Snow Like Ashes (Snow Like Ashes, 1)

An epic fantasy! Sara Raasch's SNOW LIKE ASHES is truly unique. It has all the makings of an unforgettable book. Magic, romance, adventure, action, and an unforgettable heroine who has quickly become one of my favorites. Snow Like Ashes gave me everything I had hoped it would, and then some. What makes this book stand out among many, is it's coming of age story. This story is about courage, sacrificing for the greater good of the community, and finding ones place in the middle of it all.THE SETTINGSet in a world, where kingdom are divided into seasons, each kingdom has it's own magic. A power, which comes from the royal heir who rules over that kingdom. This power is what helps the people living within in that particular kingdom. It is a power that can be used for good or something evil. When Meira's kingdom, the kingdom of Winter, is over thrown by Spring, most all of her people are destroyed. Much of the hope, and power that the few remaining Winterians need, now lies with the very few who have escaped.THE MAIN CHARACTERThough this story is set in a beautiful, and deadly fantasy world, I found it incredibly easy to identify with Meira's self discovery of who she is, and where she fits into this world. Meira is a character I liked from the get go. She is a feisty, stubborn, incredibly strong girl. Despite what others say, and what is customary, she doesn't let her lack of standing within the kingdom hold her back on what she wants, and knows she is good at.She is out to prove she is worthy to fight for her country, and defend the last bit of Winterian magic that is still left. Her much of her life she's had to struggle with fitting in into a broken kingdom that has tried to mold her into someone she's not. She has had to work harder than anyone to prove her self, and her worth. She'll stop at nothing to be accepted for the greatness she knows she has within in herself, that she's constantly having to withhold.Meira is the kind of heroine I wish I had read about when I was teen. She proves that even when she doesn't have much choice, there is always a choice. She proves that in a world ruled by power, and women and men have rules within her kingdom, she can fight for the role she knows she's destined to have. She proves that you can never give up, and you have to learn to face the things that scare you the most. Most importantly, Meira proves that when something is worth fighting for, you don't stop fighting for it.THE ROMANCEThe relationships in this book are great, but the romantic interests are fabulous. Raasch does such a wonderful job at allowing me to understand both Theron and Mather. I liked being able to understand where they are coming from with their decision making and choices they both make. Both characters have a lot they have to deal with, and they both have a lot they stand to loose, though Theron stands to loose more than Mather.PRINCE THERON STOLE MY HEARTFrom the moment he entered the story, I knew he would be a perfect match for Meira, and he'd would be the one for me. Prince Theron is not who I was excepting him to be. Especially after knowing who is father is, and the way Sir and Mather have treated Meira. I was excepting someone more like them. He's far from them. From the moment he meets her, Theron treats Meira like an equal. He doesn't look at her as anything, but someone who's capable of doing great things. Excuse me while I yell and cheer over that!Theron supports Meira in what she can do, vs holding her back. He helps her learn how she can still be herself, and not lose herself to the circumstances that are currently out of both her and Theron's control. I admired the fact that against what is allowed, he wants her to be able to make her own choices. He understands what it feels like, more than anyone else, to have choices. I love that he gave her friendship. AND, Theron fights for Meira! If he hadn't already won my heart over with how he treats Meira, he would have won over it in the scene that happens near the end of the book. I love how these two got each other. They both offered each other so much. With all Theron gives Meira, she gives him trust, support friendship, and hope. She allows him to see that he can go against tradition and what is taught as right, and fight for something he knows is right.While they come from different kingdoms, they both have so many similarities, and really understood what the other was feeling. There is a connection between these two, that I felt Meira and Mather never had. To me, Mather is a familiar safe harbor for Meira, while Theron becomes her rock. He makes her feel stronger by having confidence in her abilities, something she's never had before. Sure Mather has grown up with Meira, and they've been through a lot (that's an understatement), but he doesn't fight for her like I wanted him to. He doesn't offer her all that Theron does. I felt Mather lacked in proving his worth to her Meira, because of that. He never takes a stand, and fights against all they are dealing with, to be beside her. He doesn't treat her as an equal like Theron does. I really needed Mather to do these things. Most importantly, I wanted him to always stand beside her, and he doesn't. While I get that he can't always, Theron proves otherwise.IN CONCLUSIONOh this book, and all the feels that come with it! It is one heck of an epic adventure, fantasy with all the makings of a top ten feature. This is a book when I was handed an arc of it, I was told this is a book that was right up my alley. Indeed it was! I feel like I've said that word many times during this review, but it is. I loved everything about this story. The twist and turns, the magical elements, the seasons, the characters, the writing, and the connection I felt to it's main character. SNOW LIKE ASHES gave me everything I wanted, and so much more. If this is Raasch's debut, I can hardly imagine how her next book will read. This debut is epic! I highly recommend picking this one up! I can not wait for it's sequel.

