Ice Like Fire (Snow Like Ashes Trilogy, #2)

by Sara Raasch

Game of Thrones meets Graceling in this thrilling fantasy filled with shocking twists and heart-pounding action, the highly anticipated sequel to Snow Like Ashes. This action-packed series is perfect for fans of An Ember in the Ashes and A Court of Thorns and Roses. It's been three months since the Winterians were freed and Spring's king, Angra, disappeared-thanks largely to the help of Cordell. Meira just wants her people to be safe. When Cordellan debt forces the Winterians to dig their mines for payment, they unearth something powerful and possibly dangerous: Primoria's lost chasm of magic. Theron sees this find as an opportunity-with this much magic, the world can finally stand against threats like Angra. But Meira fears the danger the chasm poses-the last time the world had access to so much magic, it spawned the Decay. So when the king of Cordell orders the two on a mission across the kingdoms of Primoria to discover the chasm's secrets, Meira plans on using the trip to garner support to keep the chasm shut and Winter safe-even if it means clashing with Theron. But can she do so without endangering the people she loves? Mather just wants to be free.
The horrors inflicted on the Winterians hang fresh and raw in Jannuari-leaving Winter vulnerable to Cordell's growing oppression. When Meira leaves to search for allies, he decides to take Winter's security into his own hands. Can he rebuild his broken Kingdom and protect them from new threats? As the web of power and deception is woven tighter, Theron fights for magic, Mather fights for freedom-and Meira starts to wonder if she should be fighting not just for Winter but for the world.

• ISBN10: 0062286951
• ISBN13: 9780062286956
• Publish Date: 19 November 2015 (first published 13 October 2015)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 15 October 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Inc
• Imprint: Balzer and Bray
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 496
• Language: English

Reviews

[ladygrey]

As far as sequels go, this one was typical and unimpressive. I’m sorry. Maybe it’s because I’ve read so many YA series lately and so many of them all have the same flaws.

There’s an excess of setting description. There’s a preponderance of reputation—of what the character is struggling with, of their doubts and their feelings and their questions. The same internal monologue every twenty pages or so. Too much internal monologue and the heroine running off on her own and not enough character interactions and story happening. I’m just over it.

By the second half of this book I was bored. Bored of all the setting description. Bored of meira repeating how she struggled with being herself and being a queen. Bored of her repeating her issues with magic. Bored of her outrage at how every other Kingdom lived. Yes, it was bad. iI’s like Raasch decided to build a fantasy world filled with every human depravity and ten good people. Because that’s fun.

Also Meira is fairly annoying. She can’t be a queen in the beginning, letting Sir and Dendera keep her sitting in a bed instead of having the conversation with Theron she needs to. She can’t talk rationally to Theron about her issues in their politics or the fact that they don’t actually have a relationship anymore because nothing happens and they don’t talk to each other. She can’t see that Angra has warped him drastically so, granted even if she could talk to him it wouldn’t work. She’s all ‘I’m the queen and I’m winter’ but she lets Theron and Noam and Sir and even Dendera push her around instead of actually being the queen.

And why didn’t she use her magic? She hurts her people then leaves them limping around instead of healing them. Mather’s struggling to open a door but she doesn’t give him strength. Like, why not?

So it shouldn’t be a surprise that I like the brief chapters from Mather’s point of view. They didn’t move the bigger story forward so that was lacking. But things happened in his sections so it was refreshing.

And at the end none of the revelations are revelations at all. Of cost course Angra is alive, he’s the bad guy of the trilogy. Clearly Theron has been poisoned by Angra and so is helping him, whether he’s fully conscious of that or not. Then Meira gets stuck on a dozen questions about Rares that were obvious 100 pages ago. Yes, he’s Paisely and the Order is in the Paisel mountains and that is where your quest must go. Why is she shocked by things she’s already figured out?

Also the love triangle. I didn’t really think there was a triangle in the first book. It seemed like there was a boy and then there was a new boy and her feelings changed and it was a natural evolution of her character. Sixteen year old girls are allowed to fall for more than one boy in their young lives and they should do or more often in books. But then there’s all the flipping back and forth in this book so I had to admit there’s a triangle. boo.

Let’s try to do better in the next one.

[readingwithwrin]

"Horrible things have happened to us, are still happening to us, will happen every day for the rest of our lives, probably. What defines us is not our ability to never let them break us--what defines us is not letting them own us. We are the Thaw, and we will not be defeated by memories or evil men."

