Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

Reviewed by Roey Shram

9/10 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

496 Pages Audible: 11 hours and 49 minutes

Ages 13+

Book #2 Shadow and Bone Trilogy

Date of Publish: June 4, 2013

On June 5th, 2012, Leigh Bardugo published the book, Shadow and Bone. In 2013, this book won the Best Fiction for Young Adults award. This book was so well received that Leigh Bardugo published her second book in this now trilogy, Siege and Storm; This is the book I will be reviewing and recommending. This book had heartbreaking scenes and emotions that made me gasp and fights that kept me turning the pages, and that's why I want to recommend this book to aspiring readers.

Siege and Storm follows Alina Starkov and Mal Oretsev after fleeing The Darkling in his attempt to expand the Shadow Fold, a sea of pure darkness that has split the Country of Ravka for over a century. In the first book, Alina discovers her one of a kind power to summon light from herself, now we find her weak and frail from being unable to use her power due to being in hiding. Now as The Darkling is getting stronger, Alina must decide whether to stay in hiding or fight back to save Ravka.

Siege and Storm is one of my favourite books and normally I don’t read books again, but in this case I find myself reading this again in years to come. I am normally not an avid reader, and when my friend gave me Shadow and BoneI book, I was thinking that I would take it to be nice but not actually read it. Then in the car ride home I started the prologue or “Before” and I was thinking “ok I will actually read this book” and after the first few chapters I was instantly sold. After finishing Shadow and Bone I was heartset on getting Siege and Storm from my friend. After reading the first book I had high expectations for Siege and Storm and I have only one thing to say. There was no disappointment after reading the last word. While the book did leave on a cliffhanger, I did enjoy the bonus materials and getting to read chapter one of the next book, Ruin and Rise.

Quick disclaimer before reading, this book does contain mild gore, a small amount of swearing, and some romance. While I do not mind any of these in a book, if you do not like these traits or you are thinking of recommending this book to someone young, then you are welcome to turn away. Personally I think these moments build character in tense scenes.

In conclusion, I think Siege and Storm is a masterpiece by Leigh Bardugo and I highly Recommend it to anyone who is interested in reading fantasy books like this.