Snow Like Ashes

by Sara Raasch

Amazon Prices:

Paperback: $9.99

Hardcover: $17.99

Kindle: $9.99 (Available on Kindle Unlimited)

Audible: $27.99 (Not available on Kindle Unlimited)

Before Reading Facts:

Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch was published in 2014 by Balzer + Bray.

Page Count: 448 pages (paperback) 432 (hardcover) 448 (Kindle)

Audiobook length: 10 hrs 56 mins

Chapters: 31

Languages: English (also available in the follow translation: German)

Summary of Book:

“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 searching for the chance 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. Training to be a warrior–and desperately in love with her best friend and future king, Mather–she would do anything to help Winter rise to power again. So when scouts discover the location of the ancient locket that can restore their magic, Meira decides to go after it, only to find herself thrust into a world of evil magic and dangerous politics–and to realize that her destiny is not, never has been, her own” -Balzer + Bray

Author Biography:

“Sara Raasch has known she was destined for bookish things since the age of five, when her friends had a lemonade stand and she tagged along to sell her hand-drawn picture books too. Not much has changed since then: her friends still cock concerned eyebrows when she attempts to draw things, and her enthusiasm for the written word still drives her to extreme measures. Snow Like Ashes is her debut book. It does not feature her hand-drawn pictures. She can be found on the web at http://www.sararaasch.tumblr.com and on Twitter at @seesarawrite” -Balzer + Bray

Book Review:

Overall Book Rating: ★★★★★ / ★★★★★

I was very intrigued with this read. I admit that the cover of the book was the first thing to peek my attention. Once I read the summary of the book, my interest was further peaked. I wanted to know more about what what this story had in store for the reader. I was not disappointed! The very use of the seasons and how the author incorporates that into the story fascinated me, and I wanted to know more about the author’s use of the elements in her writing.

I was very interested in the characters and their journey. Raasch’s story telling draws the reader in with her interesting characters and story-telling technique. Snow Like Ash is an excellent beginning to the series. Her world was one I wanted to know more about and was excited to read more in the second novel in the series.

In all, this was the first book I read by this author, and I am very interested to read more works by this author. Her following two books in the series were a great start and I was looking forward to continuing my journey with Meira and Mather. My only regret is not reading this series when it first published and hope more are able to get a chance to read it!

Audible Review:

Narration Rating: ★★★★★ / ★★★★★

Narration by Kate Rudd

Rudd does a good job in her narration. However, I did not find it to be extremely well done. It was good enough to captivate the story and provide the listener with a good listen. I do admit that I had to listen at a higher than a 1.5 speed in order to enjoy the narration. I recommend listening at a 1.5  speed to really enjoy this narration. For those who are listening while reading the book, I found 2.0 and 2.5 speed to be the best speeds. 3.0 was too fast for me, and I was missing a lot of what the narrator was saying and had to eventually slow down the narrator’s reading speed.

Other works by this Author:

Novels:

• These Rebel Waves

Snow Like Ashes Series

• Snow Like Ashes
• Ice Like Fire
• Frost Like Night