I mostly read fantasy and science fiction but cosy mysteries are my second choice. The cover art for this one said it wasn’t going to be too serious or bloody a read. The description sounded cute too. I’m glad I got to read this ARC. It was a fun read watching the lead character bumbling through the mystery. I finished it in a single day.

🔮🔮🔮🔮 / 5

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Group for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

This was a great debut! I loved that the main character has a passion for tarot-card reading, which was a big part of the story/plot. The writing was great, and the story was pretty fast-paced. I enjoyed the banter between Katie (MC) and Jamie (cop), and Katie’s knack for getting into trouble was wild. Though some occurrences seemed unlikely, I didn’t get too caught up in that because I was thoroughly entertained!

I don’t know as much about tarot, so this was a very interesting read! I really enjoyed it though, and I don’t usually enjoy mystery. (Just my own preferences!) Very fun, and will definitely recommend!

A big thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Play the Fool by Lina Chern is a fantasy novel that was graciously recommended and gifted to me by the publisher. It follows Katie True, who all her life, has been considered a failure. Until Marley hops into her life, and persuades her to work as a clairvoyant with a knack for the cards. And all is well for Katie, until she stumbles upon a customer's phone that has a picture of Marley with a gunshot wound in the head. Thus sparking an insane adventure filled with tarot and trickery.

No. Just no. The first half of the book was amazing, in the sense that it kept you hooked on trying to find out what was even happening. But the later half was a swan dive into disappointment. Honestly, just skip this book unless you likes these kind of ones. I didn't even really know what was happening half the time. And don't even get me started on the writing style.

I had high hopes for this book, sadly I just didn't connect with it. I think it's a case of it's me and not the book. It started off a little unbelievable and with too many side stories going on in the main characters reflections. Additionally, feel like you never really get to know the characters the way you wish to.

Adulting is hard for Katie True. She is the only one in her family who is having trouble finding a lucrative career path, she lives in a run-down apartment, and she jumps from one job to the next. Right now, she is working at the mall selling Russian tchotchkes, which is where she meets Marley. Marley works at another store at the mall, and they strike up a friendship. One day, as Katie is playing with the deck of Tarot cards she keeps on her at all times, a man stumbles into the store with a head wound, looking like he is going to keel over. He eventually asks Katie for a reading, but leaves in the middle to stagger off to the bathroom, leaving his phone. Katie takes a look at it, and discovers a picture on there of Marley, in the alley behind the mall, with a gunshot wound to the head. The bottom falls out of Katie’s world. Her best friend is dead? Who killed her? She quickly realizes there are some things her tarot cards can’t foresee, and she must put her razor-sharp instincts to the ultimate test. But Katie’s recklessness lands her in the crossfire of a threat she never saw coming. Now she must use her street smarts and her inner Strength card to solve Marley’s murder—or risk losing everything.
This was fairly good for a debut novel. The writing reminded me a bit of Lisa Lutz's novels. The storyline was a bit over-the-top and you definitely had to suspend disbelief in order to just sit back and enjoy it. Overall, this is a solid 3.

Play the Fool is a debut novel from Lina Chern. This novel has rich elements of a mystery, thriller, and romantic elements all rolled into one.

Katie True is a quirky, complex character that is easily relatable, and at times a little frustrating. She’s working a dead end job, not meeting her parents expectations, and fumbling along the way.

During a tarot reading she realizes her new friend is murdered and she becomes an amateur sleuth to solve the crime. She dives in head first and chaos ensues. There’s also an unexpected twist!

Character development is solid. The cover is eye catching.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group- Ballentine for the opportunity to review this eARC!

*3.5 rounded up

Katie works in a Russian souvenir store in the mall, occasionally reading tarot for customers. Her only friend is Marley, who works at the store across the hall. When Marley disappears and Katie sees a picture on a client's phone of her dead body, she becomes determined to find out what happened. If Marley is dead, who killed her and why? And where is her body?

