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Astrid just wants to grow up to be a doctor, but her mother's obsession with unicorns has made it difficult. And then, in the midst of a steamy make-out session with her boyfriend, a unicorn attacks. Turns out her mother was right all along--unicorns do exist, and they're out for our blood. So instead of prom and graduation, Astrid gets shipped to Italy to a unicorn-hunting training camp.

I love the twist of turning unicorns into bloodthirsty predators, and the unicorn-hunters are enjoyably bad-ass. Astrid herself has a detailed, unique, and realistic personality--her interest in medicine doesn't feel tacked-on, and she reads like a confused but smart teen-aged girl. I loved her thoughts on the artificiality and arbitrariness of virginity (yes, unicorn hunters have to be virgins) and her use of observation and methodological testing of theories feels like exactly what I want someone in her position to do. Her fellow unicorn-hunters are a diverse bunch, from a model to a street kid, and they have personalities and minor plots of their own. And the setting is pleasantly macabre: the training is held in a ruined convent filled with furniture made from unicorn bones.

Unfortunately, the story falls apart a bit near the end: the climax feels too short and unsatisfying, and several plot threads remain unexplained. But overall, I liked this book and its heroine.

The opening chapters can be read here: