one of the best high fantasy with a dash of romances I've read. I usually have a lot of trouble reading high fantasy, but no- not this book. It hit the mark and I'm pretty much keening for the second book already.
Meira is an orphan fighting to save her homeland Winter. She, along with 7 other refugees, are the only ones who survived and Escaped Spring's siege on Winter. Their goal is to find the locket, a conduit for magic, which will help them bring prosperity to winter again.
So Meira is this awesome kick-ass soldier who never actually gets to do anything because the man who raised her, aka "sir" tells her she isn't good enough. Poor Meira. Oh, also Meira is in love with her Best friend and Winter's King Mather. He's sweet.
She eventually finds herself in another land Rhythm where she meets the Crown Prince Theron. Who is also sweet. And so the story goes from here...
A lot of the time, Meira is a really selfish person, but we see SO much growth in the second half of the book. It's not just random suddenly "I know everything growth." Revelations come to light and we can really understand where Meira's growth comes from.
On top of all the praise I've given to this book already, let's talk about how much it pulled my hearstrings. Sara Raasch has a way of easily letting the reader put theselves in the characters' shoes. When Meira faces a seriously hurtful betrayal (like ouch for real) I could feel her anger coursing through my veins. I was feeling kind of violent and angry for her. I cried at her frustrations and unfairness of her situation and it was just...crazy how much I felt from Raasch's writing. Well done. Truly.