Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch Review

Snow Like Ashes
By Sara Raasch
Publication date: Oct. 14, 2014
Balzer Bray, 422 pages
Source: Publisher

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.

— Goodreads.com description

Fantasy fans, I’m so pumped to have yet another great book to recommend to you! I can’t get over how many awesome high fantasy YA novels we’ve been lucky to see in the past year.

Snow Like Ashes is a debut novel, a fantasy that — like most fantasies — gets off to a slow start. But, hey, we like our world-building. Once the setting is established, I could NOT put it down.

I knew I was in for a good read when the first page was a map. This is ALWAYS a good sign for me. Only complaint? It was too small in my Kindle version and shuffling pages in a Kindle is so hard, so when the kingdoms were confusing me, I couldn’t flip back to check it out.

There IS a love triangle, but it’s one of those no-brainer-who-to-pick ones that don’t really bother me. Besides, this book is so filled with GIRL POWER and a heroine who kicks butt that you hardly care about the romance.

Read it!

Anna Reads