Kapelke-Dale gets even better with every book! I loved this story. It was emotional, tense, and full of fascinating characters. It felt like a perfect combination of multiple genres without feeling convoluted. I was surprised how easily I was drawn in and I would gladly have read another 300 pages of these characters.

I went into this book with no idea of what it was about. It was soooo good. I loved the use of tarot throughout but especially at the beginning of each chapter. This story showed classism is a great way. The characters were developed wonderfully. This story was so much deeper than I had anticipated. Will definitely be looking for more from this author.

I would never have imagined combining equestrian themes with tarot reading in a book, but this managed to come together nicely!

I loved that the tarot set the tone for each chapter and it was one of my favorite things thematically about this read, alongside some dark academia undertones as well.

I found it to be slow in some parts, but very well written with great character development.

"before you ask your question, you have to do it. You have to ask yourself.
Do you really want to know?"

This is a slow burn - more like an dark academia than a thrilling mystery. Once I adjusted my thinking, stopped looking for a fast-paced thriller, I liked this a lot more.

My favorite part was the beginning little paragraphs and all the tarot card reading and information woven into the story. It was such a fun addition, and one I really loved. The girls were a bit frustrating - I'm not a horse person so I missed some of the connection to their love and drive. But I did find the connections and Rosie's tenuous hold on their friendships fascinating. It was an interesting read, one that held my attention, but make sure you go in knowing it has a bit of slow burn story and a great ending.

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

I was given an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

The Fortune Seller by Rachel Kapelke-Dale is a contemporary novel exploring privilege in university equestrian teams and how much luck really can play a factor in what opportunities we get. Rosie is a scholarship student at Yale on the equestrian team along with Cressida, the daughter of her idol, Grayson Tate. Annelise joins the group and team after Cressida befriends her and teaches Rosie how to read tarot cards, but Annelise is keeping secrets of her own.

Each chapter starts off with Annelise explaining a different card to Rosie, giving bits of voice and how Annelise views each individual card. Rosie and Annelise bond over the cards, living in the same room, and coming from similar situations on a campus where people can pay for admittance. I liked how Annelise was against tarot being about fate or destiny and was instead a lot more flexible and fluid, focusing more on what the cards are saying about the situation as it stands, not the future.

What I really liked was Rosie admitting that she wants money and power, even if it was so she didn’t have to worry anymore or could take care of her family. It’s always a joy to see women in media admit that they want power and Rosie was no exception. The other thing I liked was how little tells to the big twist were planted without giving the twist away, but make sense once you’re aware. Annelise was probably my favorite character and my favorite sections were the ones with Cressida. I love stories about messy women and this really delivered for me.

I would recommend this to readers looking for contemporary works in the 2005-2006 time period, fans of novels exploring class and privilege, and readers who like slower pacing in their contemporary fiction.

Rosie Macalister, with her middle class background, has worked hard to Yale, and even harder to score a place on the Equestrian team. She doesn't come from money, doesn't own horses (the Tate Foundation charitable organisation paid for her riding lessons), and she doesn't quite fit in with her uber-rich housemates. That is until she comes back from a study abroad trip to Argentina, and finds herself sharing a room with a complete stranger: the enigmatic Annelise.

But while Rosie and Annelise become firm friends, the three other housemates - Cressida, Lila and Andra - seem determined to think the worst of Annelise. Until one afternoon things come to a head, leaving one person dead and the group shattered forever. Secrets will be unearthed and Rosie will need to rethink everything she thought she wanted.

Set in the early 2000s, the story follows Rosie through her time at Yale and on into the workforce, where she crosses paths with Cressida's father, Grayson Tate - head of the Tate Foundation who sponsored Rosie's riding and the business mind Rosie wanted to emulate. Each chapter opens with a single Tarot card reading, explaining the card and the meanings behind it - and foreshadowing the events of the chapter.

I adored this book. I'm usually a fast reader, but The Fortune Seller made me slow down and really savour the story. Rachel Kapelke-Dale is a masterful storyteller, who can weave strong, intense relationships with a powerful story and likeable (or not) characters.

The spoiled little rich girl; the broke, thieving heiress; the the middle class trying to break through the glass ceiling; the mystic, the sceptic, the vengeful, none of them caricatures of their type, but people you could easily recognize (if you mix in certain circles). Rosie was a relatable character with big ideals and a strong moral compass, telling the story of these fateful events.

This is a story of class, of privilege, ambition, hopes, money, redemption, coming of age, and choices. Are the choices we make done for the right reasons?

This is both a page turner and a book I didn;t want to end.

What do I need to know now?

