Author: Sara Raasch
Publication Date: October 13, 2015
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Pages: 479
Add to Goodreads
Review for book 1
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.
Last year I read Snow Like Ashes after about a hundred people insisted I would love it. I did not love it. There were a lot of things I didn't like about the first book in this series and I really never thought I would read Ice Like Fire, but then I saw book three at ALA and decided to give it one more chance. Maybe the second book would draw me in where the first one couldn't and then I could be excited about Frost Like Night with everyone else! It was only after I had started that I noticed the warnings around Goodreads that this book wasn't as good as the first, so... the outlook was not good.
Ice Like Fire picks up shortly after Snow Like Ashes leaves off. Meira is (grudgingly) the queen of Winter and is working to come up with a plan to gain support for her kingdom in order to keep the dangerous chasm of magic closed. Of course, the king of Cordell wants it opened because he's all about the power, and Meira doesn't know where Theron, prince of Cordell (love interest #2, because there are always two) stands in the whole thing.
I'll admit, I only made it 35% into this book because I was so damn bored. I couldn't tell you half of what happened because I kept zoning out and having to go back to re-read if I wanted to see what I missed, but most of the time I just didn't care. Why didn't I care? Because the characters were still awful. (And by characters I mean Meira.) For the first 35% of this book, at least, Meira continues complaining about how much her life sucks now that she's queen even though she wanted to be throughout book one. Mather is equally annoying with his non-stop whining. I just cannot deal with whiney characters.
So I can confidently say I gave this series a second shot. I made it 1/3 of the way through Ice Like Fire, but I had to call it quits. I know everyone loves this series, but it's not for me. I still find the world building to be unconvincing. Even after traveling around the world a bit this time, I still only got that Summer was hot and Winter was cold. It just wasn't enough! Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be reading Frost Like Night after all.
