I think this one is more enjoyable for the worldbuilding than the actual story. A fascinating world and characters that would be fun to explore further, for sure. I really liked the premise of the Dead Cat Tail Assassins and would've liked to see more about how they operate, but this story is more focused on an Unusual Case, so I don't feel like I really got much of a sense of the overall world/organization. But Clark is a fantastic writer and I'm grateful to Netgalley for giving me an advanced audio copy.

One strange thing: every store/source says this book is just over 200 pages and a 4:45 audiobook. Even Netgalley lists that as the length. But the file I received is 7:22, and it's all story with no bonus material to make up the extra time. I'm not going to complain about a book by Clark being longer than I expected (especially when that's still relatively on the short side) but it's still very odd.

Reread via audio. The narrator is perfect. I think she embodies Eveen exactly how I imagined her. This works great at a higher speed as well (I listened 2x).

I knew from the start that this was going to be a 5-star read, and I was absolutely right. This is now an all-time favorite. This was written specifically for me. This is such a fun story, one I would highly recommend once it comes out next year.

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins is a novella focused on Eveen, an undead assassin whose newest mission goes very wrong, leaving her to deal with the consequences. The world and characters immediately suck you into the story, making it hard to put down. There were so many interesting elements to this city and the world, and at no point was I bored. Eveen is exactly the kind of main female character that I love; she's snarky, strong, and effortlessly hilarious.

I hope the author writes more in this world, because I would read anything he decided to write and will for sure be checking out his backlog.

⭐️ 3.5 STARS ⭐️

Okay, so the premise of this book was so interesting but the story had many highs and just as many lows. The story started off a bit slow but with not a lot of world building and the reader immediately tossed into multiple action scenes, which are very engaging and fun. However, my main problem with this book is that the writing is not the best, especially during the ending scene. I couldn’t tell what either of the goddesses were saying and it was just chaotic trying to find the context of the scene and how it progressed. I think that is one big thing that should be changed in the final copy of the book but otherwise, this was fun and a quick, interesting read.