Read on the recommendation of a friend. 

Art History grad goes to New York for curation work and works on a tarot research project.

Nope. Not for me. Mainly because of such annoying characters. I figured out who was the wrong un quite early. There was supposed to be a big disaster coming that never did (telling us things like "I wish I had left The Cloisters at that point") - tension but no grand ending. Small twists that just made me dislike people even more. 

There's not enough history of tarot or weaving in of readings, divination, or spooky goings on. A bit unfinished, to me.

This book was captivating! Just the right mix of mystery, museum lore and toxic relationships. I finished this book in one day. I did have some issues with the characters feeling flat. There was a lot of telling and not a lot of showing outside of the relationship between the two female mains.

I disliked Ann’s relationship with Leo it felt like she wasn’t into it at all and then would have random sweet sentences but it was like we readers were never really in the room with them. I also feel like Ann’s mom and dad story needed more airtime. Also Ann being a total pushover and not having reactions was so boring….like when she found out Leo was stealing or had slept with Rachel before - I found her nonreaction strange. That author should at least describe how she feels. Additionally, the book kind of crashed at the end. I think it could have paced itself a bit tighter

There is something slightly unfinished about the plot and narrative, however I did enjoy deeply. 

A historical setting, mysterious Tarot cards, characters with cult-y vibes. All of this seemed really up my alley! It was interesting enough but unfortunately it all felt a bit half-baked.
Ann seemed to have no personality or depth, despite being the main character. Rachel was more interesting. Ann does have some character development 75% of the way through the book, but it really comes out of left field and made for a weird ending.

I absolutely adored the concept for this book and the cover art so I had to give it a go. I went into this thinking it would be a dark academia type book with the focus on tarot and fate and choices. However, none of this really happened on-page. All the reasons I picked the book up and what made me want to read it happened off-page and so that was a major disappointment. 

However, I stuck with it purely to see where the story would go, and I can honestly say I don't know where it went. All the characters were plain and unlikeable. Ann was way too trusting, and was constantly comparing herself to Rachel and genuinely came across as obsessive sometimes it was a bit unnerving. And then the romance sub-plot was completely unnecessary. The book would have been the exact same without it. The FMC was also just too nice and trusting, she went along with everything. I was getting frustrated at how much everyone just avoided her questions and hid everything from her, and she just,,,let them? 

For all its faults, the book was okay. The discoveries and the twist that happened towards the end were good. But I'm not sure if it has any rereadability. But it was an easy read, it just lacked the academia that I wanted.