The Cloisters by Katy Hays

The Cloisters by Katy Hays
UK Publication: Jan 2023
Reviewed by: Book Worm
Rating: [★★★]

This ARC was provided by Random House UK (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.

Random words review – Atmospheric, immersive, mesmerising  & transporting

Synopsis from Goodreads: When Ann Stilwell arrives in New York City, she expects to spend her summer working as a curatorial associate at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Instead, she finds herself assigned to The Cloisters, a gothic museum and garden renowned for its medieval art collection and its group of enigmatic researchers studying the history of divination.

Desperate to escape her painful past, Ann is happy to indulge the researchers’ more outlandish theories about the history of fortune telling. But what begins as academic curiosity quickly turns into obsession when Ann discovers a hidden 15th-century deck of tarot cards that might hold the key to predicting the future. When the dangerous game of power, seduction, and ambition at The Cloisters turns deadly, Ann becomes locked in a race for answers as the line between the arcane and the modern blurs.

A haunting and magical blend of genres, The Cloisters is a gripping debut that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

My Thoughts: The writing of this book had that certain something that drew me straight into the world of The Cloisters from the opening paragraph. While there is a death for me that was not the focus of the book the real focus for me was the character interactions and the real sense of space, time and the magical that Hays managed to imbue the text with.

Personally I have no interest in Tarot cards but while I was reading this book my mind was totally open to the possibility of what if? Regular readers will know I want to believe and this book appealed to that side of me.

Who would like this? I would recommend this to anyone with an interest in Tarot or an interest in the medieval and fans of Dark Academia. Fair warning though this is a slow paced character driven story it is not a page turning thriller. This is a book to immerse yourself in and enjoy the scenery as the ride slowly progresses.

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