Siege and Storm (Shadow and Bone, #2) by Leigh Bardugo

My rating: four stars

Genre: YA, Fantasy

Edition: Paperback

Goodreads 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.

I am still trying to alternate between the Throne of Glass series and the Shadow and Bone series because finishing both is something that I want to accomplish in 2020 – especially since the show in this universe is in production! Though I don’t think I liked this book as much as the first one, it was still enjoyable to me and I look forward to the third one.

Likes: I am still wowed by this world and magic system. We start to see parts of Alina’s magic and others that we haven’t seen before which is exciting. Alina goes on some huge adventures in this book, so a lot more of the world is explored which was fascinating. While on these adventures she meets new characters that I came to love. The new characters were so intriguing and confusing, but in a good way. They were complex, and it was honestly hard to tell what the new characters were going to do and what side they are on because they were good actors. I love this complexity. I truly believe the best part of this book was the new characters that appeared.

Dislikes: The main character’s personality starts changing in a direction that I don’t enjoy or believe to be quite honest. The actions that she wants to take involve doing things that she has been against for the entire first book. It just isn’t believable that she would change so much, so quickly. I understand that power changes people, and she has been through some horrific things in her life. However, it is just hard to believe she would want to do the things she does. Also, I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I do not like how the author is trying to connect Alina and the Darkling in a romantic way. It just doesn’t make sense that she would see him in that way at all, and it honestly seems like Leigh is trying to please the readers who ship them.

Overall, I did like this book, and I do still love this series. However, there are just so many things that are hard for me to believe, which is why I had to deduct a star. It seems like some of the relationships and actions of the characters happen to either move the story along or to please the fans. It doesn’t seem realistic. I do still love the world, the magic system, and the new characters. I am still excited for the last book and can’t wait to read it!