This was a good cozy mystery read for people who like tarot. It has a uniqure premise. This is A solid debut.

I loved this book! The characters were an interesting mix, with added depth as the book went along. My absolute favorite was Katie; although, she was a bit of a hot mess, she was also fun and I thoroughly appreciated the way she thought in Tarot cards.

The mystery was well told and everything was wrapped up neatly by the end. I'd love it if the author wrote more books about the characters.

I loved how this book started. I was hooked on the mystery. However, I did start to lose interest around half way through. I think there were too many elements going on at once. I didn't like the will they won't they of Katie and Jamie. I wish there was more tarot card reading.

I loved the tarot card part. That is what really endeared me to this story because I love anything with tarot cards in it! That was a lot of fun. Unfortunately I couldn't get too into the mystery itself. I think I just like my mysteries a little darker and deeper. This would be good for someone looking for a light, cozy read.

A cozy mystery with tarot!

Katie works a dead end job at the mall reading tarot in a gift store, too uninspired to reach for anything better. But when her only real mall friend goes missing and her ex comes in for a reading, Katie only “sees” tragedy and she’s determined to work out justice for her friend… or maybe die trying.

I loved Katie and her voice and the way she could see situations and people in terms of tarot cards. I liked getting the explanation for what each card represents and how it fit each scenario. I also really liked her interactions with her brother. She felt genuine and messy and relatable. I wasn’t a huge fan of Jamie as he never felt fully fleshed out. His banter with Katie was laugh out loud funny tho, so I give him a pass :)

The pace fit a cozy mystery really well. I enjoyed the haphazard sleuthing and the well executed plot that was rife with red herrings and twists and turns. I would definitely read a second book in this series!

Thank you to the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Content Warning: violence

I’m not a big fan of mystery books – it’s usually a hit or miss for me because if the story is slow and drags I will lose interest fast. But I wanted to take a chance on this one because of the cool cover and the whole tarot card reading. Here is what I thought:

+ I was pleasantly surprised with how much this story captured my attention. Katie is an under achiever and so good at it but I didn’t really feel sorry for her because she was quirky, she still tried to live on her own even if it was a dump, she loves her brother a lot (I love Owen!) and I love their connection and she was genuinely nice to people even if she sort of knew how to lie to them when card reading.

+ I like when Katie tries to find her friend’s killer and befriends a cop who has a past – he’s hard to read which is not normal for her, but I like their friendship a lot. Is there a romance brewing between them? I don’t know because it stays in the friend zone but I like that they get to know each other and have great banter. They need one another but the romance and feelings are not the focus in this book.

+ I enjoyed the twists in the story. I went along for the ride and was really interested to know how Marley (the dead friend) died and how everything fit in the puzzle. I was entertained until the very end!

~ Katie is kind of lost, she goes from job to job and she is a tarot reader but the story only has her do one major reading. I kind of wanted to see her do more because I find tarot reading fascinating and just wanted to see more of it in the story. I liked how she read people in her mind upon meeting them though.

~ Katie herself isn’t a cop but after the “bad guys” first start following her and warning her – I would have thought they (Jaime and the cops) would be more vigilant about protecting her. Also I was wondering why if the bad guys were so bad, they just didn’t kidnap Katie and rip that necklace off her. She wore on her person for awhile – so I thought those guys showed a lot of restraint and was expecting them to do worse to her.

Why you should read it:
*entertaining whodunit story about an under-achiever who gets caught in the middle of a bad situation
*love Katie’s relationship with Owen and her growing friendship with Jamie
*fun twist and turns

Why you might not want to read it:
*I like it because it was fun for me but I’m not usually a mystery lover. Most mysteries that people love – I find boring, so my judgment of this book might be way off for someone who already loves reading mysteries. Basically – take my review with a grain of salt if you are a die-hard mystery fan.

My Thoughts:

I really enjoyed this one more than I thought I would! I love Katie’s quirky, chaotic, messy character, even though her living conditions stressed me out. I love her relationship with her brother Owen and her growing relationship with Jamie, the cop with a traumatic past. And overall I had fun trying to guess who killed Marley and seeing where the story went – which was into a place I didn’t even expect. My minor issues with the book only came with me wanting more tarot reading in the story since Katie is a tarot reader. Other than that I thought for someone who doesn’t love mysteries, this was a fun read.

