“The less you say, the more weight your words will carry.”
Book: Siege and
Storm (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy #2, The Grisha Trilogy #2)
Author: Leigh
Bardugo
Genre: Fantasy,
Young Adult, Magic, Adventure
Synopsis: 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, all while keeping her identity as the Sun Summoner a secret. But 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.
What I
thought about it…
Set right after Alina and Mal escaped the Darkling while they were on the
Fold, they’re living a normal life away from Ravka when one day the Darkling
and his Grisha barged into their boardinghouse and summon his shadow soldiers.
So Alina and Mal were, again, captured by the Darkling and were in the middle
of the sea looking for yet another amplifier, the Rusalye. Detained in a whaler under the command of a weird privateer
named Sturmhond and his rogue Grisha, Alina and Mal was hopeless. The Darkling
wants Mal to track the Rusalye and they found it. But shit happens. Sturmhond
betrayed the Darkling and freed Alina and Mal just to bring them back to Ravka
and deliver them to his client. When they get to Ravka, Sturmhond turned out to
be Nikolai, the youngest son of the King. Proposing for them to work together
against the Darkling, Alina will bring the Second Army back but she will have
to gain the trust of the remaining Grisha. She also have to tame her powers and
make the most of it now that she has two amplifiers. But she’s changing and
everyday she hungers for more and more power. Deep inside her there’s a gnawing
part where she knows there’s something missing until Nikolai showed her the
little book that the Apparat gave her and in there shows that there was yet
another amplifier – the firebird.
Characters
Recurring characters include Alina and Mal (of course) and also the
remaining Grisha after The Darkling’s coup against the King – Zoya, Sergei,
Marie, Nadia and David– and then Baghra, who we discovered is actually the
Darkling’s mother and Botkin, the instructor tasked with preparing Grisha for physical
combat. On the opposing side is the Darkling, Genya and Ivan and some unnamed
Grisha.
New characters include Nikolai, the youngest prince, who was rumored to
be a bastard, then his two loyal Grisha soldiers, Tolya and Tamar who are twins
and some other Grisha who remained on the Little Palace was also there but not
much exposure until book three. There’s also stupid and idiot and arrogant
Vasily, the oldest son and the heir to the throne.
The only character developments are of Alina and the Darkling. I mean of
course they are the main leads but isn’t others important too? Like Mal, was he
ever just a talented and handsome tracker? Anyway, the Darkling learned how to
summon his shadow soldiers. He also learned how to magically appear in front of
Alina like an apparition. On the other hand our damsel in distress turned
leader of the Second Army and the powerful Sun Summoner Alina only became
hungrier for power. But she also learned how to do the Cut (just like the Darkling). Aside from that there’s nothing more
remarkable that she can do.
What went
wrong…
This book is a filler. Nothing really extraordinary happened because the
book was filled with Alina and Mal’s back and forth bickering, miscommunication
and lover’s quarrel. What’s also annoying is the cat-and-mouse / hide-and-seek
stuff between Alina and Mal against the Darkling. Alina became a power hungry
brat. I hated her here as much as I loved her character in Shadow and Bone. She’s changing and though she’s aware of it, she’s
not doing anything about it. The Darkling was nowhere aside from that appearance
during the first few and last chapters. Unlike others, I’m not smitten by him.
I don’t ship him with Alina and though I’m irritated with Alina and Mal’s
lover’s quarrels, their relationship is the one I’m rooting for. I was annoyed
with Mal, yes, but I always root for the underdog. Also, I would say, there was
a part where I want Alina and Nikolai to be together – in the back of my mind.
But whatever, Alina being the apple of the eye of almost (if not all) the men
in this book is absurd that I kept rolling my eyes every time.
My Verdict
This was sad because I loved the first book. I’ve read some reviews that
the first book is the less enjoyable one but I don’t think so. Although I was
not bored while reading this, still, I was disappointed. I’ll still continue to
read the series just so I can get to Six
of Crows Duology.
MY RATING
★☆☆☆☆
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