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 grown 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? 
 Once upon a time, a devil and an angel fell in love. It did not end well. 
 Karou is a 17 year old art student living alone in Prague, going to dinner with her best friend, Zuzana, and avoiding her ex-boyfriend, Kazimir. The rest of her time she spends running mysterious errands, and when friends or classmates question her whereabouts, her responses are so outrageous that no one in their right mind would believe them as true. She is employed by Brimstone, her father figure and chimaera, creatures that have both human and animal attributes. Brimstone sends Karou all over the world on errands to collect teeth in exchange for wishes.She splits her time between Prague and Elsewhere, where Brimstone's shop is located. She often tires of meeting with graverobbers and other questionable people that Brimstone has dealings with and longs to live a normal life, but would never dream of abandoning her chimaera family. 
 This was her life: magic and shame and secrets and teeth and a deep, nagging hollow at the center of herself where something was most certainly missing. 
 She longs to know who she is, where she came from, and how she came into Brimstone's care. All around the world handprints are appearing on every single door that connects the human world to Elsewhere. One day while picking up something in Morocco, she is attacked by an angel, Akiva. When the angel has a moment of weakness, she manages to wound him and escape. Arriving back at the shop, the chimaera tend to Karou's wounds while Brimstone has stepped out. While he is gone, curiosity overtakes Karou and she opens the door to Eretz, home of all chimaera. Her whole life she spent believing the only chimaera were the ones in the shop. As she explores, she discovers a cavern full of dead chimaera all lying on tables, surrounded by incense. Examining one with hamsas matching her one, the chimaera awakes and attacks her. She is saved by an enraged Brimstone who escorts her back to the shop and then in a fit of rage throws her out of the shop, back to Prague, and seals off the portal. Tending to her wounds and all alone for the first time in her life, she reveals to Zuzu that all of her stories are true. A knock on her window alerts Karou (view spoiler)[to Kishmish, who is engulfed in flames and delivering to her Brimstone's wishbone pendant. (hide spoiler)] She runs out of her flat and heads toward the door to Elsewhere, but it has burned down. Every handprint on every door has burned, sealing off the world from Eretz. 
 Once upon a time, a little girl was raised by monsters. But angels burned the doorways to their world, and she was all alone. 
 Karou decides to go in search of a way to get back to her chimaera family, using her contacts and making a deal with fallen angel Razgut. Akiva is obsessed with finding the blue haired girl with the kind eyes who works for the chimaera. After her tracks her down, they stand off in the streets of Prague, but can't seem to kill each other. After seeing her wishbone pendant, he discovers he knows the truth about who she is, the one thing she has wished to know her whole life. This is the ultimate tale of be careful what you wish for, because learning the truth will break her heart. 
 Have you ever asked yourself, do monsters make war, or does war make monsters? 
 Karou is one of my all time favorite characters. She is so fun and refreshing with her blue hair, hamsa tattoos, and quick wit. She says things like, "Be that cat." I love how she is both wise for her age, but still has her moments of acting like any 17 year old girl. You find out your cheating ex is going to be the nude model for your art class that day. Just a few beads on your necklace in exchange for making him itch in the most embarrassing of places.The girl with the model body and perfect looks that slept with your boyfriend? What if all you had to do was touch a bead on your necklace and wish her to have a unibrow that could not be fixed by tweezing? Because of her unconventional upbringing and being at Brimstone's beck and call, she has not had a chance at normal friendships or relationships. The closest friend she has is Zuzu, who knows not to ask questions, but does get frustrated by the fact that Karou runs off during dinner or disappears for days at a time. She struggles with loneliness and desire to be connected to another human being. 
 She craved a presence beside her, solid. Fingertips light at the nape of her neck and a voice meeting hers in the dark. Someone who would wait with an umbrella to walk her home in the rain, and smile like sunshine when he saw her coming. Who would dance with her on her balcony, keep his promises and know her secrets, and make a tiny world wherever he was, with just her and his arms and his whisper and her trust. She is fiercely loyal towards her chimaera family, and as much as she hates running errands and meeting people with questionable morals, she would never abandon Brimstone, Issa, Twiga and Kishmish. With any teen or young adult, there is always a struggle to discover who you are and find your place in the world. In Karou's case, she has had to split her life in two and keep them completely separate. Brimstone refuses to tell her anything about where she came from. Akiva is an angelic soldier who has been fighting the chimaera for decades. He was specifically bred and trained to be a soldier. He is handsome, deadly, and wandering through life completely dead inside. He was shredded, empty. Love, peace, wonder: gone. Hope, humanity: gone. All that remained was vengeance. 
