I picked this book up recently at Waterstone's along with The Hundred-Year-Old Man on a whim. I was not disappointed by either choice. The cover of this book grabbed my interest immediately, and I remembered seeing a review of it on a blog that I follow, which made it look promising. Not to mention a favorite author of mine, Patrick Rothfuss, gave the review, "Wow. I wish I had written this book."
Karou has two lives. In one, she is an art student in Prague. In the other, she runs errands for a creature named Brimstone, who is the closest thing she has to a father. He is from a world he calls Elsewhere, and he will not divulge its secrets to Karou. All she has seen of this world is the shop beyond the doorways, which seems to exist everywhere and nowhere, where Brimstone and his helpers live and work. Hunters and murderers sell him teeth in exchange for wishes, and occasionally when he needs help with a delivery, he asks for help from Karou. All she has ever received in return are the smallest of wishes, which she's used--wrongly, perhaps--for superficial things like turning her hair blue and giving herself tattoos.
When the doors to Elsewhere start closing and Karou tries to find out why, with the help of a mysterious stranger she discovers truths about Elsewhere and Brimstone's work that she never would have dreamed of. She must decide where she belongs before the doors close forever.
I didn't know much more about the plot of this book than the above before I read it, which I'm grateful for. Part of the fun experience of this book was discovering things about Elsewhere along with Karou. She's very easy to relate to, and a very three-dimensional character. The fantastical world is as well, clearly well-thought-out and very well-written. Easy to read, and easy to get sucked in. It's an incredibly original story, something hard to find these days in the fantasy genre. As with all good books, I was hooked right away, and once I got past the halfway point I couldn't put it down. I've given it five stars on Goodreads.
I'm eagerly awaiting the sequel, which is set to be released in about a month.
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