City Of A Thousand Dolls by Miriam Forster

Mythical city? Check. Mind-reading cats? Check. Teen assassins? Check. Riffing on the trend of adolescent killers (The Hunger Games, Grave Mercy, Graceling) comes this lively debut centred on 16-year-old Nisha. In City of a Thousand Dolls orphaned girls are trained as musicians, scholars, courtesans and, if Nisha is right, assassins. But her suspicions are shrugged off — until some of the girls start to die. Will uncovering the city's secrets put Nisha's own life at risk?

City Of A Thousand Dolls, Miriam Forster, $20. Available at Indigo.ca or Amazon.ca.