P. Djèlí Clark’s The Dead Cat Tail Assassins is a stunning addition to his repertoire, blending his signature vivid world-building with a gripping noir mystery. Set in a bustling, steampunk-inspired city infused with magic, the novella introduces a morally complex assassin navigating the darker corners of society. The main character's in this novella are full of depth. The tale is full of energy and the pace moves quickly. Though a novella, this feels like a fully developed novel--Djélí Clark’s evocative prose immerses readers in a richly textured world that brims with life, danger, and intrigue--the story remains as engaging as it is unsettling.

As someone who has read and loved this author's previous works, including A Master of Djinn and Ring Shout, I found this novella to be another excellent showcase of his ability to weave social commentary seamlessly into speculative fiction. Beneath the thrills lies a poignant exploration of power, justice, and the blurred lines of morality. This is a tightly crafted narrative that leaves a lasting impression. A solid 4.5-star read, The Dead Cat Tail Assassins reaffirms Clark’s place as a masterful storyteller in the genre.

4.5
I truly enjoyed this story!
For this being a novella I was very surprised by how much could get packed into a little over 200 pages. We got an interesting plot with great and funny characters. Magic, mystery, time jumping, assassins, anything you could think of!
The writing was very beautiful, but at times it could be too much. I didn’t mind it at all though I can see how people wouldn’t like it.
The only thing that was disappointing was the fact that the story was only 200 pages and nothing more! I’m early waiting to read this author’s other books now.

𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: The Dead Cat Tail Assassins
𝗠𝘆 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: Cats, Murder and Godlings
𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿: P. Djèlí Clark
𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗿: @tordotcom
𝗙𝗮𝘃 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿: Eveen
𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: Easy
𝗧𝘆𝗽𝗲: Novel
𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: Fantasy with sci-fi & Caribbean elements
5/𝟱

🌵𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁
~ time travel
~ big sister/younger sister vibes
~ evolving mystery
~ highly amusing & skillful assassins
~ honour among assassins
~ found family, friendships and loyalty
~ Aeril the goddess speakinggg 🥰

Eveen is having a relatively unassuming festival (bacchanal) night - just had a meal, just found a contract and is on her way to do a likkle k1ll1n & get paid - THAT IS until the impossible happens, she gets a memory as she looks at her target’s face… a face, that is hers. Deciding to break an unbreakable vow, the two must break fingers, jaws & spines in an effort to discover who set her up to kill herself… & how she can avoid the unthinkable. It’s a good thing she is the eviscerator.

✨𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱.

I love this book so much! I am super inspired by the stories within the stories (especially the sons being forged) & Aeril, who simply MUST be cosplayed. I love how we got to see most of the city in a night & met highly distinctive, and entertaining characters of this city. It read like what could easily be a series! LOVED IT!

🌵𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗵
~ nada

♡🌵 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗲 ;)

This book is a captivating and immersive read that hooks you from the first page. The writing is beautifully crafted, with vivid descriptions and strong character development that makes the story come alive. The plot is well-paced, balancing moments of tension with quieter, reflective scenes that allow the characters to grow. The themes explored are deep and thought-provoking, resonating long after the final page. Whether it's the emotional depth, the twists and turns of the plot, or the unforgettable characters, this book is a must-read for anyone who enjoys rich, engaging stories. Highly recommended.

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins was a great read. I loved the character development and the writing was propulsive.

This is my first book by this author and I enjoyed every page. I laughed, giggled and had a blast with my time reading this book. I’m disappointed that I have not read more by this author, but holy moly amazing fun and the writing was so great.

Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this as much as I’ve enjoyed the rest of Clark’s writings. It’s felt a bit too compressed and there was less room for the world building that’s he so good at to be fully fleshed out

I have loved all of Clark's books that I have read and this was no exception. The dark undertones and rebel peon taking on the system was weirdly comforting during the 2024 election hellscape. Pick it up and take a break where the bad guys come tumbling down!

