Review of A Winter's Promise by Christelle Dabos

Read for: 2019 TBR Addition/ Audio Book

Synopsis: "Long ago, following a cataclysm called “The Rupture,” the world was shattered into many floating celestial islands. Known now as Arks, each has developed in distinct ways; each seems to possess its own unique relationship to time, such that nowadays vastly different worlds exist, together but apart. And over all of the Arks the spirit of an omnipotent ancestor abides.

Ophelia lives on Anima, an ark where objects have souls. Beneath her worn scarf and thick glasses, the young girl hides the ability to read and communicate with the souls of objects, and the power to travel through mirrors. Her peaceful existence on the Ark of Anima is disrupted when she is promised in marriage to Thorn, from the powerful Dragon clan. Ophelia must leave her family and follow her fiancée to the floating capital on the distant Ark of the Pole. Why has she been chosen? Why must she hide her true identity? Though she doesn’t know it yet, she has become a pawn in a deadly plot."

My Review: I had received this book as a gift for Christmas and admittedly I didn't know a thing about it. I decided to give it a chance since it seemed like it was going to be a wintery atmospheric book. It was a rather slow read, not a whole lot happens throughout the book but yet it still kept me coming back for more. It was an unusual world that even after reading nearly 500 pages, I am still not 100% clear on, but you learn enough throughout the book to stay intrigued to find out more. It was definitely an odd cast of characters too, everyone clearly has their own agenda and you never really know what it is or who to trust. I do wish that we could learn more about Thorn and follow his character more as it appears that it would reveal more about the political machinations and world. I am not sure if I will continue on with the series but it was definitely a unique and unusual book that leaves me a little unsure about how I felt about it as a whole.

My Rating: Like I said above, I am not really sure how to feel about this book, it was intriguing and unusual and even with the slow pace and lack of action, I found that I kept reaching for the book.  I am glad I read it and if the library has the next book, I may have to give that a try.  For now I give this book a rating of Three Paws.