By Larissa Page
Ann Stilwell desperately wants to get away from her painful small town life in Walla Walla after the death of her father in a hit and run and all of the constant reminders of him. When given the opportunity to intern for a summer at The Met, she hopes to never return. Ann ends up at The Cloisters, working hand in hand with Rachel and Patrick, in a medieval library surrounded by lush though potentially dangerous gardens. Together, they seek to discover the origins and original use of the Tarot and its occult beginnings. As the summer progresses, Ann finds herself being pulled into a different world, discovering different things about herself, and finds herself in sinister situations.
I began my “spooky season” reading with The Cloisters, and while there are things I wish had been done a bit better, or perhaps fuller, the atmosphere was perfect for a pre-halloween read. The settings of the buildings and gardens, tapestries, library, stacks, Rachel’s large and empty “camp”, and more, all lended themselves to an atmospherically eerie read. I was quick to do an image search of The Cloisters themselves, and I really enjoyed imagining all of the scenes and their settings as they played out.
While I enjoyed the characters to an extent, I found myself wishing I had a bit more understanding of a few of them, Ann included. I found Rachel not to be terribly realistic (and that may be personal opinion), and I wish there had been more development of her and also of Patrick. Additionally, I had a hard time connecting with some of the choices Ann was making and linking them back to her character.
I did, however, enjoy the direction of the plot. I also found myself surprised by some of the twists and turns and reveals. Some of them I suspected (which I think may have been intentional) but a few did genuinely surprise me.
I am not a big reader of dark academia as a genre, which I would classify this as, and therefore I felt a little lost in the development of the tarot history discussed throughout the book. I don’t necessarily think this was a bad thing or took away from the book. I think fans of the genre may really like that, but I found myself skimming those particular pieces. What I did love though was “Ann Stilwell’s guide to tarot” at the back of the book;, it was a very cool addition.
Overall, this book was dark and atmospheric. It had a touch of thriller and a touch of dark academia. I felt it was perfect for this time of year where the days are getting shorter and colder, so I could curl up with it and re-enter The Cloisters every time I opened it.
Thank you, Simon and Schuster Canada, for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.