SIEGE AND STORM (B PB): THE GRISHA BOOK 2 (Shadow and Bone)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A Thrilling, Action-Packed Masterpiece! "No Sophomore Slump Here!" Siege and Storm is the rare second book in a trilogy that actually outshines the first. Leigh Bardugo takes everything I loved about Shadow and Bone and turns the stakes up to eleven. From the very first chapter, I was hooked, and I absolutely could not put this book down. Character Growth & The Ultimate Showstopper: Nikolai Alina really steps into her role as the Sun Summoner, transforming from a scared girl to a powerful, complex leader. Watching her navigate her growing powers, her dark connection to the Darkling, and her fractured relationship with Mal made for such an emotional journey. And can we talk about Nikolai Lantsov? His introduction as Sturmhond is pure magic! He is charming, witty, and brings a much-needed breath of fresh air and sass to the darker moments. He is easily one of my favorite characters in the entire Grishaverse now. Intense Plot & Dark Fantasy The world-building expands beautifully in this book, introducing us to new, fascinating corners of the Grishaverse and bringing in higher-stakes politics and war preparation. The Darkling is more menacing and complex than ever, and his new, forbidden powers are terrifying. The ending was so intense that I had to immediately start the next book. Final Thoughts If you loved Shadow and Bone, this book is a must-read. It is a brilliant, emotional, and action-packed continuation that sets up the finale perfectly. A solid 5/5 stars—I am officially obsessed! Key Highlights: ✅ Nikolai/Sturmhond: The best addition to the series. ✅ Alina's Agency: She grows into a real leader. ✅ Pacing: Thrilling, with high-stakes action. ✅ World-Building: Deeper and more expansive.

Siege and Storm was enjoyable sequel to Shadow and Bone that revolved around Alina and Mal’s life on the run, their struggling relationship, Darkling on their tail, and Ravka’s situation making things complicated. The story was about politics, power, love, friendship, betrayal, accepting power and strength, and not let anyone change who you’re. Writing was fabulous, vivid, engaging and fast paced. It was written in first person narrative from Alina’s POV. Author sure knew how to keep her reader engaging from the very first page. Plot was interesting and like most readers said it was like cat-and-mouse game with miscommunication or rather lack of proper communication trope. Book started few months after the end of first book. Alina and Mal travelled the True Sea and were living in slum area of one of the cities of Novyi Zem but they were being hunted and circumstances brought Alina back to where everything started- once again prisoner of Darkling on famous pirate/Privateer’s ship, Darkling looking for a way to gain control over Alina’s power of sun summoner. However, just when Darkling was about to take control over Alina’s power, she and Mal escaped with help of Privateer. Alina’s power was growing but it wasn’t enough against the horrifying change in Darkling and his forbidden magic. Alina’s only way to stop running for their life and take the responsibility of what happened on the Fold in previous book was to lead the Grisha army against Darkling and find a way to grow her power even more. But power and victory doesn’t come without sacrifice. I was curious to read how Alina’s power would affect her and Mal’s relationship, what Darkling was planning, could Alina lead remaining Grisha army and would they follow her, who she could trust and who would betray her, and how arrival of second prince would change things in Ravka. Characters were interesting, flawed, complex and no character was black and white. It was sad to see Darkling only in first and last few chapters. It was like he was in background in most of the book. I wanted to know more about his power and what forbidden magic he was using. I guess that will be revealed in next book. We see in this how far he could go and what horrible punishment he could inflict with his mysterious power. He was so evil but really interesting character. Nikolai was my most favourite character in the book. I could see why he was everyone’s favourite. He made Alina and Mal’s exhausting relationship bearable, gave fresh breath this book needed. It was pretty easy to guess who he was, but the way it was revealed made me smile. He was charming, witty, clever, ambitious, brilliant leader, and a little like Darkling but with conscience. He knew difference between right and wrong and he had principles. I don’t get why Alina felt frustrated around him, she should think about Mal and herself. Alina was okay. I liked how she was understanding her power and loved using it and it was great to see her changing a little in good way by learning from Nikolai and leading Grisha. I felt for her for what happened in Fold. I could understand her guilt and need to take responsibility, her feelings towards religious fanaticism and politics and feeling torn between her responsibilities, power and love of her life. I was glad at the end she could at least voice that she couldn’t part from her power, she would never let go of her Grisha gift but at the same time I was mad at her for feeling low or feeling guilty and taking blame over her head for increasing gap in her and Mal’s relationship. Mal was my least favourite character. I was bracing for that. First half the book wasn’t bad, he went along with whatever happened but in second half, he was being total idiot and jerk. I haven’t seen any hero so insecure and jealous. He basically ignored Alina his whole life, went after other girls leaving her unnoticed. And now that Alina had men wooing her and people noticed her, he was feeling jealous! He knew power made her happy and healthy and yet he wished she never had those power and never used it! He claimed she was his nation and everything in the world, his love was eternal so how could he not accept her for what she was, along with her power, not respect her wish, not help her accomplishing in her mission!! And then blaming her for all his fault, childish sulk, not understanding his feeling and not keeping in mind his need and happiness! Argh, really! I was so ready to push him in Fold and urge and cheer Alina to go out with Nikolai. World was best part of the book. I enjoyed reading more about world outside Ravka, more details on Ravka’s border, religion and belief, stories of saints, tales of Ravka, and other amplifiers. Royal politics was interesting. I still don’t understand what apparat wanted but I hope to have more clear idea on it in next book. Apart from world, what I enjoyed most was banter between Nikolai, Alina and Mal, conversation between Alina and Nikolai, the way Alina made changes at Little Palace, and action scenes. There wasn’t exactly much romance in the book. It was more about change in Mal and Alina’s relationship and how Alina’s power and responsibilities was affecting it. Some twist and turns I could see coming but that climax surprised me. It was brilliantly written and I loved Nikalai’s dialogues in that moment. Everything from that moment was tense, action packed and adrenaline filled. I enjoyed reading what happened before end. End was so gloomy and made me more anxious. I’m itching to read next book. Why 4 stars- Do I have to write it? I would have easily given this book 5 stars if it wasn’t for Mal and Alina. I just wanted to bang their heads and put amplifier on them that could give them power of sense. As I said they made middle part of the book exhausting. Overall, Siege and Storm was captivating, fast paced, and action packed Tsarpunk (I’m taking author’s word from Q&A) fantasy with fabulous writing, interesting characters and engrossing world. If you enjoyed first book, are fan of author’s writing, interesting secondary characters and villain, and love Grisha world, I sure recommend this book (all I say just ignore Mal and you’ll enjoy this).

