Published: June 4, 2013
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Pages: 435
Series: The Grisha #2
Source: Bought
My Rating: 3 of 5 stars
Darkness never dies.
Hunted across the True Sea, haunted by the lives she took on the Fold, Alina must try to make a life with Mal in an unfamiliar land. She finds starting new is not easy while keeping her identity as the Sun Summoner a secret. She can’t outrun her past or her destiny for long.
The Darkling has emerged from the Shadow Fold with a terrifying new power and a dangerous plan that will test the very boundaries of the natural world. With the help of a notorious privateer, Alina returns to the country she abandoned, determined to fight the forces gathering against Ravka. But as her power grows, Alina slips deeper into the Darkling’s game of forbidden magic, and farther away from Mal. Somehow, she will have to choose between her country, her power, and the love she always thought would guide her–or risk losing everything to the oncoming storm.
I was never a huge fan of this series, so going into this book I didn't expect much and I think my expectations were met. Siege and Storm was enjoyable, but it lacked intrigue. The book was over four hundred pages, but it felt like nothing happened.
Unfortunately, the same problem I had with Alina in Shadow and Bone was present in the second book. All she seems to care about is looks. She wonders how her friend Genya could have fallen in love with someone she considers ugly. What a wonderful friend. She also calls Zoya vain and ambitious but she has no right to. Alina is extremely vain and all she wants is more power. I found it ridiculous that she insulted someone like that. Despite that I enjoyed Alina a little bit more in this book because she was powerful and prepared to fight.
Most of this book was spent preparing for war with the Darkling and I found it sort of boring. After Alina and Mal teamed up with Nikolai everything seemed to slow down. It was all about drama between Mal and Alina. The end was probably what brought my rating up because it was intense and definitely the best part of the book.
As I said before, a good portion of the book was taken up by Mal and Alina drama. Those two are extremely insecure about each other and it got on my nerves. Thankfully Nikolai was there to make sarcastic comments and lighten the mood. I love Nikolai and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about Nikolai and Alina but I know I prefer him to Mal. Then there's the Darkling. I think he's great villain but I don't like him as a love interest because I think he's creepy. The visions Alina has of him just drive home the fact that he's creepy as hell.
After reading so many glowing reviews for this series, I wanted to fall in love with it, but I just couldn't. I enjoyed it and will probably end up reading the next book, but I doubt that this will ever be one of my favorite series.
Hmm I haven't dived into this one yet but I think I'll still put it off for a while. After reading so many glowing reviews, yours is like a breath of fresh air haha.
ReplyDelete-Ariella @ Secrets of Lost Words
Thanks! I was surprised by how many people loved it because not much happened.
DeleteI liked the first book, but not as much as most other readers did, so I wasn't following the hype for this one because I just wasn't that excited for it. I don't know if I'll ever read this one, but it won't be any great loss for me haha.
ReplyDeleteI have yet to read this series, and I am definitely going to try to get to them soon because I need to see what it's all about. But sometimes, no matter what you yourself think about a book, it is nice to hear a review like this for something that 99% of everyone else gushes about. Maybe that's the jealous writer in me. :/ But I think it's just actually good to see that not everyone is impressed by the same thing.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I don't know if all your reviews are like this, but I liked the format and length of this one--not too long, not too short. :)
ReplyDeleteI just can't seem to get past the emphasis that the author puts on beauty being equivalent to power. Plus this book was like a filler between the first and third book because not much really happened.
DeleteThanks! I try to make all my reviews like this but a few of my first ones are a lot shorter and aren't very good.