Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch

(3/5 stars)

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.

I kind of picked this one up on a whim. It had a lot of hype and I was at the bookstore and I had money and just decided to check it out. It was definitely worth checking out, and as a debut novel, it's quite good.

What I liked: MEIRA. What a great/kickass/amazing female protagonist. She has this sass that reminds me a lot of River Song, and I'm obsessed. Meira is incredibly multi-dimensional with a sketchy background that leads to a major plot twist. She's a fighter, through and through, and her loyalty to her kingdom makes you like her even more. The world itself is stunning. There are so many details (I'll come back to that in a bit) that make it unique and let your imagination run wild. I have to be honest and say that my favorite part of the book was when we got to see the Winterian work camps. That was when Meira shone the brightest, in my opinion. It's where we saw that loyalty and determination. It cemented my love for her. It also gave us a bigger glimpse into the world and characters. It was the part that I think was written the best. Lastly, there are a few plot twists that I enjoyed. They were a bit predictable, but didn't take away from the story. 

What I didn't like: I have to be honest and say that it took me a really long time to get into this one. A really long time. My main problem was all those little details and how they were thrown immediately into the beginning. For most of the book, I feel like there was so much background and info-dumpy passages that could have been carefully strung into the prose much further in. Does that make sense? As much as I loved reading about the history, it slowed down the 'here and now' of the immediate action.

I enjoyed this book. Personally, I'm not as obsessed as I've seen other people to be, but it was still pretty good. I know I'll be reading the rest in the series for sure.

-Annie