Xpresso Reads

Siege and Storm continues the enchanting story of Alina, Mal, and the Darkling, along their land full of danger and secrets. Starting with a bang, we meet again with Alina and Mal trapped in a less than stellar situation on the Darkling's ship. This is sure to immediately captivate any fan of the series, pulling us again in this magic-filled story of the Sun Summoner. Not being the best at remembering from the previous book, I was a left little confused for the first part of the book until the characters and world building carved their way into my heart again. You may raise a brow at me saying this and my rating, but while the book wasn't my favorite, the characters are still as charming as ever, leaving my heart wide open for them to move in. The plot continues where we left off in Shadow and Bone, with an action packed beginning where we meet a new mysterious character that becomes quite a big part of this sequel. However, it's sad to announce that this character takes the place of the Darkling for most of the book. He's not an enigma like the Darkling even though he does give off that vibe quite a bit, nor is he even close to being as charismatic, so sadly it did not compensate for the Darkling being MIA for 90% of this novel. While the latter does make sporadic mysterious appearances a few times throughout the story, the absence of my favorite character was my biggest letdown during this book. I found his personality and eccentricity so fascinating in Shadow and Bone, leaving me both frustrated and mesmerized by his charm that having him not be a real part of this sequel felt as if something was missing. There was a hole that was not filled, one that I'm thinking this new character was supposed to fill but unfortunately did not quite get there for me. The fact that Mal never made any real connection with me surely did not help either as he was surely a large part of this book. I do like his character, but he doesn't exactly do anything for me emotionally or romantically. Regardless, as far as characters go, we do get a slew of fantastic secondary characters that don't miss the mark in this sequel. They're all energetic, giving this book a lot of drive and personality. There is a large number to keep track of, though, which can take a bit of effort to keep them all straight--especially if it's been a while since reading the first book. After its thrilling beginning, the book continues its journey into this monster-filled world full of war and magic. I loved learning more of the world, especially more about Alina's powers and what she is trying to become. I was hoping for more story advancement however. The plot begins to slow down towards the middle of the book, leading us into a very relationship driven and character-development heavy novel. It's great to see Alina come into herself, figuring out who she is, who she needs to be, but I would be lying if I said this was very exciting. As many of you know I'm not a big fan of fantasy, it needs to have a lot of meat for me to bite into, which I found this one a bit lacking of. Being a fairly long novel, I was bored for too long. As much as I love character development, I needed more happenings to keep me compelled. For this reason, I'm convinced that those with a passion for fantasy will find themselves loving this sequel much more than I did. It begins with a bang, and it ends with one as well. The ending finally brings us back the Darkling--turning my mild interest into complete captivation. It's a very exciting and action filled climax. I loved how abrupt it was, as well as how serious it quickly became. Death and emotion are not missing from this ending, neither is the promise of an excitement conclusion in the third installment--and likely my beloved Darkling back!! As I said, this series was a little over my comfort zone to begin with, the first novel's action packed plot was enough to make even me a fan, but sadly this sequel lost a little of it's magic for me, which is more of a personal taste rather than a reflection on the book itself. Either way, Leigh is an incredible writer and I have no doubt she will catch the hearts of all fantasy lovers yet again!--An advance copy was provided by the publisher for review.For more of my reviews, visit my blog at Xpresso Reads