this was unique and weird at the same time, in a good way! The Dead Cat Tail Assassins are professional assassins who were dead but also alive and has conscious mind but didn't remember one bit about their past live the moment they serve the Matron of Assassins. But when Eveen got her recent mission, she recognized her target and couldn't carry out what she's supposed to do (kill the target). turns out, that target is her past self who's plucked from the past.

it was really fast paced, full of action, mixed with light humor. quite gruesome since we're dealing with assassins. but it was interesting. the audiobook added more drama to the narrative and i enjoyed it! the narrator nailed it, felt like there's more than 1 narrator which is an amazing feat.

I really enjoyed djinn stories from Clark, but I feel that this world is not living up to magical, colorful Cairo he created in his previous books. Look I get it - Cairo is real so it doesn't really need a lot of work, just a nice spin. Here Clark comes up with his own alternative world and just draws the sketch and forgets about finishing up. The story lacks in originality and the main character is just another cocky, sarcastic heroine that I've seen in tons of other books. The whole magical intrigue is solved with a bit of magical portals and luck, so in the end all of it felt rushed and not satisfying at all. But I've come to terms with Clark's works being uneven, so I will be looking forward his future books anyway.

I liked the narrator a lot, she put a lot of effort in giving different tone to each voice, but I had some trouble understanding what the deities were saying in the finale because of strong accent.

I loved the world set up here but the main characters were not it…

I received my audiobook from netgally and I have to say, the narrator SAVED this book for me. She sounded amazing, and had incredible range when it came to voicing different characters.

The main character however.. was really really annoying. She sounded like a whiny teenager when she’s supposed to be 30 ( plus the years as an undead assassin ) and kept saying the same cheesy line over and over and over again. The side characters were cool and I loved the different assassins but we would only see them for a moment before they were gone and then we would be left with the annoying main characters after.

If you want to pick this up I would 1,000% pick up the audiobook over a physical copy!

One of the best among her peers at a guild of assassins in the ancient city of Tal Abisi, Eveen the Eviscerator is a consummate professional. She has never had difficulty following the three key rules of her profession - the most important of which is to complete her task upon pain of severe retribution.

Until now.

When her latest assignment brings her face to face with a past that is decidedly inconvenient, there is little wriggle room for Eveen to manage the task that she is sworn to complete without compromising who she is versus who she is expected to be...

There is a great deal packed into a relatively compact story here, and the world building is both wildly imaginative and world class. P Djeli Clark does not disappoint with this latest offering!

There was so much world building in such a short book! Between clockwork kings and goddesses who have the ability to be corporeal entities, and undead assassins, and magic, I feel like this story could have been stretched twice as long. But instead it packs quite a punch in a fast-paced novella. There were hints almost from the beginning about where and how Sky came to be, and so I felt the end wrapped up nicely. This was the first P. Djèlí Clark book I've read after hearing a ton of good things about her work. I'll definitely be checking out more of it.

I've listened to an audiobook arc of this book.

It was my first time reading from the author, but I've heard a lot of good things before, so I was really excited to try out something by them.

Overall, I've really enjoyed the book, it's really short but I've felt like the world was fleshed out really well. The concept of undead assassins is really fun and I feel like all the technical points were well explained.

The ideas we follow in the story are ones I really like (I don't want to spoil them as they are connected to the reveals in the end) and the author's sense of humor clicked really well with me, though it was close to 'too much' a few times.

I've really liked the characters, they were quite quirky but endearing.

To me, the pacing felt a tiny bit off, but I rarely enjoy fast paced scenes, so they've taken me out of the story a few times.

My one true complaint is, I wasn't able to understand one of the characters in the end and I even went to an ebook for help, but their style of talking was just not easy to decipher for me. I appreciate characters having different voices, but this one defeated me. 😅

Overall, I really recommend this book if you're looking for a quick, fun palate cleanser!

Thank you to the Publisher and Netgalley for granting me access to an arc.

Thanks to NetGalley for the Audio ARC!

3.5/5 stars

Narrator and Production quality - fantastic, though the goddesses accents were a little tough to understand....but it fit

The story itself, this was my favorite of the 3 books I've read from P. Djeli Clark but I can't say I loved it, but I did enjoy it. The world and the characters were fascinating and I felt like the main characters had a good amount of development - but by the end, it felt like the the story just got wrapped up with "whoops, magic and portals and that's why this works!"....it wasn't super satisfying and felt very rushed and chaotic.

