Thank you to NetGalley & Tor for sending me this ARC copy for review!

This was such a fun novella by P. Djèlí Clark. It packed so many things into such a small book and all were things I really enjoy. We have an undead assassin who is given an assignment more wild that she could imagine. It leads to a action packed night filled with magic, misfortune, and mayhem.

I really enjoy the humor within the story and the way Clark is able to build a world in such a short amount of pages. I wasn't expecting most of the plot of this book and it was a nice surprise. I think Clark really shines with his novellas so if you didn't enjoy his longer works, this might work better for you.

Overall, if you enjoy fast faced fantasies where you have to watch the main character get themselves out of a mess then I would highly suggest it!

This was my first P. Djèlí Clark book, and I’m sure it will not be my last. This was an absolute masterclass in world-building packed into a bite-sized novella.

Exceptionally brief overview because honestly, going in blind is 100% the best experience.

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins are not cats, but they are most certainly dead. Eveen is one of these assassins, and when she gets her next assignment, it should be no different. She’s looked into plenty of peoples faces while she ended their lives. This time is no different, right?

This book was such a fabulous ride with the best twists and turns imaginable. It was amazing to see how much world building was in this story. Not in an info dumping way at all. The world and story were layered in a genuinely organic way. Everything developed in a really believable set of outcomes. It felt like the characters’ actions had consequences that fit the world the story is set in.

Just wonderful.
4.5/5 stars, rounded up to 5 stars

I got to meet this author back when Kate and I went to ALA in Chicago in 2023, so he’s been on my list of writers to check out for a bit. Not to mention, I’m always interested in a fantasy story featuring assassins, so this book was an obvious request for me! Plus, the title is intriguing as heck!

This was one of those books that felt familiar and a bit like a homecoming in the best of ways. This isn’t to say that the story, characters, or world were unoriginal, more so it was the fact that they all so neatly referenced many other familiar, beloved traits found in similar fantasy stories. Eveen, in particular, while still very much her own character, also reminded me of other beloved similar characters (Keesan from “Godkiller” comes to mind). She was that perfect combination of hardened, rather sarcastic warrior woman who finds her straight-forward approach to the world suddenly challenged. She was funny, powerful, and charismatic, and I would read more books about her any day of the week!

I also really enjoyed the world-building that went into this book. It’s a novella, so the author had to be judicious with how to build in the framework of this world while not cutting into the fast-paced action of the story. The entire story takes place over a 24-hour period of time, and yet between all of the fighting and running and scheming scenes, I still felt as if I understood this world of undead assassins and the powerful families who would wield them for their own goals. The concept of the undead assassins was also very interesting; it was one of those ideas you find in fantasy stories that are deceptively simple and yet brilliant when played out on the page.

While some of these fantasy elements and characters (both main and side) felt vaguely familiar (again, in the best way), the ending of this book packs a major punch with the way it resolves the greater conflict. I can truly say I didn’t see that last twist coming at all, and not only was it clever, but it perfectly wrapped up many of the threads of the story that had begun to feel impossibly knotted.

I also really enjoyed the numerous side characters sprinkled throughout the book. Eveen will always be my favorite, but her greatness was supported by the variety of other “Dead Cat Tail Assassins” we meet throughout the story, each with their own unique fight style. Rounding out the cast was the target of Eveen’s assassination mission, a young woman with a connection to Eveen’s forgotten past that is shocking and propels the entire story forwards.

I enjoyed the heck out of this story! I sat down and read it one sitting (this is helped by it being a fairly short story), completely drawn in by the fast-moving plot and hilarious main character. I definitely recommend this one for all fantasy readers, especially those looking for an action-packed story that features a compelling leading lady!

Rating 9: Crackling with action and humor, I finished the last page wishing for only one thing: more!

(Link will go live August 7 on The Library Ladies)

Assassin rule #942, read this book. Filled with murder, mystery, mayhem and more, Clark's latest offering may be short, but oh, is it sweet. With a few deft pen stokes the world of the Dead Cat Tail Assassins comes to life. Rich, like a tapestry, the world unfurls on the pages. Sights, sounds and flavors mix with the hijinks of unforgettable characters like Eveen and her fellow undead. This was too short a trip to this fantastic world.
Thanks to NetGalley and Tordotcom for the advance ecopy in exchange for an honest review.

♡ Release Aug.6 ♡
- YA Fantasy
- Dystopia
3.5 🌟
.First this cover is EVERYTHING, it's so beautiful.
.I think this book just wasn't for me honestly. The storyline had potential but just wasn't for me.
.The Dead Cat Tail Assassins are not cats.
Nor do they have tails.
But they are most assuredly dead.

