mkmanku 's review for:

A Winter's Promise by Christelle Dabos
3.0
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The book started strong but fell flat - there wasn't a clear 3 or 5 act structure. Like what exactly was the climax? What was the plot building up to??
I thought it would end with the wedding and some big plot twist but that weirdly didn't happen
. I also became very disappointed with Ophelia - this girl does not have strong agency. There were a few times when she broke protocol or pushed back a little but I had hoped to see some more fight from her by the end. Having a strong will and being stubborn are not the same thing.
I had really, really hoped that Ophelia would escape through a mirror at the end - or just do something drastic 😒
. None of the characters were likeable, and the main leads had zero chemistry -
not sure how Ophelia mistakened some of Thorn's words as "falling in love" - I was thinking she was just inexperienced but when Thorn questioned it, I was even more confused. 🤔
🤷🏻‍♀️