thank you to netgalley and libro fm for the advanced reader copy of this book.
p djeli clark became an audto buy author after i read ring shout. this was an anticipated read for me for 2024 and did not disappoint. it follows Eveen who is an undead assassin onlu one day one of her marks is someone that looks just like her named sky. they spend the rest of the story figuring out how her look alike exists in her timeline and how to send her back home.

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins has such an interesting premise. Eveen is a dead assassin who dedicated her afterlife to the Matron of Assassins. First of all, I love the cover. It's one of the things that drew me to the book. As for the story, it was interesting and action packed. I like the characters, especially Eveen, who is amazing. I like her sarcastic and humorous tone. I really like P. Djeli Clark's worldbuilding. He creates such unique worlds even if it is a novella it really comes to life. As for the audiobook I really enjoyed listening to the narrator. She did an amazing job of bringing the characters to life. Her narration of different characters was fantastic. Overall, I really enjoyed this little novella and I highly recommend it. Thanks to the Netgalley and the publisher for the audio arc.

5 out of 5 stars

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for letting me read an advanced copy of this book in exchanged for an honest review. P.Djelji Clark created a fascinating world and an intriguing main character in Eveen the Eviscerator . I also enjoyed Lynnette R Freeman's narration. I am very intrigued by the world and the necromancy attached to it. i hope the next comes out soon.

I went into this story knowing nothing about what to expect and darn I was pleasantly surprised. This was so original, interesting, well-written and great. Despite being a novella, the world building is top notch and every page was jam packed. I adored this.

I did a tandem read of audiobook and ebook for this book. Thank you to NetGalley, RB Media, and Tor Books for the ARC/ALC.

First, I absolutely loved Eveen’s personality, sense of humor and wit. The narrator for the audiobook was wonderful and really brought her to life.

Second, I loved the world and world building. It’s shown rather than told and done so well!

This was a fast paced book and I kind of figured out a bit about the slight twist toward the end, but the way it all played out, I didn’t see coming and I absolutely loved.

This was a really interesting world and I would love to see more stories take place in it.

DNF at 50%
Very descriptive and beautifully so... but I couldn't quite connect with the characters and so I was left a little bored. I felt like the characters were more a vehicle for the world building rather independent agencies telling their story. Didn't enjoy the audio narrator at all - specifically the way she voiced one of the characters extremely high pitched and whiny like a child.

Clark's writing and Freeman's narration are both on point. Fantastical, funny, and gruesome in all the right ways. Freeman's character voices bring the whole story to a delightful level.

3.75 stars

Audiobook is wonderfully read.

Solid, fun story with terrific world-building. The entire premise is magnificent. Trigger warning on the descriptive violence - though it IS a book about a guild of paid assassins, so you probably can see that coming.

Sadly, I found the main character likeable but not loveable (though, there are completely loveable side characters). There is just something disjointed about Aveen (in my opinion). I also got a bit lost in the lull in the middle ... but then the book shifts gears in a completely sideways manner, and I was super glad that I gave it a chance and kept going.

This book would make an incredible graphic novel, and it maintains that sort of vibe throughout!! I would love to see it adapted into comic form.

Huge gratitude to Netgalley, and the publisher Recorded Books Media, for an Audio-ARC of this title, in exchange for my honest review.

The first time I tried to read this I bounced off it, but I think I just wasn't in the right mood for it. Because the second time I absolutely devoured it.

The worldbuilding in this is fantastic. There are so many intricate and strange details that are described just enough for me to be able to picture them clearly, while still treated as commonplace by Eveen, our POV character. It really felt like a whole fleshed-out world. There was the shimmer, the university, the sky bison, the festival and story behind it, the assassin goddess... It all felt so real

I did not see a single twist coming. After the fact I could see all the hints that laid the groundwork for them, but I never put the clues together ahead of time. Which makes for a very satisfying reading experience.

Eveen was such a good character. She was incredibly sympathetic and easy to root for. All of the characters were excellent, really. They were so unique and felt so real. The writing all around was just top notch.

The audiobook performance was excellent. The narrator brought all the characters to life with easily distinguishable voices and performed the story instead of just reading it.

Highly recommend.

*Thanks to tordotcom and Recorded Books for providing an early copy for review.

One of my favorite books I’ve read this year!

Imagine being contracted to kill a past version of yourself, and when you fail to do so your own boss sends people after you to finish the job, so while you’re trying to keep both of yourselves alive you need to also figure who the heck paid you to kill yourself!!

It’s a shame how short it was because I could definitely read 10 more books in this universe!

This book was really fun. It managed to pack a fully built world and interesting characters into a short book. The narrator was excellent and really brought the characters to life. Highly recommend.

