ginkosoft 's review for:

A Winter's Promise by Christelle Dabos

4.0

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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For the first 40% of the book, I was unsure if it would be the book for me. The worldbuilding and magic systems were interesting, and the political intrigue bubbling in the background kept me interested, I was a little put off by the YA tropes being used to characterize the main character and her love interest. I was interested enough to finish the book, but I wasn't sure if I would read anymore afterwards.

However! I was delighted by the twists and, most importantly, by character development towards the second half of the book until the end. While Ophelia is presented as a really milquetoast, stereotypical YA protagonist, I feel that it is actually used to tell a compelling story, and the events of the book set her up to become someone with more depth and intrigue in future entries. Her personality actually did cause very real repercussions for her! The stakes were high, and the book did deliver on the consequences of her (and other's) mistakes. 

I think that the severity and danger of Ophelia's position was well highlighted by the narrative. During her stint as a valet, its very clearly shown that If she won't value herself and take the reigns of her life, she will be forever abused and pushed around, with the very real risk that she will be discarded once the Pole is finished with her.

I really was surprised to see the story setting up Ophelia for a real comeback! She read like a totally different character at the end of the book, with good reason!

I'm looking forward to the next entry!