This is a fun investigative novel where a determined young women tries to solve the case of her missing friend. Katie is a deeply real character, who struggles with things most young adults will recognize from their own lives: what you want to do with your life, feeling like you're "behind" your peers, struggling to define your own definitions of being successful and happy in a world of mainstream societal expectations of college and career. This all backdrops a compelling mystery, adding depth to the story beyond the whodunit. Kate's understanding of people through tarot cards and their meanings was also a unique character touch that I liked.

Personally, I wasn't a huge fan of the romance subplot and I was more interested in Kate's character development than the development of their relationship. I don't tend to enjoy the "traumatized cop love interest and civilian main character work together to solve the case and fall in love" when it appears in mystery/thriller books, so it just didn't work for me; but that's more personal taste than anything. It ultimately didn't take away from the book. If you like that kind of dynamic, you'll enjoy this!

You'll like this book if you like mysteries, and it will especially resonate if, like me and Kate, you're in your twenties and trying to figure everything out.

Katie True, a down on her luck tarot card reader who is working at a Russian tchotchke shop in the mall, tries her luck with an impromptu card read that changes her life as she knows it. When she discovers that her (maybe only) friend Marley is murdered, a wild ride begins as she inserts herself in the investigation. Will she be able to figure it out, or will she become a victim herself? More importantly, did she know her friend at all?

This was an entertaining book, one part thriller one part crime novel. I enjoyed the character of Katie, however it seemed that she didn't grow from her experience. Some of the scenarios in the book seemed a little far fetched as well. Do we really think a random civilian could help with a potential murder investigation and the cops would be okay with it? Seemed a bit unbelievable at time. The relationship between Katie and Jamie the detective is one that I wish would have been explored a bit more as well, it just seemed to kind of fizzle before any real resolution was had. If I suspended some of my beliefs, that was an entertaining read. I feel like this book isn't one to be taken too seriously; it's just there for a quick afternoon entertaining story.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book. All opinions within this review are my own.

I'm a sucker for a wise-cracking, down on her luck hustler, er, I mean, fortune teller with a gooey center full of family resentment and self deprecation. This one's got quippy dialogue and tenacity that one wouldn't expect from a middle child syndrome-d daughter.

The prose falls flat but can be forgiven as the story goes along. Sometimes the cozy in this cozy mystery is so placid it dips its toes in banality. Protag Katie True is uninteresting up until the halfway point, when her amateur sleuthing ups the stakes and gives her a reason to get her shit together.

The tarot themes will either be stupid to you as it plays up as both deux ex machina and omniscient 3rd person narrator, or real fun if you're into the topic/like when prose gets meta. Overall, <i>Play the Fool</i> has fun twists with dialogue that made me crave more character moments.

What a way to tie together tarot cards and police investigations!

In this story, we meet Katie, a down on her luck gal who has had multiple dead-end jobs and now finally meets someone fun and exciting while working at a shop in a mall. That’s just where everything begins though!

She is staying semi-afloat with her day to day until she spots a photo of her new friend, Marley, dead on a strangers phone. What would you do?

This paints a pretty vivid image of Katie’s life and all the twists and turns she comes across as she’s trying to get to the bottom of what happened to her newfound friend. I could easily picture the mall, the town they were in as well as the people themselves; from their hair color/texture, to their shoes.

It started slower, but really ramped up and I sped through the second half of the book. I’m a novice when it comes to tarot, so that aspect was fun to have sprinkled throughout the book. It gave a cool thought process to the main character.

Thank you so much to the author, Lina Churn, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Bantam, and NetGalley for the eARC of Play the Fool!

Good, quirky, mystery fun! Loved the vibe of the main characters and the flow of the story. The writing created a very vivid visual scene in my mind.

Katie is a tarot card reader and she discovers that her friend is dead. Katie starts poking around to determined to figure out what happened to her friend when she gets too involved and it becomes dangerous for her.
I had a hard time getting into this book but as I kept reading it started to catch my attention. Very few people had hopes in Katie so it was nice to read about the people that did believe in her at the end.

