Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch

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.

Reviewed by Kait ✨ on

3 of 5 stars

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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.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 9 December, 2016: Finished reading
  • 9 December, 2016: Reviewed