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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
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
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
paracosim's review
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
So, this is a book I was super excited for. I heard of it on a podcast some months ago, where one of the hosts was discussing ARCs she’d recently read, and this novella came up. And boy, did she wax poetic about it. I wasn’t expecting to see the ARC still available, and really wasn’t expecting to get access within hours of requesting. I was intent on finding out whether it was worth the hype and read it pretty much immediately.
The hype is deserved. I’ll start by saying that. The writing is easy to follow, though there are quite a few grammatical errors. I assume these will be edited out before the official release and thus aren’t an issue. The only problem I had, which took away from the book in my opinion, wasthe chapter near the end in which the g-ddesses were speaking. I absolutely could not understand what they were supposed to be saying. I caught some of it, through multiple rereads, but it took me out of the story big time. I spent more time decoding the speech than I did actually reading. For this alone, The Dead Cat Tail Assassins gets only 4.25 stars.
On the bright side, the characters were easy to love and root for, and the worldbuilding was top notch. I would love to read more stories set in this world; I was actually kind of depressed when I realized it was over. So P. Djèlí Clark, if you’re reading this, please for the love of g-d write more novellas set in this city. It would be glorious.
I will definitely be buying a physical copy when the novella releases, and I recommend that you do too.
So, this is a book I was super excited for. I heard of it on a podcast some months ago, where one of the hosts was discussing ARCs she’d recently read, and this novella came up. And boy, did she wax poetic about it. I wasn’t expecting to see the ARC still available, and really wasn’t expecting to get access within hours of requesting. I was intent on finding out whether it was worth the hype and read it pretty much immediately.
The hype is deserved. I’ll start by saying that. The writing is easy to follow, though there are quite a few grammatical errors. I assume these will be edited out before the official release and thus aren’t an issue. The only problem I had, which took away from the book in my opinion, was
On the bright side, the characters were easy to love and root for, and the worldbuilding was top notch. I would love to read more stories set in this world; I was actually kind of depressed when I realized it was over. So P. Djèlí Clark, if you’re reading this, please for the love of g-d write more novellas set in this city. It would be glorious.
I will definitely be buying a physical copy when the novella releases, and I recommend that you do too.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Death
Minor: Sexual violence and Child death
luverbyrd's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Child death
2treads's review
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
If it's one thing Clark does really well, it is telling a great story. With the Dead Cat Tail Assassin's, we are once again given characters to cheer for because they have such personality on page, the cultural context of mannerisms and interactions, and the magic of science and multiverses.
I gobbled this novella up, enjoying every deadly encounter and fight, the smarts and fleet of foot skills of Eveen and her tenacity. Serial murderers that get their comeuppance, Petty politicians and goddesses also added another layer of energy to the plot. I want more from this world and these characters because I believe this is the start of something really good.
I gobbled this novella up, enjoying every deadly encounter and fight, the smarts and fleet of foot skills of Eveen and her tenacity. Serial murderers that get their comeuppance, Petty politicians and goddesses also added another layer of energy to the plot. I want more from this world and these characters because I believe this is the start of something really good.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Child death, and Murder
jashanac's review
2.75
Summary:
Undead assassin who has a contract with a goddess, is specifically requested for an assassination that goes a bit awry. Mystery and action ensues.
Re-Readability:
This is not one that I think I would ever re-read. I had a fine enough time with it for the most part, but didn't love it.
Characters:
The characters were fine, but I just didn't get particularly invested in them. Fennis was probably my favorite and he was only in a couple of scenes. There just wasn't much character development for me personally, and I didn't feel like I got to know the two main characters super well, despite being with them the entire time.
Plot:
The overall plot is a cool concept, specifically with the resolution... however, I am personally not the biggest fan of "assassin after assassin after assassin coming after the main character and they just keep fighting and fighting and fighting." John Wick 4 vibes, and while I do enjoy cool action... it can absolutely be too repetitive for me, and this was.
I also found some of the dialogue a little bit too corny/campy/unserious.
Undead assassin who has a contract with a goddess, is specifically requested for an assassination that goes a bit awry. Mystery and action ensues.
Re-Readability:
This is not one that I think I would ever re-read. I had a fine enough time with it for the most part, but didn't love it.
Characters:
The characters were fine, but I just didn't get particularly invested in them. Fennis was probably my favorite and he was only in a couple of scenes. There just wasn't much character development for me personally, and I didn't feel like I got to know the two main characters super well, despite being with them the entire time.
Plot:
The overall plot is a cool concept, specifically with the resolution... however, I am personally not the biggest fan of "assassin after assassin after assassin coming after the main character and they just keep fighting and fighting and fighting." John Wick 4 vibes, and while I do enjoy cool action... it can absolutely be too repetitive for me, and this was.
I also found some of the dialogue a little bit too corny/campy/unserious.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Child death
csevet's review
adventurous
dark
funny
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Death
Moderate: Torture
Minor: Child death
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