Review--Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch

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.

FINALLY! After all the rave reviews and tweets, I've finally read Sara Raasch's Snow Like Ashes and it was fantastic!! I wasn't sure what kind of fantasy I was getting myself into, but it was quite remarkable! It wasn't a hard world to grasp, though a few of the past events had me confused...little nonsensical things, I can't even quite remember what.

Meria is one of the last remaining people of the Winter kingdom. The kingdom is beyond broken, most of the citizens are in prisons in the Spring kingdom and Meria along with the few remaining refugees are trying to find the pieces to the Winter locket to restore the power to the Winter kingdom. Mather, has been her best friend since childhood, and is the kind of Winter, despite its brokenness. He understands Meria and her need to do everything she can to save her kingdom despite her weaknesses.

After a direly close call, Meria is victorious in retrieving one of the halves to the locket. But that's only the beginning of the story, as Meria, Sir--the man who raised her after her parents died, Mather and the rest of the Winter kingdom venture to Cordell in order to get help from the king in planning an attack on Spring. But things are a lot more serious than she thought. The price for Cordell's help is high and it will cost Meria everything she holds dear.

It's hard to describe things with this one...while I LOVE and ADORE fantasies, I am always at a loss for describing the incredible awesomeness of the story! There's a lot of worldbuilding that goes into these reads and it's hard to describe that without getting into a near 10 page paper! But needless to say, the worldbuilding is incredible! This world that Sara has created is so remarkable! All the separate kingdoms, the strife Winter has gone through, the battles raging between Spring and Winter, the other kingdoms and their lack of sympathy for Winter...it's all so detailed and epic!

The characters are truly amazing as well! I loved Meria, she was a strong heroine. Your typical girl who doesn't know her own strengths, but yet, will do everything she can for her friends. Then there's Mather, the Winter king. He has never treated Meria as anything but an equal and their friendship is so sweet. And of course, Meria harbors a crush on him, so there's that wanting to see something more than friendship! And Sir, the man who raised Meria was a great character too. He's the glue that holds the remaining Winterians together. And Theron, the prince of Cordell was a surprising character as well! I nearly forgot he was supposed to show up until he did! He's a prince of many surprises, what more can I say?

Surprisingly, the romance in this one takes a backseat to the story. There's a little bit here and there. And I have to say, it's the most complicated love triangle ever! I feel like the characters aren't quite sure yet if they're in a love triangle. And I'm not entirely certain who I am supposed to "root" for. At the moment, I'm kinda feeling Team Theron, though I am dying to know more about him!

The pacing to this one was nice. I say nice, because it wasn't necessarily fast paced, but it wasn't overly slow either. It was a nice balance between the two! And the ending definitely leaves you craving for more as huge revelations are revealed that will change the course of the story! I wasn't really seeing this one coming! Perhaps my cold can be blamed or perhaps I was just too immersed into the story that when the surprises came to Meria, I was surprised right along with her!

Snow Like Ashes is as epic as everyone has been saying it is! I loved the language of the story! It was truly beautiful! And the story was enticing and the characters were engaging, there's not much more one could ask for in a story. As I mentioned earlier, my only struggles came every now and then with some of the flashbacks and the way they were incorporated. Sometimes, I just couldn't grasp what was happening then and how it effected the now. But again, I blame my cold on that. Muddles the head and cognitive thinking! 


Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars