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juulisbad's review against another edition
3.0
Snow like Ashes deals with a badass female heroine and some great action scenes. Sadly the plot isn't as strong as it could have been and the wrtiting style isn't something I would necessarily lay my eyes on. If you have already read Throne of Glass or similar let me tell you this is similar and you can decide yourself if you want to read it. The characters hadn't got enough depth in my opinion and allthoug there was one scene I thought the book was going to be greater then expected, I got dissapointed :(
If you wanna hear more about my opinion on this book, check out my booktalk :)
If you wanna hear more about my opinion on this book, check out my booktalk :)
vihuff's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
4.0
writer6's review against another edition
4.0
This is a great book that serves as a strong start to the Snow Like Ashes trilogy. Sara Raasch has definitely created a very interesting premise for a trilogy of books, and even though I would describe this book as being "Game of Thrones: Lite", I can definitely see why so many people have likened the series to Game of Thrones. Meira is ultimately a great character, but she definitely annoyed me at first. This book's biggest weakness is Raasch's execution of the world building. While I was definitely disappointed by the lack of world building in this book, I'm definitely excited to read the rest of the trilogy.
Link to my full review on my blog:My Full Review
Link to my full review on my blog:My Full Review
bbrassfield's review against another edition
4.0
Rhythms and Seasons. Imagine an imaginary kingdom made up of eight players, four countries whose year passes through the four traditional seasons of winter, spring, summer and autumn, and four who are mono-seasonal, Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn. This is the world build that is the setting for Snow Like Ashes. In our story, we first meet the last surviving Winterians, a kingdom recently overthrown by Spring and its dark magic wielding King, Angra (which must stand for angry since he spends the entire novel being extremely pissed off, even in victory). I like that the author Sara Raasch terms the dark magic wielded by Angra the Decay, which I find to be an interesting concept as it is presented towards the end of the novel. Decay is a word that resonates with more than one negative connotation and reminds me of the state we find Tolkien's Ringwraiths when first we meet them in Fellowship of the Ring.
I also like the ideas of conduit magic that Raasch plays with in this novel. The notion being that there is a source of magic, like a well rising from the depths of the earth, and in close proximity to objects (and later we learn people) objects such as lockets the magic is able to travel into these objects and imbue them with power. One of the reasons Winter was subjugated by Spring is in part due to the fact that Spring's King is able to break Winter's locket in two pieces, limiting the ability to do magic in the enslaved Kingdom. The few Winterians who manage to escape slavery in Spring exist on the idea that the two pieces of their conduit magic need to be reunited before they can hope to take back their land. This notion does not prove to be entirely true as toward's the novel's end our heroine Meira, Winter's Once and Future Queen, learns that a person can be a conduit for magic as well.
As the first novel in the series comes to a close, the Winterians have gained their freedom with the help of Cordell (a Rhythm) and Autumn, and they return happily to their capital city of Jannuari, reveling in the cold and beautiful snows on the way. As someone who has come to abhor long, cold snowy winters that seem eternal, I can only marvel at a people who fight for the right to live in a land that is literally perpetually winter, but then again Snow Like Ashes is fiction and so the idea of these lands that are only one season is a fun one to visit.
I also like the ideas of conduit magic that Raasch plays with in this novel. The notion being that there is a source of magic, like a well rising from the depths of the earth, and in close proximity to objects (and later we learn people) objects such as lockets the magic is able to travel into these objects and imbue them with power. One of the reasons Winter was subjugated by Spring is in part due to the fact that Spring's King is able to break Winter's locket in two pieces, limiting the ability to do magic in the enslaved Kingdom. The few Winterians who manage to escape slavery in Spring exist on the idea that the two pieces of their conduit magic need to be reunited before they can hope to take back their land. This notion does not prove to be entirely true as toward's the novel's end our heroine Meira, Winter's Once and Future Queen, learns that a person can be a conduit for magic as well.
As the first novel in the series comes to a close, the Winterians have gained their freedom with the help of Cordell (a Rhythm) and Autumn, and they return happily to their capital city of Jannuari, reveling in the cold and beautiful snows on the way. As someone who has come to abhor long, cold snowy winters that seem eternal, I can only marvel at a people who fight for the right to live in a land that is literally perpetually winter, but then again Snow Like Ashes is fiction and so the idea of these lands that are only one season is a fun one to visit.
rowanfr00's review against another edition
1.0
This is the sort of book i usually would love but I really disliked this book. The storyline is decent but it seems very cliche and predictable. I had to put the book down at parts because it just made me cringe so much. I was very glad when I finished it and I will never go near it ever again.
hangngt_'s review against another edition
3.0
I like the character development in this book. But I just can’t stand Miera at the beginning. It was so hard to connect with her.
The concept is very unique. Although I did guess the main plot twist. It was still intriguing.
The concept is very unique. Although I did guess the main plot twist. It was still intriguing.
junorad's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars
I loved this book! It got right down to the action, and held my interest through the entire novel! The only reason I gave it 4.5 stars instead of 5 was that it did have some very short sections that were a little slow. But all in all it was an amazing book and definitely an incredible read!
I loved this book! It got right down to the action, and held my interest through the entire novel! The only reason I gave it 4.5 stars instead of 5 was that it did have some very short sections that were a little slow. But all in all it was an amazing book and definitely an incredible read!
secretmagic's review against another edition
I don't really know how to rate this book. I struggled quite a bit with the characters - I couldn't justify half of their actions and didn't connect well with them or with the love triangle. I predicted the plot twist very early in the book, so there was no shock for me.
I'm mildly curious to see what happens next, but I can't decide if I want to read book 2 or not. I'll have to think it through a bit before committing.
I'm mildly curious to see what happens next, but I can't decide if I want to read book 2 or not. I'll have to think it through a bit before committing.