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soapsoapsoap's review
4.0
This was honestly not what I was expecting to get out of this novella- I read the synopsis again after receiving this ARC, and was intrigued (again).
Eveen is an undead assassin- part of an elite group of other undead like her, souls bound to the goddess of assassins and fate sealed. When a new job comes up on the night of the biggest festival in town, Eveen isn’t expecting her past to get dug up, and in the process, her entire life getting turned upside down.
This novella was equally gripping and immersive, to the point where you’re like, “Oh… that was a novella?” I haven’t read any of Clark’s work before, but I have marked Ring Shout and A Master of Djinn as TBRs, and let me just say this: you can tell that Clark cares about his craft, and that he truly does pour effort and love into every sentence he concocts. This world felt incredibly flushed out, even more astounding looking at the page count (224 pages?!?!) and the character dynamics were absolutely amazing! Clark is now definitely on my map. Am I saying that this book is flawless? No. It’s extremely action packed and sometimes tries to do a bit too much in its small frame. It’s not a literary masterpiece. However, I recommend you give it a shot!
— thanks to the publisher for the ARC —
— reading updates —
pov: you stayed up late even though you have two tests tomorrow because this was such an enjoyable read
she’s getting juiccyyyyyy
AAAAA I GOT AN ARC!!!
I received an e-ARC from the publisher through Netgalley. This did not influence my opinions. All thoughts are my own.
Eveen is an undead assassin- part of an elite group of other undead like her, souls bound to the goddess of assassins and fate sealed. When a new job comes up on the night of the biggest festival in town, Eveen isn’t expecting her past to get dug up, and in the process, her entire life getting turned upside down.
This novella was equally gripping and immersive, to the point where you’re like, “Oh… that was a novella?” I haven’t read any of Clark’s work before, but I have marked Ring Shout and A Master of Djinn as TBRs, and let me just say this: you can tell that Clark cares about his craft, and that he truly does pour effort and love into every sentence he concocts. This world felt incredibly flushed out, even more astounding looking at the page count (224 pages?!?!) and the character dynamics were absolutely amazing! Clark is now definitely on my map. Am I saying that this book is flawless? No. It’s extremely action packed and sometimes tries to do a bit too much in its small frame. It’s not a literary masterpiece. However, I recommend you give it a shot!
— thanks to the publisher for the ARC —
— reading updates —
pov: you stayed up late even though you have two tests tomorrow because this was such an enjoyable read
she’s getting juiccyyyyyy
AAAAA I GOT AN ARC!!!
I received an e-ARC from the publisher through Netgalley. This did not influence my opinions. All thoughts are my own.
carlyguari's review
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
That was just a lot of fun 😄
Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for a digital advanced copy of this e-book in exchange for my honest review.
I really enjoyed this quick little novella. It was fast paced, a little self aware, and funny! It could be due to recency bias but the book gave me Hazbin Hotel vibes. Mostly in the way the characters act, talk, and react to each other. I also enjoyed reading a Black/POC Fantasy book. Being a cis female white reader, I appreciate expanding my consumption to voices and experiences that are not like my own and challenging my assumed cis/whiteness bias. I am really interested in reading more P. Djeli Clark!
My copy did have some typos and weird sentence structure which may be due to the fact is was an ARC.
Who its for?: fantasy readers, fast-paced action, get out of a reading slump, not so hard to think about
Who is it not for?: People who want more complex/epic fantasy, People who think to hard when they read (that can be me sometimes!), people who don't like a little bit of gore.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for a digital advanced copy of this e-book in exchange for my honest review.
I really enjoyed this quick little novella. It was fast paced, a little self aware, and funny! It could be due to recency bias but the book gave me Hazbin Hotel vibes. Mostly in the way the characters act, talk, and react to each other. I also enjoyed reading a Black/POC Fantasy book. Being a cis female white reader, I appreciate expanding my consumption to voices and experiences that are not like my own and challenging my assumed cis/whiteness bias. I am really interested in reading more P. Djeli Clark!
My copy did have some typos and weird sentence structure which may be due to the fact is was an ARC.
Who its for?: fantasy readers, fast-paced action, get out of a reading slump, not so hard to think about
Who is it not for?: People who want more complex/epic fantasy, People who think to hard when they read (that can be me sometimes!), people who don't like a little bit of gore.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Death
Moderate: Gore
Minor: Child death
lilrobinreads's review
4.0
The Dead Cat Tail Assassins.
That title was enough to make me want to read this book. This was such a fun read set in a fantasy world with magic and steampunk vibes.
Our main character Eveen, is a member of the Dead Cat Tail assassins and when she goes to complete her next job, finds that she cannot. What comes next is a fun adventure that had me hooked from start to finish.
