This debut novel manages a tricky balance. Although the main character is an assassin, I remained sympathetic to her perspective throughout. I really wondered if that was possible, since I love villains but do root for good. (Granted, the story chronicles a part of her life when she is too busy saving her own skin and seeking revenge to spend time on contract kills.) 
 She experiences a lot of setbacks and roams an interesting world filled with angry ghosts and active gods and goddesses, though they rarely appear. That bit, that the assassins kill as a form of worship, is one of my favorite elements of the setting. 
 There is romance, including echoes of Romeo and Juliet, but you won't gag on it. I passed the book on to my thirteen year old son because I'm betting he'll enjoy it too. "Romeo" is a jerk, and "Juliet", thank the gods, figures it out. 
 P.S. My son read it in a day or three and requested the sequel, which I bought. He likes the series, he said, and expressed interest in learning about when the third book is due.