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, all while keeping her identity as the Sun Summoner a secret. But 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.

Buy links:

How was it? Unlike Shadow and Bone, there was little to no zombie reading*. I read Siege and Storm in three sittings and only had to backtrack once because I feel asleep. The first session covered a little more than half the novel. The world-building was expanded; new characters were introduced, some of whom were so obvious I knew who they were the instant they appeared.

These new voices and faces made this book far more interesting, one of them – the privateer – pretty much carried this whole book relegating Alina to an observer, a narrator to a story she’s not really a part of.  I can honestly say that I don’t like her that much. I’m not shipping her with anyone, I don’t care!

There are a lot of ramblings and indecision on Alina’s part that almost make this book tedious. As if the semblance of a love triangle wasn’t enough, it became a square with Alina growing closer to the somewhat manipulative – I said what I said – Sturmhond. I can’t.

Siege and Storm might be a bit better than the first book, or maybe I’m used to it, but I still love this world and how magic works in it. This might be the only thing that keeps me reading.

Siege and Storm is available on Amazon, Audible, The Book Depository and other book retailers near you.

*Zombie reading: reading something without really processing any of the words on the page. One often wonders how they got a particular section, with little to no recollection of what came before, after zombie reading.