Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch

Published October 14th 2014 by Balzer + Bray

Young-Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Adventure

Purchased Hardcover

My Rating 3.5 Stars

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A heartbroken girl. A fierce warrior. A hero in the making.

Sixteen years ago the Kingdom of Winter was conquered and its citizens enslaved, leaving them without magic or a monarch. Now, the Winterians’ only hope for freedom is the eight survivors who managed to escape, and who have been waiting for the opportunity to steal back Winter’s magic and rebuild the kingdom ever since.

Orphaned as an infant during Winter’s defeat, Meira has lived her whole life as a refugee, raised by the Winterians’ general, Sir. Training to be a warrior—and desperately in love with her best friend, and future king, Mather — she would do anything to help her kingdom rise to power again.

So when scouts discover the location of the ancient locket that can restore Winter’s magic, Meira decides to go after it herself. Finally, she’s scaling towers, fighting enemy soldiers, and serving her kingdom just as she’s always dreamed she would. But the mission doesn’t go as planned, and Meira soon finds herself thrust into a world of evil magic and dangerous politics – and ultimately comes to realize that her destiny is not, never has been, her own.

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REVIEW When I purchased this book a few months back, I just knew that it would live up to the hype. For months, before I got my hands on it, I had been debating hard about it. It didn’t really live up to that hype surrounding it, but I did enjoy it. I just hope that book two is a better read for me, since I’ll be reading it soon.

Meira isn’t the heroine that I thought she would be. Sure, the girl has endless fight within her but I got nothing from that other than her being a glutton for punishment. She wasn’t levelheaded like I’d want her to be, she’s too impulsive. You’d think that her growing up the way she did would make her bad axx, it didn’t. Maybe she will grow more into her role in the next book, because by the end of this I saw promise.

I love love love the differences in the societies. The names of the kingdoms – Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring, and 4 more – had me thinking of other fantasy books that I’ve read. Not the names, but the world building around them, had similarities. That’s not a bad thing, it’s just not unique. Still, this book is solely about the Winterians and the fight to take back their kingdom. Meira stands out, because she is female and wants to be a warrior. Yeah, that whole misogynist thing, felt all too real. And I think that is why Meira tried so hard, she wants to prove everyone wrong and be the heroine who wins back Winter.

Everything started to feel meshed together at one point, and then it was all too apparent that there was a love triangle. Not a fan here. Mather? Theron? Ugh, why did it even have to be about this? Not, that it takes away from the story, but dear God! I can’t deal with two guys in love with the heroine right now. Can’t she and Theron be a kick axx duo and call it a day? I like him more than Mather, even though Mather is a key part of the taking-back-Winter campaign.

This has quite a few elements that make it a great fantasy, but I just didn’t get it all from this book. The potential was there one moment, then gone the next. Still, I’m looking forward to seeing if it’s a series I can get behind fully with the next book. Recommended!