For fans of Gideon the Ninth. Dark and sassy with huge character growth.

Who doesn’t want to come back as a undead assassin? Even if it means forgetting your past and ending up picked to assassinate someone you never thought possible.

Didn't love; didn't hate. It was an interesting enough story to keep me reading until the end, but things were pretty predictable. I did like some of the snideness throughout the book.

Eveen is a part of a guild of hired necromancer killers called the dead cat tail assassins; she was resurrected after death and is beholden to the goddess Aeril with no memories of her past.

There are only three unbreakable vows.
The contract must be just.
You may only kill the contracted.
Once a job is accepted, it must be carried out. If you don’t - a final death would be a mercy.

When the Festival of the Clockwork King turns the city of Tal Abisi upside down, Eveen’s newest mission brings her face to face with a past she’s not supposed to remember.

So this took me a moment to get into it while reading - and it really has nothing to do with the writing, because P. Djèlí Clark is amazing and I always love everything he writes. My problem was my eyeballs were not cooperating with the creation of the world. My solution? Listen to the audiobook! And boy, was that the best solution because I got immersed in this world so fast listening to Lynnette R. Freeman read it (especially with the Cajun accents!). It also helped me when, later that night, I tried to read the last two chapters myself but then the Goddess came with a very thick Cajun accent and the words on the page had to be said aloud in order for me to understand the words with the accent. So, this is my long ended version of saying I loved the audiobook version of this book!

The book itself?

Worldbuilding - amazing, steampunkish.

Characters - stunning, especially the women who were unapologetically themselves and held power to the highest degree.

*Thank you Tordotcom and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins is quick-witted action-packed fantasy novella perfect for the spooky season. Clark packs this novella full of interesting world building and emotional character arcs.

When a mysterious contract brings undead assassin Eveen face-to-face with a past she shouldn’t remember, she finds herself in the middle of a much bigger conspiracy. Clarks crafts an engaging and detailed world in a short amount of time. The story takes the reader on a chaotic flight through the city touching on many different areas and people. A festival lingers on the outskirts of the story giving the world added depth and character.

I was impressed by now much depth we got from Eveen's character in this novella. She was so much more than the snarky care-free assassin we first meet.

Though the pacing is fast and engaging the fight after fight after fight started to feel a bit clunky. There was also something campy about this book–and A Master of Djinn as well– that didn't really land for me.

I was left wanting more but for such a quick read, P. Djèli Clark accomplished a good amount: you have a dystopian magical society and some fun world building. A lot of creative ways of showing how society is a mess.

I wanted more from the characters and I didn't feel connected.

But a fun action-packed quick read.

Firstly, thank you to Tor/Forge for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When I saw that P. Djèlí Clark was releasing a new book, I was beyond excited. Literally everything this author has written, I have loved. This book was no exception.

The world that’s been created here, while brutal beyond belief, is so amazing and vibrant that I want to visit it if only for a short time. The way Clark is able to completely draw me in every time is nothing short of magic.

The characters were layered and real, and while flawed beyond belief I’d still want to hang out and grab a drink with them at the end of the day.

In short, if you love fantasy, humor, fast paced action and bloody good fight scenes — you’ll love this book! Hoping that Clark revisits this world in the future, because I would 100% read an entire series with these characters.

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins doesn’t have any cats in it, but it does have assassination. And the assassins are dead.

Eveen has been resurrected, had her memories swiped, and is sworn to the Matron of Assassins to carry out contract killings. She’s never had a problem before doing her job, and she’s good at it. But her newest contract brings up memories from the past she isn’t supposed to have. Those unbreakable vows she took won’t be as easy to keep anymore.

I adored the world Clark created in this book! He is so imaginative and skilled at creating a world that feels immersive and expansive in a short amount of pages. I’m always left wishing we had learned even more about the world. The mythology and lore were so interesting that I would love to read a prequel novel just about that. I don’t know if this will be a series, but I’m hoping so!

It’s hard to talk about the characters too much without running into spoilers, but I liked the dynamics between the main characters. I wished we would have dug in a little deeper into their backgrounds and also their personal motivations, but they were both fun to follow.

The ending felt a bit rushed to me. It wrapped up a little too easy IMO, although it was still surprising and satisfying.

If you’re a fan of Clark’s other novellas, if you value creative world building and if you want a fun, fast read, I’d highly recommend this novella!

*Thank you to NetGalley and Tordotcom for the digital arc. All opinions are my own.

This is a punchy novella featuring a main character who is undead and an assasin. She has always diligently done her job but one day she's assigned an impossible contract.

For such a short book the characters in it contained a lot of dimension and depth. Even characters that received little story time, like The Old Man, drew me in. Besides the start I also think this book moved rather quickly and was super intriguing. The magic system complimented the mystery and was pretty well described for such a short book.

The concept of being severed from all memories of your past provided a great setting for the self reflection of our main character when she meets her mark. I like that this is explored while the action is still taking place. Both girls are running and fighting for their lives why this self reflection occurs. The fight scenes were bloody and dynamic as well, propelling us through the story at a fast pace.

Ah the latest P. Djèlí Clark an author that has become a quick favorite. Even though this story I ended up on a 3.75⭐'s I would still recommend. The characters are amazing and its laugh out loud funny. Sure the third act feels like twelve books mashed into one but it's not horrible. Honestly read for the plot stay for the characters. Clark's writing here is mostly spot on especially with the setup. Once everything is in motion there is no stopping.

5⭐!!

Thank you Tor Publishing and Netgalley for this eARC!!

I love, LOVE P. Djèlí Clark's works so much. The way he world builds without giving up character work, and vice versa, really makes his characters feel alive and his worlds lived in.

