Sara Raasch’s Snow Like Ashes is the first book in the Snow Like Ashes series.
In this world, there are eight kingdoms. The four kingdoms of Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn make up the Season Kingdoms, each one forever locked in the season they named after. Yakim, Ventralli, Cordell, and Paisly make up the Rhythm Kingdom. Each kingdom possesses a magical object that the kingdom’s ruler can use to empower the people in his/her nation. Before the story’s start, the kingdom of Spring invaded and destroyed the kingdom of Winter. Only twenty-five refugees managed to escape the destruction, the others were enslaved in work camps. These refugees live the rest of their lives trying to reclaim their lost kingdom.
Meira is a strong lead. She is brave and hardworking. Skilled in long-range fighting, she trains hard so that she can be of use to her kingdom and its heir. She trains her entire life to be a soldier, but soon finds out that physical fighting is not the best way to support her kingdom. While she hates it at first, she is willing to put the welfare of her entire nation before herself. Above everything, she remains loyal to the people and kingdom she holds dear.
Snow Like Ashes is a slow book. The plot of this book is very interesting, but is sadly, dulled by the poor pacing. The book starts slow, then speeds up to hook you in before slowing down again. It isn’t until halfway through the book where the pacing picks up again and the book becomes interesting. This pacing problem is due entirely to the fact that Meira feels the need to explain everything about the world instead of leaving somethings to inference and speculation. The world building, alone, does an amazing job of describing the amazing and complicated world of Primoria, but it is poorly implemented and slows the plot significantly. The main arc of the story is, without a doubt, predictable, but the details make the plot new and exciting. It is exceedingly rare to have a book where anyone associated with ice and winter is the protagonist, while people associated with spring are murdering everyone. It was shocking at first, but I found it to be pleasing and enjoyable. The magic system is also unique and will be interesting to explore in future novels. The characters are a mixed bag. Meira is a great lead as she battles with her destiny, and Marther is makes a wonderful side character as he battles with his future. Unfortunately, many of the other refugees fade into the background, along with characters that could have provided interesting side stories. Most of them are forgettable and remain undeveloped. The world of Primoria is an interesting place. Snow Like Ashes gave readers an overview of the entire world, leaving little room for adventure. Instead of expanding the map of Primoria, the series will likely dive into the history and magic of the land we already learned.
I give this 416 page book 4 stars.
Snow Like Ashes
In this world there are 8 kingdoms. Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter make up the Season kingdoms, each one named for the season they are eternally locked in. Yakim, Ventralli, Cordell, and Paisly make up the Rhythm kingdoms. Each kingdom possess a magical object that allows the ruler to empower the people of his/her nation.