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A review by cleolindbooks
A Winter's Promise by Christelle Dabos
4.0
Wow! That was an unbelievably unique and intriguing first book. This book reads like a mix of spirited away, Howls Moving Castle, and Castle in the sky. It has that same magical confusion that spirited away evokes, the vibes and atmosphere of Howls, and the steampunk elements of Castle in the Sky.
This book definitely focuses on the world and builds up every small aspect of the fantasy. So much was happening, but also so little, and it never felt boring. Despite the story being much more detail-focused and slower, it was still unbelievably intriguing and honestly hard to put down.
The characters were also extremely well; Ophelia was such a refreshing main character. She still embodies a lot of the standard aspects for a fantasy main character but is somehow different. She is competent, intelligent and moral while being surrounded by all this excess. I think why I like her so much as a main character is despite the fact she is new to this court and very clearly does not understand the intricacies, she is trying learning and succeeding. She makes a ton of mistakes but they're not stupid ones. I am extremely interested to see where the story goes between her and Thorn.
This book definitely focuses on the world and builds up every small aspect of the fantasy. So much was happening, but also so little, and it never felt boring. Despite the story being much more detail-focused and slower, it was still unbelievably intriguing and honestly hard to put down.
The characters were also extremely well; Ophelia was such a refreshing main character. She still embodies a lot of the standard aspects for a fantasy main character but is somehow different. She is competent, intelligent and moral while being surrounded by all this excess. I think why I like her so much as a main character is despite the fact she is new to this court and very clearly does not understand the intricacies, she is trying learning and succeeding. She makes a ton of mistakes but they're not stupid ones. I am extremely interested to see where the story goes between her and Thorn.