I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Soldier. Summoner. Saint.The nation’s fate rests with a broken Sun Summoner, a disgraced tracker, and the shattered remnants of a once-great magical army.

The Darkling rules from his shadow throne while a weakened Alina Starkov recovers from their battle under the dubious protection of the zealots who worship her as a Saint. Now her hopes lie with the magic of a long-vanished ancient creature and the chance that an outlaw prince still survives.

As her allies and enemies race toward war, only Alina stands between her country and a rising tide of darkness that could destroy the world. To win this fight, she must seize a legend’s power―but claiming the firebird may be her ruin.

Short and Sweet

Everything that Alina has been through has lead to this, one final battle to end it all. Alina and her group are underground with the Apparat but they know at some point they’re going to have to go above ground and face The Darkling, they also know that they need to assemble stronger forces if they’re even going to have a chance. Alina and Mal also know that they need to find the Firebird, the third amplifier.

Alina was weakened after her last battle with The Darkling, and now she’s underground, where her powers don’t work. Alina just wants to be above ground continuing with trying to find ways to defeat The Darkling. We learn a lot in this book and some of the revelations are surprising. Alina also has to wrestle with the idea of having a third amplifier and how it could affect her in the end. The Darkling and Alina have a stronger connection and trying to make him see reason is useless. I love the bonds that Alina forms with the other Grisha on her team and the relationship between her and Mal. I also really love Nikolai he’s amazing and he deserves the best in life.

I love this series and this conclusion will take you on a rollercoaster of emotions. I’m excited to read more of Leigh Bardugo’s books!

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Soldier. Summoner. Saint. Alina Starkov’s power has grown, but not without a price. She is the Sun Summoner―hunted across the True Sea, haunted by the lives she took on the Shadow Fold. But she and Mal can’t outrun their enemies for long.

The Darkling is more determined than ever to claim Alina’s magic and use it to take the Ravkan throne. With nowhere else to turn, Alina enlists the help of an infamous privateer and sets out to lead the Grisha army.

But as the truth of Alina's destiny unfolds, she slips deeper into the Darkling’s deadly game of forbidden magic, and further away from her humanity. To save her country, Alina will have to choose between her power and the love she thought would always be her shelter. No victory can come without sacrifice―and only she can face the oncoming storm.

Short and Sweet Review

Siege and Storm picks up right where Shadow and Bone left off. Alina and Mal are in a small town trying to be discreet but The Darkling locates them anyway. Now Alina and Mal are stuck on a ship with The Darkling, Grisha, and a mysterious pirate named Sturmhond. Sturmhond ends up helping Alina and Mal escape mainly because he has his own motives, Sturmhond ends up being Prince Nikolai. Alina and Nikolai go back to Os Alta to try to bring together the first and second armies so that they’ll have a defense against The Darkling because its only a matter of time before he comes to them.

Siege and Storm was a good sequel, there were a few twists and I think the one that surprised me the most was the one at the end. There’s a bit of a change in Alina, we can see that she enjoys the power that she has now and she uses it to her advantage, some even start comparing her to The Darkling. There’s also some tension between Mal and Alina, Alina wants him to stay but Mal doesn’t feel like he belongs. The anticipation of what The Darkling has planned also his new powers and what kind of destruction he would cause had me flipping pages.

Watching Alina take her place as a leader was great, it was a learning curve. Alina had to deal with a lot, she was now more involved with the royal family, she had visions of The Darkling, and she felt like she was losing Mal. I’m excited to see how everything will end!