Ice Like Fire by Sara Raasch (Snow Like Ashes #2)
Published October 13, 2015 by Balzer + Bray, 479 pp.
Summary:
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.
Ice Like Fire is the broody, sulky sibling. The one that internalises everything because they feel that the burden is theirs alone, and they alone can solve the problems of the world.
Actually the latter statement is applicable to all the characters in Ice Like Fire, it’s like everyone is infected with a healthy dose of Noble Idiocy so everyone thinks they can solve Primoria’s problems by themselves. I know this is supposed to be Meira’s journey of self-discovery and reflection as she transitions from being warrior to queen, but I keep on thinking back to Invasion of the Tearling. Kelsea went through the same thing, of going from a place of having no responsibility but suddenly you’re thrust in the middle of it all and everyone expects you to fail but at the same time hopes you succeed. In equal measure. The difference is that I didn’t skim over the pages as I read and I didn’t find it so slow.
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