Book Review :: Siege and Storm, by Leigh Bardugo

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
Series: Shadow and Bone #2, Grishaverse #2
Also in this series: Shadow and Bone, Six of Crows, King of Scars, Rule of Wolves, Demon in the Wood
Published by Henry Holt and Company
on June 4th 2013
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Pages: 435
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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.

Last updated on 7 June 2022

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What is Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo about?

The beginning of Siege and Storm picks up where the first in the Grisha series ended, and in the Shadow and Bone book 2, Alina the Sun Summoner and her best friend Mal on the run from the powerful Darkling.

When the Darkling eventually finds them, it comes to light that there is not one but two Grisha power amplifiers (Alina having been forced to wear the first in Shadow and Bone) and the Darkling needs Mal to track the beast. In a whirlwind of events, Alina and Mal are saved by Sturmhond, a privateer with a bigger agenda, and, with a second amplifier in hand, they escape the grasp of the Darkling and head back to the Ravka’s city, Os Alta.

“When people say impossible, they usually mean improbable.”

There Alina wants to head up the Second Army of Grisha and end the terrifying horrors that the Darkling can now control. She wants to close the Fold, and save her country.

Siege and Storm follows Alina as she makes hard decisions, come to terms with the fact that she is considered a Saint among the people, and as she tries to convince herself she’s not going mad with all the hallucinations of the Darkling that seem, and feel, so real. She struggles with her relationship with Mal, with the unpredictability of Sturmhond, and the uncertainty from the Royal family.

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My thoughts on Siege and Storm

I don’t want to say much more without giving too much away. While Siege and Storm did take me about 10 days to read, that’s not because I wasn’t enjoying it. On the contrary, as you can see, I really liked it. The business that is November for me got away on me a little and I had to opt for sleep rather than reading. The horror, I know.

My favourite thing about this sequel was the introduction to the new character, Sturmhond. He is hilarious and handsome, charming and cheeky, and rude but clever. All of that makes him a breath of fresh air in an otherwise tense and troubled pile of characters. I’m looking forward to more of his character in the next and final instalment of this series.

“So many men had tried to make her a queen. Now she understood that she was meant for something more. The Darkling had told her he was destined to rule. He had claimed his throne, and a part of her too. He was welcome to it. For the living and the dead, she would make herself a reckoning. She would rise.”

Taking a look at the reviews on Goodreads, a lot of people have love/hate feelings towards the Darkling. And I have to agree with them. He’s this dark, terrifying creature, but he’s intriguing and there’s just something about him that’s creepily amazing. And you know what? I missed him in this book. Where were you, Darkling?

Alina was annoying at times in this book, and her strained relationship with Mal was frustrating. Just when things started looking up! Some of the minor characters were in Shadow and Bone turn up from time to time in Siege and Storm, but there was a great assembly of new characters (like Sturmhond), and they made up for some of that.

I really love Leigh Bardugo’s writing style and her storytelling. I said in my review of Shadow and Bone how much I enjoyed the world she has created, and as sequels go, a lot of people are saying they enjoyed this book more than Shadow and Bone, but I think I like them equally. This is an amazing series, and I’m so looking forward to reading the third, Ruin and Rising, and then diving into the next Grisha trilogy, Six of Crows.

Have you read this series? What did you think?

Did you enjoy Siege and Storm more than Shadow and Bone?