A tarot card reader who works in a mall meets another woman who works across the way. They become lunch buddies and then she goes missing. The tarot reader tries to help find her and what happened.

An absolute dream of a book for fans of Leigh Bardugo’s NINTH HOUSE, get ready to add another gritty favorite female to your list. I could not put this book down. The pacing was tight, the characters fully realized, and the TWIST! Omg. Loved every second.

The cover for this book is beautiful and I was draw to it immediately and the synopsis pulled me in almost as quickly. There isn't much backstory for Katie, nor is there a lot of family presence, with the exception of her brother Owen who just might be my favorite character! The first three quarters of the book were slow as you got to know Katie and the storyline grew. At the same time the storyline picked up, it felt a little less believable. I had a hard time buying into the romance that suddenly popped up or how "involved" Katie was able to get into the investigation. Katie is that character you root for though, you know with one turn of events her life could have been different. The last few books I've read have been "okay" and unfortunately, Play the Fool fell into this category. It could have been the timing, it certainly was a light and easy read, Play the Fool fell short for me (I do seem to be in the minority, so take this review with a grain of salt).
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Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.
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The Instagram Post was made on February 3, 2023.

The instant I saw this cover and read the synopsis I assumed this story would be 100% in my wheelhouse. I love tarot, mystery, a little fun mixed in and I was led to believe I would get all of that from this story when ai really only got maybe 50% of that energy.

I always want to be in support of a debut novel but it just didn’t hit the mark for me. The premise and the setup are no doubt interesting and I was intrigued already in the first couple of chapters. Katie is a quirky but somewhat relatable character and charming enough that I didn’t cringe at certain cringeworthy, quirky girl, behavior. She kind of falls into the mystery by accident and I think that amps up the story.

Where it really fell short for me, is that the story never realized decided what it was. There’s the mystery of Marley, mixed with Katie trying to figure out her place in the world while also thinking in tarot card metaphors, while also half starting a romance that leads nowhere with Jamie? I just didn’t understand why certain elements needed to be added. The tarot wasn’t as big a part of the story as I assumed it would be and Jamie and Katie’s relationship truly felt like big brother, little sister for 90% of it.

It bums me out because overall, sure it wasn’t terrible at all but the mystery didn’t excite me by the halfway point. I wasn’t invested and I had no reason to carry about any of what was happening. It read like a lot of filler moments leading to maybe thirty pages of real action before the big finale. There was nothing there to grip my attention and then it all pieced together far too nicely at the end. Just not what I was expecting but it had a ton of potential.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bantam for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of PLAY THE FOOL by Lina Chern. I enjoyed the tarot card theme the MC Katie brought to the story, the way she viewed the world through them. I also enjoyed watching her character development and the confidence she gained as she went. I was a bit disappointed by the way the romance panned out, but I was invested in her and Jamie—their banter, their connection, their growth. The mystery kept me guessing until the very end. Also, I adored her brother Owen and I would do anything for him. It was overall just a fun read.

I would call "Play the Fool" an intense cozy mystery. Not a thriller but not a slow moving typical cozy this book kept me turning the page for more while still being gentle enough to read before bed. The writing was fun, a bit snarky (LOVED) and really made me care about the characters (even the minor ones). I particularly appreciate all the references to tarot throughout the book, keeping it on them. It would have been really easy to use the fortune telling as a hook to get started and then dropping it as the story progressed. Lina maintained this through the whole book which was great! I really enjoyed this book and look forward to more from Lina Chern.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in advance of publication.

Katie True can’t do much besides read the cards and soak in the unconditional acceptance of her new best friend, until a reading hints at murder. It was fun going along for the ride with Katie as she Nancy Drews about town. The ending was satisfying and the narrative was solid. Cute little offbeat mystery.

Katie True was an interesting character. She came from an eccentric family and picked up a knack for reading people from having to hang out with her Aunt Rosie. Katie is a master of using Tarot cards. After trying out college, Katie drifts from one job to another where she is in her current position at Firebird Imports at the mall.

Katie meets Marley, who works in the store across from Firebird Imports. Katie considers Marley to be her best friend.

