This was a refreshing change from the vintage mysteries I’ve been reading. I adored the main character, Katie True, who is written with such realness that I finished the book feeling like I know her. Katie isn’t good at everything, in fact she’s kind of a fuck-up, and she’s wasting her life away working in a dismal little mall shop when the story begins. One thing that Katie IS is a true friend. She doesn’t have many, so she values the ones she’s got. That leads her smack into the middle of a murder mystery and the life of her friend Marley. The story escalates from there as Katie, who is a skilled tarot-reader, truly learns that things are not always how they appear.

Katie is a relatable character who will appeal to teens and adults who like their mysteries with a little extra “mystery.” I’m hoping there will be other Katie True books in the future.

I enjoyed this book a lot! Sure, Katie is a mess but she’s a fantastic character and it was enjoyable to accompany her as she took on the mystery of her friend’s death. I was also fascinated by the tarot card reading aspect of this book because it was different and fresh! If you like mysteries and interesting characters, this book is for you!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

This one was a bit of a slow read for me. Slow in the sense of pace because it’s actually a short quick read in terms of page numbers. I was super interested in this book based off the summary and did enjoy getting to know the characters, however, it just didn’t pick it up how I would have liked and how most mystery/thrillers do. Towards the end of the book I found myself skimming and disappointed at how unrealistic parts of the story were. I would definitely categorize this as a slow paced whodunit, rather than a thriller/suspense.

Thank you to the author and publisher for providing me with an electronic advanced reader’s copy of this title via NetGalley.

Katie ends up back in her hometown after a string of dead-end jobs working at a souvenir store in her local mall. Her real passion is reading tarot cards, a hobby/trait she learned from her aunt. Katie befriends Marley, a loner, who works at a store across the way in the mall. They become friendly enjoying lunch breaks together, until one day, Marley doesn't show up. In a twist and turn whodunit, with tarot cards thrown in, it becomes a cat and mouse game.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.

An exciting story packed with twists and turns that complicate the clues to a murder. Written in an interesting manner of depth, the characters appear and mix things up. All along, tarot reader Kate sorts through the clues desperate to solve the mystery of her friend, Marley’s, murder with the help of policeman James.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you Net Galley for the Arc of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. As a tarot reader I was a little concerned this book would do what a lot of pop culture does and pull the death card for a literally character's death, but i appreciated that the writer knew her stuff when it comes to the cards. I loved that our MC was a tarot skeptic even though she worked at a shop where she read. It was so grounded and made the mystery of her friend's death and the hunt for the person responsible even more compelling. Overall it was an entertaining read, though in spots it felt like the backstory slowed down the momentum of the investigation but overall it made for a really enjoyable read.

Thank you to Net Galley, Lina Chern and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine Bantam for providing me with an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

At first, I didn't think I was going to like this book. Then... You get suckered in with the murder mystery and you go on this journey to discover who killed Marley.

An unthinkable pairs together Katie True and detective Jamie. I liked the growth you see Katie going into and she was a fierce character who truly kicked some butt. Katie wasn't afraid to put herself into situations to get answers about her friend.


A great read that left me wanting more.

A tarot card, and people, reader is determined to learn the truth about her friend’s strange and sudden death in Lina Chern’s Play the Fool.

Katie True has a good eye for reading people and is quick-witted, which serves her well when she reads tarot cards, but her life beyond the cards is a bit of a mess; she’s returned to her hometown after a failed attempt to establish herself in Chicago, moving between dead-end jobs while trying to figure things out. She meets Marley, an intriguing older woman who’s extremely comfortable with who she is, while they both take a break from their respective jobs within the mall, and Katie eagerly clings to the new friendship they’ve formed, and Marley’s sage, unjudgmental advice, as a lifeline. During an opportunity to read tarot for someone who stumbled in the store, Katie sneaks a peek at his phone to inform her reading and finds a photo of Marley, with a gunshot wound to the head. Believing Marley dead, Katie begins to question what she knew about her and recklessly investigates what happened from any potential leads she uncovers, drawing the attention of local police, primarily the good looking yet closed off detective Jamie, a family whose business extends beyond what they advertise, and the mysterious killer, bringing her squarely in the crosshairs of something far larger than she could have anticipated.

Quickly moving with events that take place over the course of about a week, with a handful of flashbacks to flesh out backstory, and easy to become wrapped up in, partly due to the narrative adhering to familiar tropes and genre frameworks, the story was generally humorous, providing light entertainment while the various red herrings of the murder mystery unfold. The characters are decently fleshed out, and while not necessarily the easiest to like with her continuous and flagrant disregard for others’ boundaries and questionable gut decisions, Katie’s interactions with her brother Owen were endearing and it was nice to have a representation of neurodiversity that’s just accepted as the standard of who that person is without attempts to change them. The aspect of civilian involvement in a police investigation that didn’t particularly exist was far-fetched (if a common team-up dynamic in other media) and was one area of the narrative that required a significant amount of suspension of disbelief to buy in to but helped to justify the level of Jamie’s continued presence within Katie’s life and the story. While the tarot card aspect is threaded throughout the story and reflected in how Katie processes information around her, there was less of an emphasis on that element of the narrative for the mystery at hand than might be expected, though it did have a role.

Overall, I’d give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The plot takes off running immediately in this mystery page-turner. I liked that the main character was a mess, but still trying to do the right thing. The author did a fantastic job of balancing the serious and emotional moments with humor and banter. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this!

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine for access to this arc.

I read the blurb of this story and thought it would be right up my alley.

