*WARNING* THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Siege and Storm is the second book in the Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo. This books lifts off weeks after the end of the previous one.
The plot wasn't my favorite, the beginning was predictable, and this book, in a similar yet different way to the previous one, is mostly about characters' development. The story wasn't very...exciting, we have plenty of funny scenes and we have a nice political touch to the story. The plot struck me as a little bland, we barely see The Darkling and when we do is through Alina's "visions" which are few and brief. We do have action scenes though, at the beginning and at the end. I also wish we would have had more intense scenes, that evoked more feelings in me (that's extremely subjective I know, but it's one of the main indicators of whether or not I truly liked a book).
I was definitely hoping we'd get to see more of the world, which logically it does expand, the world and information of the Grisha grow with the story, however, when we're introduced to new places, which is rare, and not necessarily a bad thing for this story, it's brief and I guess I just thought we'd be getting a broader knowledge of the world itself. I'm aware of the fact that the Six of Crows duology takes place in a different location and time but is still in the same universe, so I guess that's why the author didn't expand too much in this, since she will in those books.
The characters are the main focus of this book, their growth. I was waay more attached to the characters. Alina evolves a lot in this book, she becomes harsher, colder and at times crueler (if you've read the book you surely remember the scene where she threatens Baghra), she also grows more confident and starts to shape herself to be the leader of the Second Army.
Mal, oh Mal. He's constantly moody, and although I get he's definitely having a hard time, he has a bad temper. He's jealous of Nikolai ever since he revealed his true identity and allows that jealousy to blur his vision when Alina needs him the most, so instead of being there for her he pulls away. What I still like about him is his humor with Alina (when he's actually in a good mood) those dialogues made me either smile or laugh.
NIKOLAI. He's my favorite character of the series and probably will continue to be. I adore him: he's really funny, super clever, audacious, brave, just, sassy, a good leader, incredibly creative (always building new things) and he knows about politics! He is a patriot, he cares deeply for his country and its people. I really really loved him. Besides I ship him with Alina.
I still don't like Zoya but I'm intrigued by her choice of staying and fighting with Alina. I think I'll grow to like her in the next book.
I still enjoy thoroughly her writing style, it makes reading these books so much easier and fun. What I enjoyed most about it was the dialogues between characters, especially from Alina, Mal and Nikolai. Really funny.
Therefore, I enjoyed this novel much more than I did Shadow and Bone, I was more attached to the characters I even adored one of them (ehem Nikolai). I give it 4.5 out of 5 starts considering everything I mentioned before. If you're like me and the first book didn't deliver or you didn't really like it, trust me it gets better.