Rating: 5* of five

<B>The Publisher Says: Winner of the 2022 Nebula Award and World Fantasy Award for Best Novella.</B>

In a far future city, where you can fall to a government cull for a single mistake, And What Can We Offer You Tonight tells the story of Jewel, established courtesan in a luxurious House. Jewel’s world is shaken when her friend is murdered by a client, but somehow comes back to life. To get revenge, they will both have to confront the limits of loyalty, guilt, and justice.

<B>I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review</B>: Self-esteem, self-love, class solidarity, friendship, Love...big, big themes to tackle in under a hundred pages. Yet as one expects from Premee Mohamed, tackled they are, and indeed pinned to the mat of argument.

There are those who say they have no patience for future-set stories, yet who will gobble the stories that center amateur sleuths who are not arrested and abused by police and courts who do not approve of this behavior...inconsistent much? Each is unbelievable in its own way, and this story’s amateur sleuths have some *very* powerful motives for their far higher stakes poking around. I know others whose taste in storytelling excludes tales that begin in medias res. That being a taste that can not be argued with, I warn those folk that this is not one for them.

The authorial voice here, Jewel’s stream of consciouness and self-aware of its floridity, would wear on my nerve if it lasted more than the eightyish pages that it does. In this size of a dose, it counterpoints the horrifying, bleak dystopia that these young people are...existing is a better fit than living...within. The brothel where they work is a reputable one, yet a client murders one of them and no one in power cares, or pursues justice.

Sound familiar, y’all?

Unlike boring old twenty-first century reality, though, the murdered party returns for revenge, not as a zombie or vampire but simply undead. Go with it. As the co-sex-worker Winfield sets about getting the revenge that I myownself feel is richly deserved, the story meditates on the larger, darker themes of living in a hypercapitalist hellscape. The ending is, as expected, satisfying. The truths Author Mohamed tells us in the course of this bleak vision of a future where money = justice, where might = rights, where even the meagerest of existences is contingent on selling one’s own body for the gratification of others, are readily applicable to the world around us.

That horrifying truth is how this very short, sharp shock to the reader’s system won the very high-powered awards that it did. Very highly recommended.

"[He] can try to unmake me," she says. "But he cannot unperson me. I will always be who I am."
Shame on me for not reading this sooner because it was excellent. And I finally feel some catharsis for all the burning anger the show Altered Carbon left me with.

This is the story of a prostitute. Of the friend and co-worker she performed a funeral for after a client killed her. Of the friend who rose from her funeral no longer wholly dead and filled with a vigilante desire to get revenge on those who wronged her.

It's also filled with numerous beautiful quotes and biting commentary about the rich elite.
"But maybe that's how you get rich or at least how you stay rich: you ignore that smell, which is given off by everyone around you. If you're rich you can always buy something nicer to smell."
A light scifi, good for her novella for anyone who can appreciate a bit of prose.

A book that leaves you with a sense of having visited a different world, a haunting memory, and a longing to return is certainly one in which I can say the author accomplished their goal of telling a damn good story. And this book by Premee Mohamad does that. With lyrical, flourishing prose it paints a picture, sometimes one as cloying as the perfumes I imagine which linger in the hall of the capital-h House. A woman who doesn't stay dead, and upon realizing the power she holds by being outside of the societal structures, it could be an allegory for the lives of those today who choose to operate outside of the bounds of our capitalist, patriarchal society. Especially since the world of this book, the world outside of the House, definitely could be considered our own should things be allowed to continue unchecked and the people disposed of, uncared for.

I'm not sure we cheer for any of the characters, but their journeys certainly are intriguing. Their motivations sometimes fully on display and other times elusive and chameleon-like. Revenge may be a dish best served cold, but it can also taste sweet, and sometimes as heady as a rich, whiskey.

If there's one complaint I have about this title, it's that the writing with it's reliance on over-long sentences combined with the flowery prose almost becomes too much at points. And to my editor's eye, it took a couple of chapters before I quit looking at just...how...long... the sentences were and became swept up in the story. This book won a Nebula award for best novella, and I can see why, if nothing else than for the fact that it had a very literary feel to it, more atmosphere and mood, and not so much a play-by-play of the action. Which, to be fair, in this story, I'm not sure a play-by-play would be warranted.

In the end, this is a book which kept me reading and drew me into its strange and twisty world that I'm still thinking about the morning after. So while I may still be having extensional thoughts about sentence length and grammar rules, I have to say, that if the story pulls in the reader and leaves a hunting memory, do the mechanics really matter that much? The story worked.

And What Can We Offer You Tonight takes readers into a dystopian world where Jewel, the narrator, begins to question the oppressive House of Bicchieri after a friend's death. While the plot is intriguing, the excessive foreshadowing and confusing writing style make it a dry read. Despite this, the well-developed characters leave a lasting impression.

