Wow, I loved this book! The whole concept is so cool, its tarot but in the form of poems, instead of cards! I'm really trying to get into tarot, so this was perfect for me. I personally love the idea of just opening the book in a random page in the way that tarot cards are drawn. Also, I think the cover is very pretty, and I would definitely buy this book if I had the chance!

I was very excited about this book, since it's related to tarot. I haven't read many tarot books, but I'm interested in this type of literature. However, this book just didn't work for me. This is not a critique to the author, but I just couldn't related to it somehow. Rating: 3/5 stars.

In a climate where most poetry books nowadays seem like Rupi Kauer knockoffs, this book was beautifully original. I am an avid tarot reader and I loved this concept! Rashidi wrote thoughtful poems based on the different tarot cards. I loved that the poems stayed close to the typical meanings of the cards while also giving her interpretations. So glad I came across this book and I expect more good poetry from Rashidi in the future. Thank you NetGalley for the read!

I've never read anything like this before, and I really loved the format. It's super personal and unique, with different sections of poetry that you can read it different orders depending on the theme and format.

I feel that this book is something that should be included with a deck of tarot cards. I have a desk so I was able to follow and it felt like I could read a fortune and understand what it meant easier. It could be sold separately but I do not think it would get much notice from the general public if sold separate.

Overall, I loved reading it. I read it as though it were poems if I did not have my cards with me and that worked wonders. When reading as poems, (which I have a feeling is something that is to be done), everyone one of the cards associated becomes a beautiful life and nature all on their own.

When this book comes out, I will buy it just to have in my collection with my cards. And when I want to refresh myself either with the poetry or just a quick reading, this would be the one book that I would pull off my shelf.

I thought this was a lovely project, inviting us to reading in both ways: reading a book and reading tarot. They way the book is constructed encourages practical re-exploration and re-visiting, not just a one-off “completion”, which I thought was pretty unique for a poetry collection.

Big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

''change is nothing to be afraid of, love is nothing to shy away from''

Being a tarot lover myself, this book took me by surprise the moment I saw it. I found that many poems resonated with me.

While not everyone will like this, I would reccomend it only if you like poetry.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an e-arc in exchange of an honest review.

✨BOOK REVIEW: Fortunate by Kim Rashidi✨
Format: ebook
Rating: 4.5/5
Reading goal: 38/100

I love tarot and I love poetry, so I was thrilled to have a chance to read Fortunate by Kim Rashidi (published by @andrewsmcmeel) prior to release.

This book is stunning. I read it with my Rider-Waite-Smith deck in hand, and while the purpose wasn’t to deepen my understanding of the cards, it certainly happened! Kim did such a fabulous job taking the underlying truth of each card and distilling it into emotive pieces. The poems aren’t overly flowery and certainly do not require any tarot knowledge for you to enjoy the book, and in my opinion this means the book is very accessible.

As someone who dabbles in writing poetry, I aspire to have mastery over words the way Kim does! The pieces are stunning and worth reading, even if you have no interest in tarot.

Favourite pieces included Ace of Wands, The Moon, and The World.

One of the great things about this book is that each poem has a blank page beside it so that you can make notes of your thoughts, musings, and what the poems evoke. For someone like me who loves to annotate my books when I feel called to do so, this was a nice touch. It would also be great for someone beginning a tarot practice to help understand each card.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading poetry, and expect anyone who enjoys (or has any interest in tarot) to love the book. I will certainly be picking up a hard copy when the book is released.

4.5/5

Fortunate is released 3 May 2022

(Special thanks to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the e-ARC!)

The title of this poetry book immediately caught my eye and as a somewhat new tarot card enthusiast I had to read it. One of my favorite things about this book (and tarot) is that interpretations of each card can vary from one reader to another. Kim Rashidi did an amazing job of not only making these poems beautiful, but informative as well!

Thank you, Netgalley and Publisher for this ARC.

This book was not for me. I think I may have expected more than I should have, but the poems felt like they barely scratched the surface of the tarot cards they represented.

