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bibliorama's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Enjoyment - 4
Start - 3.5
Characters - 3.5
Atmosphere - 4
Plot - 4
Ending - 4
Style - 3.5
Overall - 3.8
Start - 3.5
Characters - 3.5
Atmosphere - 4
Plot - 4
Ending - 4
Style - 3.5
Overall - 3.8
Content Warnings
Minor: Colonisation, Blood, Death, Sexual assault, War, Genocide, and Xenophobia
First I want to clarify the sexual assault tag, I would say it's more of an attempt and it's very brief towards to end and not explicit in any way. Mainly it's implied that that's what the villian is doing. There isn't any other part where something like that happensthatbookishwriter23's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
When the Kingdom of Winter is conquered and defeated by the Kingdom of Spring, it's up to 8 Winterian refugees to find and fix Winter's broken conduit, save it's enslaved citizens, and take back their Kingdom.
Meira, one of the refugees, longs to do something more than hunt for food. She wants to fight, along with the other refugees. The only person that's stopping her is Sir, the refugees' leader, who refuses to let her fight and help find Winter's conduit. One day, thanks to her best friend, Prince Mather, Sir agrees to let Meira finally help find the conduit and she succeeds! However, this leads Meira to problems that seem impossible to overcome, feelings that she may have for Mather and another prince, and secrets that change Meira's life forever.
I really LOVED this book. At first, I thought this book was going to be super boring and regreted buying it, but it turned out to be one of my favorite books so far. This book deserves way more recognition than it has; It's really good. The cover is very unique and pretty, I love it.
Pros
• I REALLY like the idea of seasons being kingdoms and I love how they each have different characteristics. Like Winterians have white hair and Summerians have ginger hair. Autumn is my favorite.
• I love the refugees determined and fire for bringing the Kindom of Winter back and saving the enslaved Winterians.
•I love the rocky relationship between Sir and Meira. I like reading Meira's struggles and passion to get Sir to approve of her.
Cons
• Yes, there is a love triangle BUT it's really not the main focus. Trust me, you'll barely notice it's there, so please don't let that be discourage you.
• There's about one cliché, but I can't tell you because it may be a spoiler.
• There is a attempted rape scene in this book, but just be aware.
• It's a little slow paced at times.
Favorite Character: Theron.
The Cordellian prince is really nice and really helps Meira when she feeling conflicted or confused.
Least Favorite Character: Noam
The Cordellian King is a trickster and a troll. He's very tempered and hotheaded and doesn't care about anything but benefiting himself.
Overall, I rate Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch, four out of five hearts.
Meira, one of the refugees, longs to do something more than hunt for food. She wants to fight, along with the other refugees. The only person that's stopping her is Sir, the refugees' leader, who refuses to let her fight and help find Winter's conduit. One day, thanks to her best friend, Prince Mather, Sir agrees to let Meira finally help find the conduit and she succeeds! However, this leads Meira to problems that seem impossible to overcome, feelings that she may have for Mather and another prince, and secrets that change Meira's life forever.
I really LOVED this book. At first, I thought this book was going to be super boring and regreted buying it, but it turned out to be one of my favorite books so far. This book deserves way more recognition than it has; It's really good. The cover is very unique and pretty, I love it.
Pros
• I REALLY like the idea of seasons being kingdoms and I love how they each have different characteristics. Like Winterians have white hair and Summerians have ginger hair. Autumn is my favorite.
• I love the refugees determined and fire for bringing the Kindom of Winter back and saving the enslaved Winterians.
•I love the rocky relationship between Sir and Meira. I like reading Meira's struggles and passion to get Sir to approve of her.
Cons
• Yes, there is a love triangle BUT it's really not the main focus. Trust me, you'll barely notice it's there, so please don't let that be discourage you.
• There's about one cliché, but I can't tell you because it may be a spoiler.
• There is a attempted rape scene in this book, but just be aware.
• It's a little slow paced at times.
Favorite Character: Theron.
The Cordellian prince is really nice and really helps Meira when she feeling conflicted or confused.
Least Favorite Character: Noam
The Cordellian King is a trickster and a troll. He's very tempered and hotheaded and doesn't care about anything but benefiting himself.
Overall, I rate Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch, four out of five hearts.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Sexual assault, and Slavery
elizlizabeth's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
The concept behind this book is novel I guess, and Meira gives off some snarky protagonist vibes which I like but then her sense of humor and the whole love triangle crash a little with the seriousness of the topics in the plot. Ultimately this made the book land flat to me. There are many trope situations, which don't make sense for the plot or character growth.
A problematic approach to race and holocaust and genocide doesn't help. I don't mean for every book to be "morally correct" but this is a fantasy book published in the 2010s, I would expect for the genre to grow past "pale people good, brown people bad" dichotomy. Most of Meira's "strong independent woman" attitude feels performative because the rest of female characters are flat and typically femenine, with Meira even criticizing them at times.
This definitely needed more time in the oven because it feels like it had potential but as it is, I won't be continuing the saga.
A problematic approach to race and holocaust and genocide doesn't help. I don't mean for every book to be "morally correct" but this is a fantasy book published in the 2010s, I would expect for the genre to grow past "pale people good, brown people bad" dichotomy. Most of Meira's "strong independent woman" attitude feels performative because the rest of female characters are flat and typically femenine, with Meira even criticizing them at times.
This definitely needed more time in the oven because it feels like it had potential but as it is, I won't be continuing the saga.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Slavery, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Genocide
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