Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo ~Thoughts and feels on the sequel

                Hey everyone!  Welcome back.  I hope you all are not struggling today as much as I am.  A week off from work is glorious but returning not so much. Thankfully it's a short week I come back to.  Today I'm going to talk about book two in the Grisha trilogy by Leigh Bardugo, Siege and Storm.  I reviewed book one Shadow and Bone here a few weeks back and with Six of Crows coming out this month I wanted to finish up my reviews for this trilogy that I enjoyed so much.  This being a sequel there will be some spoilers from the first book as this takes place in the aftermath.

Rating: 5 Flying Ships

                The world has changed for Alina and Mal.  They went from orphan friends to military personal.  From there Alina became a Grisha, the most powerful and only of her kind with the solid power of tearing about the nasty fold.  That is until all the lies and half truths show Alina she may have trusted the wrong people.  Now escaped from the Darkling and leaving him and his ship full of Grisha ready to use her for dead they are on the run.  Hunted across the True Sea.  They try to make a new life in a new place but they can't outrun their destiny.  The Darkling didn't die in the fold as they had hopped but instead emerged with a new power.  Alina and Mal return to their abandoned home of Ravka and gather forces to try and fight for their home.  Things are as they seem as Alina continues to build her power and slips further from Mal.  She is forced to choose between her country, her power, and her love or risk it all.

                I read the trilogy back to back and I had some expectations for this one.  Based on the last story I had an idea on how things would be paced and what would happen and boy was I wrong.  This one started out with a bang and was just flying right along.  When they realize they can no longer run from their problems Alina and Mal decide to search for the other amplifiers of legend.  They get right on that second one much faster than expected. 

                But along the journey we meet some amazing new characters that I just adored.  The most prominent being Nikolai.  He was just hilarious.  He reminded me a bit of Captain Jack Sparrow with his witty lines and comments.  He was just adorable.  I liked him as a character so much but as a possible love interest he never really worked for me personally.  Though I did love every page he was on because his character almost always made me laugh.  We also meet Tamar and other who really added to the eclectic cast of characters including returning characters including Genya and Zoya.  Now I was never a fan of Zoya, she was an evil bitch from word one.  But Genya, I just loved her for the majority of book one then I felt horribly betrayed and in Siege and Storm my conflicted feelings for her swayed back and forth but in the end I love her. 

                There is a lot of drama and things happening in this one.  I will say one small thing was that the pacing seemed a bit back and forth, super fast and full of action then followed up with longer more character driven scenes, which I was okay with but it went back and forth at times.  There was some unnecessary drama between some of the characters, but then again when do characters ever actually talk about their issues head on?  No they never do and it causes issues that turn into so much more.  But I was okay with this and I could see it from different sides and while I was shouting "GO TALK IT OUT!" at the book while reading I was also able to reason away the behavior.  There is a war after all, personal drama seems like it should be put aside for that. 

                Overall I really liked the story and loved learning more about the world.  This world of the Grisha is so beautifully built up and the ending was just 'on point.'  I loved the part there in the end.  It made me put it on my shelf and immediately pick up the next and final book.  I had to know more and that to me is a successful sequel.  What did you think of the sequel?  Who was your favorite character to read about?  Mine was Nikolai, he just stole all his scenes.  Even when I wanted to smack him.  Comments are love.  Until next time.

Review for Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

                Happy Friday!  The weekend is here!  Time for another review, I've been doing good in catching up with some series I wanted to read in 2014 but never had time to start many of which are already finished making them perfect for marathoning.  Today's book is one of those, Shadow and Bone, the first book in the Grisha trilogy by Leigh Bardugo.  I've completed the trilogy as it stands, though I hear there is a short story or novella coming to e-book this month that focuses on one of the characters that intrigues me.  I'll be reviewing the books individually, I've gone back and forth and I like the idea of reviewing each one rather than lumping them all together and giving tons of spoilers for the first books to say anything about the last.

