Siege and Storm

The Grisha Trilogy By Leigh Bardugo

Rating

4.5 stars

Date Read

14/7/16 - 15/7/16

Age Group

14+

General Thoughts

So.

Most readers seem to have enjoyed siege and storm even more than shadow and bone but i can't get over my fascination for first books. Did it suffer from FBB? No. But there was something vital missing from it and the heroine kind of made a mess of things. Also, the last two or three chapters went by in a haze where i couldn't really shallow what was happenning.

So what vital thing could possibly have been missing from a book brimming with trips on the True Sea, flying ships, mythical golden dragons, pilgrims sanctifying Alina, volcra nests and royal princes?

Him.

If the Darkling was a guest star in the first book, he is positively MIA in the second. His appearances are scant and over way too quickly, his few words not nearly enough.

I found myself grunting in frustration as another book went by shattering my hopes for more of him. Luckily, this is a trilogy.

Now, how did the heroine make a mess of things?

Well.

The first book ended with her sailing away from Ravka with Mal, off to a country a cannot pronounce, with a powerful necklace slash collar serving as a cold reminder that a part of her belonged to him.

Now, see, this is where it gets tricky to not spoil and still say something that makes sense.

The blurb pretty much spells out that she will indeed end up back in Ravka.

I'm gonna save you the yrouble of daydraming and say that no, she still try to spend time with our lovely Dark prince, that yes she still runs away from him when she can and that no it doesn't get any easier reading about it.

Safe to say that Leigh is being boldly original, swapping a heroine who loves the bad boy and tries to mend him with her love, for a reckless girl who fights him in an effort to save the world.

Of course the Darkling has kind of sidestepped bad boy status and gone straight to merciless villain but the model still applies, with a couple of modifications. Then again, maybe him remaining dark and mysterious is the best thing for the series (look what a mess armentrout herself made when she tried to humanize seth by finding him a girlfriend... ). I can understand the logic behind that. I just can't accept it.

Of course that is not a bad thing. No i had no hopes for more passionate kisses with the Darkling. How did it ever cross your mind that i didn't give a damn that he was manipulatuve and corrupted. Yes i fully support Alina's dream to save the world by ridding it of him.

Or not...

Well no matter, i don't really stand a chance of convincing Alina that her otkazat saya whatever little friend doesn't really make for much of a competition against the Darkling, if the pale andsharp and intelligent, cruel and merciless Black Heretic himself couldn't convince her.

Fair warning though that Alina does end up corrupted by power, craving more of it after the first taste of the stag's strength. She's sweeped up in the court games, yrying to balance herself safely between untrustworthy princes and fierce grisha. Mal really isn't much of love interest, what with him resenting and fearing her power. The darkling had warned her about yhat of course. Too bad she couldn't listen!

All in all it was a painful book where Alina could trust no one, had her heart broken and handed to her, tried to rule and, subjective opinion here, failed, and my favourite chracter still lingered just beyond the edges of the pages.

"Fine. Make me your villain."

On the plus side, we get one more complex character out of it: he is arrogant and ambitious and intelligent and fun and i cannot even utter his name without a spoiler tag...

Obviously thirsting for the final book, waiting until tomorrow morning to start reading it requires more self control than i actually possess.

Here's to hoping the Darkling get an actual name in Ruin and Rising. Until then, rest assured that if you loved Shadow and Bone, you will adore this darker installement!

PS Summer lovin musikk
PSS Beautiful fanmade book trailer!
PSSS Courtesy of Tumbr:

Genya:How do I begin to explain the Darkling?
Marie:The Darkling is flawless.
Nadia:He owns two black keftas and a really dark grey one.
Zoya:I heard his hair's insured for $10,000.
David:His favorite move is the Cut.
Toyla:One time he met Sturmhond on a ship...
Tamar:And he told him he was really pretty.
Corpse:One time he grafted my mouth shut and I died of starvation...it was awesome.

overheardinravka

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shadow and bonegrishathe grisha trilogydarklingalexander morozovagenyamean grishaoverheard in ravka

XOXO

Aggie Pearson