I would like to open this review with a confession: I don’t often read mystery novels. Which is strange, since I am someone who enjoys a good true crime case. But with mystery novels, it is easy to lose track of the tension and these plots can require a reader to heavily suspend their disbelief. Both were true for this novel, which made it difficult to enjoy.

If there is one rule to live by, it is this: if there is no dead body, the character isn’t actually dead. When Marley’s body wasn’t actually found at the dumpsters behind the abandoned Sears, I knew her character was actually alive and was playing some sort of game with the true antagonists. The detriment to that observation was the lack of tension I felt for the rest of the novel. Knowing, in the back of my mind, that Marley was definitely alive removed the “whodunit” aspect and placed a greater emphasis on the “why is Katie so determined to solve this case?”

That latter question is something that had me scratching my head throughout these 300-something pages. Why did Katie care so much to solve this case? It was baffling when her entire character set-up was someone who struggled with focus and motivation. Why would the alleged murder of her friend (of two months) be enough to snap Katie out of her personality and habits and change rapidly at the beginning of this novel? (I claim alleged murder because the only proof of Marley’s death was a then-deleted photo on Marley’s ex-boyfriend’s phone.) I believe this confusion is due to the murky set-up of the novel. We only saw two or three chapters of backstory to explore the friendship between Marley and Katie; however, it never felt like there was a true friendship present, which was a result of missing emotionality. Despite the large amount of introspection present, I never felt emotionally connected to Katie or her relationships. Which was frustrating, considering how many relationships and minor characters Katie interacted with.

All of this leads me into the heavy suspension of disbelief this novel required. I found it very difficult to believe that a random cop would set aside his professionalism and own case load to solve an alleged mystery without it being an official case. Beyond that, I didn’t believe that an entire police force would put up with Katie’s shenanigans and always let her off without a warning. Nor did I believe that Jaime, the cop, would allow Katie to be so heavily involved in investigating this “murder” case. With this being a contemporary mystery, I wanted more realism in the plot. That would have grounded the story and given more external conflicts for Katie to overcome.

Overall, I struggled to push through this novel. It was difficult to believe in the plot events playing out on page and I missed out on the tension that drives a mystery novel plot. While Katie’s antics were fun to read about, it required too much suspension of disbelief to be truly enjoyable.

Thank you to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Katie is just trying to figure life out. She can't seem to figure this "adulting" thing out, finding herself moving back close to her family and taking a job at a trinket store doing some tarot readings on the side. The light in Katie's life? Marley. She's fun and whimsical, taking risks and chances Katie could never dream of. Katie feels seen when she's with Marley, even if she is just living vicariously through Marley's adventures....that is, until she sees a photo of her friend with a gunshot in her head. Katie's world spins inside out as she tries to find the truth about what happened to Marley while trying to stay safe herself. What will she find? Or will she find herself to be the fool all along?

An interesting whodunnit that doesn't rely on the supernatural elements to keep the reader hooked. Personally I'm more of a fantasy/supernatural reader but I found Play The Fool to be a good mystery that unfolded into a fun ride. The pacing was where it fell a little flat in the middle for me, but once it found its footing again I devoured the back 35% in a day. Patience is a virtue to be rewarded with Play the Fool, but I'd be lying if I said it always felt like it was going to pay off.

3.5 rounded up to 4 stars. Recommended for those who enjoy just a pinch of supernatural with their mysteries. Age appropriate for 12l3+ as there is nothing graphic on the page. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was such a fun and unique read! I loved the blend of humor and mystery that kept me turning the page. A fabulous debut!

This was a great story! I loved bringing the aspect of tarot into everyday life. The main character’s “thing” is tarot and her family frowns upon her and you can feel that strain in the story. The PLOT TWIST was unexpected.

Thanks to NG and the publisher for allowing me access to this story.

Play The Fool is an easy and perfectly detailed read. I very much enjoyed getting to know Katie and her life. She always carried her tarot cards in her pocket and often visualized cards in her head. She had me smiling more than once with her ability to steer her clients into answering her flipped card explanation. Clever! I appreciated Kate and her attitude towards her life. It is what it is style. I visualized her “spaces” and “personality” from Chern’s thorough writing ability. I give her five stars in that category. However, as much as I enjoyed her style of writing, the storyline took a turn midway through. I found the cousins of the organized crime and Jamie, the officer, all to be unrealistic. I Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine,Bantam for ARC read in exchange for my review.

At the start of Play the Fool, Katie is in a bit of a rut. She works a dead end job selling tchotchkes in her local mall. She's a constant disappointment to her parents, and the only thing she feels like she is good at is reading tarot cards. Then she meets Marley, a woman who works at the shop across from Katie's, and they strike up a quick friendship. Marley is the first to truly get Katie; she doesn't judge Katie for just being herself. This could be the start of a lifelong friendship... until Marley is killed, and Katie throws herself into solving the mystery. Who was Marley, and what was she involved in? Even as the stakes get higher, Katie refuses to give up. Hopefully she can find Marley's killer, before they find her.

This was a fun example of the amateur sleuth genre. Katie's used to feeling like a failure, and it's hard not to sympathize with her. She clearly has strengths of her own, but others just don't seem to often see them. The inclusion of tarot is an element that I really enjoyed in this mystery. Even if Katie isn't actually psychic, she is definitely skilled in reading people. I adored Owen and his relationship with Katie. Nice representation of someone on the autism spectrum, living his best life. I also liked Jamie from the start. Cop with a troubled past: classic love interest. (Although there's little romance in this novel.) This was a quick paced mystery, with characters that I enjoyed following. Would recommend.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I have enjoyed venturing into the cozy side of mystery and thought this book was intriguing - the cover is awesome and the synopsis was catching. I had fun reading this and found the humor landed well, the story was well-paced, and just an overall enjoyable ride.

