The Cloisters by Katy Hays

Pages: 320

Publisher: Transworld

Released: 19th of January 2023 

Ann Stilwell arrives in New York City, hoping to spend her summer working at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Instead, she is assigned to The Cloisters, a gothic museum and garden renowned for its medieval and Renaissance collections.

There she is drawn into a small circle of charismatic but enigmatic researchers, each with their own secrets and desires, including the museum's curator, Patrick Roland, who is convinced that the history of Tarot holds the key to unlocking contemporary fortune telling.

Relieved to have left her troubled past behind and eager for the approval of her new colleagues, Ann is only too happy to indulge some of Patrick's more outlandish theories. But when Ann discovers a mysterious, once-thought lost deck of 15th-century Italian tarot cards she suddenly finds herself at the centre of a dangerous game of power, toxic friendship and ambition.

And as the game being played within the Cloisters spirals out of control, Ann must decide whether she is truly able to defy the cards and shape her own future . . .

Bringing together the modern and the arcane, The Cloisters is a rich, thrillingly-told tale of obsession and the ruthless pursuit of power.

What I Have to Say 

I loved the history in this. It put the academia in dark academia. It just created the perfect blend of dark twisted happenings and the study of tarot. I don't know how much of the tarot history was legit, but it sounded good and was really interesting to read about. 

I wasn't quickly endeared to the character, but I wanted her to succeed, especially because her descriptions of Rachel were really gay for a book with a hetero sexual relationship. I was interested in their relationship as well as the relationship with Leo. There's something about toxic friendships that really pulls you in a gets you reading. 

All in all, it was the atmosphere that really sold this for me. I could really feel how it would be to work at the cloisters and the energy of the tarot. 

(4 stars) 

My thanks go to Transworld and Netgalley for providing me with this copy for review.