What a great reference book. This author explains the most difficult cards in a way that is easy to follow. Highly recommend it for anyone learning or even just wanting a refresher course.

The court cards are some of the hardest cards of the tarot deck to understand. This book will help with that in so many ways. What is also a plus is, this book allows for participation, I am happy I had the chance to read this book. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of this book in return for my honest review. Receiving the book in this manner had no bearing on my review.

The court cards are often the hardest cards for people to read, even if you've been doing it for a while. I love that this book focuses just on them and makes it easy to assimilate. Ethony's interpretation of the court card characters is good, and encourage you to "take the best, leave the rest' allowing the budding tarot reader figure out their own interpretation and symbolism of the card.

The book is also filled with a number of activities and exercises in this book that help you connect to the tarot court cards. She defines each court card with an archetype, an element, a gift, and a hierarchy (or rank). She also created a mantra for each card, which I really liked and helps the student remember the meaning.

Overall it's a great book to add to your tarot book collection or to give to a budding tarot reader.

Get to Know the Courtly People of the Tarot

I have studied tarot for decades, and yet I am still intrigued by new tarot books that offer unique perspectives on aspects of it. Luckily, this is just such a book. I'll admit that my understanding and appreciation of the tarot court characters are not nearly as cultivated as it is for the major arcana, so when I saw this book, I thought it might be a great way to shade in some details. I was right. This book is a fantastic deep dive into all that the tarot court can mean. I liked how the author started broadly, looking at the relevance of the court characters to modern-day tarot readers before diving into associations with elements, astrology, and much more. As someone who is also interested in astrology, I particularly enjoyed those sections and that chapter. The author offered spreads and interpretations throughout, which also helped me further appreciate how to integrate the court cards better into my own readings and interpretations. I particularly like the spreads that were just about the court cards. What a better way to understand them! While this book is certainly meant to be a reference, I actually thought it was great to read straight through, but I can be a bit of a tarot nerd when it comes to books. The author's style is easy and conversational, which is always appreciated in what could be a complex topic, like the many faces of the tarot court.

A good way to dive deeper into tarot reading, although since this is the third book I've read on tarot cards it didn't offer too much new information or insights. Would be a fun gift for a friend who's into more woo-woo stuff.

This is a great read for anybody that ever struggles with tarot court cards! Like this book also explains, I have known people whom have even taken the court cards out of their decks! Well this is a fast paced read that explains the Tarot thoroughly and has a great guide towards the end that gives great keywords and corresponding elements that you can easily apply to your readings when dealing with court cards. I highly recommend this book to folks whom struggle with the court cards. This book will add more depth when dealing with these sometimes difficult cards!

Your Tarot Court contains a wealth of information! It is not a book designed to speed through - it requires more thoughtful reading, allowing time for completing the exercises and contemplating the meanings of the various cards.
I enjoyed the conversational and very readable tone of the book - it kept me from feeling overwhelmed with all the information. I will definitely come back to this book again and again to sip small bits of this encyclopedic book.

People who want more oomph and clarity in their court card interpretations will be excited to see this thick option from a solid contributor to the tarot community. The book feels well-written and clear, but it didn’t hit the right spot for me.

I’d encourage anyone interested in the topic to take the chance to browse before you commit, to make sure it was a good match. I think was I was expecting a system or suggestions and feel like I got more of a catalogue or encyclopedia. And I’ll readily admit that some of my resistance comes from the author’s interpretation/prescription for different cards didn’t line up with my own. Which only means if you’re still building or settling your system it might work for you.

In this book -
Pages :: earth
Knights :: fire
Queens :: water
Kings :: Air

(Some systems reverse the knight & king elemental correspondences.)

The book takes time to discuss the history & uses of the continuing presence of “court” cards in the modern context. There is also a robust chapter on how the elements in the tarot interact and a reminder that really stuck with me about how (for example) the the knight of wands will do things in a different way than the knight of cups.

The part that is most intriguing to me (that I haven’t started yet but plan to spend time on) is the court card spreads. These are questions/interviews (leading questions, based on the author’s categorization of each card) that look like they have some terrific potential for expanding understanding/relationship with each of the court cards.

I have no doubt I’ll be modifying some of the questions based on my different interpretations of some cards/characters, but I love the potential of this project and am looking forward to using it with my own cards.