2.5 stars rounded up.

Play the Fool by Lina Chern is described as a cozy mystery, but I don't read a lot of thriller and mystery novels to know the difference between regular mysteries versus cozy mysteries. Maybe because it feels low stakes? Maybe because there is some dry humor and somewhat quirky characters? I'm not entirely sure, but Play the Fool didn't quite have what I hoped it would have. It was: fast-paced and action-packed but it was also predictable, a little far-fetched and unrealistic. I didn't believe in the "best friend" relationship or the love interest plot lines. I saw the humor, but it didn't really work for me. The "I'm a mess" main character trope was fine, and I enjoyed that she was a tarot card reader. It added intrigue and uniqueness, but overall, this book just didn't deliver what I hoped it would.

Maybe for fans of mysteries and thrillers, it will hit differently!

This book had an interesting premise but the execution was not very smooth. The characters including the protagonist/narrator were underdeveloped and difficult to be invested in, and the twists and turns of the plot were pretty convoluted. I liked the fast pace of the story, it felt like there was always something important happening but there weren’t very many instances where I was truly interested in the progression of the story or the protagonist’s personal development.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

As someone super into tarot and super into mysteries, this caught my eye immediately. I have to admit that the trope of "hapless hot mess accidental detective" can be a trifle overdone, but in this context it totally fits. The tarot cards provide a cool backdrop to the rest of the novel . Occasionally had to believe plot points (a little too much looseness with access to police resources, for example) but overall a fun twisty read.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Katie True currently works at a Russian store filled with knick knacks, or as her family says, a dead-end job. When a customer comes in who wants her to do a Tarot card reading, she sneaks a look at his phone to see if she can get any clues for the reading and comes across a picture of her friend Marley dead. This takes her on an unofficial investigation with a cute cop to try and figure out what happened to her friend.

This was a fun murder mystery book. I enjoyed the main character a lot and her interactions with others. I recommend this for anyone that enjoys a light, cozy murder mystery.

it took me over a month to read this book, which is hardly ever a good sign. the premise and the cover were both super intriguing, and i had a fine time with the book, but i never felt compelled to pick it up. ultimately, for about the first half of the book, i didn't care. i didn't dislike it, so i was willing to push through to the end, but i wasn't expecting anything from the ending. however, i read the last fifty percent in one sitting, and i ended up enjoying that portion a lot more than i had come to anticipate. i still wouldn't say there was anything great about this book, but i don't regret finishing it.

Thank you to Random House, Ballantine and Lina Chern for letting me read PLAY THE FOOL early. This one publishes on March 28.

I loved these characters, they really came to life for me and the mystery was mostly not predicted which is a major complement coming from my old jaded self. I will miss these characters and I can't wait to talk about this one. I really enjoyed this debut book. I can't wait to see what Lina Chern comes up with next!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own, and I received access to this book in exchange for my honest feedback.

I chose to read this story because it had an interesting premise and a solid start. I was fascinated by Katie's use of tarot cards to rationalize her world, and thought the mystery was intriguing at first. I also enjoyed the large cast of characters and how none of them were perfect, as well as the snarky dialogues present throughout. However, there were some aspects of this book that were a bit frustrating to read. The side romance seemed both underdeveloped and unnecessary, and the second half dragged compared to the first half before summing up the story with an ending that I personally found unsatisfactory. Overall, I felt like the book didn't live up to the premise, but there were numerous positive aspects of the reading experience and I do think others will enjoy it more than I did.

CW: murder, blood/violence

First, thank you so much netgalley for the opportunity to review this book,. Though I’m very late on so many books. I hope this year I can cut that down and probably won’t request for a while.

TW: death, blood , suicide ( just brief mentions but still)

We’re following Katie true, a tarot card reader who believes her friend Marley is missing . Basically we’re following along as she tries to unravel what’s going on( pretty short.)