[...]Rating: 5 Stars Snow Like Ashes is a high fantasy story about a world divided. Four kingdoms know as the seasons where they eternally stay in that season, and four kingdoms who have normal seasons but all ruled by magic in the form of a conduit held by their ruler. Sixteen years ago the Winter was conquered, their queen murdered, conduit broken, and people enslaved by the ruthless leader of Spring. Few escaped capture and have spent these years trying to find the pieces of their conduit hoping to put it back together and take back their home with their king, Mather who was only a baby when his kingdom fell. Meira, also raised on stories of her native home having been like Mather, a mere child at the time it was taken, trains alongside the others and tries to find her place and how she can prove herself to her kingdom and helping it rise to power. With a piece of the conduit's location known Meira goes in search of it and will not stop until she has done so. The mission doesn't go as expected and Meira soon learns more than she bargained for, thrown into a world of politics and magic. Beliefs and convictions are tested in many ways. We follow Meira as she is struggling to keep the faith in this quest the only thing she's ever known. For her and Mather, they never knew the land they are fighting for, the land he is meant to be king of, only stories from the others. Still even with this, where some might not feel as connected, they and each and every Winterian, are fighting for their people. There may only be a small group free but they have tons of people in slavery waiting for them to save them. It's such a cruel idea really to know that while you try and try to fight the odds spending your life doing so, the majority of your people, people you've never met but are connected with ice in your blood (they are from a land of eternal winter after all) have lived this time in much different conditions. It's a struggle we see throughout and I enjoyed it. The same for duty and honor, putting aside ones own needs for the good of Winter. Such powerful themes and they are really brought out in different aspects throughout. Now can I take a moment to love that Winter everything is always cold and they are miserable and suffer in hotter climates. Basically 98% of the year they'd hate where I live as much as I do. I do prefer the cold to the heat but I don't know if I'd survive winter 24/7 though if I was built to do so maybe. Judging by seasons only thinking Autumn would be more my speed. Maybe not, we didn't get to see Autumn mostly just Spring, a non-season kingdom of Cordell, and the forests and plains between. I really liked the dynamic of how the different kingdoms work and while it did take a little bit for me to fully grasp the concept of the magic in this realm, I was okay with it because the fact is no one is sure of it. Still while some aspects of the story were predictable I didn't mind as I enjoyed the reveal. While everything in this book comes from Meria's POV we do get to see as she deals with an out of reach crush with her childhood best friend and future king, so basically impossible. Still as you get to see some sweet moments with Mather that make you want to root for him. But we also get to meet another leading man, Theron Prince of Cordell. He is a bit too good to be true, attractive and strong but also on the sweet side preferring art to war. Still both Mather and Theron have one thing in common neither wished to be future kings with the responsibility and so many choices taken from them but still they will do anything for their people. They have many similarities to be sure but I love their interactions with Meria. She was the real star and I enjoyed seeing this world through her eyes. I had a fun time in this world and would recommend it for anyone looking for a good fantasy with a unique world. I'm ready to continue on in the series but I'm holding off on book two for a little while but will have it read before long and hope to check out the third book close to release!

