Hardcover, 416 pages
Release Date: October 14, 2014Published by: Balzer + BraySnow Like Ashes, #1Source: OwnFor fans of: High Fantasy, Girl Power, MagicA 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.
*MY THOUGHTS*
I tried to get through it. I really did. But as it turns out, this just isn’t a book for me. In all honesty it ended up being another case of a super pretty cover, but not having the content inside to satisfy me. Which is pretty disappointing since I had read so many good things about this one. In the end I ended up only reading up until page 200 and then skimming to the end.
I’m actually glad I took the option of skimming though. The huge “plot twist” that came up, I called it when it first came up in the actual pages I did read. In other words, it was pretty predictable. I was able to call so many things that happened in the end of the story. I think the reason it was so predictable was because there was really nothing happening until the end.
The best part of a story is how it gets to the end. Which I’m sure is the reason I wasn’t too fond of it. There was nothing happening until the end. The only thing I really enjoyed was the Girl Power support. Meira is bad ass and reminded me of me sometimes. She hated wearing dresses and hated even more to sit around while every male was out and about doing something. She wanted to be in the middle of the action as well and that alone made me get to page 200. I probably would’ve DNF’d it sooner had she not been as brave.
I also feel that I didn’t like it as much because of the info dumping. The back story was given out constantly and it got to be a little too much at times. I wished that the amount of time wasted on all that info dumping was given to actually doing more world–building or something else. It just seemed like there was too much to remember and I was doing more memorization than enjoying the story.
This wasn’t a huge hit with me, but that clearly doesn’t mean it will be that with everyone. (If you haven’t noticed, I’m definitely a black sheep in this one….) Even though I didn’t enjoy it, give it a shot. You may like it way more than I did.
I’m actually glad I took the option of skimming though. The huge “plot twist” that came up, I called it when it first came up in the actual pages I did read. In other words, it was pretty predictable. I was able to call so many things that happened in the end of the story. I think the reason it was so predictable was because there was really nothing happening until the end.
The best part of a story is how it gets to the end. Which I’m sure is the reason I wasn’t too fond of it. There was nothing happening until the end. The only thing I really enjoyed was the Girl Power support. Meira is bad ass and reminded me of me sometimes. She hated wearing dresses and hated even more to sit around while every male was out and about doing something. She wanted to be in the middle of the action as well and that alone made me get to page 200. I probably would’ve DNF’d it sooner had she not been as brave.
I also feel that I didn’t like it as much because of the info dumping. The back story was given out constantly and it got to be a little too much at times. I wished that the amount of time wasted on all that info dumping was given to actually doing more world–building or something else. It just seemed like there was too much to remember and I was doing more memorization than enjoying the story.
This wasn’t a huge hit with me, but that clearly doesn’t mean it will be that with everyone. (If you haven’t noticed, I’m definitely a black sheep in this one….) Even though I didn’t enjoy it, give it a shot. You may like it way more than I did.
Overall, I give this
I didn't rate it as low as you did, but I agree that it was predictable! I blame the hype!