This was a solid 4.5 stars for me (if only we could show half stars), I really loved the series, and the first book made me want the next installment immediatly, however there were minor flaws which kept it from being a full five star book. 
 Spider's Bite is supposed to be (at least according to whatever I read) an urban fantasy, but it reads more like a fantasy to me. There are no real explanations for how dwarfs (who are described as five feet tall - something I am still kind of annoyed about, five feet is not that short!), giants, vampires, humans, and elementals (beings who can control an element's power, and apparently can be any of the previously mentioned species) came to be living together. In fact one of the things that bothered me in this first book was that it seemed like there was no real purpose for having vampires there instead of humans other than to just talk about more supernatural creatures and how they tended to become prostitutes since they could feed off of sex as well as blood. I will give the author the benefit of the doubt and say that maybe this will actually be relevant later in the series. As far as it being urban fantasy you will see mentions of recognizable things, but not enough for me to be able to see this world as part of the one we live it, it felt more like a fantasy. 
 There really isn't much world building so as things happen you can gather information and figure stuff out but in the meanwhile the author just expects that you will go with it. Personally, I don't have a problem with that, I prefer to have the plot moving forward than massive amounts of description. 
 The main character is Gin (yes as in the drink), who is of course the assassin known as the Spider. As with many assassins that people can relate to, the people who Gin kills tend to be of the not-so-nice variety, well at least the ones we see her kill. Gin is what you would expect her to be, hardened by her tough life and tough career choice, but of course she has a soft spot for her family, she tends to be a bit mouthy and is generally a fun character to follow around. One of the things that I need to have in a book is to see the main character be the most interesting one there, and Gin can and does capture a reader's interest. 
 The side characters are also unique and interesting, ranging from greedy bankers to goth dwarfs the author manages to make each character delightful. 
 I will say that if you are picking this up, you are picking up an adult series about an assassin, if you can't sit through an episode of Criminal Minds then this might be a bit much for you. There is some graphic description of torture and of course of killings. Personally, I don't feel that it is over the top, I think that given the world in which the characters are living, what is going on is what is to be expected. 
 There is a guy (of course), but unlike other series, there is no love triangle in the first book, and the guy is no where near perfect for Gin. Not that that stops them from being attracted to one another. 
 Gin is a straight shooter, she doesn't mouse around the truth, if she is attracted to someone she does something about it, if she wants someone dead she kills them, if someone is family she protects them, that is just how she is. 
 Overall, I loved the book, I love the series (and I will say that I think that the series actually does get a bit better after the first book), and I will be eagerly anticipating every new release in it.