GRISHA BOOK TWO: SIEGE AND STORM | REVIEW | LEIGH BARDUGO
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- Опубликовано: 4 фев 2025
- A non-spoiler book review and a spoiler chat for Siege and Storm, the second book in the Grisha trilogy by Leigh Bardugo.
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Readers: He is evil.
Leigh Bardugo: But he is also hot.
Readers: He. Is. Evil.
Leigh Bardugo: He is also hot.
Readers: He-
Leigh Bardugo: Hot.
Nickolai is Awesome!!! This is my factually correct and objective opinion. (I love Nickolai)
Hahahaha, I am wrong, you are right 🤣 😉💕
Nikolai is a breath of fresh air. Mainly because Mal is often very immature and selfish. When Alina holds back or he gets jealous, he becomes angry and he takes that anger out on Alina. He says cruel things to her, is cold towards her and avoids her. Then Nikolai walks in all bold and confident. He actually takes the time to talk to Alina instead of pushing her away like Mal does. I think Alina would have a much healthier, happier relationship with Nikolai because he’d be more of a partner to her and take the time to understand what she’s going through and what she’s feeling. He is more of a support to Alina than Mal is, emotionally at least. But you can’t help who you love and Alina is definitely in love with Mal.
The whole: attractive guy doesn’t notice his plain Jane best friend until she becomes “special” is a trope I just can’t get behind. And I don’t like how it played out once he did notice her. Between it being beaten into our heads all through books two and three that they can’t be together if she’s the sun summoner and the ultimate ending, which I won’t mention in detail because spoilers, the message seems to be: the girl can get the guy if she becomes less than her whole self. And I think that is an incredibly toxic message to send young girls. If they had found a way to make it work, I could have gotten behind their relationship despite not liking Mal in the first two books, but the ending of book three ruined any hope I ever had of shipping them.
Spoilers:
He lost a part of himself too. A lot of his identity was centered in him being a tracker, and he lost all that when he sacrificed himself. I personally didn’t think the message was that she had to be powerless.
I have not read book 3 yet, but this wasn’t a situation where Mal didn’t notice his plain-Jane friend until she became special. Mal didn’t notice his plain-Jane friend until she was taken away from him. All those years the two of them were basically inseparable and he saw her only as a friend while she pined for him. As soon as they were separated, he realized his feelings ran a lot deeper and he was heart broken over the loss.
That being said, I also don’t appreciate that Mal basically demands that Alina choose between him and her power. Little does he know she already subdued her power for him for years and she suffered for it physically.
@@shananika he doesn’t really demand it as much as just air out his grievances in the situation that he is in. By saving Alina he became a deserter and that was punishable by death. Then he had to basically be a security guard when he was a severely skilled tracker. But regardless of how much he wishes things weren’t the way they were he still does everything in his power which is a lot to get her every single thing she needs to be powerful including himself.
@@Ambereigh Mal was very self destructive and angry in book 2 and took a lot of that anger out on Alina. I think that’s what turns so many fans off to him. But I feel he made up for it with his attitude and his actions in book 3.
@@shananika well part of that anger was that Alina was pushing him away. Even though he was angry he still did everything he could for her despite it. He was a very loyal character.
I agree, Nikolai is a good addition to the story, but so far that's about it. I also don't hate Mal with a passion, like everyone else does (even his name means "bad" in some languages, what's that about?). The writing and fandom can do a lot of groundwork and steering the wheel of this ship, that's what I'm getting from this trilogy. I have yet to read Ruin and Rising, let's see how that goes.
For me one of the biggest annoyances in the book was the DRAMA between Alina and Mal. I like them together and liked them in the first book, but DRAMA (all capitals, of course) was grating on my nerves. After watching your video though I think I sympathize a bit more with them. It does make sense that their relationship is insecure. But I also wish it was done in a more adult way, you know. Like having it be a somewhat true to life reflection of what happens in a relationship like theirs where one of them always pined after the other and has only recently found an identity, or one of them has to basically lose their identity for the relationship (but maybe it'll happen in the third book, and Mal and Alina will deal with this like adults). I agree that this book could have really profited from being in the adult fantasy genre.
I FEEL THIS!!!! I wanted to THROW this book the entire time while reading it because of Mal and Alina’s relationship!!!!!! It better get resolved in the third book 😭😭😭😭😭
100% agree on your opinion on the "love triangle" issue! I also just always wanted Alina and Mal to be happy together. She loved him, so I wanted them to end up together, period. :D
(Slight spoiler for Crooked Kingdom ahead, I guess)
I'm among the people who adore Nikolai, I haven't read the Shadow and Bone trilogy in a while, but I was completely freaking out when he turned up in Crooked Kingdom (I read that only a few weeks ago). Can't wait to read King of Scars.
