Bold, claiming a first novel as something akin to The Secret History, yet, as it turns out, not entirely inaccurate. I could have done without a bit at the very end, but it's just the sort of ribbon on top that some people go for, so.

The Cloisters is an interesting novel that is rich in historical,mystical and psychological detail.
The center character is a woman who has worked very hard to transcend an economically deprived background.
Her intellectual and good luck land her in this mystery involving mystical finds and questions.

Ann Stilwell has been accepted as a curatorial assistant for the summer associate program at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Having recently lost her much-loved dad, who was a self-taught linguist, she is eager to leave Washington for NYC. She arrives to find her job has disappeared, but another curator, Patrick Roland offers her a position at The Cloisters, a museum that was built of medieval pieces of architecture brought over in the 1930's by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Once there, she learns she will be working with Rachel Mondray to do research in preparing Roland's exhibition on divination. She also meets Leo Bitburg, who works in the gardens. These four people are entangled in a dangerous situation when an almost complete 15th century deck of tarot cards takes over their lives. There is a nice combination of art history, fate, and suspense in this fast-moving tale, and I should have loved this book, but I did not really care about any of the main characters, and I missed having someone to root for. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really, truly wanted to like this book. The description and the comparison to Ninth House and The Secret History sold me right away, and the opening of the book was incredibly intriguing. I was equally intrigued by the characters from the beginning, and had very high expectations for the remainder of the book as a result.

However, I think one of the major mistakes that this book made was in the marketing campaign. Selling it "for fans of Ninth House and The Secret History" felt inconsistent with the actual content of the book and set expectations for me that weren't met. It wasn't that I didn't like the narrative or the writing, but rather that I expected something entirely different out of this work based on the way it's being marketed. While this work could have easily run with either the dark, murderous academia of The Secret History or the secretive occultism of Ninth House, I feel that it touched on these aesthetics without truly delving into them fully, and this lukewarm nature caused the narrative to drag on very slowly for me.

I felt, while reading, as if I were eternally waiting for the true action to begin. Scenes that were clearly meant to be climactic didn't have enough build-up to really create an emotional attachment or reaction, and the reveals near the end of the book felt as if they were simply pigeonholed into the plot, rather than existing as a good twist or even a convincing product of the narrative. I wanted to love the characterizations, too, but again, I felt that they had a good foundation and yet did were not pushed to their full potential. I wanted the narrative, described as it was ("sinister and "atmospheric") to lean far more deeply into the unhinged and insane nature of the some of these decisions being made, but it never did.

My other big issue with this work is that, though the description and comparisons to other titles I enjoy suggested otherwise, I don't feel that I was the intended audience for this book. The emphasis on the mysterious nature of tarot throughout, especially as the driving force for the plot, fell flat for me, as I am someone who regularly interacts with tarot and occultism on a daily basis. Much of the plot was propelled by the question of "can these cards really tell the future?" and while I could see this being an interesting consideration for more mainstream readers, I don't feel that the audiences of something like Ninth House and other similar encompassing novels will enjoy seeing it here.

Overall, again, I really wanted to like this book, and I certainly didn't hate it, but I found it falling flat in many areas. The pacing was slow, and there was not enough climactic build-up to justify the important reveals. The magical realism aspects were rather dull in comparison to the titles this work is being equaled to, and though I know there is a good audience out there for this work, I don't believe that I am it.

Still, I'm very grateful for the opportunity to read this ARC, and glad for the chance to form my own opinions about this work. I did enjoy some of the artistic aspects of the novel, including the setting itself, which drew very vivid and atmospheric energy. A huge thank you to Atria Books for sending a copy for review!