♡ Thank you Netgalley for allowing me this eArc for my honest opinion | review ♡

This was my first P. Djèlí Clark book and I can confidently say that it won’t be my last. I absolutely loved the atmosphere of this book. I desperately want to be in this world more!! I will admit that I found the long chapters a bit sluggish and harder to get through. It did slow me down quite a bit, even making me put this book down for a couple weeks before coming back to it, but I loved it in the end.

this was A LOT of fun. I kinda feel like I would have liked a more punchy ending or better pacing or something, plus sometimes the jokes could be... a lot... but it is so incredibly fun and charming that the tone and characters easily carry it.

also, like, you guys know I hate it when characters that shouldn't talk in like modern SJ language start doing so. well, this book has the most laugh-out-loud example of using "mansplain" in a situation like that. I mean that positively because it's INCREDIBLY funny so props to the author for pulling it off lol

3.5 Stars
For a novella I was impressed with the depth of world building allowed in this story, and I think any fans of the Shades of Magic series (particularly those who like Lila Bard) will enjoy this story and MC.

First of all, I would like to thank Tordotcom Publishing for giving me an advanced readers copy of The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djèlí Clark!

Incredibly atmospheric, I was emerged in the story by the first line! Dark, mysterious, with steampunk vibes, this world draws you in immediately!

Eveen is such an interesting character that leaves you guessing about who she is, who she was, why did she give up her life to be an undead assassin? She's witty, snarky, and loves to poke fun at other people.

Not to mention; she's an absolute badass. She can take on several armed guards easily! The fight scenes were insane, fast paced, and easy to visualize (which is something I tend to struggle with visualizing)

And then she sees her own face in her next victim.

The characters are super interesting and memorable. Fennis is a guy who works with Eveen, despite being alive, and is a foodie. I absolutely adore the banter between him and Eveen!

And then there's the girl, Sky, who looks like Eveen who seemed to come from 60 years in the past who Eveen was hired to kill. Come to find out, they really are the same person!

As the mystery unfolds, Eveen and Sky are hunted by other Dead Cat Tail Assassins. The two work to overcome each assassin as they try to get Sky back where she came from, save Eveen from possibly dying (again), and save the guild from Aeril and her demon dogs' revenge for not completing the job. And, Eveen was contracted from one of the most powerful men in the city, Pol Oranus.

It comes to a point where they find out Sky is Eveen from another universe, and Pol orchestrated it all as revenge for Eveen killing his son.

This book left me gasping from reveals and laughing from witty quips from the main character. The world is one of my favs at this point, I love how intricate it is, with its own stories and histories woven into it.

Clark has been an author I'm always excited to see a new work from ever since "A Dead Djinn in Cairo" came out. He has a real gift for the drawing highly imaginative and visual stories and "The Dead Cat Tale Assassins" is no exception. The absolute highlight of this novella is the setting. A magical city in the midst of a carnival celebration is brought to life with all its sparkle (and food!). The bustle and detail made the world feel brilliantly real and I really appreciated how much of a sense of culture and place was created in a story starring a zombie assassin and her time travelling double.

The story's use of the in-world folk tale of the Clockwork King, the Pirate Princess, and the Golden Bounty works beautifully both a way to make the world feel lived in and as a surprising plot point. In an action novella there isn't a lot of space for world building, but the carnival and the folk tale really allowed Clark to get across the sense that this is a real place, full of real people and evolving traditions.

I appreciated how the ending was foreshadowed without ever being clearly spelled out in advance. I kept *almost* figuring it out, but didn't quite have all the answers predicted by the final pages. The author held enough things back to keep the mystery going until the reveal, but I didn't feel cheated.

My love of the story was tempered by the constant and repetitive cursing. I think Eveen's catchphrase was supposed to be a joke, but most anything gets annoying when repeated that often. I think this character device would have been more tolerable in a longer work or one with multiple points of view just to give readers a bit more variety in language.

I also had trouble with how very young Eveen seems. I had to keep reminding myself that this wasn't a cocky young teenager most every time she spoke. I understand this might have been a way to highlight the fact that as a mind wiped zombie she didn't have the memories necessary to base maturity on. However, this potential was undercut by the fact that Eveen is dealing with her younger self and we are frequently reminded of how much older she is than the version that was conjured up by magic. Though I think these complains may be a bit unfair for a short piece focused on showcasing clever ways to defeat the enemy through both strategy and head busting.

I think that this story will appeal to those looking for a quick read full of creative action and violence.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Tor/Forge for an e-copy of this work in exchange for an honest review.