La novela corta es una distancia bastante traicionera para los autores en general, porque no tiene la extensión más larga que favorece la creación de mundo y no tiene la extensión más corta que permite comprimir la historia y buscar un giro final epatante. Sin embargo, P. Djèlí Clark parece abonado a ella, con obras como The Black God’s Drums.


En esta ocasión, el autor nos entrega una obra de fantasía que homenajea a la fantasía más pura, con inicios que parecen bastante típicos pero con unos giros muy atractivos. ¿Que tenemos una sociedad de asesinos como en Grayshade? Pues ahora resulta que sus miembros son no muertos que han olvidado sus vidas pasadas. ¿Que tienen que cumplir una serie de normas a rajatabla? Pues ya me buscaré yo algún agujero legal para escabullirme.

Es un mundo secundario que no tiene referentes claros en el nuestro que el autor puede llenar con su imaginación, creando los monstruos que le apetezca y aderezándolo con magia. O quizá no es que haya pocos referentes es que hay tantos que la mezcolanza da algo totalmente inesperado. La ambientación de Tal Abisi también es intencional, como dice el propio autor: una ciudad imaginada, construida con fragmentos de las ciudades-estado medievales swahili, los templos de Angkor Watt, los canales de la Venecia renacentista e incluso las calles del Londres isabelino, con una mezcla cultural que insinúa influencias que van desde el Carnaval anterior a la Cuaresma hasta el dialecto jamaicano.

La protagonista de la historia es Eveen, a quien su última misión forzará a enfrentarse a un pasado que no recuerda pero que le ha llevado hasta su situación actual. Clark recurre al humor como recurso en bastante ocasiones a lo largo de la lectura y es muy fácil entrar en el juego porque es divertido y ocurrente, un entretenimiento distinto a lo que podríamos esperar de un autor que critica el racismo en Ring Shout o el colonialismo en A Master of Djinn. No deja de lado su prosa evocativa y detallista, pero la aplica de otra manera.

En cuanto a la labor de Lynnette R. Freeman, me parece más que adecuada, pero tengo un problema con los chasquidos y ruiditos que forman parte del texto original y que entiendo que tienen que trasladarse al audiolibro, pero a mí me enervan.

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins es una lectura ligera y entretenida, un tentempié perfecto para el verano y sus rigurosas temperaturas.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for this ARC/audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This author cannot do any wrong, in my opinion. They are one of my favorite fantasy authors and this was one of the books I was most looking forward to this year.

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins is action packed and filled with a lot of humorous moments. The whole book was filled with undead assassins (that don't like to be called zombies), murderous heroines, and fast paced. The narration was also great!

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins are, as the name partially implies, dead assassins. Eveen is one of them, having made a contract of some kind in her former life with the goddess of assassins and chefs that brought her back as a clean slate, no memories, to serve a century of killing. There are a few rules of assassining, one of which is that you must, MUST, complete the contract to the letter. So when Eveen is brought face to face with a memory that she shouldn't have, she has to try and fix things before dawn, or things will go one thousand types of bad. She goes on a rollicking adventure through her city while fighting the assassins sent after her by the guild and while unraveling a mystery bigger than she could have imagined.
The characters were fun; mostly it was just Skye and Eveen, who were both very compelling and interesting in conjunction with one another. A lot of the side characters, especially the other assassins, were minor, but still really interesting and just fun takes. All four different assassins were unique from Eveen and each other, and honestly from any sort of mold that had been set. The setting was fun, and making it during what essentially seemed like Carnival added a really good vibe. The way that mythology and folklore was woven in was fairly seamless, a little clunky sometimes in part because it didn't seem to belong, but mostly it was interesting and unique. The magic system was cool, especially the godling contracts and the way he plays into the legal business at hand. What's also impressive is that the whole novel takes place in a night, and it simultaneously feels like it and doesn't.
Lynette R Freeman is an incredible narrator. She breathes life into each character. The range in her voice is spectacular. I could listen to her read the phone book and she would make it interesting. Her work was really great.

4.5 stars!

THIS WAS SO FUN. I have yet to read a full novel by P. Djèlí Clark, but this is my second novella from him and I need to read more because I absolutely love his writing and his stories. The Dead Cat Tail Assassins is one of the most unique premises I have come across, and I didn't realize how connected I would get to these characters in 200 pages (under 5 hour audiobook). I think you should really just go into this book blind, but some things I loved about it:

- this was funny! similarly to another Tor book I've read recently (A Sorceress Comes to Call) the high action and drama was
- I was really compelled by the main character, Eveen. I like how we slowly learned more about her, and I found myself very invested in both her and her wellbeing. I also thought the side characters were a fun addition and felt very unique and more than just background people.
- The world was SO interesting. I would love to see P. Djèlí Clark return to this world because the way he used a fable to frame it was super interesting and every little bit of worldbuilding I was just marveled by what was going on.

