That explains Captain Dominick’s curse earlier-Golden leaves.īut while Cordell has endless resources, Noam is not known for making political alliances with anyone other than just-as-wealthy Rhythms. Opportunistic, resourceful, swindlers: whatever they’re called, they can even “make leaves turn to gold” – referring to the fact that they’re so good at turning a profit it’s as if they make leaves on a tree turn into gold coins. Just as Winter focused its magic on mining, Cordell focused its conduit on opportunity-on helping its citizens work a situation in their favor so they get the most out of it. For example, lots of paragraphs like the following were scattered throughout the book, which became tedious: Although the information/backstory was essential, it was revealed at a pace that seemed unnatural, like as soon as an explanation was needed, Meira altered her narrative tone to accommodate the audience.
The information that’s thrown at readers felt forced out of necessity, and did little to make the initial worldbuilding real and engrossing. By page 100, I noticed that a persistent trait of Raasch’s writing was info-dumps. The first 50ish pages are slow and hard to get through. However, things are never that simple, and she’s soon deeply involved with protecting Winter’s king Mather (whom she’s hopelessly in love with!), playing political games with a non-seasonal king, and trying to discover her true place and purpose in a kingdom she hardly remembers. After stealing back half of Winter’s conduit-an object used to control and exhibit magic, unique to each kingdom-Meira finally believes she’s making a difference to Winter’s uprising. Snow Like Ashes follows Meira, one of the last Winterians to escape the Spring kingdom’s attack on her Winter kingdom. But all that connects us is stories, and memories, of what should be.” Snow Like Ashes, page 90 “That’s how we all are, too hard for what we should be. Long-time readers of YA fantasy will encounter many familiar elements-a love triangle, political games and betrayals, a young protagonist chosen to change fate, and a good amount of magic-but Raasch definitely takes the time to explore these components in her own voice and weave them into a cohesive and intriguing plot. And after reading the blurb, I was completely intrigued-a book about seasonal kingdoms fighting with a focus on the downfall of Winter (my favorite season)? Um, yes! Although the book didn’t quite turn out like I thought it would, I found it to nonetheless be a good story with an interesting plot and likeable characters. Review: I was first drawn to the breathtaking cover of Sara Raasch’s Snow Like Ashes, the first book in the trilogy. Publisher: Balzer + Bray (imprint of HarperCollins)
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