My first book by this author. This was a fun story. I enjoyed the magical world, which had enough explanation to feel immersed. Eveen and Sky were great characters, both sassy and strong. Secondary characters were also well developed.

The plot was well paced and kept me engaged. A quick read with humor and cool fight scenes. Even though there was plenty of gore, it was still light and fun. I could easily picture this as a movie.

I would have happily read a full length book about Eveen and her adventures as a Dead Cat Tail Assassin. I felt like she was well written and witty, the story was engaging, and the side characters, while not entirely fleshed out, still felt entertaining. The story lost me a little bit in the last chapter - I get what the author was doing with emphasizing the gods' speech and how they were speaking like they hadn't in ages, but it crashed my reading speed when I was trying to decipher what they were trying to say by sounding out their sentences out loud.

Overall, enjoyed this! This was my first book by Clark, and it will not be my last.

An imaginative, refreshing, action-packed adventure story with likeable characters.

The ending dropped a star rating for me. The dialect of the goddesses was fun but difficult to follow, and what happens to the villain in the end felt off-putting.

Looking forward to reading more from this author!

*Many thanks to NetGalley and TOR for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’m not going to lie, the reasons I was initially drawn to read this book were the cover and also the fact that the word ‘cat’ is in the title. Unfortunately this book didn’t wow me. I couldn’t connect with the writing at all, and I struggled trying to get into the story.

I do think this book will be well received as it seems that this is a well loved author and I do hope to give their work another try in the future.

I will eat up every single word written by P. Djeli Clark I swear....the way this author weaves worlds is like nothing else I have read before. Eveen is an assassin doing regular assassin stuff until she gets a contract that maybe doing her regular assassin stuff on might not work out so well on. What ensues is an adventure through the rich, vibrant town of Tal Absil, full of intriguing characters at every turn. There was never a dull moment in this story, I was enthralled from beginning to the end, drawn in by the rich prose and laughing at the humorous quips in between. This story is definitely another must read by P. Djeli Clark.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers who allowed me to review a digital version of this story in advance!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I have been wanting to read a book by the author for a while and thought this would be perfect to start because it caught ny attention right away with the title. And it did not disappoint! This was so fun and I found the plot so creative it kept me gripped until the end. Also adored the characters, the main one specifically. Did not expect to like her so much but she was a great character to follow.

The only negative thing I can say about the book is that iflt felt too short, since Im a character -driven person I really wanted to spend a little more time with the characters.

I will definitely pick other books from the author, and cant wait to see what he does next!

P. Djèlí Clark and his world-building is one of the reasons I love his work. Immersing myself in the world of Eveen and Sky was a lot of fun.

I am teetering between a 3-3.5.
World=5.
Character development…not so much. I did not feel a strong connection to most of the characters, not because they weren’t interesting, but because I wasn’t given enough about them to truly invest in them.

I’m glad I read this, but it was more a miss for me. I still ❤️ P. Djèlí Clark’s works and will continue to read everything he puts out.

Thank you Tor and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This story sucked me in from the beginning. I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and storyline. The world was a new one for me, undead assassins working for a goddess. I felt enveloped in this world and invested in the main characters journey. This was an enjoyable and easy read.

Eveen the Eviscerator is a skilled guild assassin and also she's dead. Or is it undead? Either way she's definitely not a zombie or a ghoul and she can't remember any of her past before she signed a contract with the Matron of Assassins. Eveen's latest contract falls on the Festival of the Clockwork King and thrusts her into a memory, her first memory, and sends her on a wild night of investigation and survival.

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins proves that a rich and engaging fantasy world, with a full pantheon, and political system, can be built in 200 pages. Clark's worldbuilding was so seamless and compelling with a humorous undertone to the narrative. Eveen was a fantastic character with depth, edge and wit. I adored her and being there as she investigated her past and took us through her city.

Hands down an amazing standalone short fantasy. I will venture to say that if you like the tone and pacing of Gideon the Ninth you will enjoy this book.

Few writers in this period are as great at world-building as Clark, and I find myself wishing to be an extra in nearly each one, just a shop-owner or also-ran, adjacent to the goings-on of our main characters.

The Assassins could each be deserving of a novel or novella-length tale of their origin and day-to-day, but here we start with Eveen, with an penchant for knives and maybe a knack for bending but not breaking rules, of which there are Three Bigs.

Eveen picks up what she thinks is a standard contract only to stare into the face of *signal drops*.