                This story is a fantasy world full of magic and creatures and lots of things and places I can't being to pronounce.  Oh and it has a map which are always so beautiful and fun to look at.  The nation of Ravka is torn in two by what is known as the Shadow Fold, a patch of total darkness that is crawling with monsters who devour people to step into it.  Our heroine is Alina, map maker apprentice in the regiment.  Not good at much herself she is best friends with Mal, another orphan like herself raised in the same orphanage and best friends since childhood.  She may also have a huge crush on him but then again who wouldn't.  They are set to cross the fold with their regiment, hoping to not lose too many.  However, when their ride is attacked Alina reveals a power that saves many, a power that could be the key to setting the war-ravaged country free.  She is pulled away from everything she knows and thrust into the world of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the Darkling.  She is forced to come to terms with her new powers and try to adapt to the new life she has before her and she discovers not everything in the lavish world of court is as it seems.  The whole kingdom is depending on her power to set them all free, yet she isn't sure she can be their savior. 

Rating:  5 Stars

                I didn't know much about this book going in.  I knew a bunch of people on BookTube and blogs I follow talked about it.  I heard about the Darkling, though nothing specific.  I only knew that people seemed to love this series.  I was late to the party but I bought all three last year and they sat waiting for me on my shelf. I bought several books and series before YALLfest last year hoping to get to them all before but let's be honest things never work out as you plan.  Still I missed my deadline but that only meant I could enjoy them later already waiting for me.  My friend at Bogdana The Booknerd told me about a Goodreads read along starting the book we both had talked about wanting to read.  It seemed like a good time to do it and reading only a couple chapters a day kept me on track for my other books as well.  It was hard only reading the allotted chapters.

                That was my general feel through the read along.  I always wanted to read ahead and fly through more chapters by the second day.  The first part has some world building and such, all well done and drew me in but it became hard to put down quickly as well it hits the fan pretty early on and just goes and goes from there.  I followed Alina through her journey and watched her deal with everything thrown at her from having a crush on her sexy and popular with the ladies best friend who is clueless to her feelings, to suddenly being looked at as more than an orphan in the regiment but the most important tool in ending the Shadow Fold.  Serious life upheaval.  She has her moments.  Sometimes I wanted to strangle Alina for some of her choices but all the while I could understand where she was coming from even if I didn't agree.

See the pretty map!

                Some of the other characters, Mal, The Darkling, Genya, etc. put me through the ringer with emotions and feelings.  I could never tell with them.  One minute I was convinced of one thing then a later I was completely thinking something else.  I loved that while I had some aspects pegged from the start I kept second guessing myself on some.  The characters were written that well.  Genya is such a free spirit and from the moment you first meet her you just kind of laugh reading scenes with her.  Mal, boy next door you want to hit on the head for not noticing our herorine and being an idiot at times.  The Darkling who has so much more to him and you see a side to him and think despite the fact that his name is the Darkling and your thinking he's going to be a bad guy by that alone might actually be searching for redemption.  Creepy priests and totally witches (Zoya) who act like the mean girl in school on a much higher scale and everything rounds out.  There are a lot of different characters and personalities in the first book alone. 

                With all the personalities you also get the aspect of royal court.  The good, bad, and ugly.  Politics are not a joy to be thrust into.  A new shinny toy to be played with and fought over.  The intrigue there as well, the whole system between royalty, Grisha, and common folk was well explained and done.  The overall story has a lot going for it with action, adventure, political intrigue, mystery, magic, and yes romance.  Overall I was addicted and I wanted more. 

                That's about all I can say right now without spoiling any of the good fun bits.  I thought this book was amazing full of everything you want in a good high fantasy book!  I'll share my thoughts on the rest of the series in the coming weeks so stay tuned.  Until then share your thoughts on Shadow and Bone in the comments.  What was your favorite part?  Until next time.