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

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. 




My Rating: 2.9/5
Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal (Magic)
Read from November 9 to 24, 2014
Hardcover, 358 pages 
Published June 5th 2012 by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)

MY REVIEW:

Siege and Storm simply didn't live up to my expectations. The storyline's progress was fine at first and then it became slower than death. To my personal opinion, this book was worth reading just for the last 25% of it. I was reading a few pages per day, trying to finish it. The only reason for me not to  quit was because I am curious to see how the trilogy ends, and it would be impossible if I skipped the second book. 



The story unravels first in Fjerda, a neighboring country to Ravka, then on a ship somewhere in an icy sea and finally (and for the rest of what felt like an eternity) in the Little Palace. Undeniably in these books I like the world  - Ravka is consisted by a variety of landscapes. So, with such a nice countryside at hand, why do we have to stick into that stupid Little Palace? 



And here we come the most frustrating part of all: the character development. If you have read the first book, you probably agree with me that the most dominant character is the Darkling. How nice from the writer's part to whisk him away for the 70% of the book! And then we have Alina, who is plain as a stick, with no exceptional traits of character, who has almost created a love square between a prince, the Darkling, Mal and herself. No, none of them wants her just for her power - they all want her for who she is. I can't swallow that, I am sorry. I just think that the characters are undeveloped, and the relationships between them are even more so.

Focusing on the royal figures... When you have a country, and a palace, and a King dying, and two heirs to the throne, and a powerful woman, and an even more powerful enemy, you have the foundations to create very intriguing situations. On the contrary, the royal courtyard couldn't be more dull and childish. At first, prince Nikolai gave me a start, and I was prepared for all that awesome George Martin stuff - an assassinated king, some kind of a white marriage, even an uprising. Instead: Highschool drama again, a suddenly and stupidly arrogant Alina, and the referring prince stirring her skirts and requesting her attention like a puppy would do. Another thought that keeps bugging me, is that the writer seems skilled in the third person narrative, as you may have noticed from the prologues and epilogues, and it might be better if the whole trilogy wasn't in first person, at all. My general message to Leigh Bardugo is: If you are incapable to do it, avoid doing it. 

I am certainly going to read Ruin and Rising, hoping that Siege and Storm was just a weak stepping stone and things will get better.  

THE CHARACTERS  (With Spoilers)

Alina Starkov:  

"  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.  "

In my review of Alina in Shadow and Bone, I had described her as some kind of a dark Cinderella. To me, this means that she is someone who, from being a no-one suddenly gets a high rank in society by catching the "big fish", without being necessarily worthy of it. In the first book I wasn't entirely sure if I was right, but Siege and Storm came to confirm my speculations. Just follow me carefully: When the Darkling is in charge of the second army, Alina is hot and sweaty for him, whereas when she meets Nikolai, the second heir to the throne, she is not entirely sure if she likes him or not. She is still requiring poor Mal's full attention, and scolds him when she doesn't get it.    

Though I don't enjoy the arrogance she adopts at some point (I am entirely sure that I wouldn't have a problem with it if it was in third person narrative) I prefer this version of Alina, who is commanding an finally takes control over things, which is the only thing I have come to like about Alina overall. 

Malyen Oretsev (Mal):

In Shadow and Bone, I had liked Mal alot. In Siege and Storm, Mal is a puppet who acts accordingly to what Alina wishes, something that makes him a crutch to her deficient personality. To me, in this book he was spineless and even foolish, accepting things that would have spotted any man's pride. The best solution for the whole Mal-Alina thing, would be for them to accept that at the current time they are not fitted for each other, and choose other partners that are better for them. (as, to be honest, both of them have found a replacement for their lover -.-)

Nikolai Lantsov:

Nikolai is first introduced as Sturmhond (translation: Stormhound), the captain of the ship that is Alina's and Mal's prison. Later, when he has almost sunken his own ship in order to save them, he reveals that he is Nikolai, the second heir to the throne of Ravka. Nikolai's plan is to be king instead of his brother, who is the rightful heir, and his most strong asset is Alina and her power.  This is why he tries to convince her to marry him, but Alina dismisses the proposal because she is with Mal. 

Later, his feelings for Alina change, becoming deeper (ugh) and she seems a bit interested too. The book's ending is unclear on weather or not Nikolai survived the Darkling's attack to the palace. We are left with the impression though that Nikolai is in love with Alina, but they remain close friends.

If you'd ask me who are my favorite characters from Siege and Storm, I would answer that Nikolai and the Darkling are the top. Nikolai has an awesome sense of humor, which is his strongest weapon on most occasions. He is born to be a leader, and his presence to the ongoing events was the only thing that didn't let me fall asleep on the pages. 

The Darkling:

In my review of Shadow and Bone I was hoping that the Darkling would be meaner, because he wasn't enough of a bad guy, in my opinion. Guess what, he became meaner, and ABSENT too.

The whole "Visiting your dreams" and "Kissing you while you think I am someone else" idea I liked it a lot, but still it was not enough to keep this book interesting. If Alina was more intrigued and had thought about it more often it would be better, but such a thing didn't happen. Still I think that the Darkling, just like the book, has potential to be a lot better. In SAS he was even more theatrical than in the SAB, and although it was very cruel, what he did to Genya was impressive. At least, he is described as being cruel, and he finally lived up to the standards.  

Zoya:

At first, I thought that we wouldn't see a lot of Zoya in the rest of the Trilogy, but as I was proved wrong, I decided to review her too.

I agree with every review out there on Zoya being a total bitch, but I would prefer it much more if she was the sun summoner and we where following her around. The reason is simple: She is overly smart and cunning, and proves to be honest even when it is not in her best interest. She is open on the fact that she is following whoever's chances on power are up which is something that everyone else does, but doesn't dare to speak it out loud. So, my thumbs are up for Zoya, and I hope we will be seeing more of her in Ruin and Rising!

Baghra:

Baghra is the Darkling's mother, who in the first book assisted Alina in her escape. Alina thought that Baghra did it just out of her good will, but when she visits the old woman in SAS, she finds out that the Darkling ripped out his mother's eyes, and for unknown reasons she aged abruptly. Baghra shouts at Alina, telling her how foolish she is that she didn't follow her instructions, and that she never helped her out of good will but because she wanted to save her child from the power Alina gave him.

Baghra is a tragical character, loving her child above all else although he tormended her horribly. She refuses to assist Alina ruin him, too. Baghra's position is a very critical one, and I am very curious to see on whose side she will be in Ruin and Rising.

If you want to check out my reviews on the rest of the books in the series, click on the image below to be redirected: