I was really excited to pick up Snow Like Ashes. It had an excellent cover, an interesting synopsis and pretty decent early reviews. In a young adult fantasy book, what's not to love? I have to say that I enjoyed it just as much as I hoped I would. The beginning was a little shaky for me. I don't know exactly how to explain it, but I felt a bit skeptical about the characters and their problems. Maybe it was just because I was getting used to the world they lived in, but at first I was unimpressed. I'm not sure when that changed, but eventually I noticed that I had become a lot more engrossed in the book without even realizing it as time went on. By the time I got to the last hundred pages, it was nearly impossible to put down. There's a map at the start of the book, and it was quite helpful. I found it a little odd that the countries themselves were so small and there was a lot of unconquered land. 
 Once the pieces came together about this complex world, I loved it. There are eight different kingdoms in all, four Season and four Rhythm. Each has a special magical item that their monarch can use, and in the Seasons it's the Queen, in the Rhythms it's the King. The main character in the novel, Meira, has escaped from Winter after it was taken by a man named Angra, and she's spent her whole life in hiding, looking for the magic item that was torn in half - a locket - and trying to find ways to fight for her kingdom. Thankfully, I had no issues with the heroine of this story. She's level-headed and quick thinking. She wasn't overly arrogant nor was she consumed by romantic thoughts constantly. One thing about Snow Like Ashes I particularly liked, was that Meira realized she had bigger issues going on in her life than boys. Yes, there's a love triangle in this book, but it's not that irritating because she doesn't dwell on it constantly. 
 In fact, at one point, she thinks about her potential suitors arguing with each other and is grateful to have some normal problems. I loved how focused she was on her goals. She was realistic - she of course thought of the boys and her feelings once in a while, but never in a way that became aggravating. She had a sense of humor and cracked jokes in the narrative once in a while. She has definitely become one of my new favorite heroines. I also really liked the relationship between her and Sir, the man who raised her. She calls him Sir because she called him "Father" once and he scolded her for it. She wants him to see her as his daughter so badly, and the moments of tenderness between them were sweet. 
 As far as Meria's love interests go, I never really grew fonder of one more than the other, even after I finished the book. If I had to pick, I guess I would go with Theron. Mather is a decent character, but he doesn't actually have a lot of page-time with Meira, and when he does he's being stoic and emotionless. I was surprised how quickly Meria took a liking to Theron after claiming she was so desperately in love with Mather for such a long time. True, Theron was charming right off the bat, but she seemed almost perfectly content to let go of her life-long crush almost immmediately. I'm sure there will be a lot more to this love triangle in future installments in the series, so I'm waiting until then to more firmly pick a side. 
 I wouldn't say that the main climatic point of the book is predictable, but if you really think about it it's a little obvious. Still, I enjoyed the ride all the same. Angra is a formidable villain with his evil staff and powerful dark magic called the Decay. We don't really learn of its origins until more than halfway into the book, but I appreciate that the author chose to leave bits of information here and there so there wasn't a massive info-dump. I really loved the writing and the descriptions of the castles and cities. The writing is pretty excellent for a debut novel. Overall, Snow Like Ashes was a wonderful high fantasy book that will hopefully remain one of my favorites through the year. 
 4.5 stars