Play the Fool by Lina Chern is a great who dunit book. Lina did a great job keeping you guessing on who the culprit will be up until the very end. I wouldn’t say Play the Fool is a thriller but definitely a good mystery. Will definitely be recommending the book to family and friends.

I’ll begin by saying I no little about tarot cards, but I thought it was a pretty cool interest for a protagonist in a mystery to have. Katie is a bit of a lost soul so she grabs in when a newish friend of hers is murdered and takes it upon herself to investigate. I liked that while she wasn’t really a trained investigator she thought logically and wasn’t overly cutesy or silly like some mystery characters can be. I enjoyed her brother Owen and the charm he brought as what I’d characterize as a neurodiverse person. I also liked her relationship with the detective. The mystery was ultimately pretty straight forward and I solved part of it, but overall it was an enjoyable and fast read.

Play the Fool
A Mystery
by Lina Chern
I really enjoyed Play The Fool. For Katie True, she was a brilliant(usually ) gal. I was rooting for Katie to the very end. Some things are true.

The book description and title are what pulled me in first. I enjoyed the characters and writing, especially during October, when things felt spooky. I would describe this as a "light-hearted murder mystery."

I enjoyed this book.
The poor girl working a dead end job (one of many) whose only major talent is reading the tarot cards (a talent she earned from a grifter, gambler of an Aunt) is trying to solve her friend's murder. I mean, what in that statement doesn't catch your attention? It's fun, fast-paced, amusing and never seems to lose momentum throughout the story. I had a great time.

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC and an extra thank you to Kathleen Quinlan for sending this one my way! As someone who actually is an amateur tarot reader was especially interested to read this one. It is sort of a murder mystery/thriller along with tarot and I really enjoyed it. If you know anything about tarot and the meanings of the cards, it is obvious that Lina Chern 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.

The main character Katie True is the tarot reader, but her life is more than a bit of a mess. She is at a point in her life where she seems unable to move forward. She’s stuck at a dead-end job, compares herself to her more successful siblings, and feels wanting. I really liked the dynamic and relationship between Katie and her brother Owen, who clearly is on the spectrum. How coping with Owen and how Owen relates at various points in the story rings very true for anyone who has been faced with this.

The relationship that develops between Katie and the detective who helps her is awkward and sweet and very relatable. Due out on March 28, 2023, Play The Fool should definitely be on your To Be Read list!

Play the Fool by Lina Chern was a well written, interesting mystery.

Katie finds herself back in her hometown near her overwhelming parents after leaving Chicago.
Moving from job to job and flipping through her tarot deck for guidance.
Then she meets Marley. Who is enigmatic, mature, and confident in her own skin, Marley takes a job at the mall where Katie works.
The two become close. And Katie lovee that because Marley doesn’t try to meddle in Katie’s life or pretend to be someone she’s not.
Katie finally will be able to make it through life after all.
Until, someone comes into Katie's shop for a reading and she takes a peek at his phone, she see a photo of Marley with a gunshot wound to the head!
Her life crumbles. Her best friend is dead. By who?
She puts her use to work and lands into a big ole' mess trying to uncover the truth and solve her friends murder.

Woah! What a true whodunit story!
The plot was interesting and the characters were well-developed.
I felt so connected to Katie and wanted to tell everything would be ok! Being so well written and had depth.
I liked the mystery throughout the book and I found myself racing to the end so I can actually find out what really happened and how this story was going to end.
Play the Fool was told in such a unique and intriguing way.
The way it was told hooked me from the start.
It's a riveting and clever story, uniquely told and one I totally enjoyed reading.

I will be putting Lina Chern on my future tbr list.

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

Random House, Ballantine & Bantam:
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this eARC!

Super cute book! It had the ease of feeling light, easy to read, interesting enough to zoom through, while still hooking the classic whodunnit feel. The main character, Katie, was likeable (even if frustratingly foolish at times) and it was impossible not to root for her on her quest to figure out what happened to her friend Marley.

The ending surprised me, while simultaneously giving me some warm fuzzies. Definitely would recommend.

Play the Fool is a delightfully entertaining mystery with a bumbling tarot reading amateur detective creating more havoc than readings. There is never a dull moment as Katie, Jaimie, and Marley struggle to reveal the truths. It is a light read with many hidden surprises.

Katie works at one dead end job after another while reading tarot cards on the side. She is working at a shop in the mall and makes friends with Marley who works in another shop. A man wanders into her shop upset and she sees a photo of her friend dead on his phone. Katie goes to the police who do not take her seriously.
Katie gets herself in trouble constantly trying to solve the murder.
This is an enjoyable cozy mystery. Katie is a wonderful character full of flaws but her heart is in the right place. The story also has twists that you will not see coming and it makes the book exciting. Once you start this book you will not want to put it down. I look forward to seeing more from this author.

