Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch - spoiler-free review.

Hi booklovers

I'm hopelessly behind on reviewing the books that I've read, so here's my attempt at getting back on track.

The first book that I finished this year was Snow Like Ashes, so that might be a good place to start.

Title: Snow Like Ashes

Author: Sara Raasch
Genre: YA, fantasy
Format: Paperback
 

*Story:
Imagine being on the run for 16 years because your kingdom was conquered. Meira is one of only eight survivors who managed to escape. The others were taken captive and are used as slaves.

*Characters:
-Meira: She is one of the eight survivors who got away after the Winter kingdom was conquered. She is an orphan. Meira wants nothing more than to join the other survivors when they go on missions to get Winter's conduit back. She's in love with her childhood friend and future king Mather. Like all inhabitants of Winter, she has vibrant white hair, which intrigued me very much.

-Mather: He is the future king of the Winter kingdom. He's trained as a warrior, but he's also being prepared to become king. He's in love with Meira, but they both know there might never be anything more between them.

-William / Sir: He is the leader of the survivors. He's a very strict leader, who doesn't usually show his emotions.
 

-Angra: Evil Spring ruler who has enslaved the Winterians.

-Noam: He is the king of Cordell, one of the Rhythms. Sir asks Noam for help to get Winter back.

-Theron: Noam's son and the future king of Cordell.
 

*Plot:
There are eight countries in Primoria: four countries are Seasons, which means that the season stays the same the whole year around. The other four countries are Rhythms, where the seasons change.
 
The magic system consists of conduits that are used by each country's monarch. The conduit allows the monarch to 'channel' their magic. Each monarch uses their magic for different purposes. In this story the survivors are trying to find the two halves of Winter's locket, so they can put them back together and claim Winter's throne again and free the Winterian slaves.

*Overall rating:
I really liked this book. I especially enjoyed the way Primoria is divided and the way the magic is wielded.

I enjoyed the worldbuilding, you really get to see how people are affected by being in their own kingdom or in another kingdom with a different type of weather. I found the difference between the Seasons and the Rhythms very refreshing.
 
!!!!Spoiler!!!!
The love triangle is maybe a bit tropy, but I still felt sorry for Mather when Meira was promised to Theron to secure the help of Cordell.
 
The pacing of the story was good, for me there weren't any dull moments. Even though I don't really like politics in a story, in this book I didn't really mind it because even though it is important to the story, it isn't overwhelming or confusing.
 
!!!!Spoiler!!!!
I totally didn't see the plot twist coming, so I was completely blown away by the fact that Meira was in fact Winter's rightful queen. A plot twist I really enjoyed was the fact that Meira is Winter's conduit.



I gave this book 4.5 stars on Goodreads.
 
Have you read this book? If so, what did you think of it? Let me know in the comments.
 
Bye for now
 
Annelies

March - April 2016 wrap-up

Hi booklovers

This is what I read in March and April.

March
- Siege and Storm - Leigh Bardugo - 5 stars   
- Ruin and Rising -  Leigh Bardugo - 5 stars
- Inspire - Cora Carmack - 4.5 stars

- Nowhere But Here - Katie McGarry - 4.5 stars (reread)

April
- Walk The Edge - Katie McGarry - 4.5 stars  

- Clipped Wings - Helena Hunting - 4.5 stars 

- Cupcakes and Ink (Clipped Wings #0.5) - Helena Hunting - 4 stars

- Between the cracks (Clipped Wings #1.5) - Helena Hunting - 4 stars  

- Inked Armor (Clipped Wings #2) - Helena Hunting - 4.5 stars 

- Cracks in the Armor (Clipped Wings #2.5) - Helena Hunting - 3.5 stars 

- Kindred Spirits  - Rainbow Rowell - 3 stars

- The Eye of the World - Robert Jordan - 4 stars 

- Fables: Legends in Exile (#1) - Bill Willingham - 4.5 stars 

- Ice Like Fire - by Sara Raasch - 4.5 stars  

As you can see, April has been a very good reading month, but this is mostly thanks to the two week Easter break at the end of March and the beginning of April and the fact that I've read a couple of novella's.

My favourite books (per genre) of these two past months are:

* Fantasy: Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo. I loved all the books in the trilogy, but the second one is my absolute favourite.

* YA Contemporary: Nowhere But Here by Katie McGarry. Katie is one of my autobuy authors and she hasn't disappointed me so far.

* NA Contemporary: Clipped Wings and Inked Armor by Helena Hunting. I really liked that this has such a raw edge to it.

What have you liked reading during the month of April?

