Good book! This book had light suspense, intrigue, some action, murder, and a good who done it! The storyline was interesting and flowed nicely! I will recommend reading this book as it was worth reading! I enjoyed reading this book, I wouldn't say it was one of my all time favorite but still a decent read! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

As always thank you to Netgalley for this ARC and a special thank you to Kathleen Quinlan for sending this one my way! I feel like I have so much to say about this one! As someone who would call themselves an amateur tarot reader, I absolutely jumped at this book once I received it. A murder mystery along with tarot is exactly up my alley and this did not disappoint. If you know anything about tarot reading and the meanings of the cards, you can see and feel that Lina Chern really knows what she’s talking about here. Each card reference is pretty spot on. Each character, for the most part, gets a card assigned to them which gives you a great bit of insight into each of them, especially because Chern gives brief explanations for the chosen cards. This book feels like a labor of love.

Our main character Katie is our resident tarot reader and to be quite frank, she’s a bit of a mess. But God, she is one of the most relatable characters I’ve read in a long time. Katie is stuck at a point in her life where her failures have frozen her into not being able to move forward. She’s stuck at a dead end job feeling like she has nothing tethering her to life. The smarts that she does claim she has she feels don’t matter and Katie truly feels like she should be further along in life like her siblings. Even her family has sort of given up their expectations in her, which in a way has lead her to stop expecting things from herself which now leaves her in this dark sort of shame. I’m getting very carried away here. To make a long story short, Katie’s lack of fulfillment and purpose is extremely relatable.

This book manages to balance great character dynamics with not so slick detective work, among other things. It opens with a bang that will only leave you wanting more! Out on March 28, 2023, Play The Fool should definitely be on your To Be Read list!

This was a cute cozy mystery. Katie True finds out that her new best friend had been murdered and is determined to find justice for her. It was a little silly, but fun to read!

As soon as I got the email about this book from Random House, I knew I needed to read it for spooky season. While the book wasn’t actually that spooky, it was an incredibly fast-paced mystery with some pretty funny moments. I loved these characters and their development throughout the story. I can’t believe it’s a debut novel! Definitely add this one to your list!!

Thank you Random House & NetGalley for my advanced copy 🙌🏻

Play the Fool is a cozy mystery about Katie, a tarot reading who is down on her luck, living back too close to her parents in the suburbs. She meets Marley, and the two become fast friends. When Katie receives a picture of Marley with a gunshot wound to her head, she is determined to find out what happened to her.
I'm quickly realizing that cozy mysteries are some of my favorite books I've read. This book was fun, and didn't take itself too seriously. If you are a fan of cozy mysteries, this one will be a fun ride for you!

Thank you to random house for sending me this arc in exchange for an honest review.

As I was reading this I got the feeling I was in the early 2000’s? I don’t know if the author meant to give that impression as you were reading but I enjoyed it immensely. This story is definitely a bit slow but picks up quickly! I really enjoyed it and highly reccomend it.

loved the idea of a tarot card reader as a detective, it's such a unique idea of a mystery and I've read a bunch together. I enjoyed the way Lina Chern wrote this, it was unique and the cover is eye-catching. I'm excited to read more from this universe and from Lina Chern.

“Not much of a talker. Works like a dog. And so serious! We haze the new guys a bit. Ex-lax in the coffee, that kind of thing. And if you let these assholes get to you, they do it even more.” He shook his head. “Jamie, though? That guy is like Fort Knox.” He chopped his hand in front of his face. “They left him alone after a week.”

When I saw this cover and read the description I was expecting more of a witchy book, and maybe that’s on me and what I inferred. It’s not quite what I was expecting. Instead it’s more of a murder mystery, secrets and friends.

It wasn’t quite for me, but again I went in expecting something else. The writing was entertaining and well thought out. If you’re wanting a murder mystery, this is your book!