See reviews first on my blog

The winterians are home at last! But with a whole kingdom to rebuild and very little protection or supplies, they have to accept the help from Cordell in order to survive. Accepting Cordell's help though also made Theron and his father have access to winter, and Theron's fathers ultimate goal to find the Magic Chasm.
The story really starts to take off though in Meira's point-of-view when her and Theron go off on the search to find out how to open the Chasm and in order to form an alliance with the other Kingdoms.
From Mather's point-of-view everything really starts to go downhill when his father accepts an order that is done by Theron's father that Meira doesn't know has happened. This is when Mather decides to take things into his own hands and creates the Thaw (a group of soldiers who continue to fight).

“The Winter we know has always been one of our own creation, a kingdom built on dreams. So you’re right, Feige. We’re all Children of the Thaw. Our own hybrid of the past and the future.”

Overall I really liked this book. Meira ended up growing so much in this book. She realized what she wanted to do and how she was going wrong with so many things. She admitted to her flaws, and was willing to do almost anything to save her people and the rest of the world as well.
We also get to see things from Mather's point-of-view throughout this book. We get to see whats happening in winter, and how things go from okay to horrible all without Meira knowing anything is happening. Because of this I felt like we also get to see more of the world inside winter which we didn't get in the first book.
As for Theron, well he's still the same in my opinion. He wants to do what he thinks is right in order to save the world, all while going behind his fathers back. What ends up happening at the end though I never thought he would be capable of.
Besides the characters we knew story lines we also get to meet multiple news ones as well. We get to see the Summer and Autumn kingdoms and what has been happening in them/ how they're government kind of works. I don't want to say anything more about these because I don't want to spoil anything because that is what really helped make the story for me.
The love triangle that started in snow like ashes, really seemed to end in this one as well at least for me it did. I feel like the choice between the two guys has been made and she might not even end up with either of them. (Wouldn't that be nice for a change.)

[cornerfolds]

Read more of my reviews at Cornerfolds.com!

DNF @ 35%

Initial reaction:



Last year I read Snow Like Ashes after about a hundred people insisted I would love it. I did not love it. There were a lot of things I didn't like about the first book in this series and I really never thought I would read Ice Like Fire, but then I saw book three at ALA and decided to give it one more chance. Maybe the second book would draw me in where the first one couldn't and then I could be excited about Frost Like Night with everyone else! It was only after I had started that I noticed the warnings around Goodreads that this book wasn't as good as the first, so... the outlook was not good.

Ice Like Fire picks up shortly after Snow Like Ashes leaves off. Meira is (grudgingly) the queen of Winter and is working to come up with a plan to gain support for her kingdom in order to keep the dangerous chasm of magic closed. Of course, the king of Cordell wants it opened because he's all about the power, and Meira doesn't know where Theron, prince of Cordell (love interest #2, because there are always two) stands in the whole thing.

I'll admit, I only made it 35% into this book because I was so damn bored. I couldn't tell you half of what happened because I kept zoning out and having to go back to re-read if I wanted to see what I missed, but most of the time I just didn't care. Why didn't I care? Because the characters were still awful. (And by characters I mean Meira.) For the first 35% of this book, at least, Meira continues complaining about how much her life sucks now that she's queen even though she wanted to be throughout book one. Mather is equally annoying with his non-stop whining. I just cannot deal with whiney characters.

So I can confidently say I gave this series a second shot. I made it 1/3 of the way through Ice Like Fire, but I had to call it quits. I know everyone loves this series, but it's not for me. I still find the world building to be unconvincing. Even after traveling around the world a bit this time, I still only got that Summer was hot and Winter was cold. It just wasn't enough! Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be reading Frost Like Night after all.

[nightingalereads]

3.5 stars

Mather is everything. 3

[tweetybugshouse]

First off i totally in love with the covers for this book series just stunning pieces of artwork. This book starts off a bit slow and i was a bit lost at the start as it been a while since i read book once. But once we got to the main course of what the story about we are off and running. This book focuses a lot on politics which i expect in a book about warring kingdoms. I also like the aspect of needed to solves clue to how to open the magical chasm.

The best part about this book was traveling through the kingdom and getting see how each season and rhythm are and what they value or do not value in each kingdom. The twists in this story just make me want the next book like now. A great middle novel.

[kimbacaffeinate]

Ice Like Fire picks up three months after Snow Like Ashes ended. Meira and those in Winter are free but deeply in debt to the ruthless King of Cordell. He has ordered them to dig their mines and they unearth a chasm with four locked doors. You can feel the magic behind them, but no one can approach them. Cordell orders send them on a quest throughout Primoria in search of answers to unlocking the chasm. Meira is hoping to gain alliances and hopes to keep the chasm closed forever. Her relationship with Theron becomes strained as he has other ideas.

