Play the Fool is a great character-driven mystery. Katie, Marley, Jamie, and Owen are so real, and even the secondary characters, like Larissa and Jessie, are three-dimensional. The device of having Katie see people in terms of tarot cards is effective and never over-the-top, and the way that both Katie and Owen navigate their lives as non-neurotypicals shows their struggles and triumphs in a believable and relatable way. Katie's friend and shopping mall co-worker Marley's disappearance and possible murder and Katie's determination to discover the truth about what happened to her friend drive the action along with a fair amount of suspense and some twists and turns that keep the reader guessing. The author deftly evokes the contrast between Chicago's wealthier enclaves and the dingier and more dangerous environments where Katie finds herself as she investigates those involved with Marley during the last days before she vanished. Readers who enjoy great characters and a mystery with a touch of the mystical will enjoy this unique novel.

This one really fell flat for me. It had all the elements of a great story but it just lacked the magic I was hoping for.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the copy of Play The Fool by Lina Chern. This was a promising debut! It started out great, slowed down in the middle, and picked up again at the end. It wasn’t realistic how involved Katie got in working with Jamie to solve the murder and it would have been a better story if she had done it without him. I liked how Katie used Tarot cards throughout the story and how clever she was. I could see this being the first in a series because she was such a strong main character. If you love cozy mysteries you should check this one out.

Katie True is a somewhat aimless woman, working a dead end job at a Russian tchotchke shop in a failing mall. Her real passion is reading tarot cards. When a friend who also also works at the mall gets murdered, Katie gets tangled up in the investigation.
This is a fun whodunit, that is not altogether realistic, but I enjoyed it.
I really liked Katie's relationship with her brother, Owen- who is a great character in his own right. Jamie's background could have used a little more fleshing out, but he was a favorite of mine too.
This was a fun mystery and a fairly quick read.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House for an early copy for review.

I thought this book was fun. Katie is a tarot card reader/down on her luck woman who suddenly is thrust into a murder mystery of her friend. I found the snarky humor and different dopey characters added a lot to the story and made it unique. I don’t think I expected hyper realism here so my expectations were set there. Definitely go in with a sense that this is a fun and unique mystery/.thriller with some quirky characters and I think you’ll have a good time.

The storyline for Play the Fool was ok, just not very realistic. The book is more of a cozy mystery than a thriller. It started out good but went downhill midway through. Cozy mystery fans would most likely enjoy this novel. Thanks to author Lina Chern, Random House Publishing Group, and NetGalley. I received a complimentary copy of this ebook. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

As a longtime fan of the show Psych, there is plenty about this book that I enjoyed: a lighter tone, a snarky but aimless protagonist, using tarot to find her way through an investigation, a classic dynamic with a straight man detective, a cast of quirky characters in an everyday setting. I found Katie True to be a fun, interesting amateur sleuth for a mystery novel, who also reminded me a bit of the new show Poker Face. However, though I think some of the clues were well-places and the twists there to keep you reading, I was never fully gripped by the mystery. I think this was due to the shifting tone and content of the book: going between serious crime and worry to a romantic interest and the journey of someone figuring out their life in a small town, only leaning into thrills briefly a couple of times. I would still read another book by Lina Chern as I still found this engaging and pretty entertaining.

Play The Fool by Lina Chern is a mystery novel that follows Katie True, a somewhat talented tarot card reader who finds out one of her friends has been murdered while snooping through the phone of a man she is doing a reading for. All this happens within the first few pages of the book so it instantly grips you.

Unfortunately I don’t think it maintained its momentum for me personally. The whole middle of the book was slow for me despite it being a murder mystery and I felt like the ending didn’t give me the payoff I wanted. I think this book wasn’t really sure what it wanted to be. It was a little gruesome for me to classify it as a cozy mystery but not high stakes enough to be a thriller. There are some parts that felt like it wanted to be romantic and also parts that felt like it wanted to be a journey of self discovery. I think if it would have just honed in on one or two things, the pace would have been much faster and an overall more enjoyable read.

I did like things about this book. I loved how much tarot was mentioned. I love tarot and always find it fascinating when it is in books but most books just focus on the big cards. How many books with a tarot reader have you read about the mention the fool and death and that’s about it? Probably all of them. I also really liked Katie’s brother. He was neurodivergent in a way that read very naturally. I liked how Katie never really called him out on any of his idiosyncrasies and just let him be himself. I also think the writing overall was really good but got bogged down with too many story elements.

I would definitely pick up another book by this author in the future even though this wasn’t my perfect mystery.

“The card was the Fool. ‘Great,’ I said. ‘This guy again.’”


I love a good mystery and Play the Fool delivered. I was initially drawn to this book because of the cover. I know, don’t judge a book by its cover, but this time it worked.

