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Ice Like Fire by Sara Raasch


Title: Ice like Fire

Author: Sarah Raasch

Publisher: Balzer + Bray (Imprint of HarperCollins)

Release Date: October, 2015

Genre: YA Fantasy

My Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Synopsis:

It’s been three months since the Winterians were freed and Spring’s king, Angra, disappeared—thanks largely to the help of Cordell.

Meira just wants her people to be safe. When Cordellan debt forces the Winterians to dig their mines for payment, they unearth something powerful and possibly dangerous: Primoria’s lost chasm of magic. Theron sees this find as an opportunity—with this much magic, the world can finally stand against threats like Angra. But Meira fears the danger the chasm poses—the last time the world had access to so much magic, it spawned the Decay. So when the king of Cordell orders the two on a mission across the kingdoms of Primoria to discover the chasm’s secrets, Meira plans to use the trip to garner support to keep the chasm shut and Winter safe—even if it means clashing with Theron. But can she do so without endangering the people she loves?

Mather just wants to be free. The horrors inflicted on the Winterians hang fresh and raw in Januari—leaving Winter vulnerable to Cordell’s growing oppression. When Meira leaves to search for allies, he decides to take Winter’s security into his own hands. Can he rebuild his broken kingdom and protect them from new threats?

As the web of power and deception weaves tighter, Theron fights for magic, Mather fights for freedom—and Meira starts to wonder if she should be fighting not just for Winter, but for the world.

Review:

After reading the first book in the series, Snow Likes Ashes, and giving a 3-star review, I had thought the sequel would be pack with much more tension and conflict since book 1 ended with a much greater threat--a promising potential for a sequel that will be much more gripping than the first book.

I was wrong.

Ice Like Fire did not expand much on the "promising" threat at the end of book one. Instead, the plot stalled by becoming very repetitive, the pacing tremendously slowing down and making the novel an unexciting read. I was going to DNF the book halfway through but decided to stick with it to determine whether I would read the third book. After reaching the predictable end in this sequel, I've decided not to read the third book in the trilogy.

The one thing I really enjoyed about the book is the world-building. Raasch's world-building is very complex, and her use of description brings the world to life and makes the reader feel as if they are standing in Meira's shoes. Her take on magic is unique compared to many fantasy stories that also involve elements of magic.

Raasch's world-building strength, however, does not make up for the other elements in the book that fell flat. In book one, I felt a bit of a connection with the characters, but in Ice Like Fire, I lost my respect for these characters. I wanted so badly to love this book because of the amazing world Raasch created, but it's impossible to love the entire story without characters to cheer for and willingly follow on their journey. The character development is dull due to the characters remaining stagnant from the first book--they are dealing with the same internal conflicts they faced in the first book, yet they don't do anything to overcome these conflicts. There are no character arcs, just characters in self-doubt, moping about their situation. Meira went through the first book seeking to prove herself worthy, and in the second book she has that same self-doubt that makes her seek the goal she had in book one. She was torn between being herself or acting as someone she's not, and that same thing appears in book two, which leads me to believe this same cycle will repeat in the third book.

If you'd like to read a book with a unique take on magic, I would recommend reading the first book in the trilogy and only the first book. The sequel is predictable and may leave you disappointed.


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