Siege and Storm

By: Leigh Bardugo

Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang

Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's Summary

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.

©2013 Leigh Bardugo (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Kinda of Falls For the Sophomore Curse

I'm going to admit to a huge ambivalence about this second book in the Grisha series. On the one hand, I am still loving the world and the magic concepts. But then when it comes to the characters and the action sequences, I'm either bored or baffled. Seems like there would be an amazing story here with different people.

In Siege and Storm, Alina and Mal are trying to remain hidden from the Darkling. But double crosses (from both the Darkling and his allies) will force Alina and Mal back to the heart of Ravka. With a new (and interesting) ally, facing the Darkling in the open rather than in hiding may be their only option.

Book two suffers from a couple of sophomore symptoms: 'manufactured' conflict between the two romantic leads, emasculation of the male love interest, a dead dull, bloated middle arc, and recycled storylines from the first book. It was the same themes over again (Darkling capturing Alina and threatening someone she cares about, Alina trusting and getting romantically involved with a stranger, a large section of nothing but Alina moping/learns new responsibilities, then big action at the end) that made for a frustrating book.

But at the same time, there was an attempt at character growth for both Alina and Mal, though one moved forward and the other backward. Yes, every girl in the story wants Mal and every guy in the story seems to want Alina. That gets old and seems to only be there to create jealousy and uncertainty in the Mal-Alina relationship. As such, it made it hard to get into either character. Mal was an elusive character at best in the previous book - now he's practically inscrutable in his insecurity.

The action scenes were also very problematic for me. It seems that none of the Grisha were able to use their powers for anything other than collecting water or making a breeze. Alina can only do a sickle strike with her powers. Even knowing that an army of smoke like creatures are coming, no one seems to bother to create any kind of defense or train to defend/attack those creatures. We get one crazy invention and that's it. I admittedly became really annoyed that all the Grisha and soldiers were so amazingly ineffectual. As well, the Darkling's new power is supposedly life sucking but he seems to be able to summon an entire army just fine, other than looking a bit tired. It just didn't ring true.

There are consequences for those who side with the Darkling. And a few surprises (with hints that Mal is more than he seems) with a trail leading back to the birthplace of Mal and Alina. I'm excited, despite my lukewarm response of this book, to see where Bardugo ends the Trilogy.

The narrator did a good job and felt right for the part of Alina.

16 of 20 people found this review helpful

Aggravating

I spent most of the time yelling at the main characters for being irrational brats. Even the villain made more sense. Mal yelled at everyone for no reason, I think he needed a hug. This book was thoroughly disappointing. The main characters where completely unlikable.

The villain is one of the most likable characters in the series...I was actively rooting for him.

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

Boring

I couldn't finish it... I tried.. really.. but I just never felt like I cared about the characters...

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

Riveting! A Must Listen

There is no "middle book syndrome" here. This one was amazing! I loved the new characters, the action and all the plot twists and turns along the way. I don't want to give away any spoilers here, so I will just simply say this sequel was awesome! The narration was brilliant as well.
This is a must listen and totally worth the credit. Just be sure to read Shadow and Bone first (you won't be disappointed)

5 *huge* stars!!

22 of 30 people found this review helpful

Annoying

Annoying characters. The narrator's S words were so sharp I couldn't listen with headphones. Overall, I'm just listening just to be done with it.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

Not as good as I had hoped

Liked the first book, was hoping in the second that the main character would grow a spine. For someone who supposedly has a lot of power she let's people push her around. Love triangle is getting old.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

I hate the main character

The book is fine, but the main character drove me up the wall. I spent too much time yelling at her to make up her mind, say something, use her power, stop being useless, etc. My husband was listening with me and quit half way through because he couldn't take it anymore.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

Just OK for me

I thought listening to this sequel would be fun. I liked the narrator but felt the story lagged a bit. There was a lot of building up to the impending battle-too much time spent on preparation. Alina's character was frustrating; she was self centered and withheld personal information that alienated her from those she loved. It had some surprises, but overall I felt like I just wanted to get to the end of the book.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

too long

I feel like the middle of the book dragged way too much. It could have been shorter and still tell the information needed for the next book

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

2,5

meh
if it wasnt an audiobook i prob. wouldnt have finished it...
not impressed
meh

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Sturmhond

As soon as I finished Shadow and Bone I had to jump into Siege and Storm. Mal and Alina have been living a normal life for a while now but Alina is struggling. By not using her powers she is making herself weak and quite frankly unhappy. It's not long before The Darkling catches up to them and their life is thrown into chaos again.

I enjoyed this book so much. I cannot describe how much. This was due to one of my all-time favourite characters Sturmhond aka The Clever Fox. This character is blunt, honest and oh so witty.

Mal irritated me a lot in this book. He was selfish and very whingey. Alina is trying to save the world from The Darkling and he is complaining because she doesn't want a few kisses. He doesn't stop to notice that something is wrong he is so wrapped up in himself that he can't see that something is seriously wrong.

On the flip side, Alina kept everything to herself and never asked anyone for help which frustrated me immensely. Just ask for some god damn help woman!

This book is so much more than the first and it made my love for the series and the verse increase dramatically. (Yes most of that is down to Sturmhond)

The end of this book is pretty dramatic/cliffhanger like so I was so so glad I didn't need to wait for the final book in the series.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Still as intriguing as the first book

Who was your favorite character and why?

I can't really decide who is my favourite character in Siege and Storm. Alina is as sweet as ever but The Darkling is still so very fascinating. The more you know about him the more you wonder and also hope. And then there is new and very exciting pirate Stormhound. He is so very entertaining. So, I can't decide on favourite

What does Lauren Fortgang bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

I just love Lauren Fortgang's narration. She immediately draws you in. Also she is so easy to understand, which is important to everybody whose mother tongue is not English.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Though the story is quite captivating and moderately fast paced, I fast frustrated occasionally with Mal and Alina. Both seem to struggle overly much with each other and the situation and this felt a bit fabricated. Especially as this is the "middle" book and I felt as if some additional drama had to be produced. But there is plenty of actual drama already. Only a sleight thing but nevertheless.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Yawn

All she harps on about is boys, boys, boys. Does she like him? Should she? Etc. Nevermind that the world's is in peril and only she can save it or whatever. Alina is the most insipid and disappointing female main character that I've come across in quite a while. What a load of dross.

Couldn't finish

What would have made Siege and Storm better?

The story itself was fine, but I couldn't stomach the way the main character was written. Despite the fact that Alina is supposed to be saving the world, she spends all her time obsessing over the guy she's in love with. In the end I was so offended by this stereotypical character that I had to stop listening to the book.

What character would you cut from Siege and Storm?

Alina

3.5 stars

My rating arises in part from having a 2 week break mid-book whilst on holiday and I then struggled to get back in the groove with this one. A lot went on with Seige and Storm and yet not at the same time. I enjoyed meeting Nikolai, I feel out of like with Mal and I moved to revile with the Darkling.

I am defintely carrying on with the series, but I'm going to have a little break before I continue. The narration continued to be great.

Preparing for the endgame.

If you've enjoyed the first book then this second won't disappoint even if it does suffer from being the middle book in the series. You know all the plans will come to nought, as things are setup for the third book.

Narration was good and understandable at x2 playback speed.

1 of 2 people found this review helpful