A Winter’s Promise by Christelle Dabos is the first in a quartet of of fantasy YA novels called The Mirror Visitor Series. Thankfully, somebody decided this book was good enough to be translated from the French for us American readers.
The story is set in a future world where people live on different Arks. Family members on each Ark share a special power. Ophelia lives on Anima and is gifted with the power to travel through mirrors and to “read” objects. This ability allows her to see the history of an object. Ophelia works in the Anima Ark museum, where she is shy, clumsy, soft spoken, and her great-uncle is her only real friend. After turning down several potential matches, her family has betrothed her to an unknown man from the distant Ark of Pole. Ophelia travels, with her aunt as chaperone, to Pole, an icy Ark inhabited by huge, Nordic hunters. There she is supposed to marry her betrothed.
The book is filled with intrigue, Ophelia does not know who to trust in Pole, where sides are sharply drawn between the feuding families who live there. Despite being almost 500 pages the book is a quick read. The strongest part of the book is the world building. You can really feel what Anima and Pole are like. In addition, Ophelia is a very likeable character, whom you will be rooting for as she discovers what her family has really gotten her into.
I highly recommend this book to those who enjoy fantasy. Although labelled YA, I think this book will appeal to all ages. Thanks to my daughter for finding this book (based upon the cool drawing on the cover).
