Book Review + Giveaway: Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

Title: Siege and Storm
Author: Leigh Bardugo (web | twitter)
Series: The Grisha Trilogy #2
Genre: Fantasy YA
Amazon | Goodreads
Publisher: Henry Holt
Release Date: June 4, 2013
Source: Borrowed an ARC from Tara

Summary: 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. She finds starting new is not easy while keeping her identity as the Sun Summoner a secret. 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 know I’ve mentioned before how much I LOVE Russian history, friends, and I also know I’ve mentioned how very much I LOVE fantasy. So imagine my absolute freaking delight when Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha Trilogy—which began with last year’s SHADOW AND BONE and continues with SIEGE AND STORM—came out taking those two beyond excellent elements and merging them into one solid, imaginative, gripping tale. SHADOW AND BONE was a wonderful debut, friends, and SIEGE AND STORM carries the torch admirably, revealing new secrets about the world of Ravka, creating new mysteries with Alina’s gifts, upping the ante with her personal relationships, and introducing VERY awesome new characters. *ahemSturmhondahem* In short, I LOVED IT.

I don’t want to be too spoilery about SIEGE AND STORM because, as most series do, it picks up where SHADOW AND BONE left off. Since some of these plot points are in the Goodreads summary, though, I’ll tell you guys this: Alina and Mal are on the run from the Darkling, but that doesn’t last for long. They get sucked back into the world of Ravkan—and Grisha—politics. Alina and the Darkling have a connection that is hard to describe and harder to ignore, even though Mal is still a very strong presence, too. Being a Sun Summoner takes on new and REALLY interesting complications in SIEGE AND STORM, and Alina struggles with them.

Not to be left out, we meet a few new characters in Leigh Bardugo’s second book, but the one that has the most impact is the aforementioned Sturmhond, a pirate of the True Sea with a seemingly unending—and quite famous—list of accomplishments of a dubious nature. From the moment we met him, he basically just got me all excited. He is just STRAIGHT UP CHARMING, and even as his own secrets are revealed and his motivations are muddied, I still loved him.

The introduction of Sturmhond makes the relationship between Alina and Mal a little trickier, but truthfully, not much. And I appreciated that. I appreciated that they wanted to stick together, even when they were fighting (umm, perhaps I should mention that things are not all peachy with these two in SIEGE AND STORM, but that’s all you’re getting from me!). The way Sturmhond and Mal interact with each other as the story progresses, is so typical of boys: they basically jockey for Alina’s attention by starting shizz and getting in some digs, but there’s more at stake between them than just the attention of a pretty girl.

Leigh Bardugo is building up the events in Ravka between the Darkling and the First Army (you know, the humans) to really great affect. Things get more political and twisty in SIEGE AND STORM, and we all know I love it when things get twisty! So much is going on with Alina as she tests the boundaries of her gift–there’s a pretty fascinating twist–and it’s all taking place against this backdrop of political unease, newfound religious fervor, and the mystery that still surrounds the Darkling and his end game.

Despite all of these things going on, nothing in SIEGE AND STORM feels slow or heavy; once I started it, I couldn’t put it down. Between Mal and Alina on the run, meeting Sturmhond, some disastrous meet-ups with the Darkling, the ever more dangerous political climate in Ravka, and the position Alina finds herself in among the Grisha, Leigh Bardugo keeps things both interesting and fast-paced. LOVED IT.

I really can’t recommend this series enough. The characters are vibrant, the world is incredibly cool, the relationships are important and well-done but not the recipients of unwarranted focus–even the map is freaking LEGIT. And you know, Leigh Bardugo knows a thing or two about keeping readers invested, because things are definitely up in the air at the end of SIEGE AND STORM, and I have no doubt that we are in for a hell of a ride in book 3. Which obviously cannot come out soon enough.

Since I love this series so much, and since the incredibly awesome people at Henry Holt/Macmillan Children’s are so super, I’m giving away to one SUPER lucky guest new copies of the SHADOW AND BONE paperback and the SIEGE AND STORM hardcover. HUZZAH! But why did I shout out the folks at Macmillan Children’s? They did this pretty rad thing in the SHADOW AND BONE paperback that maybe you guys have heard of: the created a page in the back where they shouted out TONS of bloggers for being supportive of SHADOW AND BONE, and yours truly is one of those blogs. *does happy dance*

Wanna win these two excellent books?! I would enter my own contest if that wasn’t absolutely ridiculous. So I’m leaving the contest entering up to you guys, with just a few rules: You need to be a US resident and over 13 (sorry, international kiddos). The contest goes until next SATURDAY, JUNE 29 at MIDNIGHT, when I’ll pick a winner and email them for their mailing address.

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In the meantime…

Check out some other reviews of Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo!

Anya @ On Starships and Dragonwings: “Siege and Storm grabbed me and through me against a wall!”

Judith @ Paper Riot: “Let me just get it out of the way: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Rachel @ Beauty and the Bookshelf: “In the end, I was somewhat taken by siege and there was a little storm, but I think Siege and Storm hit the infamous “sophomore slump” I hear about all the time.”