I began this book with every hope in the world that Alina and Mal’s melodrama would be over and that I could finally enjoy the non-high schoolesque fantasy I deserve. This is not what I got. The main drawback to this book is similar to the main drawback of the first; the love story is overdone. Alina and Mal act like petulant children when it comes to one another, completely disregarding the ongoing conflicts around them to focus on each other and spend paragraphs going over their feelings. (At least in Alina’s case since she is the narrator.) It is exhausting. A lot of Alina and Mal’s arguments and heartache could be avoided by them using common sense and basic communication skills. But honestly feelings are hard and so is talking about them, so I understand the emotional constipation to a certain extent. What I don’t understand is the need to drag Alina’s romantic feelings all over the place and have it be as important if not more so than the actual storyline.

Full review here: https://aggietheskeletonreads.wordpress.com/2016/07/25/review-siege-and-storm/