Great world building, although it feels slow at first it picks up the pace and deliver a good narrative with very thought out action sequences, I did not like a couple of plot twists but that doesn't diminish the merits of this book

Vou admitir que só comecei a ler esse livro pela culpa de tê-lo na minha estante por tempo demais sem ler (três meses!) e que não estava especialmente animada para a sua história. Eu o tinha colocado na minha lista e comprado, porque duas das pessoas em quem mais confio tinham dado pelo menos quatro estrelas (e elas praticamente nunca dão cinco, então quatro significa que é um livro ótimo), mas antes de dar uma chance à Neve e Cinzas, fui ler The Kiss of Deception, que é no mesmo estilo, e me decepcionei completamente.Ou seja, estava sem muita vontade de ler outro livro com praticamente o mesmo tema. Honestamente, acredito que, se eu já não estivesse cansada do gênero, teria gostado ainda mais; mas o fato de toda a base da história ser teoricamente algo que não estava me agradando fez tudo ser ainda mais surpreendente. Não só consegui superar isso, como estou extremamente feliz de ter lido e não deixado séries piores me fazerem desistir dessa.E essa é a parte mais importante da minha resenha: se você leu The Kiss of Deception e amou, vai amar esse. Se leu e odiou, vai finalmente encontrar um livro no mesmo estilo que é realmente bom. Melhor ainda, porque este daqui tem mais enredo do que As Crônicas do Amor e Ódio têm em todos os seus livros, e olha que (na edição que eu li) tem só 416 páginas.Neve e Cinzas não teve muito hype, seu mapa é simples e os livros não são tão populares quanto merecem. Mas tem uma protagonista humana, com vulnerabilidades e forças, que se desenvolve e tem relações complexas com outros personagens. Tem também um enredo cheio de acontecimentos, com o maior número de reviravoltas que eu já vi em um livro (sem começar a ficar apelação), além de uma criação de mundo impecável, apesar dos nomes dos reinos serem um pouco caricatos. Tem uma escrita linda também, com frases inspiradoras. E tem um triângulo amoroso, que conseguiu inacreditavelmente me fazer ficar em muita dúvida entre os dois caras, de tão bem que foi trabalhado.Honestamente, eu tenho só duas pequenas críticas a fazer, tão pequenas que não conseguiram ganhar do quanto eu gostei do livro - e acabei dando cinco estrelas mesmo assim. A primeira é que o enredo é realmente rápido, cheio de ação e acontecimentos, e em alguns momentos, só em alguns mesmos, senti que podia estar um pouco rápido demais. A outra crítica é para o começo do livro, apesar de que isso acontece - ainda que mais esporadicamente - por pelo menos 150 páginas: muita coisa é explicada mais do que deveria. Não chega a ser realmente um infodump, mas foram coisas repetidas mais do que o necessário, como se a autora tivesse medo do leitor não estar acompanhando todos os detalhes. Talvez seja melhor pecar por informação demais do que de menos, mas o editor poderia ter percebido que estava começando a ficar um pouco repetitivo.Mas isso mal importa, já que o livro é muito dinâmico e tem uma leitura extremamente viciante! Achei difícil parar de ler, - li em duas sentadas! - sempre me prometia que ia parar e acabava lendo mais umas cinquenta páginas. Se você gosta de histórias de alta magia, com reinos e lutas de espadas, além de uma protagonista forte e incrível que se descobre no meio de uma guerra, o que está esperando para ler? Vai com fé que você não vai se decepcionar!

A story that I couldn't put down.I am hoping for a sequel.Another good dystopian novel with some fantasy intertwined.

O livro veio em ótimas condições. I heard mixed reviews about this one, but hopefully I'll be one of the people that loved it ♥️.

Actualmente estoy leyendo el tercer libro y no puedo despegarme de el, desde éste primer libro me sentí atrapado a la historia.