Katie was a fun character to spend time with and I enjoyed the wild ride. The mystery is on the cozier side, but it is still a fun and engaging story. The plot does become a little unbelievable however if you are enjoying the character or the story you will enjoy the book.

Play the Fool
⭐️⭐️⭐️
I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Random House Publishing and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

Synopsis: For Katie True, a keen gut and quick wit are just tools of the trade. After a failed attempt at adulting in Chicago, she's back in the suburbs living a bit too close to her overbearing parents, jumping from one dead-end job to the next, and flipping through her tarot deck for guidance. Then along comes Marley.

Mysterious, worldly, and comfortable in her own skin, Marley takes a job at the mall where Katie peddles Russian tchotchkes. The two just get each other. Marley doesn't try to fix Katie's life or pretend to be someone she's not, and Katie thinks that with Marley's friendship she just might make it through this rough patch after all. So one day, having been encouraged by Marley to practice soothsaying, Katie reads tarot for someone who stumbles into her shop. But when she sneaks a glance at his phone, she finds more than just clairvoyant intel. She finds a photo. Of Marley. 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 the truth has deadly consequences, and Katie's recklessness lands her in the crossfire of a threat she never saw coming. Now Katie must use her street smarts and her inner Strength card to solve Marley's murder--or risk losing everything.

My Thoughts: I really thought the cover was awesome and really liked the premise. The first 40% of the book was great but about 60% into the book, it lost me a little, then picked back up in the end. I think it was too much of a slow burn on the mystery angle. You do have to suspend belief a little for this story. I did love the mafia angle and even the “shady” business, as those make good storylines. I loved the MC and the cop who helps her along the way to solve the mystery of her missing friend. I also loved that she would go to the end of the earth to find out what happened to her friend. Katie is a relatable and reliable protagonist, as follow on this journey, I like her more and more. I also like the humor angle that carried throughout the book, especially in a mystery novel. Even though some aspects were predictable, it was still a good read overall that I enjoyed. I would recommend this book to others.

Arc from netgalley

I really tried to get into this. The writing just didn’t work for me. The plot wasn’t doing it for me either. Sadly. Just not for me

I read the first 50 pages of this and just couldn't get into it. I'm not sure what didn't work for me here but I don't like pushing myself to read things that I don't enjoy. Therefore I will be DNFing this book. But I'm very thankful to have had the opportunity to read this.

A fun and quick mystery with a sprinkle of humor and romance. Took me a bit to get into but overall, enjoyed the story as it unfolded. The angle of the tarot cards and palm reading was really unique and fun!

3 stars!

First off, the cover of this book is so cute! I think that this was a traditional cozy mystery and it did what it needed to do in a fun setting. I think unfortunately what I'm learning is that cozy mysteries might just not be the genre for me and that's okay!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley.

couldn't get past 65% - You lost me at the police in this one.

The humor was decent though.

This one took me a little time to get into, but I'm glad I stuck with it. A unique and engaging story with a nice combination of action and intellectual sleuthing, And it was a nice spin on the police detective-amateur sleuth interaction. An enjoyable debut and I look forward to more from Lina Chern!

Thanks to Random House for access to a digital ARC on NetGalley.

While I didn't love this story, I also didn't hate it. Where it fell for me was firmly in the frustrating category.

There was so much back and forth that I must have rolled my eyes a dozen or so times before the end. Some things never made sense such as who was Marley on the phone with? Needless to say, I have questions, but not enough to come back for a second book.

I was really intrigued getting into this book and it got off to a great start. I really enjoyed the quality of writing and the sort of mystery vibe it had going on, I felt like I'd stepped into the atmosphere of the movie Ghost World. The mystery itself wasn't that intriguing and didn't feel like that much of a mystery, as I was more interested in what happened to Katie and how she was going to deal with the situation. I didn't find myself caring about Marley very much, but it might have been more impactful to see their relationship as more established before the murder happens, since I wasn't that invested. Definitely more on the "cozy" side of the mystery genre. I wasn't crazy about the ending, and there was a LOT going on (maybe too much) but overall this was an intriguing debut and I would read more by this author.

