I really liked this book as is evidenced by the four stars. It was gripping and kept you guessing to the end, and I will definitely read the sequel. 
 That said, I felt a bit dizzy at the beginning trying to figure out the timeline of the story because the author throws much of the back story at readers up front, and does this by using a lot of "before this happened, and after this happened" sentences. I had to reread a few parts so that I wouldn't feel so disoriented. Once I got used to her writing style I did fine, thought. 
 Believe it or not, even though I've read some reviews complaining about this, I like how the protagonist zeroed in on tassels in her narrative. The detail helped me stay in the story, well . . . until I read this part on page 262: 
 "What did any of it mean? Where could it go? He was a death deity. I was a senior in high school." 
 At which point I broke out into uproarious laughter and my seven-year-old daughter came running to ask me what was so funny. Note to self for my own writing: don't ever EVER have one of your characters point out how ludicrous the premise of your book is. It breaks the magic. 
 Fortunately, I was able to get into the story again pretty fast after that. My husband and I even had a good laugh about it.