REVIEW : Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

Siege and Storm - Leigh Bardugo
Publisher : Henry Holt and Co.
Release Date : June 4th 2013
Genres : YA, Fantasy
Pages : 435
Rating : ★★★☆☆

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.

The word I immediately had in mind after finishing Siege and Storm was damn. It took me much longer to read it than the first book ,where pages seemed to turn themselves magically. It was slow in the middle and rich in politics but it was purposeful for the rest of the serie.

We follow a new Alina, changed and determined to be in control. She's no more the passive orphan from Shadow and Bone, she's powerful and becomes a leader. Yeah, that sounds sensational but the truth is she was annoying as hell. I didn't like some of her decisions nor her behaviour towards Mal. However, after the events of this sequel, I have a feeling that's I'm going to like her more in the final book.

"I am incomplete."

I think this quote sums up Alina in this book.Once again, the main theme is power and she gets hungry for more. "Like calls to like": Power calls for more power and we ask ourselves if the Darkling isn't a victim in all of this. We don't even know his name, he's completely dehumanized. I mean, the guy has done pretty bad stuff but he's been corrupted by the same thing that's corrupting Alina too.

In the first book, they had to kill the stag to get an amplifier, in other words, you have to take innocent lives in order to be stronger.It actually made me think of "The Magicians" where power acts like a drug you know, once you know about its existence you can't keep yourself away from it and that's exactly what happens in Siege and Storm.

And maybe that's why I liked Mal in this book. He knew Alina since they were children, he's like a guide to her humanity.

Anyway, let's stop this analysis and let's get back to the review. The most memorable part of the book was Sturmhund. I absolutely loved reading about him. He's sassy and complicated and I'm always curious to read his reactions. He's definitely my favourite character of the serie.

And I liked the dark turn of the events. There are some twists I didn't expect (I love when that happens) and overall it was a pretty good sequel.