You ain’t nothing but a hound

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

The Skinny: 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.

– From Goodreads

I’m changing it up a little bit today…

Commencement Speech: I’ve been putting off reviewing this one for a while. Not because it was bad or because I didn’t WANT to review it… but because how do you review a book in a series that is just too exciting for words? From the very first page we are totally immersed in this story. It’s filled with action and adventure and after the first few chapters you’re nearly worn out from the excitement… which sucks because there are so many more pages to go!

What I loved best about this was the complete character transformations we get to see. Most times characters in the second book in a series has a substantial amount of development, but Siege and Storm goes beyond that and very nearly gives us whole new characters. Alina isn’t the awkward girl we first met in Shadow and Bone. She’s struggling to deal with her now powers, her new position. She’s begun to take on a lot more than she thinks she can handle and is having to deal with the repercussions that come with it. In some instances I admire her for how she handles situations, with strength and grace. Other situations though, mostly ones dealing with Mal, made me extremely frustrated with her. It’s like she had begun to forget who she was and can only focus on who she has become.

Which… bring us to Mal. I… er… wasn’t the biggest Mal fan in Shadow and Bone. He just didn’t do it for me. However, when reading Siege and Storm… well, yeah. Darkling who? But eventually his charm began to fade for me. I started disliking his reaction to Alina’s growing into power. I understood it, don’t get me wrong, but it was hard rooting for him when he was so angry/hurt/gruff about things. That being said, the push and pull relationship that he and Alina began to develop really was interesting to follow and I look forward to seeing it further develop in the next installment.

Siege and Storm also introduces us to a new character, Sturmhond. Yeah, he’s just awesome. What can I say? I love sassy, spunky, witty and charming men in my books! We also get to see deeper into the powers of the Grisha, the history of them and more of the mythology (?). It was hugely interesting and exciting to be thrown not only into this oncoming war, but into the history that makes up the Grisha and their powers.

So maybe this isn’t my most top-notch review, but I really just couldn’t do the normal review style for it. Nothing was fitting into their normal places and I just needed to write my love for this book and this series. Can’t wait for more of it in my life!

Yearbook Quote: I am a solider. I am the Sun Summoner. And I’m the only chance you have.

Superlatives – Most likely to give a whole new meaning to deep sea fishing

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