I really like Katie True voice and character she’s so real. I also love the focus on friendship and how they met and such. It really gives us - the readers, a look into friendship and how much Marley impacted Kate’s life. We see her family and how Jamie the only one who’s helping her so far. Although let’s be honest she’s a pain in the a** to him. Despite that each character has their own goals and accomplishments . It’s like we’re in the each moment, awkward ape not.

There was very little I didn’t like the awkward conversations, and so much more. But also a very picky reader so stuff like people assuming that two people are in a relationship bother me. Cause i don’t care for but it at the

I’d have to my favorite character is definitely Katie true, we get to a huge change throughout the book. Plus she’s just really relatable and shows how not every mc has to have their life together.

Overall I was worried cause I’m not a huge fan of tarot card. I just find them pretty. It would be daunting read with me needing to look up EVERYTHING. Because as much as I love reading. A book that throws so much information on a reader really impacts them for future books. But nope, it was a digestible read with witty characters whom all come to life with their own personalities and conflicts.

I’d definitely recommend if you love really realistic characters, dry humor, existential crises everywhere and the thrill of a lifetime that come with the mystery in this book.

this was a solid read! the taro and murder mystery aspects were really fun to read and see put together in a book. overall, it was just that: a solid read. I'm not usually a mystery reader, so this may have affected my reading experience but will definitely be sharing it with others who are interested in the genre!

Play the Fool is a very enjoyable debut and a book I'd recommend for anyone who enjoys the "hapless amateur detective" type of mystery. It’s a fun book to read. The characters were all interesting, but I began to get confused by some of the names. It was a fun light read and I especially enjoyed the tarot card parts of the book, the way she would see the cards in her head and was able to bring them in to her current situation. I would definitely recommend this to someone who wants a quick read, with a little action and light hearted fun!

Play the Fool is a very enjoyable debut and a book I'd recommend for anyone who enjoys the "hapless amateur detective" subgenre of mystery/thrillers. Main character Katie True is a young woman who feels like a failure at almost everything she's ever tried to do. The one ability she's confident about is her ability to read tarot cards, and by extension her ability to read people. When she's giving an impromptu reading for a sketchy guy one day and sees a picture on his phone of her only friend laying by a dumpster, apparently dead, she gets neck deep in investigating what happened. In her efforts to ensure her only friend receives some kind of justice, she starts to open her heart and expand her life. I started the book being sort of annoyed at Katie's lack of effort in participating in her own life, but by the end I was rooting for her. I was also really pleased with the way the central mystery was resolved -- some twists I saw coming, some I didn't, and that's a really enjoyable twist combo for a seasoned mystery reader. And as a tarot reader of many years, I really enjoyed how connected Katie was to the cards and how they informed the way she interacts with the world and the people around her. Very well done. Looking forward to more from Lina Chern in the future!

i liked this one! i can genuinely say i’ve never read anything like it and i wanted to dive in as soon as i saw the cover. i think it’s a bit juvenile compared to mysteries i would typically reach for, but it’s absolutely a fun read. the characters were all interesting, but i think with so many characters introduced it can become a bit convoluted. katie isn’t my favorite main character, and genuinely drove me up the wall with some of her choices. she did bring me back around in the end, and as frustrating as she can be, you really can’t help but root for her. this is a perfect fun mystery to cozy up with.

thank you to randomhouse publishing group and netgalley for an ARC copy in return for an honest review!

This was a fun, light read with memorable, lovable characters. I enjoyed the tarot card aspect of the novel and felt for the main character as she struggles to define herself. I will recommend it to friends who want a quick, fun read.

This one captured me with an intriguing premise involving Tarot cards and I loved the cover art. Overall it was just a 3-star for me, enjoyed reading it, but would not reread it. It was pretty fast-paced, however, some of the relationships and story were way too rushed at times. I think the story came together overall, but again, I didn't think there was enough character development or even plot at times. I did like the autism representation in the main protag's brother, Owen. The author never said he was autistic, but as a parent of a child on the spectrum, it was easy to decipher. I related to him most of all probably. Thank you to NetGalley and Bantam for allowing me an ARC of the book for my honest feedback.