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A review by sophiawolf
A Winter's Promise by Christelle Dabos
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
0.5
I had heard many good things about this book, but I didn't expect to be this deeply disappointed.
The world building itself had much potential, yet somehow it was presented in an incredibly boring way, particularly through the repetitive writing style.
The descriptions kept repeating themselves unnecessarily, always commenting on Ophelia's tiny size and ugly dresses, Thorn's height and how thin he is, Ophelia's aunt's ugly teeth, and more.
Further, the society was supposed to be matriarchal, but then it was rather the opposite in reality.
Ophelia's powers were so interesting, yet she barely used them for anything even slightly exciting.
Ophelia was an unbearable main character. She kept being passive, letting others speak for her and barely doing anything really. Additionally, she's written as incredibly clumsy, breaking objects here and there. It was so annoying to read. Plus, she keeps calling herself plain and not pretty. So why would someone ever want to marry her? She was so immature, but really lacked that self-awareness. She wasn't even clever which could have redeemed her a little. Ophelia had no good qualities; she was just flawed.
Thorn can't show any form of politeness which was, again, annoying. I also couldn't find myself being interested in any interaction Ophelia had with him. His behaviour was so unnecessarily rude and their interactions were mostly bland.
All the characters also felt more like caricatures and not deep. Ophelia was presented as this quiet girl in comparison to her loud relatives, like her aunt who chaperones Ophelia on the Pole. Especially the women are presented as shallow and nothing more. The characters behaved pretty hostile towards other women as well.
Also, the incest weirded me out which I hadn't really seen mentioned in most reviews I'd seen beforehand.
For the plot, I'd expected compelling political intrigues, but found a lack thereof. The plot moved so slowly that it felt like nothing really impactful had happened when Ophelia stayed at the Pole.
Overall, this book was just a massive disappointment, although it had so much potential.
The world building itself had much potential, yet somehow it was presented in an incredibly boring way, particularly through the repetitive writing style.
The descriptions kept repeating themselves unnecessarily, always commenting on Ophelia's tiny size and ugly dresses, Thorn's height and how thin he is, Ophelia's aunt's ugly teeth, and more.
Further, the society was supposed to be matriarchal, but then it was rather the opposite in reality.
Ophelia's powers were so interesting, yet she barely used them for anything even slightly exciting.
Ophelia was an unbearable main character. She kept being passive, letting others speak for her and barely doing anything really. Additionally, she's written as incredibly clumsy, breaking objects here and there. It was so annoying to read. Plus, she keeps calling herself plain and not pretty. So why would someone ever want to marry her? She was so immature, but really lacked that self-awareness. She wasn't even clever which could have redeemed her a little. Ophelia had no good qualities; she was just flawed.
Thorn can't show any form of politeness which was, again, annoying. I also couldn't find myself being interested in any interaction Ophelia had with him. His behaviour was so unnecessarily rude and their interactions were mostly bland.
All the characters also felt more like caricatures and not deep. Ophelia was presented as this quiet girl in comparison to her loud relatives, like her aunt who chaperones Ophelia on the Pole. Especially the women are presented as shallow and nothing more. The characters behaved pretty hostile towards other women as well.
Also, the incest weirded me out which I hadn't really seen mentioned in most reviews I'd seen beforehand.
For the plot, I'd expected compelling political intrigues, but found a lack thereof. The plot moved so slowly that it felt like nothing really impactful had happened when Ophelia stayed at the Pole.
Overall, this book was just a massive disappointment, although it had so much potential.