I think my issue with Djeli's writing is consistent in this regard - fantastic worldbuilding and fascinating characters and unique plot concepts....but the execution always feels like absolute chaos and like I'm thrown in the middle without enough information to fully feel like I have gotten my feet under me.

That said I do think this is a good book (if not a great one) and I suspect it will be popular - I do still recommend it to those that enjoy morally grey and dark characters/plot!

Detailed world building, intense battles, and light humor make this fantasy story a good time.

Eveen is a skilled assassin, resurrected to carry out dangerous missions on the behalf of her benefactor goddess. But when the impossible happens and a job goes awry, she must decide how far she's willing to go for answers.

The vibrant worldbuilding and colorful cast of characters keep the story moving quickly even while the wait for the obvious multiverse reveal feels interminable. A twisty tracking down of clues culminates in an exciting finale with a few surprises.

Lynnette R. Freeman does a great job with the audiobook narration! It's definitely worth looking for the audio version to enjoy this book.

I can honestly say that I have never read anything like The Dead Cat Tail Assassins before. It was a fantasy book about a dead assassin (resurrected and wiped of her memories) who is contracted to kill someone who she comes to realize she may have a connection to from her life.

This book explored a lot of unique concepts that I cannot go into detail about without spoiling some of my favorites elements. But I’ll just say that it kept me on my toes!

I LOVED narrator, Lynnette R. Freeman’s voice! She gave a slightly eerie vibe to the narration and yet somehow also made it sound gorgeous as our heroines journeyed through this story.

Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for the advanced listening copy of the audiobook (which I sadly didn’t get the chance to listen to until after publication, but I still loved). This was a 4 star read for me, and I’ll be curious to read other books by P. Djèlí Clark.

I have not only liked but LOVED every single one of PDC’s works that I’ve read until now. So it dismays me greatly to admit that I absolutely could not stand this book.

Suffice to say that it’s as simple as this: the humor didn’t work for me whatsoever and the story and characters felt like complete afterthoughts to the lore. While Clark threaded a similar needle perfectly for me in the <i>Dead Djinn</i> universe, here I found the endless exposition and convoluted world-building exhausting and frustrating, especially in something this short. I hated spending time with the main character - and not in a way I felt challenged or intrigued me - and thought the prose was uncharacteristically YA in its simplicity and emphasis on ~quirky~ punchlines. I did not find it funny or charming, and I think, unfortunately, given this book’s tone, that meant it was DOA for me.

I could not be more disappointed. I will still be there to check out his next work with bells on, but I so rarely have to force myself to trudge through a book the way I did here. Really unfortunate.

Thank you to RBmedia and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review

3.5 stars. I enjoyed this fast paced fantasy! I felt the concept was very unique and the story was fast paced and engaging. I enjoyed the audiobook narration and enjoyed the narrators portrayal of all the different characters. I enjoy stories that take place over one evening and loved this format! I loved how the story unfolded and was very satisfied with the ending! The last line was iconic.

Clark continues to cement himself as one of my favorite authors! I loved everything about this book. It's dark, but very funny. The setting is both unique yet strangely familiar. Like some of his other works, Clark is able to reach across multiple genres and put story elements together that no one thinks of... and works! In this case, he pairs things like steampunk elements, the multiverse, pirates, and bloodthirsty goddesses... and somehow connects it all into this masterful story that is quite short. I loved it. Also, this book has 0 romance in it, and I loved it all the more for it. The friendship and familial* relationships are allowed really shine. It also allows the plot to move quickly.

This book is a ton of fun and I highly recommend it to all fantasy lovers.

I received an audio arc from Net Galley to review - thanks!

This book was short and fun! The story moves quickly and features several distinct characters. The narrator was sooo good and able to voice several different characters in a way that brought them to life when added to the written descriptions. Each character was entertaining and played such an important role in the progression of the story. I can’t think of any one of them that I would change however some did seem cliche and leaned heavily on stereotypes. I also think this would be a good foundation for a movie or TV show - maybe one of the adult animated sitcoms.

The book contains references to extreme violence (torture, dismemberment, etc.), on page fights, and language. None of this distracted from the story and seemed to be placed well to move the story along.

Rated 4 stars

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.