To be completely honest here, I read the book based purely on the cover. I was expecting an introduction to the cards and various spreads, but this is not what the book is about. While it goes into details of the cards, it spends more time looking at the cultural significance of the practice. Something that started as a game has become a belief system based their decisions.
Considering what my expectations were for the book, I came to the end of the book feeling educated on the history of tarot and prepared to practice it today. Making it to the end is impressive since I struggle with maintaining an interest in nonfiction books.
Read this book if you are interested in cultural development or learning more about a facet of spiritualism.

This is a very scholarly take on not just tarot, but also a broader view of metaphysics. It is more than a little wonky and a bit of a slow read. It would be of the most interest to someone who desires a historical approach to the topic. I have to say that is not me at this time, and I struggled to get through it and resorted to a bit of skimming. That said, I do admire that someone has undertaken this kind of broad work and I'm sure it will be considered a valuable resource in metaphysical studies.

A critical introduction to tarot is not like other tarot books that explain the meaning of the major and minor arcana's with a brief description of the history. This book delves into the history of how the tarot came about and how the cards depict the historical patriarchal view.
Overall the book was well written and easy to follow

Thank you Net Galley for the eARC

I found this book very slow, but a good read. I wouldn't reccommend it to beginners', but intermediate or higher could definitely benefit from reading this.

I really wanted to enjoy this book and enjoy seeing tarot from different people prospective but I had to give up on it. I guess I had high expectations, I wanted to learn more about tarot and people belief in it and why they believe in it.

I truly find tarot fascinating but this book was just fact after fact, plainly presented and set in quite a slow pace too. It's awful to say but it bored me.

I expected more cultural references about tarot and what different races and religions think about it but honestly I just didn't like it and couldn't go any further.

I hate to DNF a book but I had to with this one.

The book is certainly very enjoyable, but frankly I don't know why they emphasized tarot cards so much in the title. In fact, it's not just about tarot cards: the book is a (very good) essay on what I would call the resurgence of magical thinking in the West in the Third Millennium (with a bibliography perhaps smaller than I would have liked - not because there are doubts about the quality of the author's research but simply because I would have liked more indications on the texts from which to delve into the topics discussed!).

So, it's not just about tarot cards, but about magical thinking in general, from the formally stated (kabbalah, numerology, etc.) to the more nuanced (new age, positive vibes, etc.). Absolutely enjoyable, interesting without being heavy. For an academic who wants to delve more seriously into the topic, there is probably more substantial literature; for a casual reader interested in the subject, this is highly recommended.

A Doctoral Thesis on Comparative Mystical Divination Techniques?

Simon Kenny’s erudite research study, “A Critical Introduction to Tarot: Examining the Nature of a Belief in Tarot,” is not one’s everyday reference book to the Major and Minor Arcanas of the Tarot and how to lay spreads and interpret them—although there is some of that as well.

This is rather an extraordinarily impressive scholarly work that is well-analyzed and provides multiple perspectives in an academic manner on comparative topics in addition to Tarot, like Kabbala, Numerology and Pythagorean Theorem; Divination, Dreams and Psychoanalysis; in addition to Societies, Heretical Arcane Sects, and Christianity.

Readers will be pleased to find Kenny’s “Tarot” includes a table of contents, footnotes, and extensive illustrations, along with an impressive bibliography and references section.

JoyReaderGirl1 graciously thanks NetGalley, Author Simon Kenny, and Publisher Iff Books for this advanced reader’s copy (ARC) for review.

This book provides many perspectives for tarot with a lot of background information. I wished it went deeper but overall it was enjoyable. A wonderful book for practitioners and beginners alike.

This is a great intro to tarot, as the name suggests. I enjoyed all of the history that was discussed in this book, and that it wasn't like all of the other tarot books on the market. A great, and different, view of this topic that will be a great addition to your library. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital ARC of this book.

This was on NetGalley so I asked for it, I have been reading books about both spirituality and divination. This book is different from most of the Tarot books I have looked at because it focuses on the background more than the use.
People have a lot of reasons for believing in divination, and you really need to look at everything from psychology to history to astrology to philosophy and so on to start to understand.

I would have preferred a book on Tarot that goes a little bit deeper than this one, although this one wasn’t bad at all also! It has some background information and it attempts to explain many things regarding Tarot, I liked it.

3 1/2 stars ‘A Critical Introduction to Tarot’ was interesting and I felt the author did a pretty good job being unbiased. Will this read make the reader a believer or not, probably neither. It does give some history which I am always happy to learn. Thank you to NetGalley and publishers for this ARC!

A great overview for practitioners, skeptics, and interested members of the public alike. This book presents a wide variety of perspectives on the nature of tarot and divination, and examines also its intersections with marginalised identities.

NetGalley Arc review.

Honestly, the world of Tarot is over saturated, there is a book being written every other week, can I say this one at least hold more substance than most, yes. Would I add it as a reference book sure, would I take every word for absolutely truth nope.
I actually would have liked this author to actually go far deeper than they did, I felt I’ve read this content multiple times in other books just this year.

A Critical Introduction to Tarot is not like everyother tarot book that describes the major and minor arcanas with keywords and historical desriptions. The book covers the history of tarot and studies how even though the cards sometimes still show history's patriarchal society, it is still important to include that lense in our readings. the book provides a somewhat intense study in how to understand the tarot using its history, different types of magick, dualism, numerology, politics, fremansonry, etc. I definitely would recommend for someone that wants to do a deep study of the tarot.

Thank you Simon Kenny, NetGalley and IFF Books for this ARC.

A Critical Introduction to Tarot by Simon Kenny is an amazing read for those interested in practical use of tarot but also for those who enjoy learning a bit of history behind various practices.

I will be putting in a pre order for a physical copy of this book to have at home and recommend to others.

A very detailed reference of numerology, symbolism, and other aspects of the tarot to help find new perspectives for interpretation, or to enhance current understanding of the cards meanings. Very informative.