*Spoilers for Shadow and Bone in this review*
My review for Shadow and Bone is here
Synopsis:
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.
My Thoughts:
This book was a HUGE disappointment for me; Shadow and Bone set up for what could’ve been a really great series. I had such high expectations for this after reading the first book. Siege and Storm started off well – it had a good pace, it was interesting and it instantly had my attention, once again. I thought hurrah we’re off to a great start and another great book. I was wrong.
The middle section of the book was dragged out, it got boring and a chore to read. I was so upset! I had hope that it would pick up and become interesting again but it literally took until the last 50ish pages to get interesting.
This book suffers badly from ‘middle book syndrome’ – it’s literally all fluff and filler and nothing really happens. Everything about it was filler, I feel like this book could’ve been half the size and done the same thing. It’s just very mediocre, to say the least.
The best part: Nikolai – LOVE HIM!
Worst part: Literally everything else.
Especially Mal. Dear god, most of the book is Mal being a manchild and being as annoying as humanly possible.
Characters:
Alina: I don’t even know what to say about Alina. I’m so neutral on her, I don’t actively hate her and I don’t love her. She’s a ‘meh’ main character but not intolerable. However, I hate the ‘oh so plain girl but all the men want her’ thing this book has going on with her. She was whinier in this book too, as were most of the characters. *sigh*
Mal: Oh Mal. How can one be such an ass? He is the most boring character in this entire series. I cannot ship Alina and Mal because I literally cannot find a good point to say about Mal and can’t see why she likes him?! He’s trash.
I don’t even know if Mal is supposed to just be unlikeable or whether he’s just badly written? I know some people like him but HOW? He does nothing. Serves no purpose. Just whines and whines.
Nikolai: THANK THE GODS FOR NIKOLAI! The poor dude must have a bad back from holding the entire plot of this book. He was by far the best part of this book and if he hadn’t have been introduced I think I would’ve died from boredom. He is more interesting and likeable than Alina and Mal combined.
The Darkling: I love The Darkling. I do. But he is SO UNDER USED! Why is there not more of him in these books?! He’s interesting and actually has a personality, yet he barely appears. WHERE IS HE? GIVE ME MORE!
Rating: 3 Stars
Literary Leisha 