Snow Like Ashes (Snow Like Ashes Trilogy, #1)

by Sara Raasch

A striking fantasy tale of dark magic, dangerous politics, and discovering your true self-perfect for fans of Game of Thrones, An Ember in the Ashes and A Court of Thorns and Roses. 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. Training to be a warrior-and desperately in love with her best friend, Winter's future king-she would do anything to help Winter 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-only to find 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.

• ISBN10: 0062286935
• ISBN13: 9780062286932
• Publish Date: 22 October 2015 (first published 14 October 2014)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Inc
• Imprint: Balzer and Bray
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 448
• Language: English

Reviews

[ladygrey]

So the beginning of this book is pretty heavy on world building and description and repetition (wait, did you say there’s eight kingdoms? eight, really? male and female magic bloodlines? oh I missed that the first FOUR times you said it in fifty pages). But once the story gets going (just past the 100 page mark) it’s pretty decent. Note to other authors—action does not replace story. You can throw in a couple of battle scenes all you want but that doesn’t make up for the fact that your story isn’t happening yet.

And the reason the story gets going isn’t the big political conflict of the book, it’s the personal, emotional conflict Theron creates when he shows up. All the tension and dancing and garden confrontations and questions and training ground fights and confronting each other with what’s going on and the truth of everything is the fun part.

Then there’s the revelations which, aren’t actually that surprising. To her credit, Raasch layers them in along the way enough that they’re believable but also enough to tip her hand, which isn’t the end of the world. I mean, this is a YA novel so around page five I was wondering when the main girl would start showing her power .

The whole refuge storyline felt a lot like Finnikan of the Rock. Which is either a very high compliment (though it pales in gravitas by comparison) or it served as inspiration which is less impressive and it’s not just the plight of the exiled kingdom—the false ruler and guardian guy and small band of warrior exiles are all a little too reminiscent of a deeper, more emotional book.

I liked the seasons and the different cultures of each. And the Rhythms and Seasons. I wonder if we’ll see more of the kingdoms in future books. Though I can’t believe Meira didn’t guess why Angra hated Winter so much. I mean, Raasch layers that in pretty heavily too so it should be fairly obvious. And I like the characters. It’ll be interesting to see what becomes of Mather and Meira and Theron in the next book.

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

Snow Like Ashes was… exhausting. This book gets a 3.93 star rating on Goodreads, which is very for a book that people do not talk about ceaselessly and have intense fandoms for. There was a lot of promise here, but I cannot in good conscience agree with the masses that this is an almost 4-star book.

I’ll start with the good: the worldbuilding was really cool. If not for the worldbuilding, I would have DNF’d this novel early on. In Snow Like Ashes, Sara Raasch has built an interesting, magical world. The closest comparison I can come to this type of worldbuilding is Graceling, but even then… that’s more in the feeling of it than the technicalities. There are eight kingdoms in total, each with its one unique politics, motivation, and aesthetics. I never felt overwhelmed with the immensity of it all, because she ties it all together seamlessly. I kept reading for a lot of these explanations – I wanted to know how this world came to be, and I wanted better explanations of exactly how magic worked. I wanted to know how Spring really got so powerful and why Winter fell.

Unfortunately, while these questions may be answered in the rest of the trilogy, I’m afraid I don’t have the patience to keep digging in to look for them and hoping the other aspects get better… because I hated Meira. A good deal of her character comprised of verbal flailing and confusion and complaining. Most the reviews I have read of this book ing her lots of praises, but generally speaking, I found hereto be a bit of a brat? As far as characters, there were two I did like: Hanna and Theron. Both were supporting characters and both will have more depth, I’m sure, in later books. Just… ugh… I feel like they’ll both be reduced to something shallow as the story continues, Especially Theron, as a love interest. Sara Raasch has a way of reducing things to suit Meira’s needs, and it drives me crazy.

And that’s the thing that bothered me about this book the most. There were many times where as a reader, I was asked to accept something that didn’t make sense. Meira was put in a lot of difficult positions, and made it through without any opposition. There’s a couple scenes in particular where she should have had grievous injuries but didn’t, or where she was inexperienced and reckless and managed to miraculously do things many other more seasoned characters failed to do over and over. There were things that happened “because magic!” that just made me roll my eyes. I feel like this book could have been amazing if Meira actually had to prove her worth and truly suffer rather than lucking out through sheer plucky determination and never getting caught for some inexplicable reason.

And listen, some of the things would have been terrible if they succeeded. I don’t want them to succeed! But I want Meira to actually have to struggle to get out of them. That way she could more realistically grow as a character. There’s a lot of potential here, it just didn’t follow through in a believable way.