We meet our protagonist not at all living up to her potential and working a seemingly dead end job at the mall. Katie is a tarot card reader semi-professionally but also for comfort. When a man stumbles into her work with an injury and looking shaken up, she offers to read for him. What she discovers during this reading will completely change her life in many ways and propels her towards accidental self discovery as she works to uncover the mystery of who killed her best friend and why. Katie realizes she has more to offer than what she’s been made to believe and sometimes risks are necessary in life.

I have to be honest, this truly did throw me for a loop and I found myself racing to the end for the conclusion. I did not see the end coming and that is exactly how I want a book to be, especially a mystery. There was fun humor in this, particularly if you like snarky humor like I do. I felt like Katie was relatable and I found myself rooting for her as well as shaking my head at her.

Play the Fool is a great, fresh take on the classic mystery story. I would recommend this to anyone who likes mysteries with a big dash of humor.

Check out Play the Fool on March 28, 2023! Thanks to Netgalley, Lina Chern, and Random House Publishing for this wonderful arc.

#mystery #playthefool #linachern #randomhousepublishing

I really wanted to like this one but it just didn't catch my attention. I couldn't quite connect with the characters and struggled to finish.

Play the Fool by Lina Chem is a fast paced Mystery with a whimsical combination of mystery and magic.
What I Liked
1. As a tarot reader it was incredibly fun to read a story that had tarot and references to tarot reading in the plot.
2. The story was written in a way to allow for good hints as to its ending without giving everything away during the build up.
What didn't work as well for me
1. Dialogue felt stilted in several places.
2. The book felt like it could have been expanded into a longer narrative to give more space for character development.
Who I would recommend this book for
Lovers of urban fantasy or magical realism looking to dip their toes in the mystery genre will find themselves a comforting welcome in the pages of Play the Fool.

Not really my type of book and struggled to read so this was a DNF for me. I couldn’t get into the story and struggled to focus on the plot.

This cover got me interested immediately, and I couldn't wait to start this one! Katie True a go-with-the-flow Tarot card reader discovers her unlikely friend at the mall has been killed sending her on a hunt to find who is responsible.

The beginning hooked me as I loved the character building and her brother Owen with a boba addiction was a particular favorite. The middle dragged a little and the ending while a bit surprising but left me wanting more. After reading quite a few mystery novels, I enjoyed the fun twist and would recommend this to someone wanting a light-hearted mystery.

Overall a unique mystery, my rating: 3.5 ⭐'s

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this advance copy! Get your hands on this book on March 28, 2023!

Seems like the book can’t decide if it wants to be a romance or a mystery and it’s doing both mediocrely. The mystery starts off so intriguing with the photo of her dead friend on a guys phone. But at about 30% the mystery kind of stalls out and doesn’t move anywhere until it’s wrapped up.

I will say this book is quite funny. And Katie is a fun and quirky character.

This was a fun read! With magic, murder and romance, you will be entertained from start to finish. I enjoyed the addition of tarot cards in this story, it made it unique! The story was a little predictable but I still enjoyed it!

Thank you to the author, publisher and Net Galley for providing a free e-ARC copy of this book in exchange for my review.

I love mysteries and cozy mysteries and have read dozens. I was hopeful for this one, but it didn't work out for me. I found the police angle difficult to believe and didn't' really connect with the characters.

Sadly, this was 2 stars for me, 'it was ok'

tarot card reader part of a murder was an interesting story plot and the pacing was great and the twist wow

I liked the way the tarot cards were front and center in this novel, as it made for an interesting perspective, different from other murder mysteries I've read. I enjoyed the snarky humor and particularly enjoyed the relationship between Katie and her brother, Owen. I found the plot a little bit meandering and slow in places, but still entertaining, with a good twist at the end.

I really enjoyed the first 30-35% of this book as I had no idea where it was going. However, it kind of derailed after that for me. This is an okay mystery book but just wasn’t for me. I really love the cover though.

Play the Fool by Lina Chern is a fast-paced mystery that verges on being a „caper“. But it falls just short. There was a lot of potential in the book- a lost, awkward protagonist, a snappy „BIG CITY“ cop with a sad backstory, a murder, drugs and beefy „good fellas“- all the makings of a zany, madcap caper. But. It just doesn’t get there in the end. The protagonist, Katie True, is a hapless tarot card reader who is supposed to be a lost little bird, some sort of gen z manic pixie girl. I just found her seriously annoying. I suppose she is supposed to be quirky and sympathetic, but I just found her…whiny. I couldn’t get behind her as a character. And the flimsiness of Katie’s friendship with Marley did not match Katie’s determination to solve her murder. I didn’t buy it. When Katie meets Jamie, the new cop, I think it is supposed to be a meet-cute type situation, but there was no real substance to their relationship until the last dozen pages. Chern had a fun idea- a tarot card reader who finds out her friend has been murdered and then gets into a bunch of zany predicaments on the way to solving the crime. Unfortunately, there were too many half-developed or rushed ideas and relationships; in the end, Play the Fool fell short of what it could have been. I appreciate the eARC from @NetGalley in exchange for my honest feedback. Random rating is a 3/5.