Review: Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

 Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
Published: June 4th 2013

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.

I was a bit apprehensive starting Siege and Storm. I was told it was an “okay” filler book between Shadow and Bone and Ruin and Rising. I have to say I absolutely loved this book. I enjoyed the writing (as most of you can tell I’ve been on a very big Bardugo Binge) as well as the story line. A lot of threads being woven together for the conclusion of this series.

The pace of this book is absolutely perfect if this is considered a “filler” book. Although the Darkling isn’t very present in this book, he’s very much-so a big part of this plot/story, especially in this book. The suspense and the tie between The Darkling and The Sun Summoner are absolutely amazing.

Also, I feel like I hate Alina and Mal, or maybe it’s just Mal that annoys me. I think I boarded the Alina and Nikolai ship. I have to say that I’m loving more and more of the characters like Tolya and Temar. They’re two great pillars in this book series and I can’t get enough of them!

I think this book did a great job of setting up for Ruin and Rising and if Leigh Bardugo’s writing is anything like the last book, Ruin and Rising seems quite promising (spoiler alert : I already read Ruin and Rising and it’s great…review to come).