Rate: 4/5

Medium: Kindle

Overview (No Spoilers):

Bardugo prepared quite the emotional rollercoaster in Siege and Storm, where it was hard to keep up with the each shifting plot twist and the subsequent implications. This read definitely didn’t go in the direction I’d anticipated but it kept me eagerly flipping page after page. Siege and Storm made strides to expand this fascinating literary realm, however very quickly became bogged down in politics and petty YA romantic jealousies. While this middle section proved tedious to read, there was always an overlying feeling that Bardugo was working toward some big reveal that would make all of the pawn moving worthwhile. Instead, all of that work was negated with one shocking twist. I for one love a great twist, however not at the expense that the reader is left feeling as though they wasted their time. The final scenes worked to set up for a most intriguing last installment of the trilogy, but didn’t manage to negate the feelings of frustration I’d felt regarding the time spent twiddling our fingers while political maneuvering took precedence. Overall, while Siege and Storm was in general an entertaining read, the frustrating love story and the quagmire of politics did not leave me in a great rush to pick up the final book in the trilogy, despite the crazy ending.

Additional Insight (Spoilers Abound):

• How will Alina find the firebird? Should she?
• Does anyone else find it frustrating that these mystical creatures need to killed in order to harvest the amplifiers?
• How can The Darkling appear to Alina? Did the bite infect her somehow?
• How many times can Mal or Alina become captured or switch sides?
• I can’t decide if I like Sturmhond/Nikolai. I did like the twist that Sturmhond was the prince and his innovative tendencies. Did he survive?
• All the feels with Genya’s reunion with David.
• Mal seriously need to go away. There’s no forgiveness for him kissing Zoya and then making Alina feel bad about it. Emotional abuse!
• I enjoyed the addition of Tolya and Tamar but can Alina trust them?
• So many of the Second Army were killed in the brutal Darkling attack. It seemed like such a waste of characters that effort had been put in to establishe.