This, to me, seems like one of those books that will either infuriate or inspire.
We open in Prague, focusing on a young art student. All seems very ordinary – but then we’re told about mysterious handprints appearing on doorways and people dealing in teeth. From early on it is evident that we are in the realms of fantasy, but it is heavily mixed with a more contemporary feel.
The opening descriptions of Prague are evocative and starting with the focus on Karou and her rather interesting secret life definitely piques your interest.
The opening chapters seemed like a contemporary romance in places, but there were enough links to a fantasy world to keep me intrigued. However, the time-frame of this novel was rather disorientating.
We are, essentially, getting the love story of Madrigal and Akiva – a kind of fantasy Romeo and Juliet. They live in a world of seraphim and chimaera, where magic brings danger and few are to be trusted. Only this isn’t clear until about halfway through the book when we start to see how Karou is linked to their story.
I don’t want to give away how the two elements combine, but it works – for the most part.