An enjoyable romp as per usual from P. Djeli Clark! I loved the worldbuilding and the "solve this unsolvable mystery in a night" premise. The dialogue got a bit cheesy for me but it was fun and didn't go too over the top.

Thank you to P. Djèlí Clark, Tor Publishing Group, Tordotcom, and Netgalley for a free advanced reviewer copy of "The Dead Cat Tail Assassins" for an honest review. I discovered Clark a few years back among the finalists for the Hugo's and have been falling in love with all their successive works since, and this one was no different. I loved this dark, dizzy romp through the deadly assassin realm of a far-flung future steeped in a completely new culture. I adored the twists and turns with time and deities coming down. I advise this one for all who love these subjects.

"Aeril's fiery, f!cking tendrils!"

Gah! This was so good.

I loved the world-building, with its goddess lore, and the setting of the carnival-celebrating city. The characters were vivid and complex, and the dialogue crisp and quippy.

I appreciated that the violence wasn't super descriptive. I mean, I'm fine that they played Real Life Operation with The Patriarch, but I'm equally fine with not having to hear the squelching in my head, you know?

This was my second from this author - Ring Shout was also excellent - and I'm looking forward to his next offering.

Thanks to NetGalley, Tor Publishing, and RB Media for this deadly ARC.

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djèlí Clark

I really enjoyed the Dead Djinn in Cairo series, and I was excited to be able to meet and get a book signed by P. Djèlí Clark one year at NYCC, so I was really looking forward to reading the Dead Cat Tail Assassins when I got an eARC from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I had high hopes for it but in the end I liked it “just okay”.

Part of it was the subject matter - I have never found the stories of professional assassins to be my thing. I enjoyed alot of the world building here, and some of the magic was interesting, but I find the trope of skinny characters having to eat massive amounts to be off putting. In fact, I found a lot about the protagonist to be off putting. She callously kills a pigeon-equivalent bird very early on in the story for no good reason and I just lost all possibility of caring for her fate. I didn’t see the twist coming, and I enjoyed the surprise, but the ending felt a little too contrived and jokey to fit into the tone of the rest of the book. I’ll read his next book for sure, because it is well written, but this one wasn’t doing it for me.

I loved this title and this author is a new favorite. Completely original. The ability to build such a rich world with so few pages is incredible. Excellent book and I have been recommending. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC of this book. This was a fantastic story, set in an interesting world with a strong woman lead and great supporting characters. She was a smart, capable and a hardcore warrior in every iteration and setting. The premise of this book is so original and completely draws you in to the chaotic, dangerous game Eveen is trying to survive. I thought the ending was a little difficult to understand, as were elements of the story that I couldn't quite follow, but overall I really enjoyed this book. I think this might be my favorite of P. Djeli Clark's so far. I plan on rereading this one and will recommend it to people who are smarter than me.

I requested this book from NetGalley because I've read and loved this author in the past and the premise of this one sounded really interesting. A guild of undead assassins who have to complete the job when they've accepted it, otherwise bad things happen (very bad things for everyone in the city, let alone the person who broke the rule). Eveen finds herself in the midst of a strange job which she can't complete and she goes on a quest to find out why it was her put on the job in the first place. This is made a little more difficult considering she is facing the consequences of not completing the job.

I don't to spoil this too much because I went in knowing the plot for the first few pages and that was it, which meant everything unfolding was a delightful surprise. I adored the world-building in this novella, I loved the guild of assassins, the festival night, the lay out of the town and the various assassins and their different skills. They are all dead but they deal with the loss of their memories in different ways and have their own feuds and arguments between the others. Eveen has to figure out the mystery of the job itself and how it came about and I enjoyed how well the world-building was integrated with this plot. I did figure out the twist about Sky fairly early on but I did like how it wasn't so obvious that you felt like the characters were foolish for not getting it right away. I enjoyed the ending and how it was resolved.

The plot and the world-building were on point. I would love to see more novellas set in this world. However, the characters didn't grab me as much. I liked them well enough but I was only wanting Eveen to succeed in unravelling the mystery because I wanted the answer, not because I particularly cared about the characters surviving or getting what they wanted. Possibly because of her memories or maybe because this novella was so action-packed, I didn't really get a feel for Eveen as a character. What did she want before the novella started? Sometimes the book was describing the world-building in a more detached way, great for conveying information about the world but not so much for what Eveen was thinking about it. The revelation about why Eveen in particular was requested for the job came out of pretty much nowhere because until the middle of the novella, it felt like she had no real feelings about the nickname she had or why she earned it or her job in general. Even the side characters felt very one-note, there to do a job and that was it.

I did really enjoy this and I will pick up any books set in this world, but hopefully not with these characters.

4 stars!

It was a little hard to get through at first but then I downloaded the audiobook and enjoyed it much more. I really liked the ending.

“But what about your God?”

“Fuck her and her firey tits!”

The story is interesting and unique. The MC is an undead/good looking zombie hired assassin. She’s given a mark she can’t bring herself to take care off. It’s a relatively short, interesting read. I especially enjoyed the mystery of the plot and the undead aspect of the story.

Thank you NetGalley, P. Djèlí Clark, RB Media, and Tor for ARCs of this book.

The novellas continue to do it for me this year!!! This was an intriguing and fast-paced read that I thoroughly enjoyed from start to finish. Eveen was a wonderful and sometimes funny character to follow. She was extremely likeable, and I really appreciated that she kept her wits about her throughout the story. My favorite part of the story was the goddesses!! It's always a delight when a culture you're familiar with is injected into a story you already love!

Thank you, Netgalley, and the publisher for providing a copy of this novella.