Snow Like Ashes

Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch 
Published by Balzer + Brayon on October 14th 2014
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Adventure
Page: 416
Rating: 2 of 5 stars
Review by: Tina

Synopsis

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.

Review
The world is split into the royal countries of Seasons and the smaller states Rhythms. The main character named Meira has the ability to see the country's past events through the eyes of the Winter Queen Hannah. At this point, she isn't sure why she has the ability or her role in relieving her country from oppression.

The story took a lot longer to get started than anticipated. Throughout my reading, I heard that there were twists in the book. My first thought was Theron betrays Winter either by selling them out or being Angra himself; however, he was as genuine and sincere as he was written. I'm quite disappointed with Meira whining through the entire book, finding strength somehow in the middle, and falls into a needless love triangle where one of the guys is too sweet and the other too useless. My only solace is that the side characters were well developed and fun to read. I'm still debating if I want to continue with the series. The story left me pretty underwhelmed.