I've shared my loving adoration of Ophelia, but I'll say again that I love how she jumped into this world that is everything she is not and is dealing with it. She is not in her natural habitat and that is what made her so great... I knew once Archibald showed up and joked about taking advantage of Ophelia things weren't going to be good. I should've called it quits right then. However, her simple life is soon upturned when she is told she HAS to marry a man from a far off, not-well-known land. As declining the marriage would mean banishment and family shame, Ophelia has to leave behind her family and much loved museum to the cold ark known as the Pole and follow her fiancee to the Citaceleste, the Capital. Here things are not as they seem and Ophelia is unable to trust anybody.

Ad una rilettura, ho avuto la riconferma di quanto sia innamorata di questa storia, di questo mondo, di questi personaggi. A lush, romantic tale about family, duty, and discovering your independence, this book is going to be a crowd pleaser!” Ophelia lives on Anima, the Ark where objects have a soul, and possess, like most of its habitants, particular powers. Ophelia has two special gifts: an unrivaled talent for reading the past of objects, and the ability to travel through mirrors. Very talented in her reading power, she works in her grand-uncle's museum, a place that accumulates objects from the Old World, and lives a very peaceful life surrounded by her family.Lose yourself in the world of the arks and in the company of an unforgettable character in this French runaway hit by debut author Christelle Dabos. A Winter’s Promise, the first installment in the Mirror Visitor Quartet, introduces readers to a remarkable heroine and to the richly imagined universe of the arks: floating celestial islands governed by the spirits of immortal ancestors. Ophelia, a mix of awkward misfit and misunderstood genius, possesses two special gifts: an unrivaled talent for reading the past of objects and the ability to travel through mirrors. Her peaceful existence on the ark of Anima is interrupted when she is promised in marriage to Thorn, a taciturn and influential member of a powerful clan from a distant ark, the cold and icy Pole. Ophelia must follow her fiancé to the towering city of Citaceleste, where nobody can be trusted. There, in the company of her inscrutable future husband, Ophelia slowly realizes that she is a pawn in a political game that will have far-reaching ramifications not only for her but for her entire world.

Slow paced. Pretty Character driven and a lot in the head of the main character since she spends a lot of time not talking. Main character is so bland, it was hard to root for her. It’s nice to not have the same strong warrior for once but man is she bland.

The Author

As a consequence, Ophelia is now lunged into the public spotlight, as well as the behind of the scenes of Citaceleste, the floating capital of the Pole. One of the things I really appreciate about A Winter's Promise as a writer as well as a reader is her characters!

Victoria and the other side: Going into something that maybe was left hanging and that I think connects with my theory is the fact that Victoria was able to get to the wrong side. At first I just thought it had something to do with the ability to get her soul out of her body, which may be true but the weird thing is that we never get the explanation if this is something that Faraouk can do and comes out of the family spirit powers or is something new, on the other hand if she were to be an echo of the true Victoria she wouldn’t be able to “see” the world clearly plus the fact that when she left her real body it seemed it was dying or it was hardly thinking or even doing the basics as eating, so I do think that that Victoria should be her soul so if she leaves her body for too long she could die, the misterious thing is that nevertheless the was able to visit the wrong side, why and how? This then leads me to my conspiracy, I think this could be the key answer of how Ophelia will find Thorn or how Thorn will leave the Wrong side, I think Victoria could be the answer. No, actually the last thing Thorn expected was the reason of his visit. Language: Français Words: 6,186 Chapters: 2/2 Comments: 5 Kudos: 7 Hits: 73 Tuttavia, per quanto strofinasse e levigasse la superficie, tante cose sarebbero rimaste per sempre ingranate nella sua mente – e lo erano ancora di più in quei giorni in cui il presente si ostinava a riportare a galla la memoria dolorosa che con tanto fatica aveva fatto affondare." Language: Italiano Words: 2,008 Chapters: 1/1 Comments: 2 Kudos: 6 Hits: 50 Affascinante vedere come sia stato elaborato un sistema magico molto particolare, dove in ogni Arca (ovvero in ogni regno/regione) ognuno possiede un potere specifico, diverso da ogni altro.The author has created such a unique and expansive world for her characters. I absolutely loved reading about the scenery and what on earth she was going to get herself into next! It had so many twists and turns! I found getting through this book extremely easy, completing it in just three sittings. I liked the characters even more than I was expecting, even Thorn I gradually warmed to slightly by the end, even though he was a grump of a character. I can't wait to find out more about him in subsequent books!

And why does the magic scarf that is mentioned like 10 times not more useful/impactful to the plot? Animism (This and previous are one thing): Ophélie can control move of objects at will, but with less precise results. She can also use her animism to mend objects, but this is one of her weaker powers and takes time, as is seen when she fixes her broken glasses over a period of several days. Ophelie’s scarf is her golem. It is an old thing, dusty and whimsical, that spends its time sleeping on the shoulder of its mistress. It’s a bit Pyshic Ophelie is one of the two main protagonists of the literary series The Mirror Pass by the Belgian novelist Christelle Dabos. She is a reader living on Anima and married to Thorn .This pole intrige takes way too long, with too little texture for me. The knight is interesting as are Faruk and Artemis, Berenilde is also good, but writing this review slightly more than a week later I can't recall much about these side characters nor can I say what the resolution to this book of the quartet was, besides that I felt dissatisfied. Berenilde, hahahhahha, you won't know if she's you alley or your enemy! I did wonder at her incredible crush on their patriarch... It's a hard world that Thorn has lived in if this is his only ally...