Alina and Mal are across the True Sea after escaping the Darkling, disguising themselves and taking whatever work they can find so they can save up some cash and continue to travel. Alina doesn't particularly like it, but it's better than the alternative.
And then the alternative happens. The Darkling is waiting for them in their boardinghouse one afternoon, and he's got a new power: he can create shadow monsters, vaguely person-shaped and corporeal. One of them bites Alina, causing her to black out.
When she awakens, Alina's on board a ship heading back across the True Sea in search of the mythical sea whip, another creature that might be able to amplify her powers. Having more than one amplifier is supposed to end poorly for anyone who attempts it, but the Darkling believes that the storied history of the sea whip means it will be an exception.
The captain of this ship is Sturmhond, a notorious pirate. While Alina knows she can't trust him, she can't help but like him, especially when he promises he'll help her and Mal escape once they land. Sure, he was paid to get them back to Ravka - but he made no promises about delivering them safely to his patron.
The sea whip is found soon enough once Mal's forced to track it, and Sturmhond loads himself, his most trusted crew, Mal, and Alina on board a smaller boat to get her close enough to kill it for herself - she's not making the same mistake after the stag. Once Alina's killed the whip and taken its scales for herself, though, things take a bit of an unexpected turn.
Sturmhond fires on his ship and gets their little boat of the range of the Darkling's powers, leaving him to his fate and getting Alina and Company back to land. Another surprise? Sturmhond's boat can fly, thanks to some modifications he's made and the two wind-summoning Grisha he's got on his crew. After an eventful trip across the Fold, they run into a group of soldiers, which doesn't seem like it will end well.
And then Sturmhond reveals he's actually Grand Duke Nikolai Lantsov, younger son of the king.
When Alina heard he was off learning about ships at college, this wasn't really what she had pictured.
Nikolai takes the group back to the capital, staging productions about Alina's magnificent return as the Sun Summoner as they go and even proposing marriage. Naturally, neither Mal nor Alina is super thrilled about that offer, but he takes it in stride. He's much more politically savvy than he'd appear, and he knows they wouldn't be a love match.
Once they arrive back at Os Alta, Alina takes over as head Grisha and commander of the Second Army in the Darkling's place. She forces the different types of Grisha to work together to figure out ways they can defend themselves from the Darkling's inevitable attack, which actually seems to work out. She also tirelessly researches the third legendary Ravkan creature: the firebird. If she can manage to hunt down and kill it, she'll finally have more power than the Darkling.
Unfortunately, some things don't work out quite as well. Mal gets testy and restless, for one. He's now the captain of Alina's personal guard, but he's not cut out for court life and starts to resent much of what he's made to do. For two, Nikolai's spoiled older brother Vasily gets suspicious of Nikolai, thinking he's plotting to take the throne - which, to be fair, Nikolai is. When Vasily announces that he's made a treaty with Fjerda, Ravka's biggest enemy, he accidentally unleashes a battle royale on the palace, allowing the Darkling to basically massacre everyone around.
Alina and the Darkling have yet another showdown, and things aren't looking great for either of them by its climax. Will Alina become a martyr for the cause after all?
First things first: Nikolai/Sturmhond is possibly my favorite character in this entire series. He's funny, he's very adept at court life, and he genuinely does mean well, even if he's also looking to take over the throne. I'm really hoping that his fate being unknown at the end of Siege and Storm means he's not dead, because I might throw my copy of book three against a wall if I find out otherwise.
(Also, Alina/Nikolai might be taking over as my favorite potential couple of the series. Oops.)
Plot-wise, this book held up what Shadow and Bone put in place quite well, in my opinion. I loved seeing Alina develop as a smart leader, and I also liked Alina seeing that her actions have consequences, too. She's got so much power literally at her fingertips now that she's got a second amplifier, and she needs some reality checks every so often to make sure she doesn't go down the same corrupted road as the Darkling.
However, I'm liking Mal less as time goes on. He only seems happy when he's got more status/power than Alina, which is not at all a good sign. I can understand not liking court life, and it's fair to say that Alina didn't make a great decision in making him come with her to the Little Palace when she knew he wouldn't enjoy it. That doesn't excuse him being insufferable about Alina using her powers. We get it, Mal, you miss the days when you were the Big Man On Campus and Alina was your best buddy. Now grow a pair and get over it.
I think my only wish for book three is Alina finding an actually decent friend for once. Genya was being manipulated by the Darkling, Mal doesn't like her Grisha powers, and Nikolai and her other guards all have their own interests and beliefs, too. If Alina could find a trustworthy person at some point, that would be splendid.
Overall, Siege and Storm was a thrill from start to finish, with plenty more whiplash-causing plot twists and honestly funny sarcastic humor. I honestly feel like I'm in a bit of a rut now - I don't have Ruin and Rising yet, so what am I supposed to read? Five stars.
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