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Snow Like Ashes (Snow Like Ashes, #1)

Sara Raasch

Start date: November 21, 2015

Finish date: December 21, 2015

Discussion: Book of the Month

Why we're reading this: Novembers fourth book of the month.
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What Members Thought

Apr 24, 2015 Twila rated it liked it

Shelves: series-dnf, summer-2015, buddy-read, trippy

"Even if I die here, I will die mattering, and that's what I've wanted all along, isn't it?"

I didn't even really know where to rate this. It had such a mix of good elements and not-so-good elements, cool moments and scoff-inducing moments. I had fun mocking it and yet, I will probably read the sequel.

My biggest problem with this book was the world. There's so much information to keep straight. NO KIDDING. There was way too much info dumping, it's insane. And a lot of unmoored information. Ly ...more

9 likes · Like · see review

Feb 23, 2014 Kayleigh {K-Books} rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy

Snow Like Ashes Review on K-Books

"That, I think, is a truer mark of belonging somewhere - being willing to do anything, everything, that needs to be done, regardless of what I want."

Snow Like Ashes was one of those books that I had had on my kindle from the day of release but I just never got round to reading it. God Why the hell did I not read it straight away? I absolutely adored this book. High Fantasy never used to be a genre that I enjoyed it was just ok for me until a year or two ago w ...more

8 likes · Like · see review

Nov 17, 2013 Tammie rated it liked it

Shelves: series, young-adult, series-abandoned, fantasy, owned-ebook, high-fantasy

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.

3.5 stars. After a rocky start I finally finished Snow Like Ashes. The paragraph where the protagonist, Meira acted li 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.

3.5 stars. After a rocky start I finally finished Snow Like Ashes. The paragraph where the protagonist, Meira acted like a silly school girl over her sparring opponent's good looks annoyed me. For a while she pretty much got weak in the knees over any good looking shirtless male which resulted in some eye rolling on my part. Plus there was an unnecessary love triangle that really got annoying at one point with the two guys sparring. Once I got past the nonsense though I began to enjoy the book a lot more.

Eventually Meira grows up and we read less about good looks and love triangles and get to more important things. Meira's kingdom has been taken over, the people enslaved by a neighboring one. The book really takes off when Meira is captured. Her character takes on a more serious, responsible tone, and realizes how selfish she has been while most of her people are suffering and dying in work camps. This is the point where I began to like her. A bit more explanation about the world and the reasons behind the kingdoms being Season and Rhythm would have helped me understand what was going on in the beginning though, as it it not explained much at all.

One thing I really liked in the beginning was that Meira wasn't good at everything. She wasn't very good at hand to hand combat, but excelled in throwing. I liked that Meira's weapon of choice was the chakram, a weapon that hasn't been prominently portrayed in any of the other fantasy books I've read. The chakram in this book seem to be heavily patterned after the ones in the Xena TV show. The one on the cover looks just like it, and while this is a fantasy novel, I kind of wish the chakram had been more realistically portrayed instead of being given the Xena treatment (e.g. returning to the thrower like a boomerang, the handle in the middle; real chakram were not like that). Here's a look at some real ones.

description

Unfortunately later on in the book Meira seems to suddenly get good at all types of combat, from crossbows in ranged combat, to cross bows in close combat, to knives, to whatever is available. She very unrealistically defeats opponent after opponent later in the book. For me that was the only drawback to the latter part of the book though.

I do feel like this story could have been brought to a conclusion at the end of this book. It would have made a great stand-alone. Instead, of course, we are left with one big thread still hanging so that we have to read another book. In the end I enjoyed this book, but not quite enough to give it 4 stars. I want to know what happens in the next book, but at this time I don't feel compelled to read any further into this series.

Review also posted at Writings of a Reader
...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Mar 10, 2015 Jenn rated it liked it

Shelves: books-i-own, new-author-to-me, 3-star-reads, signed-copies, do-you-believe-in-magic, fantasy, young-adult

3.5 Stars

Someday we will be more than words in the dark.

Such a beautiful quote from a book that had so much potential. Snow Like Ashes is the story about the fall and possible rise of the kingdom of Winter. With their queen dead and their magic conduit destroyed, 8 refugees from Winter try to find a way to gain back their kingdom from Spring, all the while hiding the heir to the throne.

I won't lie, it took awhile for me to get into this one. The beginning dragged endlessly with little to no ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Jun 01, 2014 Trisha rated it it was amazing

Even the strongest blizzard starts with a single snowflake

Amazing. I loved every chapter of this story. Don't stop after a chapter or 2. I know it may feel confusing - like you don't understand what's going on (Winter, Autumn, Rhythm, what?!) I totally understand. Just rest assured, it all becomes clear soon enough - and once you get to know Meira and love her, all that other stuff will be easy.

I was quickly swept up into the world of Meira's. Sir with his endless demands, Mather with his cool/w ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Jun 11, 2019 Keri rated it liked it

Shelves: listened, owned, series-in-progress

3-3.5 stars, I enjoyed this book, and had no real expectations going in. I got the trilogy from Book Outlet a couple years ago without knowing much about it, and decided to pick it up when Sara was going to be at a 3 author book signing I was going to. I’m glad I did.

I like Meira most of the time. Just like any YA heroine, she has her moments of annoying and/or stupid behaviors, but for the most part she’s tough and loyal to her home country. I like Mather, and the friendship he and Meira have, ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Apr 21, 2015 Shelley rated it it was amazing

In a world divided into season, Winter is the fallen season in comparison to the others. With only 10 survivors left, they must fight to regain their country, but will they survive long enough to make it happen or will they find an ally they never expected?

I have read a lot of fantasy and this is one which really stands out as one of the better books I have read in the up and coming fantasy writers. The characters are realistic, many battling against their place in the world to hang on to who th ...more

Like · see review