Book Review: Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch

Rating: 7/10

Overview:

Snow Like Ashes is the first book in the Snow Like Ashes trilogy by Sara Raasch. Set in a beautiful world divided and based on the four seasons, Raasch tells the story of orphaned Meira as she fights to regain the lost kingdom of Winter. Meira struggles to understand the worth she could have to her people, a task made all the harder when she has no memory of her home or family. It's been over a decade since the Winterians were attacked and enslaved, and now Meira has to find the strength to navigate love, loss, and an evil older than the kingdoms to bring her people home. 

As a Reader: 

From a reader's perspective, this book was my favorite kind of Fantasy, the kind with sorcery and sword fights and girls who don't like to do what they're told. It also wasn't overdone, with dragon-filled skies and wizards and talking animals. Not that I can't get behind a good dragons and wizards story, but I think with this book, that would have been overkill. It would have taken away from the characters (who I loved) and distracted me from the most interesting part of the story, Meira's inner conflict. I really enjoyed that she wasn't the perfect-princess type. She also wasn't exactly sure what she wanted. It was great being able to follow her thoughts through the confusing world she'd been orphaned into. There was a little bit of romance, but again, it was the perfect amount and kept my interest without overplaying the swooning love triangle cliche. (And yes, there is a love triangle, but I will defend its flawlessness to my grave) Another thing I don't typically go for in fantasy books (like love triangles) is foreign-fantasy politics. I can barely keep up with the political situations in the real world, and to be honest, sometimes it gets exhausting. So when I crack open a book to escape and end up having to read about another world's political problems, I get a TEENSY bit frustrated. Snow Like Ashes got pretty political at times, but it was also told from the perspective of a sixteen-year-old girl, which I think really helped my politically disinclined brain keep up with the story. Overall, I loved this book and would definitely recommend it. I also intend to try and read the other books in the series (in all the free time I wish I had).

As a Writer: 

From a writer’s perspective, what really caught my attention in this story was the series of twists. It felt like they were building off each other in an epic twist-filled Jenga structure that would topple over if I thought about it too hard, AND I LOVED IT. Raasch did the perfect job of making me try to figure out what would happen next, second guess myself, then gleefully scream I knew it! when my predictions came to pass. There were also plenty of twists I didn't manage to catch beforehand, not because they didn't make sense, but because they were so well written that I didn't pick up on the smaller details until looking back after the big reveal. (In case you couldn't tell, I'm having a really hard time talking about this without giving anything away) As a writer, I like to use twists too, and I always struggle with how to slip in just enough hints that the reader isn't confused when I drop the bomb, but also few enough hints that they don't see it coming a mile away. And let me just say, IT'S HARD. Readers aren't dumb. You can't write a scene where a character has a dream that says you might be the Chosen One and then try to surprise the reader at the end by making that character the Chosen One. Trust me, they won't be surprised. And they'll probably be agitated because it's pretty obvious when an author thinks their readers are dumb. On the other hand, you can't expect readers to be able to read your mind while reading your book. Even though something might seem super obvious to you (because you literally gave birth to your characters) it might not be obvious to the reader. This is why it's ALWAYS a good idea to have beta readers who can say um, where the heck did this come from? Beta readers can be friends or family or anyone you trust to give honest feedback. If you want, I could do a post later on beta readers and how important they are to an aspiring author. As always, let me know what you think in the comments!