There are other things. The fact the plot was completely predictable 3% in. The stiffness between characters that made for awkward relationships. Like I said, the world building was really good and there were some cool ideas going on, but the execution was not there. A lot of people like it, and it has the potential to be a book of high entertainment value if you can get past a few things. I can see why people love it, and I’m not out on Sara Raasch yet, but I am done with this series.

[readingwithwrin]

Rating: 3.5 stars

Decided to listen to this on audio so I could finally continue on with the series.
I surprisingly remembered more than I thought I would, but it was a nice refresher.
I think knowing what I did though made me not enjoy it as much this time, and just want it to end faster.
Meira is a likable character in my opinion as well as most of the others.

It just somehow lost something for me because I remembered so much of it.
On to the next one now and already really enjoying it.

See reviews first on my blog

[Kait ✨]

I was feeling very blah about this until the plot swerved in a direction I wasn’t anticipating about halfway through. There’s also kind of a huge twist at the end that was pretty cool.

It checks all the boxes as far as YA fantasy goes (great worldbuilding, interesting plot, etc.) and while it felt pretty predictable early on, I LOVED what happened later on when the characters travel to a new location. There’s also a love interest who’s pretty awesome although the love triangle situation felt a bit juvenile.

Also WINTER. I loved that setting. It’s so unique and I love how they had expressions like “By the snow!” etc.

Ultimately though I didn’t really connect with Meira so I found it dragging a bit at times. It didn’t really feel like the same calibre as [b:Throne of Glass|7896527|Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass, #1)|Sarah J. Maas|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1335819760s/7896527.jpg|11138426], [b:Shadow and Bone|10194157|Shadow and Bone (The Grisha, #1)|Leigh Bardugo|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1339533695s/10194157.jpg|15093325], [b:The Girl of Fire and Thorns|10429092|The Girl of Fire and Thorns (Fire and Thorns, #1)|Rae Carson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1323448113s/10429092.jpg|13282366], [b:Grave Mercy|9565548|Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin, #1)|Robin LaFevers|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1320269319s/9565548.jpg|14452295], [b:The Queen of the Tearling|18712886|The Queen of the Tearling (The Queen of the Tearling, #1)|Erika Johansen|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1417685148s/18712886.jpg|24267689], and other current YA fantasy series. If you like YA fantasy I would definitely give this a try, but be patient if it feels like it’s being really predictable. Raasch does stir things up pretty nicely but I’m not sure this series will be as compelling.

[Berls]

Took me a little bit to get into this - but I don't think it was the books fault. I think I was just tired. Once I got about 50 pages in, though, I was hooked. I love the main character (Kiera? I've forgotten her name. grr!) and that she's a solider through and through. She has no desire for a courtly life that she's missing out on. I enjoy her struggle to not be selfish about being needed and to do what is needed, regardless of her ideal way of being needed (does that make sense? will have to clear up in final review). There was some fantastic battles and use of magic. I would love to see this one on the big screen for that element alone.

Only downsides for me -
1 - "the twist" I was 99% sure that it was going to be the twist by like 5 pages in. No I'm not exaggerating. I was OBVIOUS to me.

2 - there's sort of a love triangle. And for me it felt awkward because the one relationship never felt like more than brotherly affection, even though clearly it was supposed to seem like more. But I think I approve of her choice, assuming it is her final choice.

This could be a stand alone. You don't NEED more. But I certainly will enjoy reading more :)

[Stephanie]

July has been kicking my ass, and this book took stupidly long to read. I was enjoying the first half but the second half felt... kind of boring? Kind of typical? Kind of weak overall? There were some really stupid plot points that made me roll my eyes, and the big surprise was preeeeeeetty obvious that I kept thinking that maybe I was wrong. I wasn't. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[nightingalereads]

3.75 stars

[Chelsea]

Thoughts When I Finished:

I saw this book compared to A Game of Thrones a lot but I honestly didn’t see anything similar other than they’re both high fantasy. My first thought after finishing the book was “I totally saw that coming.” Even though it was a little predictable for me, I still loved reading it. I’m currently nervous to pick up the second book because there’s kind of a love triangle going on and I’m firmly on one side but I’m not sure if it’s the winning side. They author is giving us no indication of what the main character is going to be up to in the next book.

What I Loved:

I really loved the fact that we didn’t know what was going to happen to the characters. They were always on the run, in hiding, or in the middle of battle. It was kind of scary not knowing where my favourite characters were or if they were even still alive. I like having those feelings when reading a book because it makes the story so much more fun to read. It was also different that these character had already lost their home and were fighting to get in back. Usually we see characters lose their home during the series. The beginning of this series was a little depressing because the character haven’t had a home in a very long time. At the same time though the plot was nothing we haven’t seen before. We’ll have to see what happens next.

