Until I picked up Siege and Storm I'll admit, I'd never read anything that was hard, terribly hard, to stop reading. It's a long book and I usually get bored of those a quarter of the way through, but this story was enticing, exciting, and magnificent.
It is centred round Alina, a Sun Summoner, a girl meant for power beyond imagining and consequences beyond comprehension. The trilogy is set in Ravka, a magical setting in Russia with magical beings named Grisha, armies, a palace, a destruction called the fold and a seemingly never dying enemy.
Alina must defeat the Darkling and to do that she needs the Firebird, two amplifiers are not enough. However, along with a quest like this comes sacrifices and when Mal begins to feel the girl he loves is lost to a thirst for power, tension begins to rise in the Little Palace. Each chapter made me read the next; the characters were practically three dimensional with background, humour, emotion and faults and I never knew exactly what to expect.
I loved how, unlike most heroines, Alina was not this stunningly courageous and selfless person, after a taste of power she felt a hunger for more and there is more than one scene where she loses her temper - but all of this made her such a likeable character because her flaws and anger was understandable and relatable. Mal on the other hand annoyed me a little with his constant moping and jealousy, but again, although I didn't want to, I understood it.
Some parts made me laugh, others shocked me and few brought me close to tears. An intricately detailed romantic fantasy carved in an unconventional, original world with description, flawless humour and a faultless build-up of suspense, Siege and Storm is truly a story that leaves you breathless and wanting to read more.
Want to tell the world about a book you've read? Join the site and send us your review!