I love books that have tarot in them, mysticism and the like but unfortunately the other aspects of this story didn't keep my attention. I didn’t care for the main character and most of the plot. After about 40% I found myself skimming for the tarot aspects and not caring about the rest.

I think it might just be that it couldn’t connect because this story has all the elements of a great one. Bummer for me, but I would recommend you check out the book for yourself to see.

I received an ARC via NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Bantam and I am leaving an honest review.

Katie True has failed. At adulting. Now she is back home living with her claustrophobic parents and settling for a job at a Russian knickknack shop. There she also reads the Tarot. Interesting angle. I liked it.

Katie has one true friend. Marley. Marley is everything Katie is not. And she works across the mall from Katie. Or she did.

The day Katie is working by herself, a strange guy comes in with a bleeding head wound, acting sketchy and wanting his cards read. Sure, Katie can do that. But when she sees a picture on his phone of her friend Marley with a bullet in her head, she is going to find out who and why.

She will risk everything to find out what happened to her friend.

This was okay at first but quickly turned into more of a young adult mystery.

NetGalley/ RHPG/Ballentine March 28, 2023

Play the Fool is billed as a thriller, but in reality it’s more of a women’s fiction with a mystery thrown in. Katie True is a strong female protagonist but at times her actions border on sheer stupidity. She’s failed at an attempt to live in Chicago and came home to Lake Terrace, a suburb of Chicago, where she’s living in a crappy apartment and holding down a crappier job at a shop that sells Russian tchotchkes. Katie’s sole successful job has been at reading tarot cards.
She makes friends with Marley, a woman who works nearby, and this friendship makes Katie feel like she could actually succeed at something. The mystery arises when she sees a photo of Marley dead from a gunshot wound to the head.

The tarot aspect was intriguing but didn’t get enough play in the latter half of the book. I liked that Katie, when she looked at someone, “saw” a particular tarot card representing that person’s personality. She does undergo some character growth. However, the romance isn’t quite strong enough to hold its weight. The prose isn’t great nor is the mystery aspect. The first third of the book was far better than the rest of the book.

A cozy murder mystery! I absolutely adored the MC - Katie is extremely relatable, the stereotypical adrift middle child trying to figure out what she wants from life all while being outshined by her older sister and younger brother. Owen was a scene stealer and I loved the representation of his sensory processing disorder. Katie’s tarot cards added a unique element to the story and I enjoyed reading as her brain played through various scenarios using the cards. The plot did drag at times and the romantic tension was an unnecessary element, but this was overall an enjoyable read and I appreciated the closure regarding Marley.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This is the perfect spring time mystery novel. The writing is smooth and warm and makes you feel like you have just been blessed with the first warm day after a long winter. The book centers on Katie True, an amature tarot card reader who just hasn't found her place in the world. After failing in the big city she moves back to her home town to work dead end jobs and be lectured by her parents and older sister about trying for more in life. When Katie believes her only friend Marley is murdered and the police cant do anything about it, she decides to put her people reading skills to the test to solve the crime. Joined with the help of her Autistic brother and the hansom new detective in town, Katie will stop at nothing to get to the bottom of it all, even if everything else around her begins to fall apart. With a delightful cast of relatable characters and a PG plot (complete with a love interest) this book would be perfect as a series (I secretly hope this will be a series). I get strong Stephanie Plum with a twist for the next generation vibes.

This was a cute book with an east of follow plot. Love how the tarot cards playing in the storytelling. The main character was easy to like with all her chaos and quirks. This was my first reading for this author but I would definitely look for more.

This book had me at the cover and description. A cynical tarot reader? This has TikTok culture written all over it. Unfortunately, the character development felt a little like it was mixed and match from our favorite TikTok tarot readers and some of it just felt silly. Well, most of it.

I enjoyed the mystery of it and will admit that the plot had me guessing until the end. That said, the actual reveal was a huge letdown. The “whodunnit” built up to be so much that I felt like the characters’ time investigating, as well as my own reading, was wasted.

I didn’t mind the main character of Katie, but I don’t think it was necessary to give her a romance storyline that was not even remotely plausible. Would’ve been better served without one at all.

Still, it was an easy and mostly enjoyable read and I would give the author another try in the future.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Tarot reader Katie stumbles onto a murder when she glimpses a client's phone during a reading. I was intrigued by the premise of this book, but ultimately it did not hold my interest. I appreciate the author and publisher for providing an advance review copy of the book, but ultimately this one wasn't for me. DNF.

A mystery with Tarot influences sounded exactly like my thing, and Play the Fool did not disappoint. Katie True, our protagonist, is a walking ball of chaos on a path to solve the mystery of how the best friend she didn't actually know that well died. I wasn't sure whether to scream at her for her recklessness or to cheer for her bad decisions, knowing they would end up pushing the mystery along.

This ended up being a lot lighter in tone than I expected from a murder mystery--at times veering towards slapstick. The Tarot influences were both more and less prevalent than I expected. Tarot was a large part of Katie's personality and how she processes the world, but it didn't play much role in the actual mystery. I appreciated that the author is clearly familiar with Tarot and didn't just throw in a few references for the vibe.

I'm not sure how to feel about Katie's brother, Owen. I believe he was coded as autistic, and at times his character felt a bit like a caricature. I hope that this particular character had a sensitivity reader.

I enjoyed it but it was a little stereotypical as well as a few too many coincidences. The description implies high stakes but they didn't feel as urgent in the writing.

I loved the cover! I loved the concept! I loved the main character! Then about 50% through, it sort of started to unravel. I don't know what went wrong. It really was more of a cozy mystery but I didn't feel like the mystery elements really worked. I kind of wish it went in more of a literary fiction route so we'd have some more depth. Katie True deserved more.