As for the audiobook, I really enjoyed the narrator and felt that they brought the story to life. I would definitely recommend this!

Thank you to Netgalley and RB Media for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I have previously read this book in eBook format and enjoyed the world-building and unique use of a sci-fi trope in such a vivid fantasy world. The audiobook narration elevates the narrative which is humorous as well as thrilling with a cast of characters that are incredibly diverse and delightfully camp. You can't go wrong with enjoying this story in either text or narration. But I have to say, the narration really engages you in the tone that the story is intended in a way that the text may alienate sometimes.

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins is a novella about an undead assassin who is sent to do a job that does not go as planned.

Assassins, gods, adventure, sorcery, this is a grimdark tale laced with humor. The word is dark, cruel, and vibrant, and the story races through to the end.

I liked Eveen's pragmatism and love of pulpy adventure novels, but the word was too cruel for me to love it.

Lynnette R. Freeman is an excellent narrator who really brought the story to life.

Thanks to NetGalley and Recorded Books for access to the audio version of this book.

P. Djélí Clark's books have always been unique and engaging. The Dead Cat Tail Assassins is no different. The worldbuilding, fun characters, and action packed scenes stood out. It was an enjoyable read that did a good job of blending genres to create a vivid world. The humor made the characters personable and made me more invested in their stories . The narration added to the thrill of the story.


Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ALC.

The rules for the undead assassins are simple: a contract has to be fair, they can only kill those they are contracted to murder, and once you accept the mission, you have to carry it out no matter what. Eveen is contracted to kill someone during the annual Festival of the Clockwork King, but when the night takes an unexpected turn, she finds herself with only a few hours left to come up with a solution while also having to navigate all sorts of obstacles. Time is ticking and dawn is just around the corner.

I really enjoyed the premise of this fantasy novella. I liked the dry humor and the idea of a group of undead assassins with no memories of when they were alive, as well as the lore in that world regarding the Pirate Princess, the Golden Bounty and the Clockwork King. Plus, certain twist towards the beginning really took me by surprise and made me very excited about where the story would go. But I have to say that I didn’t enjoy the second half of the story as much as the first, especially since I found the way the conflict is resolved rather uninteresting.

Summing up, The Dead Cat Tail Assassins is a fun fantasy story with assassins, goddesses and a couple of sci-fi elements. I highly recommend listening to the audiobook, as Lynnette R. Freeman did an outstanding job narrating it, giving each character a unique voice.

The Dead Cat Tails Assassins has a quirky title and a bold story concept. I'm talking about a dead female Assassin whose current assignment involves magic, time travel, a multiverse, politics, and sassy Goddesses with sharp tongues and teeth. How would I describe this? Well imagine if John Wick was in a fantasy world with Mages and Gods... and John Wick was a dead, brown-skinned Diva with deadly blades 🤣 That's a good description!

This book was dedicated to the culture... and the culture thanks my dear author 💜

So readers, are you ready to be dropped into a pure fantasy story? There will be no detours into unrequited love stories. There's no stumbling into any genres just for the pretty or dramatic scenery. Nope. And theres none of the usual fluff. Personally, I've become a fan of this type of writing. When you're reading dozens of these novels a year, you get the gist. With that in mind, this may not be for the casual fantasy reader as there is no beach to slowly walk into the depths. The story starts in the middle of something new to characters and the world. We don't get hours of backstory or pages of explanation of how this world functions. As a reader, you catch on as you go.

The main character was well done. Since she doesn't have any memories, the reader doesn't get anything about her past. But as the story progresses, you realize you're following along with someone who is dangerous enough to be feared, sweet enough to be a lover, strong-willed enough to not just do as she is expected, skilled enough to taunt other assassins, and righteous enough to stand up for an underprivileged community. She has the layers of a character that could hold down a series, but I hear this is a stand-alone novel.

One thing that ears didn't care for was some of the dialogue. This is not earth, but characters used earth phrases such as referring to someone as a "Badd B**ch". That's a very much earthy lingo that can break the reality seal for some readers. I would have preferred the author sticking with creating their own lingo as was done with "shipping".

The narrator, Lynnette R. Freeman, was like warm brownies on a cold day good. She was giving out voices, accents, good dialect, and perfect tone for days. I am so excited. I will be searching for audiobooks narrated by her in the future.

Thank you Netgalley and Recorded Books for an advanced copy of the audiobook.