The Shadow and Bone Trilogy #2 – Siege and Storm

After having read the first volume together, my lover and I bought the entire Shadow and Bone trilogy. We were very excited, it's so nice to come across a good series. Unfortunately, our excitement didn't last long.

Summary

Alina and Mal are on the run. The Darkling has sent his men after them, so Alina has to hide her power and the bulky antler around her neck, which is draining her energy. But the Darkling's power has grown terrifyingly since their last encounter, and they can't stay hidden for long.

The two friends (lovers?), with the help of a cute and annoying corsair, then return to Ravka with the intention of fighting the forces of evil. Alina realizes, however, that the Darkling has a much stronger hold on her than before, and her will, despite herself, weakens.

Impressions

I loved the first volume so much. It was simple, but extremely effective. The characters were engaging and the story was intriguing. It was action-packed and twisty, and I was always eager to continue. Since in any good trilogy, the characters age with the reader, I expected the second volume to be at least as good, and possibly a little darker, a little more mature.

So why does the second book suddenly feel like a children's book? Alina and Mal behave like 15 year olds, and all the lovely romance that had developed in the first book (and that I wanted to see develop a little more, if you know what I mean), disappears. They don't touch each other anymore, and they can only hold a conversation with the help of pretty average jokes, thanks. And this is generalized to all the characters: the dialogues sound false, and their relationships are superficial and a bit strange.

Another point: Alina is now one of the most powerful people in the world. It would be time for her to grow up, but instead, it seems like she's regressing. She doesn't mention to anyone the rather important fact that she sees the Darkling everywhere, and she treats the privateer (on whom her life depends, by the way) like a jaded 15 year old would treat her parents. I understand that she is overwhelmed, but I still want to believe in her a little. It also seems to me that that's kind of the point of being impressed with her power and wanting her to beat everyone.

Finally, the story side is weaker too. The book is quite short, and one would like it to be full of action, like the first one. But no; there are actually a lot of long stretches. I had the impression that the author was more or less inspired, that she had just realized that she had to write a trilogy, and that she was eager to move on.

So I realize that I don't have much to say that is positive. But I'm not giving up hope. We've started the third volume, and it looks better. Good, because it's too bad to be disappointed with a series like this.