Hello everyone!

I am back again with another book review, and I’m confused about this one. I had an amazing time reading Shadow and Bone (you can read my review here) and it had me very excited to read the next novel in this series, unfortunately I was a bit underwhelmed with this one. I’ll get more into detail down below.

Let’s get into it!

---

Goodreads Rating: 4.08/5
Pages: 435 pages
Published: June 4th, 2013
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, and Fantasy

Plot: (Plot for Book 1 listed below to prevent spoilers)
Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now it’s fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life – a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched form everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha… and the secrets of her heart.

---

⭐ ⭐ ⭐

---

My Thoughts

Official rating: 3.75/5

This novel was one I was really looking forward to. I thought it was one that I would automatically love and something that would just add to the world of the Grisha that I love.

Unfortunately, I was slightly underwhelmed with this novel.

In terms of plot, I was very interested in what was going on. I found that it started off from right where we left off and I was excited to see what Bardugo would bring us next about the Grisha-verse. I found that the plot progressed in an interesting way and it did ensure that my attention was kept for a very long time.

Additionally, I found that the storyline was something that kept growing in interesting ways and always kept me on my toes.

The problem I have with this novel is in terms of characters. Alina did show some incredible growth this novel, but I found her internal struggle between wanting Mal and wanting to be away from Mal to be slightly frustrating to follow.

Mal was another character that I found to be incredibly annoying this novel. He was one-dimensional and such a hindrance to this story that I didn’t really see why he was such a vital part of the story.

Lastly, in terms of characters, I was pleased to see a new character added on to the story that we didn’t really expect to be such a large part of the plot. This character was an incredible addition and managed to balance off Mal a bit, so I’m hoping we see more of them in the next novel.

All in all, without providing any spoilers, this novel was one that I felt hit all the plot points I wanted it to, but as for characters I was a bit disappointed this time around.

I hope the next novel gives me everything I found lacking in this one.

---

Alright guys, that concludes my review for Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo.

Thank you so much for reading and don’t forget to follow my blog as well as my other social media sites linked in the side bar.

Until next time,

Rimpy Toor