~ Many thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review~

On the strength of the ARC I recieved, I also purchased the audio book. Stephanie Cannon's narration was excellent, embodying the different characters with ease - from the winsome Annelise to the jaded Anne-Marie; Rosie's warmth and Cressida's mania and everything in between.

I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an advance e-galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. Look for it now in your local and online bookstores and libraries.

I liked the college parts a lot more than the adult life parts, especially since Rosie didn't have an excuse for being ignorant anymore. Annelise was the most interesting character by far - I felt like the roommates were all very one-dimensional in a way that didn't feel intentional. I loved the tarot cards, and I loved the mysterious nature of Annelise and what went down, but I feel like it lacked some subtlety in its messaging, and I felt like the message of the book was getting shoved in my face in a way that got annoying. Still a good book that I'd definitely recommend, just not a new favorite.

While a bit of a slow burn, I really enjoyed this book! Set in the early 2000s, The Fortune Seller brings us to campus life on Yale as we follow Rosie Macalister and her friends on Yale’s equestrian team. There’s plenty of rich horse girl drama, but also an air of mystery surrounding Annelise, the transfer student who may not be who she says she is.

While I read this, I got big Pretty Little Liars vibes from some parts of this, which I really enjoyed. The writing was engaging and I was fully invested in the story. The author truly captured the cutting meanness of the horse girls, the drama of the wealthy, and the blindness to the reality of real life for so many. There were plenty of twists and just a hint of a supernatural element. I thought the ending was satisfactory and wrapped up the story nicely.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for a review copy.

Thank you netgalley for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.

…Dnf:/

So, it just couldn’t grab my attention. I kept waiting to go back to it, but it’s going to expire soon and I haven’t wanted to continue.

Rosie comes from a middle-class upbringing and worked hard to fit in with her uber-wealthy friends on the Yale equestrian team. When Annelise Tattinger joins their team, her talent on horseback and at reading tarot quickly has her joining Rosie’s inner circle. But when money disappears from bank accounts, tensions rise among the friend group.

After graduation, Rosie realizes there is more to Annelise’s history than she thought and she needs to set things right and figure out what happened all those years ago.

Why We Liked it Rachel Kapelke-Dale’s previous stories focus on the #metoo movement and women’s rights, while this one looks at class differences and the wealthy’s disregard for those around them. It’s a medium-paced, character-driven story that’s perfect for dark academia lovers.

I just finished the Fortune Seller by Rachel Kapelke-Dale and here are my thoughts.


Rosie has spent years trying to fit in with her wealthy friends at Yale. All of them on the equestrian team and an easy life lays out in front of them all. She knew what she needed to do until that is, Annelise joined their house and team.

Annelise is a talented tarot reader and amazing horse rider. Then money starts to disappear from one of her wealthy friends' bank accounts. The girls start to turn on each other. It’s long after graduation and Rosie works for a hedge fund now. It’s there she discovers who Annelise really was but is it too late to right a wrong?

I hate horse people. They always seem to feel more entitled than other people and these girls were no exception . Rosie was at least half decent but she was all about the money as well. I didn’t really find this to be a thriller really but I did love all the tarot stuff weaved in it.

It was super well written and I really did enjoy the book but it was a fairly slower paced book and it didn’t ramp up at all so I felt it let me down a bit with that.

I did enjoy this book though and the ending was pretty great. There were some pretty decent twists and I would recommend this book to people who like coming of age books with some dark academia.

3.75 rounded to 4

Thank you to @stmartinspress and @netgalley for my gifted copy. Out NOW!!

I really enjoyed this book - I thought it was fun and would definitely recommend it. I loved the tension and rivalry. It was amazing.

I will update with my review once the SMP boycott has ended.

In the meantime...
#SPEAKUPSMP has three demands:

Address and denounce the Islamophobia/racism from their employee.

Offer tangible steps for how they're going to mitigate the harm this employee caused.

Address how, moving forward, they will support and protect their Palestinian, Muslim, and Arab readers, influencers, and authors in addition to their BIPOC readers, influencers, and authors.

The Fortune Seller was not what I was expecting. It was another book that makes me wonder if I just did college in a weird way. These kinds of cliques were nowhere in my world. Everytime I read about a “friend group” I’m happy I didn’t live that way.

The MC is another poor kid going to a really expensive school trying to keep up with the rich friends she idolizes no matter what they do. As she grows, she starts to see the world a little more clearly. She starts to see how truly messed up her priorities are. There is a death that is almost forgotten pretty quickly. I mean, I need to get that job instead of worrying about anything like that, right?

The book wasn’t bad and it did avoid many of the cliches I was worried it would devolve into. It’s my first book by this author. I’d read her again.