Bye for now

Annelies

20 books I want to read in 2016 - update

Hi booklovers

Since we're over a quarter through 2016 I thought I would give you an update on how many books that are on my '20 books I want to read' TBR I have read.

A) Books I already own:

* Fairest by Marissa Meyer
* Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
* The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

B) Books I didn't own at the time of the original post but have bought since:

* Siege & Storm by Leigh Bardugo

* Ruin & Rising by Leigh Bardugo
 

I already bought Six of Crows and Stars Above and I want to read them very soon.

5 books down, 15 to go, I can do this :-)
 

Bye for now
 

Annelies

Friday Reads #5 - April 29th

Hi booklovers

Let's take a look at what I read this week:

- I started listening to 'The Great Hunt' by Robert Jordan during the Author-A-Thon and I continued listening to it this week. I'm now 13hrs and 40 mins into the book. 

- I finished 'Ice Like Fire' by Sara Raasch.

- I started reading 'Locke and Key: Welcome to Lovecraft'. This is so weird, but I'm liking it so far.

- I also, literally, read the first page of 'Cruel Crown' by Victoria Aveyard before falling asleep :-$ 

What I'll be reading this weekend and next week:

- I'll probably finish 'Locke and Key' on Monday.

- I'm going to continue listening to 'The Great Hunt', but since I mostly listen to it while walking to and from work and I have two days off at the end of next week, I might not finish it yet. But that's okay, because I don't mind taking it slow.

- I'm hoping to finish 'Cruel Crown' and maybe move on to 'Glass sword', so I can catch up with the series.

Let me know in the comments what you'll be reading next week.

Bye for now

Annelies

Author-A-Thon wrap-up

Hi booklovers

Sunday was the last day of the Author-A-Thon, so I thought I'd do a wrap-up of my reading week.

First of all, I only read one of the books on my TBR *hides under desk*

What did I end up reading?

- I listened to about 9 hours of 'The Great Hunt' by Robert Jordan. I'm really enjoying the story and the audiobooks help me pick up on so many more details. The narrators are doing such a wonderful job.

        * Challenge: Read a book by your favourite author

 

- I finished 'Fables Volume 1: Legends in Exile'. I never expected to enjoy this as much as I did and I want to pick up the next volume very soon.

* Read a book written by more than one author / a new-to-you author

 

- I continued reading 'Ice Like Fire', the sequel to 'Snow Like Ashes'. I managed to read about 200 pages of it.

* Read a book by an author from a different continent than you are.

 

I'm not sure if I managed to read more during this readathon than during any other week, but I enjoyed it.

How did you do with the readathon? Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now

Annelies

Author-A-Thon Readathon day 1 - 4

Hi booklovers

I wanted to post a short update about the Author-A-Thon readathon so far:

- The audiobook of The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan is the only book from my TBR I've been 'reading' so far. I spent a couple of hours gardening yesterday, so I was able to listen to about 5 hours of it (at 1.25 speed!).

- I finished 'Fables Volume 1', so I might use this for the challenge of 'reading a book from a new to you author' and 'a book written by multiple authors'.

- I'm still reading 'Ice Like Fire', I'm hoping to finish it before the end of the readathon, so I could count that as 'a book written by an author from another continent'.

We'll see how the rest of the week goes :-) 

Hope your readathon is going well if you're participating!

Bye for now

Annelies

Author-A-Thon Readathon

Hi booklovers

I decided at the last moment that I wanted to participate in the Author-A-Thon Readathon hosted by Joana Sousa and Thoughts on Tomes, which takes place from the 18th of April 'till the 24th of April.

There are six different challenges you can try to complete or read books by the same author.

I'm going to give the challenges a try:

1- Read a book by one of your favorite authors: I've just started listening to the audiobook of The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan and I really enjoy his books, so he counts as one of my favourite authors.

2- Read a new-to-you author: I'm going to combine some of the challenges, so for this challenge I'm going to choose 'These Broken Stars' by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner. I'm also going to use this book for challenges number 5 and 6. (I'm not sure if you're allowed to use a book for three challenges, but I'm going with it :-) )

3- Give an author a second chance: I don't really have an author I want to give a second chance at the moment!

4- Read a debut author (2015 or 2016): I want to read 'Glass Sword' by Victoria Aveyard. I know this technically isn't her debut novel, but I already read 'Red Queen' and that was her debut of last year, so :-$

5- Read a book written by more than one author: These Broken Stars

6- Read a book from an author who is from a different continent than you are: These Broken Stars. Amie Kaufman is Australian, so, there you go :-)

I probably won't read all of them, but I'm going to try to read as much as possible.

Are you participating in this readathon? Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now

Annelies