Meet Karou. She is a 17-year-old art student living in Prague, loves going out for goulash with her friend Zuzana, and spends an excessive amount of time avoiding her nightmare of an ex-boyfriend. But there’s more — Karou was raised by demon-like chimaera, uses tiny beads to make wishes that really do come true, and runs errands with magic portals that take her over the entire world. However, when mysterious black handprints start appearing on doorways around the world and winged strangers make themselves known, Karou is swept up into a conflict much larger than anything she’s ever known. And this time, she might finally learn about the past she never knew she had.
Overall, this book was great and I enjoyed reading it! The prose was so, so beautiful, and the plot was simply brilliant. As someone who has been traumatized by bad paranormal romance, I was genuinely surprised at the mastery with which the author crafted this story. My only gripe with this book would be the way Laini Taylor portrayed Karou and Akiva’s relationship, which felt like insta-love trying and failing to be slow-burn enemies-to-lovers. They were both just too perfect on the surface, and I felt like the romance was based way too heavily on physical attraction. I would have definitely liked to see a bit more depth in their relationship, as well as some more meaningful conversations, since the moments when they did truly connect were so magical. In general, though, I really liked this book and would definitely recommend it!