A striking fantasy tale of dark magic, dangerous politics, and discovering your true self—perfect for fans of Game of Thrones, An Ember in the Ashes and A Court of Thorns and Roses.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 … 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. Training to be a warrior—and desperately in love with her best friend, Winter’s future king—she would do anything to help Winter 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—only to find 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.
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I wish I could have gotten on board with this book as everyone else has, and I tried really really really hard to, but it just wasn’t connecting for me. I literally had to sit myself down and force myself to focus on what I was reading because if I didn’t force myself I found my brain doing anything but reading this.
I just don’t believe this book is my cup of tea, in fact I think my days of loving YA books are long gone because this book just felt incredibly—I wouldn’t say childish but like young if that makes sense? I feel like if I had been 13 years old I would have devoured this.
But reading this now, the whole Seasons kingdoms just seems like an over used trope. Like a tinker bell kingdom. When I was younger I used to be obsessed with Tinker Bell, and the fairies and the four seasons and how each fairy resembled their season, but now… I’m not such a fan.
This book was also just absolutely riddled with cliches, and I feel like some of them were designed to be cute or clever (like the capital of winter being called Jannuari), but the book took itself so seriously that you couldn’t follow along those cute cliches.
That was another thing…. this book took itself so seriously to the point where it was irritating me. At some points Meira was literally acting like a royal engagement was the end of the world.
I don’t know, guys, there was just absolutely nothing exciting about this novel to me whatsoever. The characters were all your usuals you see in every single YA fantasy: Meira, she hates being called a lady and literally will shove in your face every five seconds that she is a warrior for the millionth time. Mather, hot childhood best friend she grew up with who would do anything for her. Theron, other super hot love interest who would also do anything for her and talks to all the servants because he is *kind*. Sir, her life long instructor who adopted her that she feels is like a father. And all the other refugees that I can’t even name because I’ve already forgotten about them.
I feel like the plot line could have been done well if the characters had been given interesting or unique traits, but they weren’t. They were all angels, all super good and motivated to do the right thing, there were never shades of grey or flawed personalities. They were all bland and honestly just predictable. And always safe too, not to spoil it for anybody reading this that hasn’t read the book, but basically every character makes it to the end of the book unscathed even though this is supposed to be a super serious war.
Snow like Ashes just wasn’t the move for me. I know a lot of people loved it but I felt like I was clawing to get to the end of the story so that I didn’t have to read it anymore. I’m not going to lie sometimes I skipped entire pages because I was so bored.
I rarely read fantasy, as most of you know, but I decided to pick this one up ages ago and it sat in my audible library. And sat. And sat. Until I decided to give it a shot and I’m glad I did. This book finally had a fantasy world I could wrap my head around with the Seasons and Rhythms, and all the cities named after months of the year. The magic system made some sense to me too! I was drawn by the first chapter and then finished it up rather quickly. I think there’s supposed to be a love triangle here but I barely felt the romance at all, which is fine. I bet there’ll be more in the next books, which I will definitely read!
Loved this trilogy! Wonderful characters and such original world-building, love the idea of a kingdom split by Rhythms and Seasons!
I’m reviewing the whole SNOW LIKE ASHES trilogy because you’re not going to stop at book one and all of them are out so let’s not play around, okay?
WHAT IT’S ABOUT:
(Book 1, SNOW LIKE ASHES)
16yo Miera is one of 8 survivors of her Winterian kingdom who escaped when it was overthrown, its people enslaved. She lives on the run as a refugee, training to be a soldier and fighting her love for the future king (16yo Mather) who has been raised as her constant companion. When she learns the location of a locket that could help get their people their power back, she leaps at the chance to prove she’s more valuable than she’s been made to feel, and discovers in the process that her role in their world of magical rules and slippery politics is bigger than she ever imagined.
(Book 2, ICE LIKE FIRE)
In her new role, Miera decides to keep certain information close to her chest in the hopes that it will be best for her people. Mather struggles with the decisions he made in book one, and what his next move should be. A third party has deep faith in their lofty goals, and wants Miera to help make them happen. Their story lines weave and pull in a way that exposes deceptions that none could expect.