One day a disheveled, out-of-sorts man rushes in where Katie works and despite the man's apparent disbelief in Tarot cards, he allows Katie to do a reading on him. When the man leaves his phone unattended, Katie takes a quick look to help her convince the man she's the real deal. What she doesn't expect to find is a picture of Marley dead behind the mall.

Katie makes a decision to bravely walk back to the spot where her friend is supposed to be, her friend's body is gone. Katie finds a gaudy necklace that Marley always wore as the only sign that Marley had been there. Katie entangles herself because she can't let go of what happened to her friend.

I found the plot to be entertaining, and I really liked Katie's brother Owen. Katie at times drove me nuts with some of her decisions, but in the long run, those poor decisions did help her gain insight and brought her in contact with someone who was willing to help. I like the concept that Katie is able to use her ability with Tarot cards and reading people so that she finally found her niche in life.

I received an ARC from NetGalley via Random House Publishing Group --Ballantine and I have voluntarily reviewed this book.

I was super hyped for this one given the cover and it definitely met my expectations. A first round purchase for most libraries

Play the Fool had a lot of components that could have made a great book but it fell short for me. Katie True has moved back to her hometown and has worked a string of dead end jobs until she ends up selling Russian trinkets at the mall. It is there that she meets Marley who seems to be everything Katie wants to be. When Katie sees a picture of Marley dead by a dumpster she takes it upon herself to investigate since she has read Tarot cards in the past.

There are just so many times through out this book where Katie's behavior just does not make sense. Why she thinks that reading Tarot gives her any skills in a missing person or murder investigation is beyond me. I kept having to remind myself she is a whole ass adult not a teen throughout the book. Another reason I did not enjoy this book to its potential is a spoiler so do not keep reading if you don't want to know. Literally the whole book could have been prevented if Marley would have just told Katie she was faking it when Marley figured out that Katie thought she was dead. Her excuses for not telling her were lame at best and it was just a very frustrating "twist"

Overall I liked how things were resolved at the end and I will read books by her in the future, Play the Fool just fell short.

🕵🏻 𝙱𝙾𝙾𝙺 𝚁𝙴𝚅𝙸𝙴𝚆 🕵🏻

Play the Fool by Lina Chern
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Katie True is a true chaotic person. She has an exciting part of her but she doesn’t realize how strong she is deep down. Her family is overbearing and very wealthy, they expect her to be successful but Katie has other plans. Katie is working a dead end job at a run down mall. Here she meets Marley, a girl who works at the goth shop across from Marleys store. They become really good friends during this time until Marley disappears. Katie loved that Marley accepted her for who she was and expected nothing of her.

Katie enjoys reading tarot cards as well, she does this from time to time for extra cash. One evening, a man named Nico who looks like he is in distress walks into the shop. Katie convinced him to read his tarot for $20. She discovers that he has a picture of her friend Marley on his phone where she appears to be deceased. This picture keeps playing over and over again in Katie’s head. She needs to find what happened to her friend Marley….. Could Nico be the boyfriend she was talking about breaking up? How did Nico end up with her picture ? Could he have killed her? She had so many questions. Will the tarot cards help her solve this mystery or will she need the help of others…..

This was such a fun book to read!!! A fun mystery without a dark side like I usually read. There was a bit of humor through the story which I enjoyed. I loved that Katie did not care about what her family thought about her success, she was doing what made her happy. Even though she was a mess, she is strong minded and talented in her own way.

This book will be out in stores March 28th !!!!

Thank you @linachernwrites @netgalley @randomhouse for the ARC.

#bookstagram #playthefool #linachern #netgalley #bookstagrammer #bookreview #arcreviewer

Katie True's attempt to solve her best friend's murder, through tarot, misadventure and pure luck, had me turning pages deep into the night. The only disappointment in the book is that it's a debut, so there isn't any back catalogue for me to read.

Play the Fool was just ok for me. The first part of the book was decent. The story, setting and characters were well set up and it seemed like it would be interesting, but at the same point the story took a turn and became not that great. We were introduced to so much all at once halfway through the book and it all felt rushed and discombobulated. This book started off promising but most definitely fell flat

Man, I really, really wanted to love this book! The cover and synopsis drew me in fast!! However, the main character just left me wishing for a different personality or storytelling.

