I recently finished the book Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch the other day! And this book is by far one of the best I've read in a while.
Description
The book takes place in a fantasy world encompassed by four Season kingdoms and four Rhythm kingdoms. The Season kingdoms are just as they sound: Summer, Autumn, Winter, and Spring. These kingdoms are ruled by a male or female who controls what is called a conduit. This conduit is an object (shield, dagger, locket, etc.) filled with magic that the rulers use to help their kingdom. This would be filling their armies with morale and bravery, helping the crops to grow, or most anything.
The Winter kingdom was slaughtered by Spring, leaving most of its people dead or enslaved and forced into labor. Winter's conduit, a locket, was broken and taken by Angra, Spring's king.
The story follows Meira (Mee-ruh), an orphan and one of seven refugees that escaped the war and went into hiding, training to be a soldier and one day restoring her kingdom to its glory. She is also in love with Mather, her best friend and soon-to-be future king of Winter. Meira attempts to steal back one of her kingdom's locket halves on an infiltration of Spring's capital and is thrown into a world of peril and politics and magic, realizing that her fate will never be hers to decide.
Review (spoilers!!)
Alright, I absolutely looove this book! The plot is so unlike anything I've ever really read before. The world building behind the story is brilliant. I really enjoyed the politics and culture surrounding the different Season kingdoms
I also loved Meira as a character. I could definitely see her justifications when she was talking about the arranged marriage. The author writes those scenes so well, I was boiling with anger right along with Meira. And she just wants to be recognized and loved. She just needs a place she can call home. Her orphanage really hit her hard. All her life she's been told stories of the kingdom she was born in but never really lived in. I loved that aspect and I felt that her thoughts and feelings were reasonable whenever she was shut down from going on scouting missions and fighting. Although, I do agree with Sir/William that as the future queen of Winter she needed to be protected. I absolutely admire her loyalty and her want to save her people and her kingdom.
Meira is also a chakram (shock-rum) wielding kind of girl which I find pretty original. I did know what the weapon was because of reading Tiger's Quest and you know Xena and stuff. But I love the originality behind such a weapon because most people don't want know what it is. The chakram is a very deadly weapon surprisingly. And it definitely matches Meira's character.
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Onto OTP...I really am a Theron fan actually. Mainly because I think Mather is more of a crush to Meira. I mean she did grow up with him and everything but I wonder if her attraction is just because he was pretty much the only guy her age that she's really ever met. I love Theron's way of telling Meira that she can still be herself when she is doing her duty to her kingdom. I love that he has so much in common with her because of that. And he's an artist (*cue swoons) as well as a nicely muscled warrior (*faints).
I also admit that I really like Mather...though not as a pairing for Meira. I like his humor and he's very charming when he wants to be. But I felt that he was moping most of the book. I get that he has a duty to be king and all, but I just felt that he's too...boyish for my taste and for Meira. The guy makes no moves on her...(Theron gives Meira her first kiss) and then gets angry whenever she's with him.
I did enjoy the villain...or villains. Herod was kind of the match for Meira while Angra was for Sir. Herod was very brutish and relying on his strength. He was fed much of his power from Angra but killed a lot because he wanted to...which makes for an evil character I'd say. But I like Angra as a mysterious charcter more. He was quiet and clever, you didn't really know what he would say or do next which kept me on the edge of my seat. I love characters that don't say much but you know that they are 3 steps ahead of everyone and you can't help but admire them and fear them at the same time.
As for the ending, I did suspect Meira was actually queen since part of the beginning of the book but I did enjoy it even for that fact. I love the idea of her being the conduit herself rather than relying on a magical object that needs to power up again before you use it up. And of course, I believe Angra is still alive and is probably a conduit himself which will make for an interesting next book.
Favorite Quote:
"I can weave threads of myself into a tapestry already designed by others. It's possible. And this could be good." (Meira, 194)
Final Rating:
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