REVIEW: Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo @lbardugo @squarefishbooks #tsarpunk
Siege and Storm(The Grishaverse #2)
by Leigh Bardugo
Square Fish Books
🐍 AVAILABLE NOW 🐍
Continuing my Grishaverse journey! I read Shadow and Bone last month (you can find my review HERE) and am fascinated with this world that Bardugo created. Can't wait to see what the final book in the trilogy brings... then... you guessed it! Will be moving on to Six of Crows. Ahhh, my fantasy heart is swelling with happiness.
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.
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.
My Review:
So initially when I closed the book, I gave it a 4 star rating. Then instead of writing the review right away, I went to bed ... had weird dreams about zombie puppies... and then woke up and realized that I don't really feel this is a 4 star for me so I'm dropping it to a 3 star. That's not saying the book is bad. It's absolutely NOT (I don't think 3 stars is a bad rating anyways...). It's just.. there's just something missing for me in this one. Now, it could just be because it's the middle book of a trilogy so it's still giving us information while trying to tantalize you into continuing to the final book. I'm not sure.
I felt like there was a little bit of regurgitation from book one. Instead of now the Darkling being the third in a love-ish triangle, now we have Nikolai. But, I needed more of one or the other or BOTH. The focus was mainly on Alina and Mal and OMG - GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER YOU TWO! I rolled my eyes so many times at their constant back and forth I thought I was going to dislocate an eyeball.
Let's take a step back from the romantical relationships and focus on the rest of the world. Alina is trying to adjust to having two amplifiers and how it's affecting her... she needs to try and rule and army, stay away from the fanatics and still find a way to save the land from the Darkling who is tantalizing her in a way that makes her think she's going mad. Thank goodness for the twins.... or is it? Hmmm..... I'm never sure of who to trust or not to trust, which makes it a fun read.
The last quarter of the book is what had me engaged again. HERE'S where the action comes in .. but again I felt like it was a bit of a repeat from the first book. Either way, I did enjoy the overall feel of the book and am most definitely going to finish as I DO need to know what happens. Quite frankly, I wouldn't mind a few deaths of some of the main characters - I don't even care which at this point! Just give me some more action!
Leigh Bardugo is a talented writer and I love that she calls this Tsar Punk and not high fantasy. C'mon Ruin & Rising - let's see what happens now... I truly am curious!
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