Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.
In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grows dangerously low.
And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.
Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she;s prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.
When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?
Thoughts:
4/5 stars.
Yeah, yeah, I know the synopsis is pretty vague. Trust me, I had no clue what I was getting into either, but nonetheless, I quite enjoyed this read.
I am not going to say much about the plot, because I feel it's better to go into this novel empty-minded. But it's quite obvious to say that this a very... different novel. The characters in this book were quite fascinating, and though it seemed like it would be one of those overused angel vs. demon crap, it turned out to be so intricately thought-out, while seeming real at the same time. The images in my mind while reading this book were some I never would dream of. I was just utterly impressed with the amount of just awesomeness in this book.
I wasn't too crazy about Karou, though I did dig her blue hair. I wish I could pull off that color. But again, I felt the relationship between Akiva and Karou was too fast, a little non-realistic. He tried to kill her for godsake, but there she goes, searching for him. Usually that comes with the fantasy romance, though. Along with the out-of-this-world good-looking fellow. I've never encountered a man as beautiful as these protagonists seem to think their men are. The setting was pretty wild though. I love YA novels that take place in foreign countries, because if you're a shut-in like me, you never get to experience vast places (which is the main reason why so many of us love to read). We got to experience Prague, France, Morocco (Monaco? I forgot), and another fantasy land. Which I will not delve into.
The writing was so phenomenal. Mrs. Taylor was able to write such descriptions that allowed me to imagine the "otherwordly" characters and settings. There are characters with lion heads, snake hair, etc., and her writing abled me to imagine such creations. And not only was the plot well thought-out, you could tell that much time was put into the development of these characters. Though I didn't like Karou too much, I enjoyed the company of her best friend and her "family" members. I also fancied how we were in the mindset of Karou, learning about her at the same pace she was learning about herself.
If you can handle the teeniest bit of sappy romance that is included, I think you can handle and will enjoy this book.
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