Play the Fool was an okay mystery novel but not for me. There was too much that I didn’t enjoy and the ending was lacking excitement. I admit I really love good endings. I can see other readers loving this, it just wasn’t my style. There wasn't much suspense and the novel was pretty lackluster in my opinion.

Sypnosis:

A cynical tarot card reader seeks to uncover the truth about her friend's mysterious death in this delightfully clever whodunit.

I loved the characters in this mystery. Everyone felt really well developed—suddenly intrepid sleuth Katie, her allies, her suspects, even the total side characters (one off and recurring). It made a seedy, criminal underworld mystery feel surprisingly "cozy". Of course, I found the whole central mystery wildly obvious and telegraphed, but I guess you can't have everything.

Mysterious? Tarot? Sign me up! This book was a very fun read--not usually my type of mystery, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Actual rating 3.5, rounded up for the gorgeous cover.

I don't know a lot about tarot cards, but the blurb caught my attention and I decided to take a dive into Katie's world. Very fast read, definitely one for the beach read lists. Not the most realistic, more of a fun interpretation of a murder investigation, if that makes any sense. A few twists, but nothing you won't see coming. Generally enjoyable.

My thanks to Random House/Bantam, the author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Bantam Books in exchange for my honest opinion.

Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Spice Level: None
Gore: Mild (not actually on the page at the time of events)
Language: Kinda rough in spots (at least for me)

There were a couple of chapters where I was confused if Katie was going off in her imagination—and I usually don't get confused unless I'm reading too fast. But it only lasted for two scenes, so I wasn't overly worried about it.

I wondered how the tarot deck would weave into this story and if there'd be a supernatural feel to it. Nope! Katie really is a cynic and is better at reading people than the cards. Haha. Though she pictures cards when she meets people, and that was a lot of fun to see her perceptions and the actual. And she was a master at talking to surly people, as witnessed through her friendship with Marley.

It was interesting how Katie latched onto Marley—who is older than her, world-wise, and frankly, kind of a drifter, half-punk, loser. Of course, Katie is at loose ends too, especially with the expectations of her go-gettum' family.

Is there a romance?
Sort of.
Jamie is the cop who keeps working with Katie on the mystery, but it's not like their hormones are raging or they're thinking about each other more than the key element of the story—the murder. Is there such a thing as romance adjacent? Or the slowest burn ever? Even though I'm kind of laughing here at myself, their "love interest" between Katie and Jamie does add a roundness to the reading experience that makes it feel more life-like. I think their connection added to the story.

This story wasn't what I expected at all, but it was a good surprise.
I recommend this book for mystery readers who want something between cozy and grizzly.

Play the Fool is a debut—you're going to want to keep your eyes out for her next book. There could be a sequel, even though this one stands alone.

Happy reading!

I really enjoyed this story, though I will say I kind of predicted the ending in a way. I loved getting to know the main character, who was perfectly flawed (I love an unreliable character). I am not a huge romance reader but I would have liked to see Katie and Jamie's relationship develop even more before the end of the book. Overall I really liked this and would recommend it for a fun mystery!

Katie's in her late 20s and she's never been able to settle into anything but she's finally found a friend in Marley. Except that Marley has disappeared and Katie's seen a photo which indicates that she is dead. With a bullet hole in her head. Except that the police don't find her body and, it seems, Marley doesn't exist. But Marley's boyfriend Dom does (he's the one with the photo on his phone) and then Jamie, a sad detective, believes her. They set off on a quest to find out the truth about Marley, dodging danger along the way. I gotta admit I liked this for Katie, an inveterate tarot card reader who becomes the most dogged of investigators. Her neurodiverse brother Will, a graduate student, is a hoot and her sister Jessica does have a bigger heart than she wants to show. And Jamie, who left LA to come to this small town outside Chicago. Chern has cleverly left clues along the way that I know I missed until Katie herself realized they were there. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A very good read.