This is one of those books where none of the reviews did it any justice. The reviews make it sound like high esoteric fantasy where really it’s a great dual-world paranormal fantasy. It’s totally accessible to any reader, even non-fantasy fans, since one of the two worlds is our Earth: makes the alternate world learning curve a LOT easier to deal with. The Entertainment Weekly review made it out to be literary and in my mind I equate literary with unreadable or “out there.” This reviewer must have just meant “very well written” and has made me rethink glossing over novels labeled as literary.
In this novel we’re in present day Prague. Karou is a blue-haired art school student with a secret other life. She is also a retriever of teeth for a shop run by chimera, beast/human mixed beings. This shop is accessed through multiple doors hidden throughout our world and Karou has had many an adventure retrieving different types of teeth from all sorts of nice and unsavory characters. All is well with Karou and her dual existence until a being, an angel is the closest word she can find for this beautiful man with fiery wings, opens her eyes to the war being fought on her other home world.
This is a well-crafted thoroughly engrossing tale. Fans of paranormal fantasy and romance – check this one out. One warning: the last three words of the book are – to be continued… ARGH!
