Review: Frost Like Night by Sara Raasch

Frost Like Night by Sara Raasch
Narrator: Kate Rudd, Nick Podehl, Eileen Stevens
Series: Snow Like Ashes #3
Published by Balzer + Bray, Harper Audio on 2016-09-20
Length: 491 pages
Length: 12 hours and 23 minutes
Reviewing Audiobook, Kindle from My Book Shelf, TN R.E.A.D.S.
Rating:
Reading Challenges: 2024 Audiobook Challenge, 2024 Backlist Reader Challenge, 2024 Fantasy/Sci-Fi Reading Challenge, 2024 Finishing the Series Reading Challenge, 2024 Library Love Challenge

Game of Thrones meets Graceling in this action-packed fantasy—the highly anticipated final book in the New York Times bestselling Snow Like Ashes series by Sara Raasch. Perfect for fans of An Ember in the Ashes and A Court of Thorns and Roses.

Angra is alive, his Decay is spreading—and no one is safe.

Meira will do anything to save her world. With Angra trying to break through her mental defenses, she desperately needs to learn to control her own magic—so when the leader of a mysterious Order from Paisly offers to teach her, Meira jumps at the chance. But the true solution to stopping the Decay lies in a labyrinth deep beneath the Season Kingdoms. To defeat Angra, Meira will have to enter the labyrinth, destroy the very magic she’s learning to control—and make the biggest sacrifice of all.

Mather will do anything to save his queen. He needs to rally the Children of the Thaw, find Meira—and finally tell her how he really feels. But with a plan of attack that leaves no kingdom unscathed and a major betrayal within their ranks, winning the war—and protecting Meira—slips farther and farther out of reach.

Ceridwen will do anything to save her people. Angra had her brother killed, stole her kingdom, and made her a prisoner. But when she’s freed by an unexpected ally who reveals a shocking truth behind Summer’s slave trade, Ceridwen must take action to save her true love and her kingdom, even if it costs her what little she has left.

As Angra unleashes the Decay on the world, Meira, Mather, and Ceridwen must bring the kingdoms of Primoria together…or lose everything.

What an ending! Frost Like Night by Sara Raasch is the final book in the series Snow Like Ashes, and it really brings the story full circle. Please note: if you haven’t read the previous books in the series, there may be spoilers to those books ahead. Read at your own risk. Picking up right where Ice Like Fire left off, we find Meira still in the Ventrallan palace where Angra has staged a coup with the help of his new allies. She is escaping with Rares, a Paislan who she briefly met in Yakim during their search for the keys to the chasm. Her friends and delegation are in prison with Mather who is helping them to escape. The key to stopping Angra lies with Rares and the Order of the Lustrate so Meira goes in the hopes of she will find what she needs.

This book is so fast paced, I think, even more so than the previous two. A third perspective is added to the narration in the form of Ceridwen, the Summer princess now queen. I like her perspective as it adds a different weight to the story seeing it through someone’s eyes that is not from Winter. The majority of the story still takes place from Meira’s perspective, thankfully, because otherwise it would get bogged down with the head hopping.

Meira has submitted to her fate. Having done what her mother did, she asked her conduit magic how to stop Angra. A sacrifice must be made in the chasm of magic, that sacrifice is Meira herself. Wrestling with that fact most of the last book, Meira is finally beginning to accept it even if unwilling. She knows the power is in her hands, and the only way to save the people she loves and her kingdom is to throw herself into the chasm. First, though, she has to learn to control her conduit magic, and that is where Paisly comes in.

I loved the two new characters we are introduced to here: Rares and Oana. They are centuries old and have the same conduit magic Meira has. We learn a lot about Paisly, why they have been so out of touch with the other kingdoms, and why they need Meira as much as she needs the answers they have. I loved seeing Meira learn to use her magic and come into her own as the warrior queen here.

Overall, I really enjoyed Frost Like Night. This book brings the characters full circle, but in a way that shows their growth and potential. I loved Meira’s relationship with Mather and how the two complement each other so well. It was refreshing to see in a YA novel. If you are a fan of fantasy, adventure, with a touch of romance, I highly recommend it.

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