While I enjoyed this book, I was disappointed it was not nearly as dark as Kapelke-Dale's other books, specifically The Ingenue and The Ballerinas. The Tarot card portion is interesting, and I didn't mind all the horse talk, but the mysteries fell flat for me and the characters were mostly two dimensional. There was an attempt at commentary on social class, but it wasn't fleshed out enough. Is this an enjoyable book to spend an afternoon with? Sure. Should you expect much more than that? Not really.

"Middle-class Rosie Macalister has worked for years to fit in with her wealthy friends on the Yale equestrian team, but when she comes back from her junior year abroad with newfound confidence, she finds the group has been infiltrated by the mysterious Annelise Tattinger.

A talented tarot reader and a brilliant rider, the Annelise is unlike anyone Rosie has ever met--but when one of their friends notices money disappearing from her bank account, Annelise's place in the circle is thrown into question. As the women turn against each other, the group’s unspoken tensions and assumptions lead to devastating consequences.

It's only after graduation, when Rosie begins a job at a Manhattan hedge fund, that she begins to uncover Annelise's true identity--and how her place in their elite Yale set was no accident. Is it too late for Rosie to make right what went wrong, or does everyone's luck run out at some point?"

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed herein are my own.

THE FORTUNE SELLER is a dark academia novel that examines class and ambition, through the lens of student on the Yale equestrian team.

I was so fascinated by the characters, their different backgrounds, and their experience on an equestrian team at an Ivy League. Horses and that whole world has always been interesting to me. I’ve never gotten into the tarot world, but I loved how Kapelke-Dale brought these two topics together.

Read if you like —
🐎 horses
🔮 tarot
🏫 the ivies
🖤 dark academia

The writing is stunning and the short chapters kept me turning the pages. THE FORTUNE SELLER is an enthralling slow-burn mystery filled with secrets and tension.

First thank you to st martins press for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis: Rosie is part of the Yale horse team but she is not like all of the others. When they agree to live in a house together. Rosie is paired with Annalise who transferred from the west coast. Annalise is a tarot card reader but that is not the only mystery about her.

What I liked: although this book was well written and the author is highly regarded, I wasn’t able to connect with the characters and didn’t really enjoy the book like others. I love tarot cards and getting a reading periodically but these characters were very much into readings. The mystery story was interesting along with the class struggle but I didn’t feel the execution lived up to the premise. If you are really into horses and tarot card, this book is for you.

The Fortune Seller by Rachel Kapelke-Dale. #NetGalley, Thank you for the ARC. This is the first book in years to keep me reading until the wee hours of the morning. The structure based around a deck of Tarot cards may sound cheesy but it is the furthest thing from that, given each chapter was a soulful reflection of the cards meaning. There is a sweet love story but that is an anecdote not at all the focus, which is female relationships, the power and destruction of wealth. However, the overwhelming theme is knowing that the right thing to do is always at our fingertips if we just slow down, take a breath and listen to ourselves. Now I’m off to find my own cards long ago tucked away in a drawer wrapped in one of my mother’s old scarves.

The Fortune Seller is an adult contemporary novel about a young woman enmeshed in the rivalry behind the equestrian team at Yale.

Rosie Macalister left small town Indiana to ride horses among the elite daughters of the wealthy at Yale. Although she is an excellent rider she is at a disadvantage because her lessons were limited to the free summer camps offered by billionaire hedge fund manager Grayson Tate’s charity. But now years later she’s on the Yale team with Grayson’s daughter (Cressida) and part of her inner circle despite not having the disposable income of the other girls. After spending her junior year abroad Rosie returns to Yale to discover that Cressida has her sharing a room with the mysterious new team member Annelise. But despite her reservations Rosie quickly finds herself drawn to Annelise who is both a talented rider and a tarot card reader. But not all the team members trust the new member with the vague background and lines begin to be drawn. Rosie finds herself stuck between her enigmatic new friend and the rest of the women.

Like her other novels Rachel Kapelke-Dale introduces us to a niche lifestyle that only a small percentage of people experience. Through Rosie we learn exactly what it takes to get accepted and succeed at Yale but it’s clear that children of the elite have a leg up in both academics and sports. I appreciated that the author didn’t make Cressida and the rest of the team cartoony villains but instead spoiled and out of touch young women whose entitlement knows no bounds. I especially enjoyed the second half of the book where Rosie joins the workforce at Tate Associates and sees the dark side of high finance.

Though not exactly a thriller this is a coming of age novel with elements of mystery and suspense. Starting each chapter with a tarot card and a description of what it means was a really creative way to foreshadow was going to happen next. It has a great pace and a likable main character that struggles balancing her ambition and what is right. I enjoyed The Fortune Seller and look forward to what Rachel Kapelke-Dale will write next!