I can’t wait to read King of Scars too!!! I’m hoping to pick it up in April :D
Elliot you need to do a spoilery deep dive into your writing process, and how you came up with the ideas of your novel in detail. I would love to see more writing advice videos
I don’t care for Mal and Alina. I think it’s because their relationship was formed “off screen” with them being best friends. I feel like Bardugo is trying so hard to give the impression that they’d do anything for each other, but I don’t care. I know they love each other or whatever but I feel like they have zero chemistry. I understand why people ship her with the Darkling. I saw her wavering in her morality and wondered if she would go on to be an antihero that takes over Ravka but Bardugo just wants her to be good. After she saves the world, she should be happy. I just wish she was more ambitious. Any recommendations for heroes that actually take the morally grey route?
The Darkling carries this series on his back... he is the only reason I was engaged in book 1 and the lack of Darkling in this one hurt... that being said Nikolai is a great character in book 2 even though his story lead nowhere in this book, hopefully he will have a lot to do in book 3 👌
Looking forward to reading the Grisha series later this year. I’m readIT by Stephen king right now( it’s massive and I’m a slow reader) every thing else will have to wait a bit
Ah, sometimes those big books become all consuming 😯
omg i have literally just finished this book and was looking for other people's reviews and then you have just uploaded like woah
Perfect timing!!! :D
Elliot Brooks for me I felt like this book definitely suffered for 2nd book syndrome :(
Hopefully you’ll like the third more. I recall really liking the ending :)
Elliot Brooks yes thanku I hope so too as I loved the first one
I read Sige and Storm last year and I really liked it and can't wait to read the last one!!
Ohhh, I hope you like the conclusion :D
I just finished Siege and Storm and I enjoyed it. I also found Nikolai to ~kind of~ annoying. I would see people saying how much they loved him, and I see why, but I just couldn’t obsess over him. On the other hand, I LOVE Mal. It seems as if I’m the opposite of all popular opinions haha. Love your videos!
From the perspective of someone who read the second series first, I really liked Nikolai's character. Although when I read the grisha trilogy, I did feel like he is kind of annoying
Hahaha, I found him annoying too (obviously). I am excited to see him in something else though!
Hard agree on the mal/alina relationship dynamics!
I’m not sure why but I keep watching your videos lol ! 💕
Thanks? 😆 Glad to have you!
Nikolai easily the coolest character
Alina might be my least favorite main character of all time. She is just underwhelming and disappointing. I didn't hate Mal but I found him to be uninteresting. His insecurity made him tiresome. Nikolai was refreshing only because Leigh Bardugo's character development of the other characters was so flat. I really love Six of Crows & Crooked Kingdom. I almost wish she would rewrite this story.
Are you going to be reading king of scars after the third one
Yes! I’m very excited :D
Great video!!!! Happy weekend reading to u!! 📖💙
Happy reading to you as well :D
I finished siege and storm and I don't like grishaverse yet. I'm just reading them to get to six of crows bc I've heard it contains my fav tropes but anyway here is my opinion: I totally agree with you when you said we 're told not shown and I think this is everywhere in this book. I think book 2 is slightly better than 1st but still I don't feel anything for any of the characters they're just meh to me lol. Also the grisha world still needs a lot more developing.
(Rest of the comment might contain some spoilers for book 2:)
For example in the 1st book we're told that 1) it's not possible to have more than one amplifier and 2) you can't magically "create" things in grishaverse you can just "summon" them and 3) amplifiers can't be taken from someone as "you own them and they own you" kind of thing, but in the 2nd book all of these rules are broken :/ this might be intentional (though i don't think so) but When such things happen I'd rather there be some kind of forshadowing earlier that discusses the possibility of an exception to the rules of the story or no rules at all, just not making and breaking them after.
This is why I think grishaverse is underdeveloped and anything can happen.
Did you ever read SOC? I just started with that and went to this trilogy after and it made me suffer less. I agree the second amplifier not being mentioned in the first book and then suddenly is a thing in this one made it seem ridiculous especially because the first amplifier was tooted as a really big buff and then shown to be barely anything in alina's hands, unsure about if an amplifier was taken by someone else unless you mean darkling using alina
Wow! More than 2k views and 0 dislikes! Keep up the good work : )
Just discovered your channel and I notice that you read a lot of fantasy genre books. Is fantasy your go to genre and do you usually read anything other than fantasy?
It is my go to, but I read other genres from time to time as well 😊
Elliot Brooks
Interesting. I’d recommend a book series by Bernard Cornwell. It’s a historical fiction which focuses on how England became England and all to do with the Danes/Northmen attacking England. Such a great story, with intriguing characters. Twelve books have been released so far and number thirteen will come out this year to mark an end to the series.
