This was one of those titles where I set my hopes too high, and they all came crashing down. 
 I think my main problem was the fact that I was expecting something Ally Carter-quality - you know, lots of flangst (fluff + angst), good friends and good times, bad guys are used to wipe the floor... Let me make this clear right now: Dark Eyes is straight black, hold the sugar cubes angst. A N G S T. 
 The whole story feels like Wally stumbling right into one homicidal shoot-out after another. "Shall we enter this potentially dangerous situation in order to find the mother I never knew, and worry the foster mother I have already who cares about me obviously spoiled me to distraction?" "Yes, let's." 
 BAM! MAN DOWN! 
 Just record that whole conversation and play it back. For every chapter you read. 
 Yes, keep clicking that button. 
 I am not whamming the book or the author here - just pointing out that it wasn't what I was expecting and it might not be what you're hoping for, either. When I look for a good girl-power novel, I want something that might have its low points, but has those positive discoveries to balance them out so you don't end the novel with red-rimmed eyes, an empty Kleenex box and the desire to drown your misery in copious amounts of ice cream and sitcom reruns. 
 Also, I simply could not connect to the protagonist. Maybe because I knew it was a guy writing from a girl's POV (one of my major pet peeves), or the fact that she didn't really do any vigilante work at all...either way, not being able to like the leading lady is always the Kiss of Death for a book. 
 Dark Eyes is gritty, and I understand that there are probably people that will eat that up. But I'm not one of them. 
 Warnings: Mature content. Strong language. Character death.