The cover and the premise was fantastic, I really struggled to get through this. I don’t say this lightly. It was very slow and it never really picked up. It started off interesting enough but it slowly creeped into the realm of uh, that’s funny but I’m not buying the lead up. The love interest left a lot to be desired as did Katie. She was hard to like with being so lackluster at times. No real goal in her life made her just seem unanchored. I really wanted to love this book, such a great idea but I just couldn’t get behind the characters. Definitely was expecting something more romantic and magical than what this actually was.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for granting this ARC.

This was a cover request. I thought it was a great cover. The story was good. I don't read many mysteries and I honestly wasn't expecting this twist. I didn't go into the novel knowing the premise either. The main character grows into herself pretty well. I honestly wasn't a fan of Marley. It was obvious from the start she was hiding something, not 'mysterious'. None the less I trudged through the story. The detective was pretty standard and flat. It was clear the story was supposed to be about doing the hard things and taking chances.

Thank you Lina Chern, Bantam, and NetGalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

It took me a little while to get into this book. I really couldn’t tell where it was going or what the genre was really supposed to be. The ending was unexpected, but more so because this book was a little all over the the place.

The premise was interesting, I just think there could’ve been a better execution of it.

I am going back and forth on my rating for this one. While it kept my attention, the mystery part fell a little flat. I would love to read more from this author because I definitely see potential.

Katie True is failing at adulting. She goes from one job to the next job. She ends up selling Russian tchotchkes in a shop across the shop where Marley works. Marley becomes her best friend. Marley encourages Marley to do tarot readings as it is Katie’s true talent. When a disheveled man with blood on his shirt runs into the shop to get th cards read for him. Katie finds a photo of Marley dead with a gunshot to her head. Who killed Marley? Why? She realizes that the tarot cards can’t answer these questions. Since Marley was her best friend, she wants to and does investigate trying to find out who killed Marley and why. Katie ends up in conflict with criminal s and a police detective who does his work “by the book.” Will Katie find the answers she has?

The author has written a mystery with lots of humor. This book might be the first of a series? I’m only guessing but I also would like it to happen. The mystery had my attention as I read it and enjoyed the characters in the novel. This good natured story is the best . I do hope it becomes a series.

Really fun mystery with a girlfailure protagonist that I actually totally endured. The mystery is figure-out-able without being too corny. The romance is satisfyingly predictable. Surprised how much fun I had with something that's not exactly cerebral.

This was a solid debut. I quite enjoyed the mystery and loved the disability rep sprinkled throughout. Some of the minor characters were not very memorable, but over all I enjoyed the main characters. I'd be interested in seeing what else this author produces in the future. Overall, this was a good read.

Oh so outlandish but kinda fun. Quick, snappy, dialog to match the characters, a slightly improbable plot and lots of action made this an enjoyable and quick read. Nothing terribly cerebral, nor believable but it moved, shook and filled a few hours.

Rounding up - Lina Chern shows great potential and I look forward to her next book. Thanks to Bantam Books and NetGalley for a copy.

I mostly read thrillers and mysteries, which I love, but some themes within the genre can get repetitive. Play the Fool is a refreshing take on the mystery genre. I really enjoyed the main character's world-view and how she sorted everyone into the tarot archetypes. As a tarot reader myself I found it intriguing and I liked reading her reasoning for placing people into the different suits or if they were a major arcana or minor arcana card. The story overall was interesting and a page turner. I'll definitely be recommending it to friends!

A decent addition to its genre! The characters were interesting, and I love a woman who’s a burnout making bad choices re: solving mysteries. I think I would like a sequel to this building off of what was established in the end of this book more than I enjoyed this book itself.