Dead Cat Tail Assassins was a wild ride with the undead, gods, intricate world building and lots of violence. The insults and trash talk during the fights was so entertaining too. The book spends a lot of the ending going over the law, which reminded me of the nuances of legal interpretation in courtrooms. Can’t say I enjoyed that part. Overall an entertaining read that I liked, but didn’t love.

This was such a fun read. My first time reading this author and I plan to definitely read his other works. It manages to be an action=packed novella with a good amount of humor and dialogue.

The challenge with a sci-fi and fantasy novella is balancing world-building with the length of the story. I think Clark does an excellent job at explaining enough that we get the gist of the world, but not so much that a shorter story is overdrawn with exposition and trying to orient the reader to the world.

I would love to read more in this world!

Before I get into the review, a quick thank you to both NetGalley and the publishers over at Tor allowing me access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review. The Dead Cat Tail Assassins are not cats, nor do they have tails. But they are assassins. This story follows Eveen whose job as an assassin is put at risk when she goes to kill her mark and has a memory--the one thing no Dead Cat Tail Assassin has ever had. The problem is that once a contract is accepted the assassin must complete the contract--or else. We follow Eveen as the sands in the hourglass fall, her time running out, while she tries to get to the bottom of this memory. Can Eveen complete her contract? Or will she be the one meeting the end of a dagger? The Dead Cat Tail Assassins comes out on August 6th and is available for preorder now.

I struggled when it came to the rating for this one. I don't love shorter works because it lacks in the details I really need to feel grounded in a story. Yet this was such a fun and compulsively readable novella. There are little touches here and there that can really ground the reader while also pushing the plot forward, always forward. I did have to fill in quite a few blanks on my own based on my reading history but that's sort of to be expected when you're reading a Fantasy story that is SO short. It says the final copy should be around 200 pages which is just so, so short for a Fantasy. (I've literally written a review for an almost 800 page Fantasy novel saying it should have been longer. I LOVE some chunky Fantasy.) Yet, I feel like I knew enough about the magic to understand what was happening throughout the story. I also felt like the characters felt realistic. I would have loved more from them but they still had enough good and bad qualities to seem well rounded. I will say that I guessed a component of the plot twist very early on. Possibly because of books I've read in the past, but most likely because of a tv show I'm currently watching that had a similar-ish twist. (If I even say the title of the tv show, you'll guess the plot twist so I won't spoil that for you.) I think this would be a great pick up for people who already really enjoy this author, but also for people who don't like getting bogged down in the details of most Fantasy novels. People who don't love Tolkein spending three pages describing a tree but who still want to enjoy Fantasy will probably have a good time with this one.

Overall, this was such a fun and quick read for me. I know that P. Djèlí Clark is a beloved author on the bookish parts of the internet so I felt so lucky to get this ARC. I would love to read more from them in the future.

This is a story of Eveen, a member of the guild of the Dead Cat Tails Assassins sworn to the goddess who is the Matron of Assassins. Eveen is chosen specifically to kill (ship) a particular target by a client who has paid extra to remain anonymous. All guild assassins are dead and have been resurrected to serve their goddess. Eveen discovers that she has been contracted to kill the living version of herself who has been brought forward in time. The writing is fairly solid and the story doesn’t end on a cliffhanger so we do learn the outcome.

4 Stars!

What an entertaining story!!

Bridging fantasy with a touch of steampunk, this is a world where magic and sorcery are abundant, class division is sharply noted, and guilds of hired killers are a dime a dozen ready to carry out a job if the price is right.

Our heroine Eveen is one of those hired killers, having agreed to be resurrected and undead but with many side benefits. She is beholden to the goddess Aeril who demands a strict code of conduct that’s in place for civilized reasons, mainly to minimize collateral damage but always in the goddess’s favor. Aeril obviously has the power to bestow existence after death, but she can easily take one’s life force if they don’t play by her rules.

When Eveen is given what seems like a standard contract, what she uncovers about her target tilts the axis and all bets are off where unbreakable vows just <i>might</i> need to be broken.

To say the least, I loved how this was set in the fictional port city of Tal Abisi, evoking a Middle Eastern historic vibe with hints of New Orleans and India as well. This is a place with opulent trade filled to the brim with luxuries and exotic items but also with dangerous depravity, violence, and horror. Magic is everywhere, forbidden thaumaturgy lurks in dark corners, and the atmosphere is rich with strange occurrences and offbeat creatures.

