Shadow and Bone & Siege and Storm

I really enjoyed this book, it had a really good storyline and I loved the world that was created!

I really enjoyed reading this book, and it being only the fourth fantasy world I am ever reading in since I'm quite new to the genre/reading, I found it amazing. For where I am right now with the genre as a whole, it had me gasping with excitement! After reading a couple of reviews from the community I can see why some tropes get repetitive for people, someday they might for me too BUT TODAY IS NOT THAT DAY!!!!! I can rant happily all I want now because I really loved this book. Let's build a mindmap, so spoiler warning here!I think I am about to go through all the stages of grief because I am in complete denial of the darkling shaping up to be the antagonist in this story. BUT HE WAS... what was he? You can't say he was nice, well he was a very interesting character to read about. That and... I may or may not have an entire Pinterest board with fanart of him. Why did my mindmap go immediately to that character? Well, probably it's the thirst or the fact I'm a character reader at the moment. Or my obsession with magically powerful men, which don't necessarily have to be good. Did I entirely ship him with Alina for the first half of the book? From the first moment he was on screen (on page?). I did, absolutely. I have a strange liking towards the villains in stories. He is obviously such a bad person; a liar, a manipulator, a murderer. What else did I expect from someone names "The Darkling"? I am intrigued to see more of him, what the hell will happen with his character.I guess Alina was nice, I don't know if I loved her but I didn't hate her either. The whole entirely beautiful or entirely ugly protagonist thing I don't really like. Or eternal self-esteem issues. Which I guess do make some sense but it also bugged me while reading, but not enough to overturn my excitement to see her develop as a character. Rephrase that; see her powers develop. I am really interested in her powers, I like her powers I want to know everything about them. The whole control over her powers by the darkling there at the end I don't think was explained enough for me to understand, it made slightly more sense why she couldn't find her powers in the first place because she had suppressed them, but not too much either. The decisions she makes felt the weirdest to me, especially at the point where she escapes the Little Palace. She reiterates why she believed Baghra and it makes sense logically, but I was a little stunned at how she suddenly just turned and run from the first place she felt like she belonged in, even after struggling with not knowing where she belonged for years. Like hello, you just found it. She turns out to be right though, so I guess I'm the fool here :DAnd lastly Mal, well best friends to lovers is a trope I guess. Didn't excite me much because he only seemed to gain interest in my girl Alina after she had been taken away. What I did appreciate from his character though was during their hike when he also expresses his thoughts and worries from his perspective, so it makes us remember that our protagonist isn't actually the centre of the story and not everything reloves around her. Something that is easy to forget about in books like this, where so much focus is on the protagonist. Also, are they hyping him up to having some weird powers too? With all the talk about gifts and how he was the bets tracker and all, are they? Am I reading too much into it? As for the rest of the characters I will just give a few lines here for each. Genya, and the fabricator David, were just a joy to read about. No explanation, they just brought me joy. The distracted workaholic charming to me David, and the beautiful Genya. By the way, what did she do to the King? Tell me that, please Leigh. Botkin and Baghra also play their role in the story, being teachers/mentors to Alina. Botkin with fighting skills, physical strength and amazing remarks, and Baghra with helping Alina harness her powers. I especially liked her because of how brutal and straightforward she was, always have to appreciate that in a character. As for Alina's friends Sergei, Maria and another one I don't remember, well that should be all really. I don't remember. Not much emphasis was put on them, and when there was it was from Alina downgrading them and dismissing their friendship, with lines such as "I doubted I would ever miss them" (don't take that as I quote, as it is from memory). Then in the end she regards them as her friends, who she has missed so much. Didn't add up. Now that I am done talking about the characters I can finally express how much I enjoyed this world. The magic system we get introduced into and learning all about it, as well as the politics and the state of war. Seeing the neighbouring countries was nice despite the fact we don't learn about their cultures other than the fact they kill Grisha. So my favourite one has to be the magic system of the Grisha, maybe not the most complex but certainly a very interesting one for a beginner in magic systems such as myself. The play with the elements as well as the looming Shadow Fold, the truth of its creation and its monsters, makes it all the more interesting to want to know more about it. As for the Kingdom, I really like reading about Kings and their court so I was a little disappointed we don't spend too much time learning about the royals who we probably should because they're of the most influential people in the country, but I guess in a magic story there is only so much space for that. But the writing, it was really nice. It was super easy to get through, I practically read the entire book in two days, with a few paragraphs left to finish off in the third. It was easy to get pulled in the story and forget that time exists in the real worlds, which is how I ended up reading for six hours straight one day. Though I would have liked a little bit more on the descriptions that is a personal problem I have, where I need a bit more small details to be able to visualise something in my head. Especially people's faces. This is why the Alina in my head is the Alina from the trailer for the show, the Darkling is Dorian Havilliard, and Mal is a red-haired big muscular dude because that's what I pictured without any details.