Play the Fool was a refreshing, fun mystery! I had a great time reading this book and trying to guess what happened. The plot twists were unpredictable, and the pacing of the story was exceptional. I found the plot to expertly blended mystery and humor and I also felt like I learned a little bit about Tarot along the way.

I really wanted to love this book but I just couldn't get into it. I started it and then had to set it aside. It has a good plot idea but for me the reader I just didn't connect with it. The style of writing just felt off for my way of reading.

This is a mystery with a twist. Will the tarot cards show all there is to see? Marley's best friend is dead and the cards have something to do with it. Time to see if the mystery can be solved.

I was drawn in by the cover, however this story was not for me. The MC was hard to relate to, and did not keep me interested.

This one might win cover of the year for me. I want to touch it. I wish I would have liked the book as much as I liked the cover. While I didn’t exactly guess the end, I had an idea of where it was going pretty much from the start. There wasn’t anything that drew me in and made me want to know more about the characters or their story. It had potential but just didn’t quite live up to it.

This was a fun one. It wasn't what I was expecting, though I was pleasantly surprised with what we got. If you're looking for something that has supernatural elements when you see "Tarot" then this might not be the book for you.

Katie is a fun, flawed protagonist, and it was really refreshing to see someone so ordinary. By no means was she, or the plot, boring, I've just gotten used to reading characters lately that in some way had at least one edge of "cool". I like my awkward, relatable characters as much as the self-insert ones.

My favorite aspect of the book has to be the amount of seamless framing done with the tarot cards themselves. I'm not sure if the author is familiar with tarot, or had a knowledgeable consultant, but the ease of which situations were described via the cards was an interesting way to learn about the cards in applied scenarios.

As for the mystery itself, it was simpler than I would have expected. The pacing and prose, however, kept everything fast moving and humorous. If you're really into hardboiled mysteries or blood chilling thrillers, this likely won't scratch that itch. I was left wanting much more from the characters and wouldn't be against a sequel or companion book.

All in all, a fun and quick read.

Katie was a fun character to spend time with and I enjoyed the wild ride. The mystery is on the cozier side, but it is still a fun and engaging story. The plot does become a little unbelievable however if you are enjoying the character or the story you will enjoy the book.

Play the Fool
⭐️⭐️⭐️
I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Random House Publishing and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

Synopsis: For Katie True, a keen gut and quick wit are just tools of the trade. After a failed attempt at adulting in Chicago, she's back in the suburbs living a bit too close to her overbearing parents, jumping from one dead-end job to the next, and flipping through her tarot deck for guidance. Then along comes Marley.

Mysterious, worldly, and comfortable in her own skin, Marley takes a job at the mall where Katie peddles Russian tchotchkes. The two just get each other. Marley doesn't try to fix Katie's life or pretend to be someone she's not, and Katie thinks that with Marley's friendship she just might make it through this rough patch after all. So one day, having been encouraged by Marley to practice soothsaying, Katie reads tarot for someone who stumbles into her shop. But when she sneaks a glance at his phone, she finds more than just clairvoyant intel. She finds a photo. Of Marley. With a gunshot wound to the head.

The bottom falls out of Katie's world. Her best friend is dead? Who killed her? She quickly realizes there are some things her tarot cards can't foresee, and she must put her razor-sharp instincts to the ultimate test. But the truth has deadly consequences, and Katie's recklessness lands her in the crossfire of a threat she never saw coming. Now Katie must use her street smarts and her inner Strength card to solve Marley's murder--or risk losing everything.

My Thoughts: I really thought the cover was awesome and really liked the premise. The first 40% of the book was great but about 60% into the book, it lost me a little, then picked back up in the end. I think it was too much of a slow burn on the mystery angle. You do have to suspend belief a little for this story. I did love the mafia angle and even the “shady” business, as those make good storylines. I loved the MC and the cop who helps her along the way to solve the mystery of her missing friend. I also loved that she would go to the end of the earth to find out what happened to her friend. Katie is a relatable and reliable protagonist, as follow on this journey, I like her more and more. I also like the humor angle that carried throughout the book, especially in a mystery novel. Even though some aspects were predictable, it was still a good read overall that I enjoyed. I would recommend this book to others.

Arc from netgalley

I really tried to get into this. The writing just didn’t work for me. The plot wasn’t doing it for me either. Sadly. Just not for me

I read the first 50 pages of this and just couldn't get into it. I'm not sure what didn't work for me here but I don't like pushing myself to read things that I don't enjoy. Therefore I will be DNFing this book. But I'm very thankful to have had the opportunity to read this.

A fun and quick mystery with a sprinkle of humor and romance. Took me a bit to get into but overall, enjoyed the story as it unfolded. The angle of the tarot cards and palm reading was really unique and fun!

3 stars!

First off, the cover of this book is so cute! I think that this was a traditional cozy mystery and it did what it needed to do in a fun setting. I think unfortunately what I'm learning is that cozy mysteries might just not be the genre for me and that's okay!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley.

couldn't get past 65% - You lost me at the police in this one.

The humor was decent though.

This one took me a little time to get into, but I'm glad I stuck with it. A unique and engaging story with a nice combination of action and intellectual sleuthing, And it was a nice spin on the police detective-amateur sleuth interaction. An enjoyable debut and I look forward to more from Lina Chern!

Thanks to Random House for access to a digital ARC on NetGalley.