To say Karou "isn't your typical" girl is an understatement. She disappears on "errands" that sometimes leave her bruised or maimed, with no explanation; she spins tales of apparently imaginary creatures that fill the pages of her sketchbook; she won't reveal the secret of her blue hair, claiming she "wished" it that color (but no one's ever seen roots). 
 And there's also that little detail about her disappearing into apparently abandoned buildings that transport her to another world. 
 Karou is fierce. She's sarcastic and witty, but she's not perfect. Her ex-boyfriend is introduced at the start, someone she tries to avoid because he's so annoying, and (having read enough YA romance) I groaned to think she'd succumb to his charms and they'd end up together again. 
 hahahaha this book doesn't go that way at all. 
 Take what you know about YA paranormal romance and toss it. Any predictions I'd made were completely wrong. Any scene worth an eyeroll went in the the opposite direction I thought it would. (Beautiful, otherworldly angel? We'll see about that.) Oh, and that annoying ex who keeps on showing up? Not even worth your time. 
 I've read so many books--and so many YA books--that I'm often not surprised by plots and their twists. But everything surprised me. I'm not even telling you anything about the plot, because this is something you have to experience for yourself. But I will gush over the setting: because it's beautiful. Prague, a dusty old city that hasn't lost its old-time charm. It was actually jarring when cell phones and text messages were mentioned, because it feels like old times--especially when you include literal angels and demons into the mix. 
 (If you're curious, the only reason I'm not giving this five stars is because of the romance aspect. There's a big chunk of the middle that's suddenly "I can't live without him/her" that's seemingly baseless, and even the explanation for it later is a bit... muddled. Spoiler time: (view spoiler)[If, in later books, Karou and Akiva don't develop an "endless love" to last the ages, I may change my mind. (hide spoiler)]) 
 I need to read the rest of this trilogy right now.