Thank you for the reply!
SPOILERS FOR THIRD BOOK I SUPPOSE
I like her and Mal. Alina DESERVES that peaceful life with her childhood sweetheart after all the shit she's been through. I ship alarkling, but it's less of a 'they should've been together!' and more of a 'they had an interesting dynamic'. Like, I'm okay with it not being endgame, I'm glad it ISN'T endgame, because it would've either ended with Alina going dark or Darkling being ooc. I would've liked if he got some bit of redemption before his death, and again, I liked his and Alina's dynamic, their moments and interactions even as enemies, the whole light dark they're the only two people who can truly be with one another (what with immortality and all)...but for that to develop into a full on relationship would take aLOT of time. Like that could not have worked well if it happened in the last few chapters of the last book, it would've felt SO RUSHED imo. I reserve my craving for alarkling/ darkling redemption to fanfiction
I loved seeing your feelings on this! I think everything you described sounded super interesting, although it likely-as you mentioned-wouldn’t quite have fit this particularly story 😯
arkila enilo you just about summed up every thought I have about the darklina dynamic
So, i dont really know how you are with contemporary stuff, but my Favorite story is on Netflix and i'm here to spread the word to people I think might like it. It's called march comes in like a lion (3gatsu no lion) and it is soooo good.
PS: you can skip the shogi cat song in episode 8 (i think, might be 7)
Thanks for the suggestion! :D
@@ebnovels I hope you do dicide to watch it because it has IMO the best portrayal of depression of any story I have ever seen and if you watch it, please make a video about it. I know I might be annoying and I do apologize but I swear, if you don't mind the styalized animation (it's not as over the top as bakemonogatari but it's still shaft) and it not being very actionpacked I swear you won't regret it
Hi, I cannot find the link for the non spoiler review of book 1 🙈 ...
It’s in the Grisha playlist link 😊
I was so team mal... then this book happened
Have you read the third? If not, I’ll be curious your thoughts by the end!
Elliot Brooks Yes,
Spoiler
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I kinda saw it coming and in the end I just tried to forget the bad stuff... but a huge part of me wanted Nikolai to end up with her.
Overall though I acknowledge that she didn't really fit in with any of them... but that's my opinion.
This series is so difficult for me to rate, as I read the six of crows duology first and I think her writing style changes SO much between the two series. I absolutely adored six of crows and then struggled a lot with the grisha trilogy, just because of how mature six of crows was compared with the grisha trilogy. That’s not to say i didn’t like them, but I just found that reading six of crows first made them seem “younger”, if that makes sense?
Totally makes sense! I feel similarly. Six of Crows feels like it’s for a slightly older audience.
soooo good review ☺️☺️☺️☺️
Great book as the 1st one was, I really hate Mal's attitude and I don't understand why the relationship between alina and mal keeps going, selfish love. I love Nikolai great character I hope he's still alive. What I didn't much like is that the book is mostly of working on ways to fight de darkling and in a blink of an eye dumb Vasilyn ruined it all. I'm about to read the 3rd one
Spoilers
When Ivan dies.... you cannot tell me you did not let out a long exaggerated sigh.
Favorite book from leigh bardugo?
Six of Crows. I think Kaz's backstory is really the best character work Leigh Bardugo has done.
I agree with Zayd! From what I’ve read by her, I like the Six of Crows duology more than this trilogy :) But I do enjoy both!
I absolutely love the Grisha books but I think Ninth House just blew me away!!! It’s unique and interesting and definitely not what I expected it to be.
Finally someone actually said it.... nikolai is a very arrogant and an annoying character... i find even the darkling more tolerable ... mal loved alina while nikolai wanted the sun summener for his political gain
I find the two spin-off book more mature than the original trilogy. Alina never seemed a willfull and strong character to me. Yes, everyone has their flaw, but she wasn't much likable.
An enjoyable trilogy, but nothing special.
I think they are more mature. I almost wonder if that was kind of like the author’s way of aging up her world as her audience aged, but that’s just a thought! 🤷🏻♀️
I liked the first, 2nd and 3rd, eh.. they were bad imo
Sorry you felt that way!
alina should just end up with genya or no one at all. shadow and bone men suck
LOL I found Nikolai to be lowkey annoying too
I'm trying to get through this book in the series. I read shadow and bone back in 2012-2013. So it's been a while. And I have to say, after being in Brandon Sander's worlds, this one is SO CRINGE. The characters development is just cringe, the dialog gives me second hand embarrassment. Usually I enjoy books, but I'm having a terrible time with these.
I don't understand why people find Nikolai so annoying, he is literally my favourite character.
I definitely liked him more on reread, though I don't love him as much as a lot of other people
I hated nikolai yikess