In my opinion, A Winter’s Promise is absolutely perfect. It follows Ophelia, a quiet girl with the ability to travel, at will, through mirrors and read an object’s history just by touching it. Ophelia lives quietly as the curator of a museum on an Ark, a fragmented piece of land, floating above the abyss. When Ophelia, against her will, is forced to marry a man from a distant and dangerous Ark, she must uproot her entire life and leave behind everything she has ever known. The new Ark is home to dangerous people, huge beasts and vast secrets, and Ophelia must navigate her cold husband and blood thirsty court in order to survive her husband’s promise that she won’t survive the winter.
One reason I love this book so much is because of its world building. Dabos creates a world that is creative and so full of mystery and beauty that I often wonder how she did it. The book is amazing as a fantasy, but it is also coupled with a mystery and a light romance that makes it unique, and in my opinion perfect. One of the quirks that I really loved about the book is that it is originally French, and the translation has a few quirks that make it even more lovable and sweet. I liked the book for all those reasons, but I remembered the book because of how it depicts true humanity and true kindness and how it made me feel. The book has an amazing plot, a huge mystery and astonishing characters in a world that feels both cozy and terrifying.