23/10/2012 Finished re-reading before Days of Blood and Starlight comes out. Still as beautiful as first time. 
 Original review: 
 This book is really difficult to write about. It's one of those books which are so good you don't have anything to add. 
 The story begins with a young girl named Karou, a 17-year-old art student in Prague, who doesn't remember who she is or where she came from. She draws beautiful pictures of fantastic part-human, part-animal creatures. The one thing nobody knows is that they are real and very much a part of Karou's world. When she's not at school, she is collecting teeth all over the world for her chimaera foster father. One day in Morocco she meets an angel who wants to kill her on sight. 
 The writing is simply beautiful. While almost nothing is explained in the first half of the book, I was hooked practically from page one. The imagery is very vivid. In the second half of the book everything starts coming together (and it all makes sense), by the end I was wishing it wouldn't end just yet. 
 I had a few issues with the description of Prague and Karou's ex-boyfriend Kaz. The Prague described here is part medieaval and part the touristy city centre, which is overly expensive and is pretty much populated by rich foreigners these days, not local art students. Also, nobody under the age of 100 is called Kazimir. If they are (and that's a big if), the short name would be Mirek, not Kaz. 
 Despite the minor annoyances (I wish I wasn't looking for accuracy when reading it, it comes from the excitement of finding out my country made it into a fantastic book), this book is so magical, that it's an instant favourite. Five stars and then some.