ARC Review: Ice Like Fire by Sarah Raasch

Ice Like Fire
by Sarah Raasch
GoodReads/ Amazon/ TBD
My Rating: 4 stars
Summary:

It’s been three months since the Winterians were freed and Spring’s king, Angra, disappeared—thanks largely to the help of Cordell.

Meira just wants her people to be safe. When Cordellan debt forces the Winterians to dig their mines for payment, they unearth something powerful and possibly dangerous: Primoria’s lost chasm of magic. Theron sees this find as an opportunity—with this much magic, the world can finally stand against threats like Angra. But Meira fears the danger the chasm poses—the last time the world had access to so much magic, it spawned the Decay. So when the king of Cordell orders the two on a mission across the kingdoms of Primoria to discover the chasm’s secrets, Meira plans to use the trip to garner support to keep the chasm shut and Winter safe—even if it means clashing with Theron. But can she do so without endangering the people she loves?

Mather just wants to be free. The horrors inflicted on the Winterians hang fresh and raw in Januari—leaving Winter vulnerable to Cordell’s growing oppression. When Meira leaves to search for allies, he decides to take Winter’s security into his own hands. Can he rebuild his broken kingdom and protect them from new threats?

As the web of power and deception weaves tighter, Theron fights for magic, Mather fights for freedom—and Meira starts to wonder if she should be fighting not just for Winter, but for the world. 

****

Just like Snow Like Ashes, I feel that Ice Like Fire was weak in the beginning.
As I started reading the first book I didn’t love Meira, I didn’t like her choices and I kept reading only because I was enjoying the world building.
Fortunately, Meira grew a lot throughout the book and I learned to love her… but Ice Like Fire started just the same. This time it was a changed Meira, a more mature version of her… but I wasn’t able to love her again… and again, that changed as the book continued.
Ice Like Fire took on a journey I wasn’t expecting. Many of the questions I had when I finished reading the first book were answered. Sarah Raasch gave us the opportunity to travel along with Meira to the other kingdoms and it was such a fantastic experience. Those other settings and new characters were fresh and well created, some even unexpected.
The author also gave us the opportunity to see through Mather’s eyes with some amazing chapters.

For me, it would’ve been a perfect read if it wasn’t for the love triangle (if I can call the way), because while I adored Theron in Snow Like Ashes, this time… things changed, and it was quite predictable.
Anyway, Ice Like Fire was a wonderful sequel, it will leave you begging for the last installment of this great series.

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ARC Review: Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch

Snow Like Ashes

Series: Snow Like Ashes #1

Author: Sara Raasch

My rating: 5 stars

Source: e-ARC provided by Publisher. Thank you!

GoodReads/ Amazon/ TBD

Summary:

A heartbroken girl. A fierce warrior. A hero in the making. 

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 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, raised by the Winterians’ general, Sir. Training to be a warrior—and desperately in love with her best friend, and future king, Mather — she would do anything to help her kingdom 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. Finally, she’s scaling towers, fighting enemy soldiers, and serving her kingdom just as she’s always dreamed she would. But the mission doesn’t go as planned, and Meira soon finds 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.

******

I must confess, I never read high fantasy books until I tried the Throne of Glass series. And since that day, I’ve been dying to read my next favorite book from this genre. I can’t say I’m a huge fan, but after that book, I enjoyed Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay and…. Okay, I don’t remember any other high fantasy book that I loved.

Anyway, I’m saying this just to point out that I don’t read these books, but I fell in love with the cover of Snow Like Ashes and that’s why I started reading the eARC when I got the chance.

To be completely honest I was about to DNF this book when I was 30%. My biggest problem was that I couldn’t connect with Meira. She was too reckless, and I even found her a little selfish. I already fell for the Winterians, but I felt like she didn’t care about her people, even though she was fighting for them.

But I don’t DNF books, that’s why I kept reading and thanks God! because then I realized I was really enjoying Snow Like Ashes. This book is pure fantasy!

The second part of this book was a great surprise.

Meira’s became a stronger character; she grows up so much in this part.

The relationship between her and the other characters is fantastic and well built.

The twist and turns of the plot are extraordinarily startling. They had me on the edge of my seat. I was already in love with this story.

I am truthful to say that Snow Like Ashes is one of the few books that really shocked me since I became a reader.

There were some things I never expected, maybe because I’m a dystopian reader, maybe because I wasn’t trying to guess, who knows? The plot took me aback.

The world-building of Snow Like Ashes is magical and beautiful. The writing is “clean” and fast passed, though sometimes it felt a little modern (which I didn’t care).

Snow Like Ashes made me feel the pain of the Winterian, it made me feel loyal to them and devoted to the cause of freeing their kingdom.

Something I also loved about this book is that the romance wasn’t the main part of the story (yes, when it starts Meira thinks a lot about romance, but that ends!). I felt some hints of a love triangle but I’m not really sure if that was it. In any case, both boys were extraordinary.

I don’t want to say more about this book because I don’t want to risk any spoiler.

Just let me tell you this: Snow Like Ashes is an incredibly satisfying book.

I don’t even care that I felt Meira too stubborn in the first chapters, maybe I was the only one to feel this way. This book deserves the 5 stars, because of the amazing characters, the imaginative world created by Sara Raasch and that epic ending that will let you begging for more.

This is a book you have to read!

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