Ahoy there me mateys!  I received this fantasy eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  So here be me honest musings . . .

Now obviously the title and cover are what grabbed me attention for this one.  I love me some assassins so I had to read this author's debut novel.  This story follows Amastan who is training to be an assassin.  However, he is unsure if he will be able to kill when the time comes.  Life becomes difficult when he stumbles across the body of a clan leader that has been murdered.  Then other assassins start being murdered.  The uneasy spirits of the dead begin to gather in the city and are intent on harm.  Amastan has to find the murderer before the fabric holding the city together breaks.

I thought overall that this was a solid book.  It did feel like a YA title even though it doesn't seem to be marketed as such.  I felt that the world building was the best part of the book.  The city is set on a platform above a desert and water is scarce.  I enjoyed the currency set around water.  I enjoyed that women hold high positions in society.  I liked the LGBTQ relationships.  I thought the set-up of the murders was rather nice and intriguing.  I also liked the jaani who are malevolent spirits of the dead.

In the end however, I did not like many of the plot points.  Most of this stems from the identity of the killer which I saw from far away while hoping that I was wrong.  I wasn't.  So very sad and rather cliche.  The murder mystery plot ended up being shoddy in terms of how it was solved.  I also wished that the jaani played a more awesome role.  How that problem was wrapped up was also lackluster.

I am glad I finished the book and I did enjoy it.  Apparently there is a second book in the series even though this book reads as a standalone.  The next book may be from a different point of view.  I am not sure if the world building is strong enough for me to want to read it.  That said, I am interested in the author's future work based on the solid foundation of this tale.  Arrr!

So lastly . . .

Thank you Macmillian-Tor/Forge!

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