A review by claireviolet
The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djèlí Clark

4.5

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins follows Eveen the Eviscerator (who is not a fan of nicknames) over the course of a single evening at her job. Her very mundane job as a resurrected assassin for the Goddess of Knives, where she has no recollection of her life before and three simple rules to follow. On her latest assignment, it turns out that following that final rule of carrying out the accepted job isn’t something Eveen is interested in doing when her mark is wearing her face.

This was so ridiculously fun. The description of “next level worldbuilding” feels inadequate when discussing what P. Djèlí Clark does, but it’s the best I have. Clark’s ability to spin a living, breathing city from untouchable government leadership down to the cobblestones out of just a handful of words is a testament to the skill of his craft. The pacing is tight, and this is one of those reading experiences where I felt like I got to grab the author’s hand and hang on for dear life.

The humor in this story really worked for me, which is always an unexpected surprise in fantasy. And on top of everything else, Clark is able to tie everything together with a beautiful contemplation on what it feels like to reflect on your past and present self, and the pain and wonder that comes with that. 

This is an easy recommendation for everyone who likes darkly funny fantasy with murderously competent heroines and top notch worldbuilding.

Thank you NetGalley and Tor.com for the eARC.