I loved this cover and the premise of the book. I was hooked at the beginning of the book but it slowed down toward the second half of the book

I know virtually nothing about tarot, but I don't think it's necessary to enjoy this sparky debut. Katie True is flailing a bit career-wise and feels like the outlier in her high-achieving family, but that matters less when she ends up embroiled in a murder that she seems to be the only person who believes happened. There are great character dynamics and relationships built in this story (I was very happy to discover that there's a sequel in the works), and Katie's dogged pursuit of information leads to situations that range from dangerous to madcap. This isn't quite a cozy mystery, but there's definite crossover appeal.

A fun read! Felt a little lost in some places and you do need to suspend belief a bit, but overall a quick, enjoyable read. I love the tarot component of the story and how Katie visualizes the wheels of cards in her mind whenever we meet a new character and how she describes their demeanor and energy as it relates to the cards

Thank you Ballantine and NetGalley for the eARC of Play the Fool! All opinions in this review are my own.

I really liked the tarot card aspect of this mystery because it made the inclusion of the main character in the search for her friend make more sense. Katie doesn't know what she is doing but she uses her cards to help her make decisions and her ability to read people to find out more about her friend Marley. The ending was insane and I did not see that twist coming!

I really love this cover! This was an enjoyable whodunit and I liked the take on it using tarot cards. I think this would
Make a super fun tv series!
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Thank you #randomhouse and #NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

Although the premise sounded interesting, the execution didn't work for me. I DNF'd around 25%. I tried this book twice before, starting from the beginning both times, before deciding to DNF it.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing an advance copy in exchange for honest feedback.

This is outside of my comfort zone, and unfortunately I could not get into it. I had to DNF less then halfway through.

Play the Fool was a fun and quick read. I quite enjoyed how the author used tarot cards within the story and liked how it played out.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book, but it just didn’t draw me in. I used to be a major mystery lover and the concept of tarot as part of the mystery solving seemed right up my alley, but in the end I wasn’t invested.

Unfortunately this one fell flat for me. I didn’t connect with the characters and therefore it was challenging for me to get into any aspect of the story.

As w most amateur detective stories, police play a prominent role in this book as a foil - but it’s a presence to be aware of going in considering how closely the main character interacts w them and works w one detective in particular.

I give it 3.5 stars:
Out of my normal genre therefore a little out of my normal tastes. However, I did enjoy the book from that perspective. The story rendition seems like it's been done a lot but always a place in the book world. If you’re into cozy feelings suspense/murder books this one's for you.

I'm so glad I started this book! Play the Fool was such a fun read. Katie True is in her late 20s and never quite launched. She works at a store at a Russian gift store in the mall, was formerly a tarot reader, and sees people in terms of their tarot card. Early on she discovers her friend has been murdered when a strange man enters her store looking as if he was assaulted. She sees a picture of her friend Marley's dead body on his phone.

Katie reports the murder to the police, but there is no body, hence they cannot open an investigation. She investigates Marley's death and previous life. Marley's character was fascinating to learn about. The writing is very snappy and conversational and pretty funny at times. I would suggest Play the Fool to those who enjoy the Finlay Donovan series. I listened to the audiobook, which was so well-narrated by Kristen Sieh, one of my all-time favorite narrators.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC. All thoughts are my own.

Play the Fool was a fun and creative mystery with a plucky main character and entertaining cast. Katie can’t seem to get it together in the way everyone expects but finds comfort in seeing the world through her tarot cards. When her friend Marley goes missing, she’s thrown into a whirlwind of activity to solve the mystery of where she went.

The humor interspersed throughout was great, and I liked Katie’s complex family relationship with a special soft spot for her brother. While it got a little clunky and unlikely in terms of how much she got involved with police work, I did love the friendship themes that grew as they wound through the book.

The writing was solid and the pacing consistently drove the story forward. You definitely don’t need to be familiar with or super into tarot readings to enjoy - I’m not and still did! Overall a solid, quick, fun read that I can easily recommend picking up!

3.5 stars

Katie True is stuck in yet another boring, dead-end job at a Russian souvenir shop in an old mall where there are hardly any shoppers. But Katie has a dream of owning her own business reading tarot cards for people. She has made one friend at work named Marley who has some secrets that she's not ready to share with Katie just yet. But one evening at work a man walks into her shop with a bloody face. She convinces him to let her read his cards but suddenly sees a photo on his phone of her friend Marley - with a gunshot wound to the head. Katie recognizes Marley is outside the mall near the dumpsters, so after work Katie checks it out and only finds Marley's necklace, not her body. Did the necklace fall off of Marley when she was murdered? Or was Marley alive and in trouble...leaving the necklace as a clue for Katie? Now Katie is on the case - bumbling though clues and teaming up with a handsome cop named Jamie. I enjoyed this quick and easy to read debut novel. It was entertaining, not graphic, very little or even no bad language. I wasn't sure it was a thriller, but read more like a cozy mystery/cute romance to me. There were some funny parts and I really liked Katie's character. She was really trying to find her place in the world. I would be interested to read another novel by Lina Chern.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

This book has snark. The main character was snarky, the vibe gritty, but I also had a hard time sympathizing for her mediocre life. That may have been my only negative, because the book had an intriguing murder mystery, suspense and danger, a loveable and quirky brother, plus an attractive cop. Every player was suspect in this one. I just would be annoyed with every poor choice Katie made. I think she definitely made it difficult to remember this was adult and not YA. I think Chern did well creating the mystery though, with twists and layers to the case. That, Owen, and Jamie made the book for me.

I did not care for this one. I thought the writing felt elementary and I didn't care for the plot like I thought I would. I will order a copy for the shop because someone may want a copy but I will not recommend

This was a little outside of my comfort zone for books but I loved it. It was nice to have a break my normal thrillers and try this

I was given this book without requesting it and the premise isn’t something that would normally interest me but I thought I’d give it a try. Immediately I was put off by the main character’s inner monologue and her extremely unlikely and illegal actions to aid in the investigation. This is the main reason I typically don’t enjoy crime novels, especially ones set in the current day: the main characters (if they’re not detectives) must do incredibly stupid and illegal things to get the answers to whatever mystery they’re trying to solve. My suspension of disbelief just doesn’t extend that far.