Sara Raasch is an American author of young adult fantasy. She is best known for the New York Times bestselling trilogy Snow Like Ashes (2014–2016). Her later works include the fantasy duology These Rebel Waves and These Divided Shores, inspired by the Spanish Inquisition and the Golden Age of Piracy.
Raasch was raised in Ohio and developed an interest in books during childhood. At the age of five, she joined friends running a lemonade stand and sold her own hand-drawn picture books. “Not much has changed since then,” she later remarked, recalling her early efforts to create stories.
She studied at Wright State University, graduating with a degree in Organisational Leadership. After completing her education, she continued to write fiction and began work on her debut trilogy.
Snow Like Ashes was published in 2014 by Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins. It tells the story of Meira, an orphan raised among exiles of the defeated Kingdom of Winter. The novel combines themes of survival, magic, and political struggle, and was described as a tale of dark magic and dangerous politics. The book appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list in 2015.
The second volume, Ice Like Fire, was published in 2015 and debuted at number three on The New York Times list. The trilogy concluded with Frost Like Night in 2016. Together, the series brought Raasch wide attention in the young adult fantasy genre.
Her following works included These Rebel Waves (2018) and its sequel, These Divided Shores (2019). In 2020, she co-authored Set Fire to the Gods. She later collaborated with Beth Revis on the duology Witch and Hunter.
Raasch has also written adult romances, among them The Nightmare Before Kissmas and Go Luck Yourself. She continues to expand her work with forthcoming titles, including The Entanglement of Rival Wizards (2025) and The Crimson Throne (2025).
Her books have been nominated for the Colorado Blue Spruce Award and selected as a Top Pick by RT Book Reviews. Snow Like Ashes was named a Huffington Post Best Overall YA Book of 2014 and a Hypable Top Ten Book of 2014.
Sara Raasch lives in Ohio.
Photo credit: www.sararaaschbooks.com