(Book 3, FROST LIKE NIGHT)
All the proverbial you-know-what hits the fan. You will not breathe for about 350 of the 480 pages.
WHAT I THOUGHT:
It is rare that a series has equally strong books throughout, but this is one is a star. The first book hooked me, the second committed me, and the third lit me on fire. I WAS NOT OKAY FOR A LOT OF BOOK THREE. [breathes into paper bag]
I’m a fan of solid storytelling with realistic character development (for the better and worse), vibrant visuals, and emotional tethers. This hit all those notes, plus had great love stories, from romantic to familial to friendship.
Sometimes I find fantasy books with the word “politics” in the descriptions to be too complex, have way too many characters or locations to keep track of, but this is so, so well done. Everything felt concise and purposeful. The author did not hold back, did not take the easy road when it came to following through on her characters’ decisions or whether they survived the battles. Keeping a reader who has read quite a bit within a certain genre on their toes isn’t an easy task, but she did it in spades. My toes. Are. Exhausted.
If you’re a fan of books like THRONE OF GLASS, DEFY, EMBER IN THE ASHES, SHADOW AND BONE, and the like, then grab this, immediately.
This was an enjoyable fantasy read, with stolen magic and the characters fighting for their lost Winter kingdom. I liked that they had white hair and their kingdom was perpetual winter. The pace of the book slowed in the middle, with lots of thinking going on, and I guessed the big ending reveal early on (fairly typical fantasy plot twist), but it still was cool. It got rather bloody near the end, but how Meira got out of her predicament was definitely satisfying. Things could’ve wrapped up nicely except for one slip-up in the final battle, which I guess paved the way for a sequel.
The story moved along without the use of artificial events to move the plotline forward. I liked the book. I was not inspired enough to purchase 2 more books to read a possible ending.
Listen to instead of read!! An EXPLOSIVE book that could even stand alone in all its glory. WAY BETTER TO LISTEN TO THANKS TO THE INCREDIBLE NARRATOR. I can’t even get words around how amazing this story is. The plot, the romance, the family, the kingdom, the people, the fight scenes (EPIC AND DETAILED), were all high caliber. You are instantly sucked into this world where evil must be overcome, and a young woman with incredible potential must rise to the challenge. This does not read as a romance, it reads first and secondly as a fantasy and war story. You will not regret this buy.
Although I had a hard time getting into it the story line at first, it did get better. I only have one complaint – the description of the characters is very vague. I need a better description of their physicality. I was constantly frustrated not knowing what the characters looked like. Eventually some details were delivered but still not enough.
The second book has to be my favorite and I am going through the third one pretty fast. The story line is good and the plot is not too revealing.
Oh how disappointing this book was. I thought I was really going to like this book, but I was beyond bored and annoyed with this book. I really wanted to like this book.
Miera was a terrible main character who I found to be annoying throughout most of this book and I felt no connection with whatsoever. She wasn’t someone I found myself rallying behind. I wasn’t looking forward to her succeeding and I never saw her as leader. I mostly felt that she whined a lot and only thought about herself and her woe is me attitude. Things happened to easily for her, like the entire beginning of this book, things that get revealed about her lead to a very obvious twist. She was very weak and I just didn’t like her. Her inner dialogue dragged on.
The world was just alright and there was quite a bit of info dumping. This world wasn’t spectacular, but had a bit of promise. The story as a whole was a bit underwhelming. But there were a few things I did like. I did like Sir and Theron. Mather was alright, but it was hard to really feel anything for his character because of the role he played as whole. It will make sense when you finish the book and look back on his reactions and his complete lack of any leadership abilities as king. All the other characters or Winterians were just there and served no purpose.
I was expecting more from this book and to like it more than I did. I never got excited while reading. If anything it slowly dwindled as I kept reading. I feel indifferent towards this book.
This Series is an Excellent Adventure, full of twists and turns, full of Action, and Magic,. People who like Sara J Maas series Throne of Glass, will thoroughly enjoy this series!
I loved the characters! I couldn’t put it down. The minute I finished, I ordered the second book.