Once again, Clark builds a magical fantastical world with so many elements. Eveen is an undead assassin, NOT a zombie, who gets contracted orders that she must obey. One’s she calls “shipping”. Until her last order, where she comes face to face with her past and feels a memory has returned. When becoming an assassin it is agreed that you will have all memories wiped and anyone that knows you will have a spell cast that makes them not recognize you. She then meets her next job, Sky, who goes on a journey with her to send her back to the time she came from.
I liked the colorful city in the middle of carnival, similar to Mardi Gras. The characters were amazing an I liked the mixture of modern day verbiage and the city from an older time. Eveen is tough, snarky and crass, which makes her character so lovable. There is a mixture of magic and enchantment, patriarchs and matrons of the undead assassins guild. And then there is “shimmer fever”.

P. Djèlí Clark truly is the master of world building. Every time I start one of his books I'm quickly absorbed into whatever setting he's created. His ability to give a sense of the world, the lore, and the characters without info dumping needs to be studied.

This story starts with our undead assassin, Eveen, receiving instructions for her next contracted killing. Quickly, we see that she's full of personality and very good at her job. Once she finds her target though she realizes that this will not be an easy "shipping".

What follows is a layered adventure dealing with magic, mortality, politics, and food so lovingly described that it made my stomach rumble.

My only tiny hang up was some of the modern slang which took me out of the story a little each time. But then again, so many books not based in the here and now are guilty of this so it's an easy hang up to ignore.

Thank you to NetGalley & Tor Publishing for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Title:  The Dead Cat Tail Assassins  
Author:  P. Djèlí Clark        
Genre:  Fantasy       
Rating:  4 out of 5

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins are not cats.

Nor do they have tails.

But they are most assuredly dead.

Eveen the Eviscerator is skilled, discreet, professional, and here for your most pressing needs in the ancient city of Tal Abisi. Her guild is strong, her blades are sharp, and her rules are simple. Those sworn to the Matron of Assassins—resurrected, deadly, wiped of their memories—have only three unbreakable vows.

First, the contract must be just. That’s above Eveen’s pay grade.

Second, even the most powerful assassin may only kill the contracted. Eveen’s a professional. She’s never missed her mark.

The third and the simplest: once you accept a job, you must carry it out. And if you stray? A final death would be a mercy. When the Festival of the Clockwork King turns the city upside down, Eveen’s newest mission brings her face-to-face with a past she isn’t supposed to remember and a vow she can’t forget.

I thought this was unique and a bit quirky, and I liked the world quite a bit. I enjoyed Eveen’s personality a lot and would be happy reading more about her. This was a solid, fun read. Honestly, my only problem with this was when the gods showed up at the end, their dialect was almost incomprehensible. I’ve seen patois done really well, and this was not it.  There was some almost-contemporary slang throughout the rest of the story, so having the gods’ conversation be unintelligible didn’t really make sense to me.

P. Djèlí Clark is an award-winning author. The Dead Cat Tail Assassins is his newest novella.

(Galley courtesy of Tor Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review.)

(Blog link live 11/18.)

Clark is one of my favorite authors, and this book reinforces that love. He is able to create a dynamic character, a beautiful world. and a tense novella in such a short amount of time. I loved the mystery. Every so often I was surprised with the way he could keep us on our toes as we learned more about Eveen. I kept thinking it was the traditional mystery, but I should have trusted Clark to deliver something unique and a new book that I've never ready before.

Everyone go pick this up!

This one took me longer than I'd planned on. I absolutely love P. Djeli Clark's work, so I hoped I'd eat this up in one sitting. Unfortunately I think the story itself was just not for me.

I do love the writing and the characters, as always in Clark's work, were complex and loved, but I just don't feel that it was what I was thinking it would be. I am sure there are many who will absolutely love this book. And I will still recommend it to others. But for myself, it was probably my least favorite of his books I've read.