Thank you to Kathleen Quinlan for sending this book my way.

Thanks also to #netgalley, @LinaChern, and #Bantam for a copy of this book.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, from Random House Publishing Group— Ballantine and #NetGalley. Thank you for the opportunity to preview and review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Entertaining tale chock full of mystery.

Katie True works at a dead end job in an old mall selling Russian baubles, after moving back to her parents house in Lake Terrence . In a store nearby she meets Marley, the two becomes close after spending lots of time together. Katie has been reading tarot cards since she was 6 , and she does a reading for a guy name Nico. She takes a peek at his phone and discover a picture of dead Marley .She sets out to figure out why Marley was murdered with a detective name Jamie. This is a nice cozy mystery. The book was fast paced and interesting. and I think the tarot card aspect was unique.

Katie has been struggling as of late as she hums around from one dead end job to another. While reading cards for a customer she sees the customers phone with a photo of her friend Marley laying dead next to a dumpster. What the heck happened? That’s why Katie must find out. And she’ll be using her cards to help her along the way.

Being a tarot user I found this book to be well written by a fellow tarot users. The author’s use of the cards to represent characters and her descriptions fo the use of each is great! It’s clear she either did a lot of research, or is a user herself…and I’m saying it’s the latter. Great and well developed characters that have me sitting on pins and needles waiting for more from the author with these characters.

All around this was an ok book. The story was paced well enough to keep the pages turning, but there were some inconsistencies that did stand out.
An example is when Marley and Katie were drinking in the woods, they were drinking canned beer and suddenly for one line the can turned to a bottle. It’s not a large thing but something I noticed.

The cover art is stellar though and definitely catches the eye. I’m not sure if I’d read this again, but for anyone who loves to try to solve a good mystery I’d recommend this.

Thank you to Kathleen Quinlan from Penguin Random House for sending me this ebook ARC via Net Galley in exchange for my honest review!

A cynical tarot card reader, Katie True, finds herself in the middle of a classic whodonit mystery when a reading reveals the murder of her mysterious friend, Marley, from her job at the mall. All of a sudden she's in the middle of something she never saw coming and she has to use her street smarts and inner strength to solve Marley's murder and protect everything she loves.

This was a fun read! I loved that the mystery was on the more lighthearted side and didn't keep you up at night after reading but was still suspenseful enough to be entertaining. There was also quite a bit of humor woven throughout which was an unexpected touch I enjoyed. I really loved the ending and how the author wrapped everything up nicely and left you feeling fulfilled.

There are two things I felt were missing that kept me from rating this one higher. I felt the character development was a bit lacking. I didn't feel particularly connected to anyone or find myself rooting for them. I was interested to see what happened next but not for any particular reason than finishing the book. I didn't find myself super invested in the characters and what may or may not happen to them. The other thing is I was looking for more tarot! Tarot cards are referenced here and there but only one reading is done at the beginning of the book and I just felt like with the title, cover, etc. I expected the tarot aspect to play more of a role in the book.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and would recommend to others as a "light" murder mystery perfect for spooky season or anytime!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC!

Katie True (yes, that's her name) floats through life. She works in her hometown, at an older mall, in a shop that sells knick-knacks. Her only friend is a woman named Marley, who works at a store in the mall and they get lunch together. On a slow Sunday, Katie does a reading for a customer who is out of sorts. Katie quickly realizes this man is out of sorts due to Marley's death. Using Tarot cards, gut instinct, dumb luck, and help from a local cop, Katie discovers what happened to Marley.

I liked this book! I read it quickly, and it kept me entertained. I wish there were a bit more between Katie and Jamie toward the end, but maybe that means there's room for a sequel!

Tarot cards take center stage in this unique mystery novel. Katie, once taught at age six by her grifter Aunt Rosie, now thinks in cards. She sees her brother as the Page of Wands, a detective is the Six of Swords, and her mall friend Marley is slotted into the Major Arcana. When she can’t make a decision, she reaches into a velvet bag and shuffles her ever present deck of cards.

Katie is currently employed in a tchotchke boutique. She’s a delightful and bright young woman, just not living the life she or her family imagined. A distressed man comes into her store and Marley senses an opportunity to to “read” his cards for twenty bucks. He goes to the restroom and leaves an unlocked phone which is irresistible to Katie— might as well see if there are clues about him. More than clues are revealed — there’s a texted photo that looks like her friend Marley’s bullet ridden body by a dumpster. And so the mystery proceeds — Who is this guy? What happened to Marley? Where’s her body? Will the handsome detective believe any of this?