Throw out all your expectations when you read Play the Fool. Katie True is not your average amateur detective.

Katie True thinks Marley Callaghan is her best friend, maybe her only friend. They work in two stores in a dying mall and meet on their breaks. Then a man walks into the store where Katie works and she accidentally see a picture of her friend——murdered—-on the man’s phone.

Katie follows him to the house where Marley lived and follows him in. It’s clear the place has been tossed. The police show up. Katie is cornered and subsequently interviewed by a handsome detective but she doesn’t believe he’s taking it seriously. You see, the body isn’t by the dumpster that was in the picture. There is no body. So of course Katie thinks she has to investigate by herself.

I suspect Katie True is intended to become the next Kinsey Milhone or Stephanie Plum. I think author Lisa Chern has a shot at pulling that off. Katie is an original.

Katie’s gimmick (I mean that in a good way) is that she reads tarot cards, having been taught by her aunt. Actually, she thinks in tarot cards. When she interacts with people, especially those she doesn’t know or is just getting to know, pictures from a tarot deck float into her mind, and that tells her about how that person interacts with life. I’m making that sound weird, but actually it’s quite a charming part of the story.

This is not the kind of book I would normally pick up (amateur detectives are more my husband’s thing). But Chern drew me in and drew me along. It’s a fairly quick and enjoyable read. I’m happy to have been given the privilege of reading an advance copy.

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for an arc in exchange for my honest review.

Publication: March 28, 2023

This turned into a case of I loved the cover and the synopsis drew me in but this book and I didn't get along. First off, I do have to say that looking at the cover for this book, it's gorgeous in my opinion! It looks like the old school fortune teller shop windows plus a tarot card!

The beginning of the book hooked me so that I was interested but not fully invested. Then it slowly tapered off for me as a reader and I found myself putting this down more than picking it up.

Overall, I've read better mysteries personally but this would be good for Halloween season or readers new to the mystery genre/amateur sleuth trope.

This book had a little bit of everything that I enjoy and it hooked me so much that I binge-read it, Katie is working a dead-end job when she does a tarot card reading for a flustered guy who walks into the shop she's working at. Little does Katie know, this reading is going to change her own life as she quickly ends up getting involved in solving her best friend's murder. Katie is a strong female lead who is both witty and absolutely scattered, sometimes I didn't know whether to strangle her or cheer her on. Her relationship with her brother Owen is fantastic (can I get an Owen centered book?) and it helps show a softer side of Katie. There's a ton of other characters that are introduced and while I didn't particularly vibe with most of them, I was intrigued by Jaime and the "will they" tension I felt between him and Katie. Are there parts of the book where you have to suspend belief? Absolutely. Do I think it detracts from the story? Not at all! This is a quirky thriller that won't keep you up at night but it will make you laugh out loud.

Katie moves back to the suburbs close to her parents. She tried living in Chicago but it didn't work out. She reads tarot cards all the time. Katie meets Marley while working at the mall. They become fast friends. While reading cards for a man who comes into her work, she sees a picture of Marley dead!!!! What happened to her friend? I enjoyed the friendship between Katie and Marley. The mystery surrounded Marley's death kept me guessing. I received and advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.

Get yourself a sweet and sugary drink and a day at the beach h. Not a terrible way to spend an afternoon. Predictable who done it. It goes down easy.
Thanks for the ARC.

Thank you Random House and Netgalley for a copy of Play The Fool by Lina Chern, in exchange for my honest opinion.

If you like the wittiness of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum character, you may like this. Katie True, who comes from a family of successful people, finds herself in and out of work constantly, with the worst of luck. Working dead end jobs. This one is at an antique store. She reads Tarot Cards as a hobby. One day, a guy walks in, frantic, with blood on his face. Katie tries to calm him down by telling him that she could read his cards but ends up finding herself in a whirlwind of a mystery, murder. With the help of a very attractive police officer, she gets to the bottom of what has happened to her only friend.

A quick, easy, fun read.