Clark caught my attention with A Dead Djinn in Cairo, and this has solidly put this author on my radar! Adventurous, filled to the brim with action, Eveen is a scrappy skilled assassin who knows her way around varied fighting techniques and weaponry, all with plenty of tricks up her sleeve and the talent to take advantage of her surroundings as her back up plans have back up plans. She must race against time to find a way out of her binding contract as well as save herself from its fatal repercussions. Will she succeed???

Overall, this was a lot of fun despite the grim tones and themes, and I can only hope Clark brings more to this fascinating world he’s created. The last sentence was perfect, making me cackle with a well placed nod to the reader!

Thank you to the author and Tordotcom via NegGalley for an ecopy in exchange for a review posted on Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6315631884

It is always such a pleasure to experience Clark’s world building, which for me, is right there with Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s. And his unique magical systems are right there with Sanderson’s. I would have to pick the Dead Djinn-verse over this one, but this is still an excellent tale! And there is so much perfection in Aeril, Goddess of Assassins, Lady of Knives, also being the Goddess of Chefs and things culinary….I’ll never watch The Bear the same way again.

Thanks to NetGalley for the early opportunity to read this ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing for the ARC of this Novella.

This is a wickedly funny story about an assassin who takes an unbreakable contract to kill someone from her past. Full of delightful characters and so much wit, I really enjoyed this story. And the ending was just *chef’s kiss*

**Note that this book publishes August 6, 2024**
Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Publishing Group for the eARC in exchange for my review.

This novella was pure adventure from start to finish.
I have never read anything by this author before and I now have to change that.
The time-frame of all the antics of this story takes place during a Mardi Gras-esque revelry in celebration of their folkore. The streets are packed with people and celebration as the mystery unfolds. It was a fun backdrop to picture as everything else was happening.
Both the world and character building seem naturally paced within this book. There are very few “info dump” feeling moments, it's a gradual understanding of both what the world is and Eveen as our main character.
The dialogue was quippy and sassy at certain points and had me chuckling.
I had so much fun with this story, there was constantly something happening that made me want to continue reading. I basically binged this read in two days.
I know this is a standalone, but by the end, I now want a series in this world or another novella spin-off adventure with The Dead Cat Tail Assassins.
Definitely pick this one up if you are a fantasy/sci-fi fan and want a fast-paced read without attachments to need to read a whole series.

Eveen is a member of the Dead Cat Tail Assassins - which means she's an undead follower of the goddess Aeril, one who signed a contract before her death to to be resurrected in exchange for a century of service to the goddess, during which time she is unable to remember anything of her life. Unlike many of Aeril's followers, who are brought back as cooks, Eveen was resurrected as an assassin, complete with the knowledge she needs to complete contracts - contracts that someone else vets and accepts. Eveen has just been presented with her newest contract when the novel begins, and she heads off to complete it. But when she finds her target, something truly unusual happens: Eveen recognizes her target as someone from her former life, leading her to break the third unbreakable law, by not completing a contract she's agreed to carry out.

This novel has an interesting twist on resurrection; Eveen is dead, her sensations muffled, but she eats food for energy, and she is emphatically not a zombie. She lives in the city of Tal Abisi, which teems with various deities, although she concerns herself only with Aeril, the goddess with whom she has a contract. At one point, Aeril herself appears, in response to a summons, and speaks in a truly difficult to read fashion; the written version of her speech is best understood if read out loud, and resembles the speech of a person with a mouthful of marbles. I understand the attempt to make Aeril's speech unique, but this is truly hard to decipher. Still, it's an interesting perspective on magic, assassination, and resurrection.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins is a novella about Eveen - an assassin who is not a cat, does not have a tail, but is most assuredly dead, as she tries to figure out who wants revenge on her, survive the repurcussions of breach of contract and find a legal loophole in a magical contract, all in one night.

The book is a quick and fun read, with an action packed story kicking off early on. The hints and twists, along with the witty characters kept me turning the pages until the end! The characters are engaging and relatable, though I wish we could find out more about Eveen - I hope this is not the last we see of her!

P. Djèlí Clark's sharp and masterfully succinct writing conveys a more complex world than the page count belies. We get the impression of layered characters and subtle politics without going into outright exposition. And I laughed out loud when I heard a mythical fearsome goddess of assassins use the word mansplain.

Thanks to NetGalley, Tor Publishing group and P. Djèlí Clark for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. The rating is 4 1/2 stars, rounded up to 5 stars as the book on the whole is a great standalone read and delivers on what is promised.

[One star for the premise and the whole book; One star for the writing; One star for the story; Half a star for the characters; One star for the world-building - Four and a half stars in total.]