Title: Siege and Storm (Shadow and Bone #2)
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Publisher: Square Fish 2013
Genre: YA Fantasy
Pages: 435
Rating: 3/5 stars
Reading Challenges:
Soldier. Summoner. Saint. Alina Starkov’s power has grown, but not without a price. She is the Sun Summoner—hunted across the True Sea, haunted by the lives she took on the Shadow Fold. But she and Mal can’t outrun their enemies for long.
The Darkling is more determined than ever to claim Alina’s magic and use it to take the Ravkan throne. With nowhere else to turn, Alina enlists the help of an infamous privateer and sets out to lead the Grisha army.
But as the truth of Alina's destiny unfolds, she slips deeper into the Darkling’s deadly game of forbidden magic, and further away from her humanity. To save her country, Alina will have to choose between her power and the love she thought would always be her shelter. No victory can come without sacrifice—and only she can face the oncoming storm.
Can Mal get eaten by a volcra now? Seriously, I so disliked him as a character and kept wanting him to die so Alina could move on. Alas, it did not happen and we get way too many pages in this book where Mal gaslights and abuses Alina. I just cannot get behind their relationship at all. Their back and forth crap is the biggest reason why this book only gets 3 stars from me. Strip that crap out or change it into a more healthy relationship and I would have given it 4 stars. I really do love the magical elements in this series. I love exploring the evolution of both Alina’s and the Darkling’s powers. I want more and more of that. So sad that the Darkling only has a small part in this book. I wanted more of him. Thankfully we do get introduced to another mysterious character that had been in his side immediately. I wanted more Nikolai. Specifically, I wanted Nikolai and Alina to form a deeper bond. I’m still going to finish this series (reading the third book right now in fact), but I am very disappointed by the central “romance” to the series.
Shadow and Bone
#2 Siege and Storm
#3 Ruin and Rising
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