Unfortunately, I really didn't gel with the writing style. I think I get what the author was trying to do with it but it just felt off and I found myself more focused on why that choice was made rather than the novella.

A vaguely dystopian setting in a flooded city. The poor bury their dead by sinking them in the canals surrounding their dwellings. Our MC Jewel is an enslaved courtesan, living a relatively comfortable, if restricted and not entirely safe life in a luxury brothel. One of the other women in her house is beaten to death by a client. But she doesn‘t stay dead. She comes back to life, looking for revenge and taking Jewel along for the ride.

80 pages, pretty odd, with a rambling and overloaded prose. The actual plot could have fit into a much shorter story. The rest didn‘t really work for me. It was just a lot of fluff, with the odd shocking bit in between. I skimmed through the last part. The ending was quite nice, at least for Jewel. But the mystery of the dead girl coming back to life was never explored and the world could have done with a little more background. I didn‘t really like this, sorry.

The cover looks nice, but is as overloaded as the prose.

Nebula Award Winner, Best Novella in 2021
Author‘s website at http://premeemohamed.com

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher or author through NetGalley. All opinions are my own and I was not required to give a positive review.

I liked this dark novella and was very intrigued for the first half but then it kind of petered out for the second half. The author did a great job with world-building in so few pages but I never really connected with the main character, Jewel. I think a little more about her past and what specifically led her to the House could’ve gone a long way. I didn’t mind the stream of consciousness narrating for a novella but I do think it would’ve tiring for a full-length book so I think a shorter page count was the right choice. Definitely an interesting read and worth checking out.

This was a hard story to follow. There was not alot of world building so sometimes things were happening that were hard to follow.

I have been in a huge novella kick lately since I've been in the mood to read something short yet beautiful to combat the thick tomes I've been reading recently. "And What Can We Offer You Tonight" was one I thought would provide that craving, yet somehow I ended up a bit underwhelmed.

This novella held a lot of promise. The cover and entire concept of the book were the major things that drew me into it, however, once I finally got into the meat of the story, I felt some sort of disconnect towards it. There was a lot of potential in this book, but sadly it didn't provide enough results for me to truly enjoy it as I expected it will do.

While it may not have worked for me in the end, it was still somewhat a nice experience, and I would still read more of the author's future works.

A disturbing short tale of a future world without law or justice or anything but money, where people are bought and sold. Jewel is an exclusive, expensive courtesan mostly resigned to her lot and clinging on to the little solidarity she can have with her co-workers, until one of them is murdered, but refuses to stay dead.

Very much a story about exploitation: greed and cruelty and injustice, and how those things warp people, and the fragile connections we try to build to shore up defences against them. Bleak, vivid, and elegantly conveyed in a short space.
a great read!

It's a short novella only being 80 pages. The writing just wasn't doing it for me. It felt dense and hard to get through. I found the pacing to be poor and jarring. Which is sad to say cause I generally found the concept interesting. Even though I found it difficult to get through I still found parts that I really enjoyed. The revenge plot is carthartic and makes me think a little bit about Promising Young Women. *spoliers* While the main character does go on a revenge plot against her friend's rapist, it's sad to think that it doesn't change the society that lets it happen to others.

And What Can We Offer You Tonight is a novella where I cant quite say it makes me go "I love this so much!" I find it intriguing and somewhat magical. It's poetic though I still found the writing not to be for me. I don't think I would recommend this to just anyone but I think a certain audience might enjoy.

This is a really short dystopian story. Only 80 pages but I think I read it half a month. The writing style was so dense. There were some parts it felt like the author tries to say something very deep, but at the same time, it doesn't make any sense. Maybe I didn't have the right mindset for this book. But what I did enjoy was the atmosphere. And look at that cover! Stunning! If you like dreamy stories I would suggest it because it did include some social issue representation as well, but overall, not for me.

The writing style works against itself. While charming and compelling at first, it quickly wears out the reader.

☆☆☆☆ /5
(english review below)

