***Spoilers. You’ve been warned***
The plot was a pretty fast paced one, just like the first and second. This one’s got more heartbreaking moments and I’m glad to see the romance drama has cleared as well. You still feel the awkward tension between Mal and Alina and it does induce moments of eyeball rolling but the heartbreaker comes when hell breaks loose and Nikolai gets taken away and becomes corrupted by the Darkling.
Did I ever want to cry out loud in horrifying rage.
Of all people Nikolai just HAD TO BE THE ONE. Just when things were getting a little better, when it looks like he might have snagged Alina and they might be together (just maybe?) but noooo! He had to be corrupted and although he valiantly did try to fight it my heart broke into two. (I guess you could say I’m all for Team Nikolai) Which of course clears the path for Mal and Alina to try again and rekindle their love.
This love triangle was one where I was happy with who she would end up being with either way. Of course I would have preferred Nikolai because I loved his character and personality. But now that Mal stopped his stupidity the chemistry was back between himself and Alina. It just felt right.
I loved how everything just came to full circle to close this series. How in the end, Mal and Alina go back to recreate the orphanage to house children just like how they used to be when they were young. It was sad to see Alina decline to be at Nikolai’s side, but also to decline to be at court with the other Grisha but, it was for the better. Alina had never felt like she was part of them, neither did Mal. It was touching when she received the kefta with the note (yeah I got a little something in my eye with that moment)
And even though the Darkling didn’t deserve it, kudos for Alina to take the high road and giving him a proper ending.
I enjoyed reading this series. I’m sad to see this series come to an end. I didn’t realize how attached I were to some characters. It was a nice sigh of relief at the end though. When I closed the book after reading the final page. It was a beautiful but bittersweet ending.
(David and Genya!!!! FINALLY!!!!!!) :D
Right now I'm trying to read everything Grisha related. I just love the world.
Summary: Before he became the Darkling, he was just a lonely boy of extraordinary power. Get a look into the past that forged a brutal and brilliant leader.
I really loved this short story. In the first book, I was super interested in the Darkling. But well, things happened and in the rest of the trilogy he became that person I loved to hate. He wasn't my favorite. Still this was a really interesting glimpse into his life.
THIS BOOK.
I don't know how to write a review for it (I keep putting it off and doing everything else instead of writing my thoughts down.)
I'm just gonna start at the beginning and work my way to end of the story, the part I don't know how to feel about yet. No summary, cause spoilers. Also, this is the third and final book in the trilogy so, spoiler warning, maybe?! Probably. Yes!!! Also this review could possibly be all over the place, cause I can't seem to concentrate enough today, but I wanna get the review out, cause I finished this trilogy (my misson for this year is to finally finish all the series that I have started. Well, not all of them. Some of them.)
First, I had problems getting into the story cause it was the first book in the trilogy that I read in english and I felt like I had to get used to the writing all over again. But once I got into it, I enjoyed the writing much more than the previous books in german. I still need to wrap my head around this one, still. It feels weird.
I just love Alina and it was great being back in her world again. I just love her journey, from book one to this book. She grew so much and I just love her more and more.
It was also great seeing Genya again and she had such a bigger part this time around, no matter what she has done, I LOVE HER. She's my everything in this trilogy, not gonna lie. When she and the King came face to face in this book, I WAS LIVING FOR EVERY WORD SHE SLAMMED HIS WAY. (Also, I love her relationship with David, these two are just the cutest)
And Baghra. BAGHRA. I have too many feels about her, she's so bitter and sarcastic and everything I want to be in life. Kidding. Kinda.
Also living for the Tamar and Nadia relationship. Everything about this two, apart from each other and together. LOVE THEM.
And Zoya, she's the worst, but I truly TRULY loved her in this book.
So after all the love for all these women above.
Last but not least, I have to finally mention Nikolai. Swoon. I love him. I LOVE HIM, SO SO SO MUCH. (I really care for the other two dudes, Mal and the Darkling, at least the Darkling was a bit more interesting but Mal, NO!!!) Nikolai. When THE THING happened, I actually threw the book away from me, cause I was just too overwhelmed with everything that was happening. Especially so close after THE THING that happened with Baghra. At least he came out of this thing, scared but okay and charming as ever.
In the middle of all the things that were happening, there were also LOTS of twists and turns. None of which I saw coming, cause I'm mostly blind when it comes to things like this.
The end. THE END.
I'm not sure what to make of it. I'm really not sure. I didn't expect it to end like this. I didn't want it to end like it did. It made sense and I'm not saying it's bad, it just wasn't going in the direction I wanted it to go.
***Spoilers ahead, you have been warned***
You’d have to read Shadow and Bone to read and understand Siege and Storm. Otherwise you’d be pretty lost as events follow up right after the first book.
The first half of the book was at a great pace and filled with lots of action, bombs, explosions, fighting, magic, all sorts of goodness you would expect for the second book to follow up for an excellent start in the first. It slows down in the second half of the book where preparations for encountering The Darkling are made and you have this whole drama with Alina and Mal going on;
Okay I was wrong about The Darkling. I was torn apart when he ended up being jackalope of the year and I was holding a banner of love for Alina and Mal.
Then Nikolai steps in.
Handsome, charismatic, swashbuckling, people sway to his beat Nikolai. I loved reading about him whenever he came into the picture. It’s like when your school crush comes into the classroom and you realize you’re going to share a table with him. That kind of giddiness is what Nikolai brings to the book.
I saw the chemistry with Alina and Mal in the first one, and it just falls apart here in Siege and Storm - understandably so as the dynamics have changed a lot and Alina has climbed up in the ladder of importance and Mal has suddenly fallen off the grid and is just considered a lowly guard of Alina the Sun Summoner. Which is pretty good right? You’re near the person you love and care about, you’re standing guard and you’re close by.
No. Can’t be that easy right? First Nikolai steps into the picture and is suddenly looking like a much better prospect and the drama with Alina looking for the Firebird to amplify her powers even more - the point where she becomes obsessed with it changes her personality and makes her more darker, assertive, and she’s not the girl we all once knew in the first book. I really love this personality change in her. There’s a slight whiny voice to it but she really steps up and grows exponentially as a character.
So I can see the romance aspect of the book falling apart, but at the same time you ask yourself is it really necessary? I can see the attempt at a love triangle with Mal and Nikolai with Alina in the middle but from what I see, she gets along fine with both of them, but does she really need one or the other as a love interest? I don’t see the chemistry there with either of them.
Sure, Alina still cares a lot for Mal but everything’s changed and it just seems like she doesn’t need romance..not yet anyway. Instead, the attempt at the romance is seen as two whiny people who can’t get their own way and they take it out on each other by indulging themselves on the road to self destruction. Again, that’s a very human trait and good on portraying that. The whininess though, I could do without. It caused unnecessary drama in the book, and endless of pages in the second half where the plot doesn’t seem to be moving forward or anywhere. It feels like an unnecessary filler.
The last third of the novel though did pick up the pace (did not make up for the whiny drama though) and provided a lot of the explosions and action you had in the first half. Not really featuring a cliffhanger ending, but it’s making me look forward to what I have to see in the third and final book of this series.
PS: My heart bled for Genya.