The story is told in alternate perspectives. We have Meira’s as she struggles to control her magic and become comfortable in her new role. Her feelings for Theron are conflicted and she is unsure if she can trust him. We see tremendous growth in Meira as she accepts, opens up and steps into her role. One of the things that I admire about this strong heroine is her unwavering love of Winter and its people. Meira also sees the bigger picture and worries about more than just her people. She is concerned for all of Primoria. Some of her actions annoyed me as she struggled to grow, but by the end, I was rooting for her.

Mathers is the second perspective we witness struggle. He feels misplaced, unneeded and resents Cordell’s oppressive intrusion. Mathers also undergoes a transformation, but first we have to see him sink before until he finds his purpose. Mathers remains behind in Winter as Meira and the others travel the countryside. I really want to adore Mathers and struggled in the beginning, but towards the end he becomes a worth hero.

Raasch continues to flesh out the world of Primoria and its different kingdoms. The questions regarding magic, and the Decay held me captive. I enjoyed visiting the kingdoms and seeing what each held dear. The author did a wonderful job of bringing each kingdom to life and introducing us to colorful characters within. Meira begins to confide to those within her inner circle and I am seeing a strong alliance build. The quest involving the chasm felt a little too easily solved, but did not bother me enough to hinder my enjoyment.


Copy provided by publisher. This review was originally posted on Caffeinated Book Reviewer

[shannonmiz]

This review was originally posted on It Starts at Midnight
True story, I almost DNFed this one. In the beginning, I alternated between "insanely bored" and "who in the actual hell are all these characters and places?". Like, there were names being thrown about like I was actually going to remember every random side character from over a year ago and... I wasn't. Sure, I knew all the major players and kingdoms, but when you start talking about like, some girl Blah Blah met once in passing, all bets are off. Plus, I was bored. I felt like nothing was happening, except for the rehashing of Meria becoming Queen. And like, okay, I get it- she's the queen now. Can we please move on?

Good news! We did move on! Things got pretty decent, actually. There was a lot of action toward the end of the book, and some pretty crazy twists. Which of course, made me need want to read the next book.

Meria was annoying in this book. Like, stop waxing poetic about being the queen and just... be the queen. She kept doing stupid things, getting mad about doing stupid things, and then would turn around and do even more stupid things. And no one else was any better at making decisions or deciding what kind of person/leader/whatever they wanted to be. But luckily, we ran into some new folks along the way that quite frankly felt the same way I did about Meira and company, and they were so refreshing!

Bottom Line: This started off as a real hot mess. But the second half saved this one. While it certainly was not as strong as Snow Like Ashes, I will absolutely finish the series.
*Copy provided by publisher for review.

[Ashley]

* I liked it, but was a little indifferent about some parts.
* I'd forgotten EVERYTHING about the previous book. I didn't feel like this book recapped things very well.
* Mather's chapters bored me (sigh).
* A tad slow at times, there was some skimming.
* The end felt a tad anti-climactic to me for some reason.
* I liked some of the new characters and seeing other kingdoms.

[lindsey]

(I received a copy of this book from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.)

Full review will be posted on my blog closer to the publication date.

After finishing Snow Like Ashes, I couldn't wait to find out what would happen to Meira and the others.  A lot happened.  This book is just go, go, go.  While Snow Like Ashes focused mainly on Winter, Spring, and Cordell, Ice Like Fire finds Meira visiting several of the other kingdoms.  Meira hoped for peace and a chance to rebuild Winter, but she finds it hard to do either with Noam's intrusion into her kingdom. 

I loved the descriptions of the different kingdoms and the people who live in each place.  I still think Seasons as kingdoms is wonderfully clever and original.  I also loved the introduction of a few new characters.

As for the love triangle from Snow Like Ashes, I was a bit torn as to which one Meira should choose, but after a couple of chapters of Ice Like Fire, I made up my mind pretty quickly.  And as I said in my reivew of Snow Like Ashes, this "love triangle" doesn't bother me as much as others because it isn't the focus of the book.  And, most importantly, Meira realizes it isn't the only thing in the world that matters.

While I liked Snow Like Ashes more than Ice Like Fire, I still think this is a stellar second novel in the series.  Sara Raasch is an incredible writer, and I can't wait to read more from her.

Also, I just have to say it - this cover is gorgeous.  I'll definitely have to buy the hardcover when it's released so it can sit by my copy of Snow Like Ashes.