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Sophia (Bookwyrming Thoughts) (530 KP) rated Siege and Storm in Books

Jan 23, 2020

Siege and Storm

Leigh Bardugo | 2013 | Young Adult (YA)

8.0

(24 Ratings)

Book Rating

I have completely mixed feelings about Leigh Bardugo's Shadow and Bone trilogy. So mixed, I was scared of reading Siege and Storm, despite the fact the librarian pretty much promised the entire series gets better by the book.

The second book in the Grisha Trilogy is certainly better than <a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/review-shadow-and-bone-by-leigh-bardugo/"; target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shadow and Bone</a> – whereas Alina Starkov (aka Sun Summoner) was overly mopey for a good part of the first book (to the point where I started calling her Mopey), Alina is less mopey this time around. A fantastic turnaround, because I don't think I can handle Starkov being mopey for two books. Instead, our fabulous Sun Summoner "Saint" is a little more... overconfident. Spunky (but that's what I've always like about Alina). And definitely in control of the situation, even if it's not in her favor and there are unpleasant rumors about her floating among the Grisha and everyone else.

But even though Alina is in control of the situation for the most part, there's somehow not a love triangle, but a love square surrounding Saint Sun Summoner.

Boy #1 (Mal): My least favorite corner, Mal wasn't a terrible character back in Shadow and Bone – I actually liked Mal a little. I particularly liked his interactions and dialogue with Alina. In the sequel though... he turns into Adrian Ivashkov 1.0 (HOPEFULLY 1.0).

Boy #2 (Darkling): I shipped Alina and the Darkling back in book one... until the end. The Darkling doesn't grace us readers in Siege and Storm as much as he does in Shadow and Bone, but he's really just that one desperate dude with the way he constantly tells Alina that there's no else like them and that they "belong together."

Boy #3 (Nikolai): My third least favorite corner (aka my favorite corner), despite the fact Nikolai is probably going to end up as one of my favorite characters in the entire trilogy after I read Ruin and Rising. Nikolai's two things: arrogant and adorable. Arrogant because seeing as he's royalty, he'll obviously have a big head of sorts (but not too big). Adorable because of his conversations and dialogue with Alina – I pretty much ship them... even if Nikolai probably likes her for political purposes.

The world building, as it was in the first, is spectacular – Imperial Russia spectacularized into fantasy. The concept is phenomenal and a fantastic pitch – even though I have mixed feelings about the entire series altogether, the Grisha Trilogy definitely deserves the hype and praise.

The trilogy so far is essentially Alina running, getting caught, and running again (with attacks and whatnot in between) – if that's the case for the first and second book, I'm definitely scared of reading the last book now. It could go extremely ugly – down the rabbit hole – or extremely well – mind = blown.

<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/review-siege-and-storm-by-leigh-bardugo/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>

Kudos

Sophia (Bookwyrming Thoughts) (530 KP) rated Hidden Gold: A True Story of the Holocaust in Books

Jan 23, 2020

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
I'm generally not a memoir person. But if I'm going to read a memoir (or even nonfiction), I'll choose anything about the Holocaust (I find that time period sadistically interesting).

Hidden Gold deserves about as much praise as Anne Frank's Diary of a Young Girl. A story set in another part of Europe (Poland) during Hitler's reign, Burakowski tells us her family's survival, hidden away from society in the hopes that they won't be found out.

For two years, the Golds hid with the Lanskis in a small part of a barn in Kolkow, surviving with very little sustenance. During that time, their hope dwindles little by little, but the two families still cling on to their pasts, even if that life will be impossible to get back to after everything blows over.

I loved how Burakowski introduces us to her family and the people that the Golds were involved with, giving us lots of background information on how Leib met Hanna and how the Golds lived their life in the early parts of the war. Burakowski also gives us insight on the growing hypocrisy and horrors among society as Hitler's power and anti-Semitism grew, giving us visuals on how life was like for the Jews back in the late 1930s and early 1940s. We're also shown the inner turmoils going on with those who had good relations with Jews and now having to choose whether or not they should help Jews, or give in to the propaganda.

Shoshana, Hanna's daughter, is extremely admirable. She's willing to go out to the Germans, pretending to be one of them, to buy her family time. She is also willing to risk her life a few times to get her family's money from Pi?czów, and going back again while she felt ill. If I were in her place, I'd probably continue to curl up in a fetal little ball. (Despite the fact I'm considered living in "poverty," I'm pretty much a lucky duckling. Also, being an only child, I'm probably a little spoiled.)

David is perhaps one of those where all the feels will come. Like any little kid, he's full of mischief and mayhem, but going through such a dark time at a really young age, he's extremely brave, confident, and has the most hope for the family getting out alive.

Although most of Hidden Gold is focused on the Gold's survival during Hitler running rampant with the final solution, Burakowski finalizes the story from David's viewpoint with how each of the family members were impacted years later in the future. For those interested in what happened in other parts of Europe or a survival story outside of concentration camps, Ella Burakowski's Hidden Gold makes a fantastic contribution depicting the horrors of the Holocaust.

<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/arc-review-hidden-gold-by-ella-burakowski/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>