This is a spoiler-free review! You can read my review of A Winter's Promise on my blog, now!
I am currently on a TBR roll and this book has been staring at me from across my living room in my apartment for years, and with the fantasy kick that has taken over me, I knew I needed to knock this one out before I lost my steam. And with the common theme of me continuing on with series years after I read the prior book, I knew I would have to jog my memory with the events of A Winter's Promise. The quick reminder that our leading lady, Ophelia, is constantly being a pushover in my eyes - while she does work towards uncovering a number of mysteries, she seems to allow others to order her around up until the very end of the book.
It became quite a hassle to power through her inner monologue and lack of ability to stand up for herself at opportune times. When she did finally gather the courage and stopped taking the all the pushback from everyone and their mother - especially from her mother - it was towards the end of the book, but I admired that she grew a backbone and put some things into motion after about five hundred pages. It was kind of a shock to me when I realized that Ophelia is twenty-one years old in this book - obviously she has to be of age in order to be engaged, but her character reads so immature and juvenile compared to other twenty-one year old main characters.
Thorn's characterization in this book felt sidelined until the last 150 pages or so - I was halfway through the book and it felt as though his character was being hidden away from the readers. Sure, build up the mystery about the enigma that is Ophelia's fiancé, but he was so absent that at points, I would forget who he was, which is a major issue considering he is quite literally the male lead. Once we did get to see him in a more shelled-out view, he quickly became a very interesting character and definitely grabbed my attention more than Ophelia ever had during these first two books.
Ophelia's family is just as annoying as I remembered them - sure, her siblings are not nearly as bad, just a lot to handle - but my word, her mother is on another stratosphere when it comes to being overbearing. Even through postcards and letters, you could feel her energy through the page and it was not an enjoyable experience. When it came to other side characters, there were few times where I felt like their presence did not push the story further. Overall, the side characters just simply were not doing enough in the story to make me care about their development, aside from two or three that had more prominent roles in Ophelia's journey. I wanted to be able to form connections with these characters, but rather felt like an observer more than anything else by the end of the book.
Plot-wise, this book still moved just as slow as the first installment, with maybe being at touch faster after going beyond the halfway point. I wanted to be drawn into the story, but rather felt like I was dragging myself through some chapters after numerous chapters of Ophelia complaining or not fighting back. There was one time where I literally could not keep my eyes open when trying to read this book before going to sleep because the book was literally sending me into REM sleep within ten pages of me picking it up. I would only hope that the author has picked up the pace in the next installments, and with the cliffhanger she left us on, there is certainly promise heading in that direction.
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