This book is a young adult fantasy series.. and the 2nd book in the Grishaverse Trilogy. I am in love with the series... Leigh Bardugo knows how to keep her fans and readers in the edge! A must read for adults and teens who love magic, adventure and fantasy. Her next series Six of Crows I have already read, and I feel is better than this series... But, you have to read it to know about the world of geisha... I am eagerly waiting for King of Scars to arrive... I ma definitely going to read more books by Leigh Bardugo!!! She knows how to keep readers entertained!! I took all hardcover books. The books arrived in beautiful packaging and in perfect condition. Amazon continued to be the best!

The book itself is great but you know what.. I'm not fond of Malina and the book at the beginning was really fast and good but... As i went on i just find it tooooo slow. The only thing that keeps this book alive for me personally was Nikolai!. I just like his character very much. The lack of darling in this book was just kind of a slow down for me. The shadow and bone was just AMAZING! but i just felt like this book lagged behind. But uk it's still a good buy

I loved the first book but this one just wasn't that great. The writing was good, (You could really feel the character's emotions and there were many unexpected turns to immerse the readers) plus, Nikolai is a FANTASTIC character (definitely my favourite). On the other hand, Alina's character went downhill in this book, she didn't seem like a strong character, she just seemed really harsh and hungry for more power while also making some bad decisions and crying quite a bit... oh, and on top of that, she and Mal kept bickering throughout. I like Mal's character but in this book it felt like he was being disregarded by the author. He only got well involved at the start of the book and then there were just a lot of arguments and he wasn't doing well. I enjoyed the rest of the plot but unlike the first book it didn't provide a satisfying finish. Even though it's a series and theres more to the story, it felt like a bit too much was missing, but hopefully the last book can finish off the story well .

Brought this as a birthday present and am very happy with the condition it came in. Generally books from Amazon come is bad quality but this time every book was in perfect condition and in sturdy packaging. Since I bought it as a present im not sure how good the book actually is but the cover is beautiful that’s for sure.

Okay so all the reviews here keep calling this book boring and a filler. Like, did you read the same book I read? This book tells us something very important to the story. *Spoiler alert, big one* This book tells us that Alina can control the Darkling's power using the connection they share because of the first amplifier. Now how is that a filler? She almost kills him by using his own powers against him. Like wtf guys, give the book some credit. The last battle was so good. Sure, this story was a bit weak and it's no Six of Crows, not Bardugo's finest works. Also, they introduced Nikolai in this book. The only smart character in this freaking trilogy. Mal and Alina are freaking idiots, but Nikolai makes up for all the stupid characters. The only witty character with all the sass. This was far better than the abomination that was the first book where Alina only cried about how much she missed her unrequited love. At least she built up a character here.

An amazing sequel to Shadow and Bone. I lived the way characters have grown in this story. Besides the new characters coming to the picture, the old ones are freshly crafted too. No one is the same, except for the superb storyline and narration. Heading to the third book now!