WOW…What a story! What a ride!
Karou lives in Prague and is an art student at a local school…that is half her life. The other half of her life is “elsewhere”. “Elsewhere” is the shop run by a chimera named Brimstone, who traffics in teeth…not just human teeth, but any teeth. This is where Karou grew up…this little shop with it’s door that is a portal to anywhere in the world. And Karou is pretty much an errand-girl for the shop, picking up teeth from grave robbers, big game hunters, and the like. Payment for the teeth is in the form of wishes.

One day Karou notices that the portal doors have black handprints burned into them. She also discovers a man following her whose shadow is different than his body. This same man tries to kill her in the back alleys of Marrakesh. Who is this guy? What’s with the handprints?

Laini Taylor writes one hell of a book. Did not want to put it down!!
Karou’s BFF is Zuze who is crazy sarcastic and funny as hell! Loved the chimera who raised Karou…Brimstone is way too tough on her, but for good reason. Issa, for all her bluster, is a creampuff when it comes to Karou. Basically Taylor created a wildly fantastic world, much different than anyone has ever associated with angels and demons. She peels the story back to it’s core, very deliberately, giving the reader lots of time to assume they know what happened or what’s coming, but you don’t! Then there was the shocking conclusion with those 3 words all of us love to hate…”to be continued”…ARGH!!!! Have I mentioned that patience is not one of my strong suits…Wish I had a gavriel!