Even the strongest blizzard starts with a single snowflake
Title: Snow Like Ashes
Author: Sara Raasch
Published: 2014
Read: 29 January – 12 March
Series: Yes. Book 1 of 3.
Rating: 2/5
Recommend to: 12 year old me
Read for: Buddy Reads (Bookstagram Bookclub with @caughtbetweenthepages and @thebookishcass).
Favorite character: Theron
Summary: The Kingdom of Winter was captured and enslaved 16 years ago by the cruel Spring Kingdom king – Angra. The majority of the Winterians were captured and put to work in Spring’s Kingdom, while a few managed to escape. Meira, an orphan, is one of those refugees along with the Winter’s Prince, Mather. Now, Meira trains with Sir (Winter’s general) and the other refugees to find the location of a locket to bring back Winter’s power, rescue their people, and ensure that Mather becomes king. However, nothing is as simple as it seems and Meira soon finds herself caught in a complicated world of love, magic, and secrets as she fights to discover who she is.
Review: Once again I find myself feeling too old for YA. I believe that 12 or 13 year old me would have really liked this book, but 23 year old me just isn’t having it. As a good friend of mine said, “What would you do if you could go back and tell your past self one thing? ‘Your taste in books is shit.'”
With the help of Loki gifs, I am going to try to review this book. Spoiler free, of course, though it is a bit tricky.
To begin, 95% of the conflicts and issues in this book could have been resolved with communication. Some of the “secrets” (you can figure them out within 10 pages of the book) about the characters could have been brought to their attention. There really was no reason to not tell them certain things.
Let’s talk about love…triangles. Yup. The girl who is “average” in every way shape and form (aka she isn’t) has 2 wonderfully handsome and tragic guys wanting her love. We have Mather, Meira’s childhood crush and bff, who never seemed to be that into her until Theron comes along. Mather is also a flat character and is surprisingly forgettable, despite the fact he is supposed to be King. Theron is the prince of Cordell (a Rhythm Kingdom) who has a bit more going for him in terms of character development, but he’s also plenty tragic and instantly in love with Meira. Who will Meira choose?? Prince 1 or 2? I guess what it comes down to is do you prefer tragic blondes or tragic brunettes?
The settings felt dull and uncreative. Kingdoms named after the seasons is one thing (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter…you get it), but then come the major cities… (Jannuari…Abril…etc.) Yeah. Basically, the months of the year are spelled a little differently than you would see them on your calendar.
The characters are forgettable, at best. Meira almost had bad ass moments, but it seemed like most of the time she sat around pouting or info-dumped with her never-ending inner monologues. As I wrote earlier, Mather is a one-note character. Nothing special. Move along. Theron had potential. But his character was never given time to develop, and his insta-love for Meira didn’t help anything. Sir (aka William) just made no sense. He was inconsistent and withheld important information from Meira for pretty much no reason. He made her feel worthless and treated her like shit and for what reason? Seriously. Angra = angry. That’s about it.
The Conduits were hastily explained and, to me, they never made much sense. They have to do with gender and land and each Kingdom seems to have different rules and symbols attached to their Conduit. Everything else went over my head (probably because I skimmed parts because the info-dumping was real).
Overall:
-Special snowfall syndrome
-Plot holes galore
-lack of character development
-love triangles for days
Will I continue on with the series? I’m 99.9% sure the answer is no.
But if you want to read it, go for it! I will never tell someone not to read a book. Books are meant to be enjoyed. Just because I didn’t like something, does not mean you’ll feel the same way! Give Snow Like Ashes a try, if you like. Tell me what you think!
This review was made possible by the Loki gifs. He is one tragic character that I can’t help but love.
Love, always,
Syl
Syl Reads 