Thank you to Netgalley and P. Djeli Clark for allowing me to review this ARC of The Dead Cat Tail Assassins.
⭐3.5/5⭐

I waffled between 4 and 5 stars, and thought to hell with it - I had a good time, I enjoyed this book, and it was a fast-paced, quick little read.

This is the first time I have read anything by Clark, and boy - I have been missing out! What a fun book this was. Definitely did not take itself too seriously, and even though it was rather short, I still felt like the world was vibrant and alive in a way some 4 or 500 page books can’t accomplish.

I loved the characters in this book, even the “side pieces”, as it were - and while usually “modern” references annoy me, Clark gets away with using the term <i>edgelord</i> in this one.

Highly recommend if you just want to have some fun and unwind and enjoy a fantasy read. I will definitely be purchasing this for my library.

i really enjoy this author and i hate that it took me so long to read this because as always this was so much fun!

this story follows eveen, who is apart of a guild of hired necromancer killers called the dead cat tail assassins, but she can’t remember anything of her past while she was alive. we meet baseema, the guild boss, and we meet fennis, who handles the guild’s paperwork, and eveen is sent on a mission where the contract asked for her specifically. and set on a backdrop of a clockwork king festival, eveen goes to kill a girl who will make her have memories that she is not supposed to have.

friends, i loved this. p. djèlí clark’s writing, with characters, with atmosphere, with prose in general, is just so so so good. i loved being in a new world of theirs, and i truly hope this ends up being first in a new series. i am an easy sell for assassin guild stories, but i’ve never read one like this. i loved the magic, i loved the talk of community, i loved seeing edgelords getting taken down, and i really loved reading about a girl who loves stories being able to control her own for once. i really recommend this one and i can’t wait to see what the author does next.

trigger + content warnings: talk of death, animal death (bird), fighting, violence, kidnapping, self harm (because of an undead body), blood descriptions, gun violence, fire, explosion, mention of children murders in past

I read this book twice back to back, it was so good! I loved the main character. She is witty, a badass, and clever. The story was intriguing from the start and I devoured within a couple hours because I had to know what would happen next. Thank you for the ARC opportunity!

I really enjoyed this! I finished this in one sitting. I loved the nods to his other works and the world building in this novella. The banter was so good, and I adored the deities. I did this audio in tandem with reading and it was such a good experience. I hope for more from this world. I have a video review that I’ve filmed but haven’t posted yet. Will update this with the link when I do.

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins follows Eveen, one of the assassin guild's best, as she is placed under contract to kill a young woman. However, upon seeking her out to complete the job, Eveen discovers that Sky, the target, is literally a copy of herself, plucked from the past. This makes "shipping" her extremely complicated. As Eveen and Sky attempt to uncover who caused this conundrum and save their lives, we follow them through perhaps the most momentous night of their lives.

I loved this so much. Eveen is hilarious, and this story made me want to be an assassin and find a clone of my own! The writing was so well-done that I kept reminding myself it all took place within just one night. I cannot recommend it enough. I love P. Djeli Clark’s work, and it's no surprise that this book is now one of my favorites. Funny, filled with great side characters, twists and turns, and assassins?! It hit it out of the park.

CAWPILE Ratings:
Characters: 8
Atmosphere: 9
Writing: 10
Plot: 10
Intrigue: 10
Logic: 9
Enjoyment: 10

Final thoughts: This was a thrilling, entertaining read that left me hooked until the very end!

If P. Djeli Clark wrote it, I’m going to read it.

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins was an enjoyable read. The dialogue was very witty and snarky, which I’ve come to enjoy in gaslamp fantasy tales. There were times that the storyline dragged and if I am being honest, I was close to DNF’ing. But the ending was good. I didn’t enjoy all of the endless action sequences, but if that’s your thing you’ll like this.

I do love that P. Djeli Clark added a sprinkle Caribbean culture in how he designed the goddess Eros.