I also really liked Meira as a heroine. She wasn’t used to always getting her way, or having everything she could possibly want. She’s been living with only the necessities for a long time and I think that makes her a much stronger character. She’s willing to put her life in danger so her best friend can rule the kingdom he was meant to. She wasn’t the strongest character or the smartest, she was just an average girl trying to be the best possible person she could be.

P.S. I’m on team Theron, What about you?

What I Didn’t Like:

There wasn’t much I didn’t like about this book. I’m seeing a lot of people amazed by the world building in this book but I think that was my biggest disappointment. I didn’t quite understand how these kingdoms would and could have used a little bit more of an explanation. I’m hoping in future books we see more because I’m still just a little bit confused at some points. I’ll be excited when we get to see more of the kingdoms too. Maybe a map will be incorporated in the future!

There is also a love triangle in this book but so far it’s been handled very well so far. I’m nervous to see what happens with it though because love triangles are rarely any good.

Who I’d recommend To:

I’d recommend this book especially to people who aren’t used to fantasy and need something not too intense to begin their journey into fantasy. As far as fantasy book go, this was was pretty easy going in comparison to huge fantasy book like Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings. I’d still recommend it to fantasy lovers too though because I think this could potentially be a fantastic series. Watch out for your emotions though because I can tell that, especially in future books, they’re going to be hit hard.

Quick Review:

This book is filled with all the elements to make a great fantasy book. The kingdoms are all unique, the characters are all perfectly written, and the plot is filled with action and adventure. This is the perfect book for people looking to start their journey into the fantasy genre and it’s a guarantee to get them hooked. Great things are expected for the future of this series!

[jeannamichel]

Meira was just a baby when her land, Winter, was destroyed, taken over by Spring. Sixteen years later and the original twenty five refugees who were able to resist Spring’s working camps have become a measly thirteen or so. Meira tries everything in her power to get back a land, she never truly knows. Even if that means risking her life for a broken locket. Or even marrying someone she does not love. Snow Like Ashes will whisk you away to a magnificent fantasy land and hold you captive like never before.

When this book released, I remember everyone talking about it. It was a bit overhyped, I thought at the time. However, now I realize all the discussions about it were most definitely well deserved. I didn’t know a thing about Snow Like Ashes before cracking its spine, I prefer going into books blind. It made for a fantastic surprise when Meira, the protagonist, rocked the world with her adventures.

The world-building was on point, total perfection. All the lands Sara Raasch has created are fabulous, drawing the reader in to know more. And the great thing also: Raasch doesn’t bore you with history. Part of world building requires history, within the fantasy genre. Snow Like Ashes keeps the history to the minimum, not taking away any of the story—if anything, the short history lessons add depth to the story. Since Meira was just a baby when the refugees fled with her from Winter, Raasch builds upon that fact—the protagonist learns more about the history as readers do which makes for a smoother flow in the plot.

And yes, the plot was smooth. If anything the plot went by too fast. For example, they find out about a person’s betrayal, to surrender them to Spring, and moments later Spring is there to receive them. That is either very convenient or the plot is going very fast. Some could even say that the plot feels a bit rushed. Also, it could be in part because the unreliable narrator, Meira, does not know everything about Winter, boys, or even war.

Meira is an awesome character. She is not whiny, over-dramatic, or in-your-face confident. She is incredibly relatable but that is not why I love her so much. In the book, there were definitely some face-palm moments that had me going, “Why did you do that?” and it’s those moments that make an unforgettable character jump off the page. I loved Mather in the beginning but as soon as readers met Theron, I was already in his fan club. Team Theron, anyone? Theron is a bit of a cliché. Mather becomes a surprise, included in a huge twist that I will not spoil. His connection was unseen, where the twist itself was easily predictable.

Telling potential readers there is no love triangle in Snow Like Ashes would be lying. I have nothing against love triangles but it seems, Meira does. As soon as she discovered her feelings for one, it was like a switch went off and problem solved. It’s unrealistic but since the plot felt too rushed, the love triangle was vague. No one ever made a declaration of love—this is not a romance, after all.

Overall, Snow Like Ashes will rock your world. With nonstop action, a quick plot, and a strong heroine, readers are sure to fall in love with Raasch’s fantasy debut. Winter is coming and with Meira, Winter is already here.

The sequel to Snow Like Ashes, Ice Like Fire just released October 13. Be sure to check it out.

[Kelly]

Ever had a book scream out, LOOK AT HOW FUCKING AWESOME I AM!
Yes Snow Like Ashes, yes you are.