My thanks to Net Galley and Llewellyn for providing a digital copy for this review.

This felt more like a reference book than something you would take in front-to-back, but I enjoyed it and will definitely look back at it in the future. I enjoyed the various exercises provided as well as the wealth of information provided about the tarot court. The author also does a pretty good job at removing gender from the equation and speaking about each card more as a general archetype than anything else. I found it informative and would definitely recommend to those who partake in tarot.

It is quite a challenge for me to find books about Tarot that speaks to me. This one was halfway there.

I did like the fresh perspective it offered for an old tradition that is tarot. The language was friendly and easy to understand, offering a great source for both beginners and experienced people. However, in my own practise, i don't like having such specific themes and so the information given in this book was not that helpful for me. That being said, i loved learning about them. Just because i’m not going to use them does not mean that i can’t appreciate the information!

More specifically, I really liked the association with the zodiac and found that very useful; and the different type of tarot decks used as examples was a good touch. The exercises was a good idea as it helps the reader interact and the pop culture references was the highlight for me.

Also, the cheat sheet at the end summarises the whole books and is very useful.

I received a free pdf of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

First, I need to disclose that I consider Ethony a colleague and a friend.

This book is packed with information. I found it to be very layered with information for beginners as well as those like me (I've been a professional reader since 1985 and studying tarot since 1980.) I am not so ensconced in my expertise that I cannot learn something new.

This book is written in a very friendly voice which I prefer to the drier tones of those like Eden Gray, etc. It tackles some of the dried-up, dusty meaning by cleaning them up to offer a much more approachable POV.

To say this is a must-have, it needs to be a few things for me. One, I must learn from it. I did. Two, it needs to be approachable for all. It is. Three, it needs to bring something new to the Tarot world. It does.

For those who think they know it all or don't need to learn anything new, this book is not for them. In fact, I'd hazard a guess that any book isn't for them. Tarot, as I know it, is ripe for new criticisms and insights. Diversity and classism is not addressed to my satisfaction in older tomes.

Your Tarot Court does this for me. Ethony has given the truly authentic Tarot community (I define that as those willing to learn every day) a treasure. Even if I didn't know her on a personal level, I would be recommending this book to my students.

For someone who struggles with understanding the Court cards in Tarot, this book helped me get to know more about them. The archetypes used were easy to understand, and I particularly like how this book gave me many insights, e.g. as celeb/character, as the sun sign, etc. Very recommended for those who struggle like I do!

A great resource for those who are learning or struggle with remembering the tarot cards and their meanings. Everything is worded in easy and simple ways that make tarot seem less daunting.

I'm new to tarot, so this probably wasn't the best book to read as a beginner. I'd say this is a more tarot 2.0 type of book, and although I learned a lot, I feel like I now need to go and learn the basics haha.

I LOVE this book, it's exactly what I've been wanting to read. I find the way it is set out easy to read, inspiring and I love the practical exercises. I especially love the cheat sheets at the end which, let's be honest, we all want! I received a review copy via NetGalley but will be buying my own paperback copy and I can see myself enjoying spending time working through the material. I have been following this author through her newsletters for a while and have done one of her tarot courses, and I find her approach to be practical and without bs.
Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy. The opinions expressed are my own.

Filled with great facts and thoroughly researched this book weaves together the facts to turn an interesting tale of a wonderful topic into a must read.

Great tarot book that really gets into the cards and suits and explains them with not only keywords but great detail. It’s exactly the kind of tarot book this advanced beginner is looking for.

Your Tarot Court is packed full of easy to read information and exercises. I never realized there was so much to Tarot until this book. Anyone who is interested in Tarot should read this book.

This book is literally amazing! The author does a brilliant job of making the Court Cards come alive, personifying them in various ways to make them relatable to the Tarotist. The exercises included were so. much. fun. and taught me so very much about each card. (Take the author's advice, and use a Tarot journal as you read her book and work through the exercises! Doesn't have to be fancy, just anything to document what you're learning!) I wrote each exercise down in my Tarot journal, and quite simply fell in-love with the Court Cards. If you are looking to learn each Court Character more intimately, or wish you knew what they meant when they popped up in a reading, you seriously need this book. It's just exquisite.

This book is a great tool for learning how to read tarot. It will help you with the court cards of any deck. I highly recommend it!