As the story proceeds, the dialogue is quick-witted and fast paced. Katie is tagging along with handsome detective Jamie (brother Owen describes Jamie as “He is not married and has trouble maintaining relationships due to the dangerous and inconstant nature of police work. He has a very symmetrical face.”) and also semi-stalking Marley’s boyfriend (who was about to be dumped and was the guy bumbling around her store).

It’s an interesting mystery that grabs your attention until the very end and is lovingly sprinkled with tarot references. Katie keeps reading cards (it’s her clever way of getting suspects to give up information) but it’s her perception and intelligence that sees clues and assembles the missing parts of the mystery. A great book from a debut author! 5 stars!

Thank you to Bantam Books and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): NO Just memories of a high school gym teacher who overdid the green eye shadow.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO Just the Six of Cups with its magic garden.

I loved it! I really enjoyed the mystery, characters and funny dialogue. Katie doesn't expect tarot cards to give her answers but rather as a helpful tool for looking at a problem from a different angle that's not obvious. She's constantly exercising her mind by applying a card's interpretation to events unfolding around her. And she's adept at reading into people what they aren't saying out loud. She's fascinating! I really like this author a lot!

Play the Fool is an enjoyable mystery of a tarot card reader trying to figure out what happened to her friend. It was slow in the beginning, but picked up quickly once characters were established and well developed. Lots of twists and surprises that you never see coming. Thanks to Random House Publishing and Herbal key for this ARC.

I love a book I want to both finish ASAP and savor. Play the Fool is the kind of book I’d read on vacation (and I did).

A relatively quick read, Play the Fool nailed several passing interests of mine: Tarot cards, a working knowledge of Chicagoland, and Gayngs’ 2010 self-titled album (the latter of which is heavily inspired by 10cc’s “I’m Not in Love,” itself a major plot point in Play the Fool.) This could have been trope-y, but Chern deftly avoids this! Chern also writes neurodivergency with (IMO) appropriate care/respect.

Anyway, back to the book. Thanks to NetGalley and Bantam for the ARC! [The following doesn’t impact my review, however: The Kindle interface for NetGalley is lacking in key features which would have improved the read. Namely, the ability to access highlighted portions of the book. I had to go back, page-by-page, to find all of my highlights/notes for this book.] While I’m going page-by-page anyway, I’ll leave my review in bullet points!

- Katie True, our main character, is definitely imperfect. This starts when she messes with Nico by looking through his phone.
- I definitely don’t think Katie should have considered “reading tarot professionally” pretentious! But that’s just me.
- The line “Am I still here? Am I still me?” got a chuckle out of me. It took me back to my early-to-mid-20s, a time when being drunk still felt magical. (I also noted this is the first time I’ve read about “the spins” in literature.)
- The repeated references to the tarot suit energy characters give off (“Swords energy”) didn’t feel overdone. I’m not sure why, maybe because I appreciate tarot? I usually dislike themed references.
- The “Girl-Scout-gone-wrong” reference didn’t land with me. But…I worked in a GS council for years, ran programming for girls, and am a Lifetime Girl Scout, so my knowledge of and experience with Girl Scouts is deep enough that this style of trope will probably never land with me.
- I only had mild trouble suspending disbelief that Jamie and Marley/Gina would spill so much case/investigation info to Katie. I noticed, but barely. And I got over it quickly.
- I find myself highkighting (on Kindle) the parts of books that make me laugh out loud. There were many points in this book. (“…his face wants a brick,” “…reinstall Windows…,” “…World War II soldier…,” to call out a few.) Additionally, that Marley/Gina was wearing a Sturgis tee absolutely killed me.
- Some of these anecdotes *got me*. “…you can’t run away from yourself.” gave me immediate Seneca vibes.
- I do like that this book is neatly and not-so-neatly wrapped up. Like, will Jamie and Katie get together? I almost don’t care because the whole plot was so satisfying!

And, finally, this deserves its own paragraph. I am the type of reader who reads the Acknowledgements because I love to learn how authors work and by whom they’re inspired. The last paragraph of Chern’s Acknowledgements 1) Made me tear up; and 2) Convinced me that I should recommend her work to my spouse, who loves all things sci-fi and space. Our Venn diagram of book interests is *so thin* that it’s immensely satisfying when our interests do line up!

If this is Chern’s debut, I can’t wait to read whatever comes next.