 It's not until his stand off with Karou that he comes back to life. He is such a tragic character. He lost everything, and by telling Karou the truth, he risks losing everything again. I love that he was willing to sacrifice everything for her, even if it meant going up against his brother and sister to protect her. 
 Akiva knew that she was his aleph, his truth and beginning. His soul. 
 Zuzana is a fabulous sidekick with an utterly fabulous vocabulary. 
 Hey! My body may be small, but my soul is large. It's why I wear platforms. So I can reach the top of my soul. 
 She is an adorable tiny, dancer who comes from a long line of puppeteers. She is supportive and protective of Karou. She is respectful of the fact that Karou is very private and doesn't push for answers, until she sees her after Akiva's attack. 
 Wishes are false. Hope is true. Hope makes its own magic. 
 Brimstone is a serious, no-nonsense kind of character full of secrets. He seems like someone who sees the world in only black and white, but as the story continues you see he is not afraid to blur those lines for those he loves and what he thinks is right. He risks everything for Karou. Twice. As I say that, it makes him sounds like a very upstanding person. He is not. He collects teeth. From graves, the living, the dead, animal, human, and even children. And in order to get something you want, you must also send out suffering from someone else. He does take all of this pressure and puts it only on himself, as he knows the price for magic and wouldn't wish it on anyone else. He does warn Karou not to waste wishes on frivolous things. That hope is the real magic. For a lot of the story I had a hard time figuring him out, and I'm still working it out. I like to think that he loved Karou as a daughter and would do anything to protect her. 
 Hope can be a powerful force. Maybe there's no actual magic in it, but when you what you hope for most and hold it like a light within you, you can make things happen, almost like magic. 
 I love some of his "fatherly" advice. 
 "I don't have many rules to live by," he'd said. "But here's one. It's simple. Don't put anything unnecessary into yourself. No poisons or chemicals, no fumes or smoke or alcohol, no sharp objects, no inessential needles-drug or tattoo-and... no inessential penises, either."This is a tragic Romeo-and-Juliet-like tale of forbidden love. "Love is a luxury.""No. Love is an element." 
 Once upon a time, an angel lay dying in the mist. And a devil knelt over him and smiled. Akiva had been injured in battle and saved by the beautiful Madrigal, one of the chimaera. Struck by her beauty and confused as to why she would help heal him instead of ending his life, he becomes obsessed with finding her. Madrigal is being courted by the prince of Eretz, in hopes of making her his wife. When Akiva finds her, they fall in love almost immediately. He shares with her that he has not killed another chimaera since that last battle, to show respect to her for saving his life. It is a quick, whirlwind romance full of secret meetings and hope for a world where there can be peace between the angels and the chimaera. She is betrayed in the worst possible way and killed by her people for simply falling in love with the enemy, while he is forced to watch. She has a plan, though.What happens when two sides have been at war for so long that they can't remember why they are fighting? Will they ever be able to make peace? ***Spoiler Alert*** One thing I didn't like was how,(view spoiler)[ when we discover Karou is Madrigal, I feel like her personality changed. It seemed like once her past was revealed to her, Karou ceased to exist. I do understand that she was a 17-year old who then discovers who she is, so I can see how her wisdom, age and experience would return. I just feel like some of the playful, light-hearted soul disappeared and never returned.***End of Spoiler*** (hide spoiler)]I really enjoyed reading about the atmosphere of Prague, as well as the other areas of the world Karou travels to, both fictional and not. It added that ethnic, otherworldly feel to the tale. Because I love mythology, the story featuring angels and chimaera was perfect to read. I know there are a lot of YA fantasy books, but I don't recall seeing anything like this story. Its exciting picturing these characters who aren't fully human, with different attributes of different animals on their person. Laini Taylor's writing is vivid and colorful. I couldn't put it down and ended up reading it in two days. This book is a wonderful story of love and self-discovery, but it is also about never losing hope and overcoming obstacles to get what you want. This is something anyone can relate to; whether it's a career, relationship, lifestyle change, or simply discovering the truth. I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys fantasy/sci-fi novels, especially for someone who enjoyed The Mortal Instruments and is looking for a new series. Or, really, anyone who enjoys well written, beautiful stories with a little bit of forbiddenness, a little bit of mythology, a little bit of tragedy, and a love that can never be separated. 
 If there's something you want, pursue it. Hope has power. Don't waste it on foolish things.