The Memory of Babel by Christelle Dabos

 The Memory of Babel by Christelle Dabos (La Passe-Miroir #3), 508 p.

"In the gripping third volume of Christelle Dabos’s best-selling saga, Ophelia, the mirror-travelling heroine, finds herself in the magical city of Babel, guarding a secret that may provide a key both to the past and the future.

After two years and seven months biding her time on Anima, her home ark, it is finally time to act, to put what she has discovered in the Book of Faruk to good use. Under an assumed identity she travels to Babel, a cosmopolitan and thoroughly modern ark that is the jewel of the universe, and where automata have taken over the most humble jobs from humans. But under the surface of this pacific and orderly ark social unrest stirs, fed by the memories of a fateful purge long ago, and the inhabitants’ growing fear of being replaced altogether. Will Ophelia’s talent as a reader suffice to avoid her being lured into a deadly trap by her ever more fearful adversaries? Will she ever see Thorn, her betrothed, again?" -- Amazon blurb

Same unlikeable characters (with a few redeeming scenes), same unique writing and storyline. The setting of this book takes a different turn and we have several new characters (mostly unlikeable, shocking). There is one more book to be translated from the French coming this fall, and I will be reading it. I don't regret reading this series, but I'm not totally sure why. The writing is good and the storyline interesting enough to keep me coming back!

The Missing of Clairdelune by Christelle Dabos

 

The Missing of Clairdelune by Christelle Dabos (La Passe- Miroir #2), 512 p.

"When Ophelia is promoted to Vice-storyteller by Farouk, the ancestral Spirit of Pole, she finds herself unexpectedly thrust into the public spotlight. her gift―the ability to read the secret history of objects―is now known by all, and there can be no greater threat to the nefarious denizens of her icy adopted home than this.

Beneath the golden rafters of Pole's capitol, she discovers that the only person she may be able to trust is Thorn, her enigmatic and emotionally distant fiancé. As one influential courtier after another disappears, Ophelia again finds herself unintentionally implicated in an investigation that will lead her to see beyond Pole's many illusions to the heart of a formidable truth. "--Amazon blurb

This second installment of the series is just as good and just as frustrating as the first. The storyline is unique and interesting enough to keep me wanting to continue, but these characters are so unlikeable! So much of the plot would just be gone if they would just talk to each other. But then we'd only have a book that was 80 pages long. Regardless, I will be continuing this series. 

A Winter's Promise by Christelle Dabos

 A Winter's Promise by Christelle Dabos (La Passe- Miroir #1), 491 p.

"Long ago, following a cataclysm called “The Rupture,” the world was shattered into many floating celestial islands. Known now as Arks, each has developed in distinct ways; each seems to possess its own unique relationship to time, such that nowadays vastly different worlds exist, together but apart. And over all of the Arks the spirit of an omnipotent ancestor abides.
Ophelia lives on Anima, an ark where objects have souls. Beneath her worn scarf and thick glasses, the young girl hides the ability to read and communicate with the souls of objects, and the power to travel through mirrors. Her peaceful existence on the Ark of Anima is disrupted when she is promised in marriage to Thorn, from the powerful Dragon clan. Ophelia must leave her family and follow her fiancée to the floating capital on the distant Ark of the Pole. Why has she been chosen? Why must she hide her true identity? Though she doesn’t know it yet,a she has become a pawn in a deadly plot."--Amazon blurb

This first book in this series introduces a very unique storyline. The world is interesting and the characters intriguing. That said, most of the characters are very unlikeable. Despite this, the story is good enough and well-written enough to have me hooked. Looking forward to the second installment in this series.