"Sturmhond had a way of talking that made me want to shoot someone. Preferably him." - Sie

This book is rated a 3 out of 10. The first book in the Grisha trilogy, Shadow and Bone, held so much potential. It was really quite engaging, but this second book fell short of those marks.

WARNING: There are spoilers from the first book of the Grisha trilogy in this review. I would rate the first book 7 out of 10. Yeah, go read it and come back.

It didn't take long for the Darkling to find Mal and Alina. In a land greedy for money and power, anybody can turn around and become a backstabber, a cheat, a con, or just manipulative. Even if it's for a bit of cash. But things are not as they should be. No, after Alina rose up to the potential of her power and the collar of Morozova's stag, the Darkling gained the power and control of something much darker than the Grisha's powers. Magic, an abomination. The power to create beings, the nothings, is a power that no other Grisha possess. And now that the Darkling does, there is nothing stopping him from world domination. Well, except greedy, manipulative, power-hungry backstabbers.

Alina is no longer content with just being normal with Mal; she feels that it is her duty as the Sun Summoner to be more powerful than the Darkling and anyone else. This decision could ruin her, however, and her friendship with Mal. She's only on the fringes of a terrible storm, but when the world is desperate for money and power, can Alina avoid the desire or be pulled under a raging current?

I expected way more from this story. The first book was interesting: I liked the idea even if the writing made the story feel like a montage in certain spots. But Siege and Storm almost made me put the book down at several points, an act of treason towards any book. I felt like the soldiers in the book that would rather commit treason to the crown than go up against the creatures he Darkling created. I hated that there was this boring, run-of-the-mill love triangle-thing. Two princes, the Darkling, and Mal were all pestering in the mind of Alina, while Mal couldn't stop thinking about Alina (and, on rare occasion, Zoya). It was frustrating to see that the female character was once again turned into a love-sick lunatic. And that was taking up half of the book. The other half was an attempt to make the plot move along. When Alina wasn't falling for guys or staring at the Darkling, she was screwing stuff up. The book feels like a set-up for the last, final book, and I absolutely hated that. Nothing important happened, and when people were just about to go after a magical creature, and I was getting excited, someone else screwed everything up. I wish people could just stop at the end of the first book and forget about the rest of the story. I'd tell my friends to do that and likewise for a few other YA book trilogies. It's just frustrating.

And now for the ultimately poor recommendation. I think that the first book was great, and if you like Red Queen, I think you would generally enjoy Shadow and Bone. It's a nice fantasy with a female character that isn't gorgeous, and instead wins "the guy" with the power inside of her. Of course, he turns out to be a complete jerk, but she does prove her will, mettle, and determination to be the better person in times of peril. In that sense, she's an okay role model. But I wouldn't recommend reading past that unless you are hard-set to read what happens in the end no matter how much it shatters the role model you have created.

Formula: Fantasy + Love Triangle + Couple Problems + No Plot Movement = Morozova's Amplifiers

#katie #fantasy