**UPDATE AT BOTTOM** 
 I'm not quite finished with this book but I'm going to get on with my review anyway. Before starting this I went through the other reviews and saw so many 5 starred ones that I thought it must be fabulous. Usually that is a pretty good indicator. Unfortunately, for me, I cannot see the truth behind those stars. 
 The story starts off with an interesting premise. Karou is a 17 yo girl who lives in the city of Prague, is an aspiring artist who draws elaborate pictures of 'monsters' that are actually very real. She lives a double life. One as the normal, everyday girl (albeit with blue hair) who goes to art school and gets screwed over by the hottest guy around. But on the side she runs 'errands' for one of the 'monsters' (who are actually chimaera) who raised her. Even though these chimaera are her family, she has always felt like she was missing something, a part of herself. 
 Bring in Akiva, the inhumanly hot seraph that tries to kill her initially, but is inexplicably drawn to her. It is quickly revealed that Akiva has the answers Karou seeks about who she really is and why she's felt so lost and alone for so long. 
 So let me put this out there to start: the story itself is intriguing. Even though it's using the same tropes most YA fantasy does (good vs evil, girl finds out she's more than she ever thought she could be, Romeo and Juliet style forbidden love, etc, etc) it actually feels very original. The fantasy world is well thought out, is new and interesting, and there doesn't seem to be any clear cut way to distinguish which side is good and which is evil. I loved that. 
 However, the way the story is told is where I have a problem. I'm not sure exactly what type of third person pov it's written in... It doesn't seem completely omniscient nor does it seem like close third. Most of a chapter will be told in one person's pov, then it will switch to someone else's for a few paragraphs, then go back to the original. It feels very much like head hopping and really distracted me at times. There was also the issue with feeling very removed from the characters. I felt like I was standing outside of everything just watching, not like I was actually experiencing it with them. I felt very disconnected. 
 The other reviews out there that had less than 5 stars almost all pointed to the romance portion as the reason for the lower rating. It honestly didn't bother me. Yeah, there was insta-love. Yeah, it was pretty cliche. But I really didn't mind it. I really didn't care, actually. 
 As for the writing. The author definitely has the talent to turn a phrase. She uses beautifully constructed language throughout. However, the writing style was just...well, weird, for the lack of a better term. I really can't pinpoint what it is. It just reads very slow for me and I lost interest pretty easily with it. Also, about 2/3 in we get about 70 pages of backstory--straight. Although I know why it's there and why it's supposedly important, the switch pulled me completely out of the story and made me not want to bother finishing. Honestly, I've considered giving up on it several times already. 
 As I said in the beginning, I still have a bit more to read, and I plan to finish, but to those who look to my recommendations, I'm afraid this one doesn't make the cut. If I have to struggle to get through it, it's not going on my list. 
 **UPDATE: I have finally finished this one. My 2 star rating stands. The story itself is good, I won't begrudge it that. I just cannot stand the way it's told. Part of me really wants to read the sequel to find out what happens, but the other part doesn't know if it can stand to sludge through another 400 pages of this. Sigh. I just don't know...**