Snow Like Ashes
by Sara Raasch
Expected publication: October 14th 2014 by Balzer + Bray
Series: Snow like Ashes #1
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.
Once upon a time, there was a great Kingdom of Winter. It was full of magic, rich, gorgeous with its sparkling ice, soft snow and blinding whiteness. But the Kingdom of Spring decided that Winter didn’t deserve what it had and conquered it. The Kingdom was ruined; people were killed or taken into slavery. Spring had no mercy for his captors or their home and queen. But 25 winterians were able to run away—to survive. And one of them was a child of the queen… the future ruler.
Meira, the main heroine, is a sixteen years old girl who was orphaned as an infant during Winter’s defeat by the queen’s general, who was saving his prince. She was growing as a fighter; a warrior who, one day, must save her Kingdom and its people, and help the future king to take back his throne.
Unfortunately, only 8 from 25 winterians survived. They’re the only hope of Winter. The problem is, the conduit that contained magic of their Kingdom was broken in two pieces and now is guarded by Spring. And even if they can get it back, the conduit is female-blooded, and their only heir is male.
Meira has never even seen Winter, she was too small to remember anything, but now she is so ready to fight for it. And it’s not so strange, when you grow up in a company of patriotic warriors and the future king, who’s, by the way, also
There are seven more kingdoms who clearly don’t want to mess with Spring and look at winterians like they are dirt under their nails. But Cordell, one of the four Kingdoms of Rhyme, has its own interest in Winter. In order to become Winter’s ally, they want to marry their prince with Meira – a representative of her Kingdom. It’s the only way Winter can get help in a war with Spring. But the girl dreams of fighting, not of the crown and noble title.
«And now this is it. This is how I will matter to Winter. As a marriage pawn.»
As a character, Meira is wonderful. I can’t say she’s smart, but brave and determined, loyal and strong. She is one of those warriors who doesn’t pay much attention to the strategy and logic, but who can die fighting for a stranger in need. Most of all, she wants to find her place in life and do everything to deserve it.
«No matter what happens, no matter who turns on me, no matter what pompous swine thinks he has power over me, I am still me. I will always be me.»
Her character develops through the book. At the beginning I was a bit tired of her constant rambling about how she wants to matter to her Kingdom, how she wants to help. The deal is, her help often brings more problems. She seems to be just an ambitious child in desperate need of appreciation. But when there appears a real chance to help her people, just not the one that was in her ideal scenario, she begins to wrinkle her nose and spit her rage on everyone because of the injustice of her destiny.
But then, when she happens to see how her people live in slavery, in what condition is her Kingdom, she grows some balls and starts to kick asses. After that she was a heroine I admired.
The world building was great, though a bit tough to understand at the beginning, too many kingdoms and detailed information about them. I also loved the writing style, the words were beautiful. Even I started to feel a bit patriotic toward Winter. What I liked the most, saving the kingdom wasn’t just a background plot to add a spice to the romance, but the main theme of the story.
Also, there is a love triangle, which, strangely enough, didn’t annoy me. Mather is the future king of Winter and Meira`s best friend. They grew up together and, naturally, fell in love. But he is a king with GREAT responsibilities, since he is a male with a female-blooded conduit and, technically, has no country to rule. He can’t be with a peasant girl, no matter what he feels. What he needs is to make a powerful alliance. He would be a great king, though his temper often takes the best of him.
Theron is a prince of Cordell, his farther is a king who likes to push on his son and make him his little puppet. His mother was from kingdom known for art; he inherited her talent for poetry and love for books and paintings. While others 7 winterians try to use Meira as they need, he understands her wanting to be a hero, not just a pawn. After all, he is in the same situation with his farther.
Both boys were good and had their pros and cons, I still haven’t decided what team to choose. Meira also thought more about her duty than about boys, which is one of the reason I want to shake hands with Sara Raasch, because god forbid YA authors to write about independent and strong woman! Though, the last statement isn’t very fair, because now we have more and more of such heroines.
Overall, the book was very good, I was pleased with the plot, though the twist wasn’t surprising, with writing, with ALL the characters and I can’t wait to read the sequel!
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