Fast-paced, funny in all the right moments, and deeply satisfying. I can't wait to revisit.

My first read by this author, and it was okay. Took a while to get into. I thought the cover was beautiful and it was a quick read.

An undead assassin bound to a goddess takes up a contract and encounters someone impossible. While this novella is a complete arc the rich fantasy world and vivid characters P. Djèlí Clark created will leave readers wanting more.

I would recommend for readers who enjoy snarky main characters with questionable morality and who won’t mind graphic depictions of violence. The main character is an assassin after all.

Impressive. Every sentence was thoughtfully crafted. The writing was so immersive. This is my first read from this author and I really was drawn into the story. I don’t think I have ever read a book where the words seemed to each be specifically picked out and placed in a way for maximum description. Honestly I was just impressed. The interactions between Sky and Eveen were some of my favorites. Piece by piece we understand them both more and more. I felt like I was in the streets of Tal Abisi and in every fight scene. Loved Aeril’s description as well. Eveen was a sarcastic bad ass of a character, I loved this whole book.

Favorite Quote: “A moment of quiet lasted so long she wanted to stab it. Finally Sky sat back and spoke. “I’m studying to be a surgeon.”

Favorite Scene In 1-3 Words: Quads at Baseema’s

4 stars, 7.71 on CAWPILE

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor for a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

Another novella that I wish was longer! I LOVED this world. We get so much world building in such a short time. I love the concept of undead assassins. Despite only being 224 pages, I felt like I was able to get to know and care about the characters, which is no easy feat to do in such few pages.
I also need to note that the writing was so enjoyable and humorous! I found myself smirking and chuckling at multiple points throughout this story.

I need more. I sincerely hope that this isn't the last we see of Eveen, Fennis, and Sky!

Highly recommend everyone picking this one up!

P Djeli Clark does it again! The Dead Cat Tail Assassins is an almost genre-hop from one of my favourite authors. Nevertheless it was incredibly exciting to read a full adult high fantasy novel from him, especially one dealing with funky undead assassins, gods, and just really fucked up magic. Clark’s tone and style of writing is incredibly witty, something I haven’t seen them flex before, but is a delight to experience. And hell yes to eating the rich! Literally!

Thanks to Netgalley and Tordotcom for sending me a review copy of The Dead Cat Tail Assassins.

P. Djeli Clark doesn't miss! His world building and character development are unmatched. Such a charming tale of assassins (that really don't do *that* much assassinating here,) parallel lives and universes, evil bureaucrats, and unique worldbuilding that I have come to expect and love when reading all of Clark's books. My only complaint is a similar one I have to most of his other books, though. I would love to spend more time in this world and with these characters. As well as he develops them in a novella format, it makes it really hard to say goodbye by the end. I always seem to be wanting more, but really, in the best way possible.

P. Djeli Clark is an incredibly strong author and this one was a great selection. This world of assassins built by him was simply gorgeous. Thanks for the arc.

This was a fun and fast paced novella. Eveen is an undead assassin who is part of a guild bound to a goddess. She has to complete whatever contract she gets or she breaks one of the three most important rules that could cause her guild to be destroyed. I really enjoyed Ring Shout (the audiobook is sooo good!) by this author so I wanted to try another book of his. I enjoyed the action and the humor that was sprinkled into it. Eveen was a fun character to follow along in this story. I think he set up an excellent setting and enjoyed the mythology he created but I didn’t really understand why he used terms such as edgelord and neck beards, it just seemed a little out of place. The ending was wrapped up nicely but still left me wanting more

Thank you to NetGalley and TOR publishing for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first book by P Djèlí Clark even though he’s been on my radar for a while now. I didn’t quite know what to expect when starting the book but I soon realized what a master world builder Clark is. For such a small book, the world was fully fleshed out and the reader has an easy time understanding what’s going on in the world.
One of the issues I had with the book was the pacing- the book is fairly short (it’s a novella) but sometimes I felt that the story was dragging a bit. The last 20% was very fast paced and enjoyable but I wish it hadn’t taken me so long to start to really enjoy it. I’ll definitely be checking out other books by Clark in the future.
Thank you to NetGalley and TOR for an eARC of this book.

P. Djèlí Clark just never misses for me.

We get this clockwork world of undead assassins and crime deals gone wrong and it's all wrapped up in this sense of adventure and confident wit. I eat it up every time.

If you like the Dead Djinn Universe, you'll love this.

Thank you to the author, publishers, and Netgalley for an advanced e reader copy in exchange for an honest review.