The characters in this book were great- we meet deadly assassins, necromancers. This is a short read, less than 300 pages and honestly I wish it was longer. It was just such a fun adventure filled with humor and beautiful descriptions. I don't know how the author did it but I felt like I wanted to eat this dish with crispy ants.
I would recommend to any one that enjoys a magical fun filled mystery/adventure.!
Thank you to Netgalley for this e-Arc!
That title was enough to make me want to read this book. This was such a fun read set in a fantasy world with magic and steampunk vibes.
Our main character Eveen, is a member of the Dead Cat Tail assassins and when she goes to complete her next job, finds that she cannot. What comes next is a fun adventure that had me hooked from start to finish.
The characters in this book were great- we meet deadly assassins, necromancers. This is a short read, less than 300 pages and honestly I wish it was longer. It was just such a fun adventure filled with humor and beautiful descriptions. I don't know how the author did it but I felt like I wanted to eat this dish with crispy ants.
I would recommend to any one that enjoys a magical fun filled mystery/adventure.!
Thank you to Netgalley for this e-Arc!
jenmtnbike's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Murder, and Violence
Minor: Child death
blankpagepanic's review
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
the_readingduck's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
It's always a pleasure to read P. Djèli Clark's book and I'm very happy I got an early access to this one !
It's a shift from your regular hired-assassin tropes, no one falls in love in that one, but the mystery is a thick one to crack.
I really liked Eveen as a main character and I enjoyed the world building and magic system.
It's a short read and I wish we could have had something bigger as to explore the world more, but it was extrememy entertaining.
It was however a bit hard to understand the goddesses at the end.
It's a shift from your regular hired-assassin tropes, no one falls in love in that one, but the mystery is a thick one to crack.
I really liked Eveen as a main character and I enjoyed the world building and magic system.
It's a short read and I wish we could have had something bigger as to explore the world more, but it was extrememy entertaining.
It was however a bit hard to understand the goddesses at the end.
jenhurst's review
4.0
3.5.
I have really enjoyed P Djeli Clark’s other books and I think this had a super unique premise. The writing was good and I liked the main character a lot. My issue was that because it as a novella it wasn’t fleshed out enough for my liking personally. I would’ve liked it if it another 100 pages longer I think. The world building could’ve been a bit fuller and we could’ve got better pacing.
I do recommend this if you are a fan of the authors other works or like novellas.
Thank you to netgalley and tordotcom for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review!
I have really enjoyed P Djeli Clark’s other books and I think this had a super unique premise. The writing was good and I liked the main character a lot. My issue was that because it as a novella it wasn’t fleshed out enough for my liking personally. I would’ve liked it if it another 100 pages longer I think. The world building could’ve been a bit fuller and we could’ve got better pacing.
I do recommend this if you are a fan of the authors other works or like novellas.
Thank you to netgalley and tordotcom for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review!
julalbert56's review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This was a fun and mysterious adventure story with tons of cool fights and epic characters! For being a novella it accomplishes a lot in very few pages. I wish the lore of the world tied more directly into the revelation/climax of what was going on in the central narrative. The Pirate Princess stories were interesting but ultimately weren’t very relevant. Otherwise, I really enjoyed this story!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore
Moderate: Child death
sarah2438's review
1.5
I hate giving negative reviews of ARCs but I really, really did not like this one. It's not quite a one-star for me, but it's close-- I would give it 1.5, and that's only because I was intrigued at the start and saw glimpses of good writing. Granted I understand this is a novella, but the worldbuilding felt very poorly done considering how important it was to the plot. Eveen just drove me nuts with her one-dimensional "I'm a badass, look how tough I am" persona. When all of the assassins started coming after them, it almost reminded me of Scooby Doo or something-- "oh no, not HIM! How am I gonna get out of this???" *gets out of it easily* "oh no this person is EVEN WORSE! How am I gonna get out of this?" *gets out of it easily*-- and this was just on loop. This book takes place over the course of about a day but the pacing dragged so much, it just felt endless. Also, I think catchphrases are really only appropriate in bad TV shows, never books. The phrase "Aeril's fiery tits!" occurs SIXTEEN TIMES in this 200-page novela. That's ridiculous, it was so obnoxious. Also, the use of "Edgelords" as a group was SO cringe, even if that was the intention, I couldn't stand it. There were other similar moments where the author was trying to be funny or clever and I just couldn't stand it, especially as the book went on and it became more frequent. Another example is when the borderline-incomprehensible deities use the word "mansplain". I'm so disappointed because I've heard great things about this author but this has put me off their work and I don't think I will be revisiting it. Very curious to see what others think, especially because other early reviews seem to be very positive.
**Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review!**
**Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review!**
johannawilbur's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5