Ce fut une lecture rapide, par son format court, et entraînante, par le style d'écriture de l'autrice qui ajoutait du dynamisme à l'histoire.
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Dans une ville d'un futur lointain, où vous pouvez tomber dans le piège du gouvernement pour une seule erreur, And What Can We Offer You Tonight de Premee Mohamed raconte l'histoire de Jewel, courtisane établie dans une luxueuse maison. Le monde de Jewel est soudainement bousculé lorsque son amie est assassinée par un client, mais revient d'une manière ou d'une autre à la vie. Pour se venger, ils devront toutes les deux affronter les limites de la loyauté, de la culpabilité et de la justice.
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En seulement 80 pages, l'autrice installe un cadre dystopique là où il n'y a que l'argent qui compte. J'ai bien aimé découvrir ce nouveau futur et plus précisément cette ville dans laquelle évolue notre protagoniste, Jewel.
Jewel est une courtisane, qui va voir une de ses collègue assassinée par un de leurs clients puis être morte sans être morte. J'ai apprécié ce côté unique du récit durant lequel c'est un duo de femmes, avec une Zombie, qui va se venger.
Cette novella pose beaucoup de question à propos de l'argent, de l'importance qu'on lui en donne et de l'utilisation qu'on en fait. Je me suis également questionnée, à travers les personnages, sur la justice et l'éthique... deux concepts qui manquent cruellement dans la société de cette histoire.
En bref, une courte lecture qui m'a faite voyager au coeur d'un périple de revanche.

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ENGLISH REVIEW:

It was a quick read, by its short format, and catchy, by the author's writing style which added dynamism to the story.
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In a far future city, where you can fall to a government cull for a single mistake, And What Can We Offer You Tonight by Premee Mohamed tells the story of Jewel, established courtesan in a luxurious House. Jewel’s world is shaken when her friend is murdered by a client, but somehow comes back to life. To get revenge, they will both have to confront the limits of loyalty, guilt, and justice.
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In just 80 pages, the author sets up a dystopian society where only money counts. I really enjoyed discovering this new future and more precisely this city in which our protagonist, Jewel, is evolving.
Jewel is a courtesan, who goes to see one of her colleagues murdered by one of their clients and then be dead without being dead. I appreciated this unique side of the story during which it's a duo of women, with a zombie, who will take revenge.
This novella asks a lot of questions about money, how important it is and how we use it. I also questioned myself, through the characters, on justice and ethics... two concepts that are sorely lacking in the society of this story.
Finally, it's a short read that made me travel to the heart of a journey of revenge.

sexworker turned vigilante zombie? Sign me up. I enjoyed this short story. More please!

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for a copy of the ARC.

Was lucky enough to get an ARC of this, started it right before the move. You will probably get through it quicker than I did. It opens with a funeral for a sex worker who was killed by a client, but it turns out that she’s not actually dead. It’s bleak as hell, involves betrayals and murder and hypercapitalist hell, but god if it’s not cathartic. It’s present tense second person pov, which might irritate some people, but I like it. Highly recommended.

this was a weird novella that i just couldn't get into at all. the writing and pacing was jarring and i was confused half the time. i hope it finds its crowd though but this just wasn't for me.

An interesting novella set in a far future city, told from the point of view of Jewel, a courtesan in a House for the richest persons on the city.
In a nutshell it is the story of a revenge plot highlighted by the courtesans against their masters and abusers, after one of their own ends up, not quite dead. In the end the structure of society as a whole can’t be erased even if justice is made for one of its victims.

Thanks so much to NetGalley, Neon Hemlock Press, and Preemee Mohamed for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

What a darkly poetic book And What Can We Offer You Tonight turned out to be! This story follows Jewel, a well-established courtesan in a dystopian society. Jewel comes to question everything she's grown to know after one of her friends was murdered by a client. That is enough to mess someone up, but what happens when that friend comes back from the dead with a mind for vengeance?

This book came off as magical to me. The characters were way more interesting than you’d think possible for an 80-90 page novella. As I mentioned above, Mohamed’s writing is incredibly poetic, which adds quite a bit to a story that tends to lean towards the bleak pretty heavily. It’s also great fun to read about a zombie courtesan out for revenge. This is going to be four stars from me. I’m already looking forward to reading more from this author!

And What Can We Offer You Tonight is set in a capitalist dystopian hellscape of a society with extreme income inequality where poverty and being unhoused is basically a death sentence. For the “lucky” few, being sex trafficked through an upscale brothel offers a kind of escape. The young men and women “employed” by these establishments are lavishly fed and clothed, but are prevented from accumulating personal wealth and kept in a state of dependency on their exploitative employers.

Sounding too sad and depressing for you? Wait, wait! And What Can We Offer You Tonight is actually the story of a murdered sex worker zombie returned from the dead to take vengeance on the wealthy client who killed her without any legal repercussions.

Winfield, the zombie sex worker, also recruits her living friends to her cause, instigating them in acts of resistance against their traffickers and other violent clients. In fact, this is my favorite thing about the novella. Mohamed does a beautiful job giving dignity and agency to her characters. Despite having little power at their disposal, they exercise whatever means they can to resist, acting in solidarity with each other and honoring those who die in funeral ceremonies forbidden by their traffickers.

Also, the cover looks like a freaking dark Lisa Frank illustration. What’s not to love?

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for giving me advance access to this book in exchange for an honest review.