I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Tarot by Marissa Kennerson
Published by Razorbill on February 19, 2019
Pages: 288
Format: ARC
Source: the publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

Anna was never supposed to exist. Born of a forbidden union between the Queen and the tyrannical King’s archnemesis, Anna is forced to live out her days isolated in the Tower, with only her mentors and friends the Hermit, the Fool, and the Magician to keep her company. To pass the time, Anna imagines unique worlds populated by creatives and dreamers—the exact opposite of the King’s land of fixed fates and rigid rules—and weaves them into four glorious tapestries.

But on the eve of her sixteenth birthday and her promised release from the Tower, Anna discovers her true lineage: She’s the daughter of Marco, a powerful magician, and the King is worried that his magical gifts are starting to surface in Anna. Fearing for her life, Anna flees the Tower and finds herself in Cups, a lush, tropical land full of all the adventure, free-spiritedness, and creativity she imagined while weaving.

Anna thinks she’s found paradise in this world of beachside parties, endless food and drink, and exhilarating romance. But when the fabric of Cups begins to unravel, Anna discovers that her tapestries are more than just decoration. They’re the foundation for a new world that she is destined to create—as long as the terrors from the old world don’t catch up with her first.

I finished this awhile go, but waited to review it because I was on the blog tour, and wanted to separate the blog tour from the review. I DID enjoy Tarot, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as I expected to. I was left a bit confused at times, and wanting more – more descriptions, more explanations, more.. everything. I think the biggest problem was that this book was pretty short, and things happened very quickly. I think this book could have benefited from being a little longer.

I can’t say whether I loved the characters or not. I liked them for the most part, but again, I wanted MORE. I wanted more of their personalities, their backgrounds, their relationships, etc. The romantic relationships – two in particular – happened WAY too fast. I mean, I LIKED the ships. And I’m not opposed to insta-love, when it’s done well. But this was just SO fast. I wanted more of a build-up, I guess.

I was also really confused, re: the plot and where the tarot cards came in. Anna wove a tapestry and created a world, and then (at the end) created these people (not the people of Cups, the “soldiers”) who.. I guess symbolized the tarot cards? Does that mean she created Tarot cards? Is this the origin story of how Tarot cards came to be? I still haven’t been able to figure this out…

So.. Yeah. I was definitely entertained and intrigued by this book. I didn’t NOT like it, but I’m torn on how much I liked it. I would definitely read a sequel or prequel, or another book by the author. The writing was done well, the world was gorgeous and the characters were still fun and likable.