Siege and Storm

I just started this book today, and I can already tell that it is going to be a great book, just like the book that comes before it (it is the second book in a series), Shadow and Bone.  The book starts out with a chapter called before- which isn't actually a chapter, because chapter one comes right after it.  It tells the story of how the main characters Alina and Mal get to where they started in chapter one.  Leigh Bardugo does a great job of capturing the readers attention in the first paragraph of the story, just like she did in the first book.  "The boy and the girl had once dreamed of ships, long ago. before they'd ever seem the True Sea.  They were the vessels of stories, magic ships with masts hewn from sweet cedar and sails spun by maidens from thread of pure gold.  Their crews were white mice who sang songs and scrubbed the deck with their pink tails." (Bardugo, 1).  The author uses a metaphor to help the reader imagine the scenes that the boy and the girl (Mal and Alina) had dreamed of, by comparing men to mice.  She also captures the readers attention and helps them imagine the scene by saying the ship was magical and then proving her point by claiming that the ship had masts hewn from sweet cedar and the sails were pure gold.
I am only on page 40, but already there is action going on.  The Darkling- who is the antagonist of the story, has already found Alina and is attempting to capture her.  I know what happens, but I dont want to put it on the blog in case someone else is reading the book currently or wants to read it.  I'm telling you right now, if you haven't read Shadow and Bone yet, go and read it now.  It is a really really really good book with lots of fantasy in it.  If you read this book you will expose yourself to an awesome author and an amazing series.  The way that Leigh Bardugo writes makes her books seem very suspenceful and they are action-packed.