The Cloisters by Katy Hays #bookreview

Thank you BookClubFavorites & Atria Books #partner, for the finished copy of The Cloisters in exchange for my honest review. 

Publisher: Atria Books

Published: November 1, 2022

Summary:

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:

I have to say I took a huge leap of faith on this one and am so glad it worked out! First, I fell in love with the cover and then when I saw it was set in NYC and at The Met Cloisters, a museum I’ve always wanted to go to…I just couldn’t resist…and despite the fact that I have no knowledge of tarot cards, I absolutely loved this one!

This is a slow-burn mystery that kept my attention all the way through. I loved the gothic, dark academia vibes this one gives off…it made for such an atmospheric read and I just can’t seem to get enough of those lately. The setting itself is almost like a character in the book with its rich history and maze-like hallways and all the hidden secrets it has. Just writing this now is reminding me how much I want to go visit this museum!!! It really is the perfect place to set a book like this and the author used is so skillfully in her writing.

I’m not at all familiar with, nor do I have much interest in, tarot cards, however I was completely consumed by this story and how the author wove them into the plot. I couldn’t wait to see what would happen next and loved the way the magical realism played out with the tarot cards. It all just came together perfectly. And when you add in some toxic friendships, workplace struggles, female ambition, and the idea of finding oneself, this book really hit its mark.

I’m still in awe that this is a debut novel for Kats Hays. She is definitely someone to watch and I will be quite eager to see what comes next from her!