Although I know Tarot is personal and up to interpretation, I just felt underwhelmed - especially considering how it seemed to be more of a "motivational" type of poem than a "reflection" type of peom, if that makes sense?

I love this concept so much. As a reader of tarot, I could not wait to start reading this. I actually pulled cards and read the corresponding poem instead of reading it straight through. This was definitely an experience I would encourage.

Pull a card each day, read the poem and reflect upon it during the day. Most excellent.

E-arc from Netgalley

the concept for this poetry collection was really appealing to me but it feel flat, felt like superficial poetry and many of them read similarly

This book is beautiful. Every poem is written so magically. Highly recommended reading.
combining poems with tarot reading is a wonderful idea.
The front cover is beaufiful too.

This book is about tarot cards but uses poetry . Which I found really interesting some poems I liked better than others.
Thank you NetGalley for letting me read this book.

Fortunate is a collection of abstract and deeply personal poetry, one for each card of a traditional tarot deck. As a tarot card reader and poetry fan, this one didn’t resonate with me. The poetry was too abstract and I found myself struggling to connect with it. While I’m sure they mean something wonderful to the author, they just didn’t work for me.

Fortunate is a collection of poems based off the cards in a classic tarot deck. I have practiced tarot for years and collect decks, so this has a very special spot for me. If you aren't a fan of the "simple, Instagram" poetry that has been popular the last few years, this may not be for you. However, I thought it was very cute and fun. My only complaint is I wish the poems were in order as they're usually in reference guides because I think this book would be fun to use during a reading, and the current order makes that hard.

I wish it was organized by major Arcana, minor Arcana and then pentacles, cups, swords etc, and ascending or descending number, to make it easier to find the poem that matches your reading.

But the poems themselves are beautiful and I am very excited to add them to my next few readings and see how that feels!

Lovely work!

This was a short, but disappointing read. I would not recommend this to anyone. It was trite and not at all engaging. The concept was interesting, but it wasn't brought to fruition.

'Fortunate' is a simple but poignant collection of poems inspired by the tarot. If a reader is familiar with the major and minor arcana, each short poems is perhaps a bit on the nose, but this makes them accessible to newcomers and familiar to tarot verterans. The inclusion of blank pages next to each poem for the reader's notes, doodles, and other inspirations is a particularly nice touch, adding a very personalised flair to an otherwise generic representation of the tarot; and the author's suggestion to open the book to a random page in order to seek guidance is an extremely appropriate way to consume this collection as an alternative to a traditional drawing of cards.

Kim Rashidi is a 24-year-old poet based in Toronto. She explores the cosmos through her words and has a soft spot for capturing love and life in the mundane. Writing about the lives, cities, and timelines that mirror back the romantic, she weaves reality with imagined possibilities. She holds an MA in English literature and has taken to poetry since she was 16. Her newest collection is Fortunate, a series of poems based upon the Waite-Rider-Smith tarot deck.

Fortunate is both a book of poetry and a divination tool. Rashidi, in her note to the readers, encourages them to flip at random to a page in the book and to receive guidance or a message. She also encourages readers to use the blank pages for their own notes and musings, creating a possible call and response between her poetry and that of the readers. This makes for an interesting read, especially because the poems are not in a traditional order, but randomized, almost as though they’re part of a deck that’s been shuffled and used.

The poems themselves are fairly abstract, as one would expect from a series of poems meant to be more inspiring rather than actual poetry. Radishi encourages readers to “read into the words and in between the lines to create meaning,” which is a very post-modern understanding of poetry, but it’s not clear that Radishi is tapping into the L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E poets or similar movements or simply using nebulous concepts to “offer her intuition” to the reader and inspire them to find meaning.

As a divination tool, Fortunate might make sense. As a book of poetry, it struggles a lot. Rashidi uses vague notions and distancing language to create her poems, and while it might inspire readers to tap into different meanings of their everyday lives, as poetry, it struggles to find purchase in their imaginations. Fans of horror poetry might find this interesting as a tangential artefact or something to use in their own divination practices, but as a collection of poetry, this book isn’t worth pursuing.