka’s only hope for salivation. The book explored her “darker” side which I loved, making her a morally grey character, and thus more relatable. Mal, on the other hand, was a character I hated, and the book didn’t make me any fonder of him. He was quite annoying and jealous of Alina. He had a stereotypical view of woman, preferring Alina when she was ‘weaker’ than him and getting insecure about everything from the time she mastered her powers.

“Scars made good reminders.”
The atmosphere of the book is well written and well maintained. The doom and gloom was perfectly juxtaposed by the light hearted scenes (even though they were few and far between). I loved the introduction of new characters, namely Nikolai. He made a great addition to the story and added something you never knew was missing. The book alluded to mental, emotional and physical scars, which we believe make us ‘ugly’, but the scars in the book break down the wall between the characters and the reader, making a connection between them.

“There is no end to our story.”
Overall, I loved the story. It was amazing and left me completely speechless. I was extremely enthralled by it and consumed by my desire to know more about what happens next. Leigh did a great job of keeping the reader completely immersed in the world she created. Definitely an underrated must read. ...more

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Mar 21, 2022 rajvii marked it as dnf-hold-on

couldn't finish it alina's getting annoying af and why the hell is mal still alive no hate but bro there's literally a dark haired mortal enemy and a goddamn prince why the hell r u with that mf when yk he's lowkey afraid of your powers she should've left him in the first book itself and why tf everyone loves alina her character was good in the series but i don't like her in the books im sorry, had so high expectations after six of crows im not sure i wanna read king of scars now😭 ...more

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