A mixture of Romeo and Juliet and Beauty and the Beast.

Beautifully written and descriptive. This is very much a character driven piece rather than plot and time is spent understanding the central characters and worlds. They are revealed slowly and somewhat tentatively as the concept differs so much from the current trend in literature.
Angels are not the angelic creatures we think we know and Chimera are not always the monsters we think they are.

Karou, the central protagonist is very much an adult wrapped in a 17 year olds body and you do get the impression of an old soul. Akiva is strong but I don't sympathise with him as perhaps I should have.

An interesting concept and very imaginative. Very much the first in a series and shows a lot of potential if the same standard can be maintained.

I feel some of the side characters deserved more time as in Karou's best friend Zuzana. Hr parts were slightly repetitive and one dimensional and I would have liked her to ply a greater part. I hope Zuzana and the fallout that occurs in the city of Prague ate covered in future installments.

Worth a read or something different than vampires, zombies and werewolfs.