Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC via NetGalley. It was a gripping read.

This book was great! Definitely a mix between the secret history and ninth house, and a great dark academia read. I loved the dark tones of this book, but at some points the plot did lose my interest. That being said, I loved the main character. Overall a very enjoyable read that I would recommend.

A cleverly written novel in which the leading character, Ann, is very well drawn. I enjoyed the novel from start to finish. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for giving me a copy of the book.

The story never really took off for me and I failed to get enthused by any of it. There's a lot of in-depth research but to me the characters never came alive and the plot dragged. The setting, atmosphere and involvement of tarot cards implied a lot more mystery than actually came across.

This book has a cloying darkness about it, a sense of dread and death, however I cannot help myself but loving it.
Perfectly lush.
A dark academia staple.
Cannot recommend this book more!
Simply beautiful. Swept me off my feet completely and immersed me in the dark shadows of The Cloisters.

The Cloisters by Katy Hays
The Cloisters is all about Ann Stillwell and her desire to escape from Walla Walla where she is struggling to cope with the death of her beloved father. She ends up at The Cloisteers in New York where she investigates Renaissance occultism. It is meticulously researched and there is a great deal of detail about the museums.
I was not convinced by the supposed magnetism of Rachel, the central source of the novel's mysteriousness. I was also unsure about what motivated of Ann who was described as socially inexperienced and is an obsessive academic. It is suggested the relationship between Rachel and Ann is like that in The Talented Mr Ripley but this it is not as convincing. I found parts of the story dragged and I began to skim through in order to complete it.
Many thanks to the author, Netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an electronic copy of the book in return for an honest review.

Ann is a graduate from a provincial unversity desperate to break into the academic world. She manages to get a summer residency at the MoMA in New York but on arrival finds there is no job there but she can move to the Cloisters , a smaller but well respected museum. Her boss there, Patrick is interested in the history of Tarot as is the other resident rachel, a slick, rich Yale graduate. The further Annis sucked into the work the more she enters a dark worl of mystery and danger but always with the hope of writing an influential paper which will guarantee her future. Both Ann and Rachel have murky secrets.. Its a thrilling read.

It was the comparison to The Secret History that drew me to this book and I was intrigued by the secret tarot card history side of the story. Some of the plot development felt a little rushed in places, but I enjoyed the story overall and the setting was great. I'd never heard of The Cloisters museum and assumed it was fictional - I'd love to go there now that I know it's an actual place!

As a long time fan of dark academia, reading the blurb and seeing the comparison to The Secret History had me intrigued. There’s also a mention of Ninth House, which I read but didn’t really enjoy. This book has none of the fantasy elements of Bardugo’s novel but has the same themes as Tartt’s masterpiece.

The central theme is whether we choose our own fate or whether it is chosen for us. And if we try to escape the fate chosen for us, will it catch us up?

The novel is set in New York and follows Ann as she tries to find her place in the academic world of the cloisters. Almost disappointedly jobless, she is recruited to Patrick’s small team, and finds herself working on historical tarot cards with the mysterious Rachel.

While The Secret History gives its protagonist Richard a group of fellow students as foils, Rachel acts as a composite of each of them. She is wealthy, cold, calculating and death seems to follow her.

I didn’t want this book to end. As I read it I was mindful of the fact that I rarely award five star ratings to novels, but I knew that this was a deserving book. This is the kind of book that makes me judge all others more strictly. I loved everything about it. The characters are so lifelike: flawed and fractured to perfection. The plot is intricate and filled with intrigue.

If you enjoy dark academia, you need this book NOW.

A dark, gothic tale set in modern day New York. The Cloisters is an excellent yarn touching on friendships, uncertainty around employment, history, wealth, secret liaisons and murder. The writing is vivid, ensuring the reader experiences the museum and surrounding gardens as though they were there. The development of the story and the associated relationships makes the book difficult to put down. A definite, strong 4 stars from me.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this dark, deceptive book. Toxic friendships, a long lost Renaissance tarot deck, a gothic museum in New York, and lots of manipulation made this a gripping read.

It felt like a game of chess but I never knew which character was the king, and who was planning all the moves.

I’m in a dark academia reading vibe and this book is right up there with the best of them. It’s steeped in arcane, mysterious studies and the race to become a published author and recognised expert in your field.

Highly recommended.

Desperate to escape Whitman college and her life at Walla Walla, WA, where the death of her father still hangs over everything like a dark cloud, Ann Stilwell relocates to New York, under the impression she will work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Instead she is relocated to The Cloisters, where she is drawn into a tight circle of fate and chance, mysticism and Tarot.

The premise of a new The Secret History made me want to read this book, but what we get is so much more! A side to academia that I have never read before, the themes of this novel are so intricately woven throughout, hidden until the penultimate finalé, that leaves you with chills as you try to process it all.

You can tell a lot of knowledge and research went into this book, not just for studying Tarot and Renaissance, but also in how complex the characters are written and developed.

The little twists and turns, built up over the course of the book really had me eager to keep reading! I honestly could not put this book down!

I also loved the little edition of an explanation of reading tarot at the end.

I cannot believe this is a debut novel and cannot wait to see what this author comes out with next.

The Cloisters by Katy Hays is a compelling story - and I was drawn in almost immediately. I loved the whole dark academia feel to the story coupled with the mystery and sense of the occult and astrology which adds another dimension to the book. I also liked how there was a sense of foreboding right from the start and we see how this unwinds steadily as the story progresses and Ann gets more and more entwined with the world of The Cloisters. I feel like there are little breadcrumbs scattered throughout and it's only once I finished reading that I could see the bigger picture and it was pretty amazing!

I enjoyed the various historical references within the story and how the pursuit of knowledge and this deep well of ambition is what drives all of the characters, some to a larger extent than others. This ambition and desire to make a discovery and be known in all the right circles is particularly pressing for Ann who is still finding her feet but also to Rachel and Patrick, a girl who seems to have it all and the enigmatic professor who is somewhat crazed by his field of study.

The novel delves into the idea of fate and destiny and whether these larger forces guide us to our current steps - there's a particular moment towards the end of the novel that feels very full circle. It's also this preoccupation with fate and tragedy etc that most reminded me of the titles this novel is compared to The Secret History.

This is one of those books where even if you see certain things coming, it doesn't spoil the enjoyment and you won't be able to stop reading to see where it ends - this was definitely the case for me and I will definitely be reading whatever Katy Hays writes next.

I liked this but I didn't love it. I can't put my finger onto why, it should be everything I wanted. But there was something about it that didn't gel with me, it took me longer to read than it ought to have done. Ann's relationship with Leo didn't really make sense, there wasn't enough demonstration of her interest. I did mostly enjoy the story, I can imagine someone naïve like Ann getting caught up with these charismatic people.

I also didn't like the ending, the very end. I won't say more in case of spoilers but that somewhat ruined it for me even though it made a sort of sense.

This dark, delicious tale is sent in the world of academia, a world where you might lose yourself to the past, where the past encroaches on your life, leading you to a dark, dangerous world you may never have dreamt of.

Ann Stillwell wants to escape her small time town and when the opportunity arises for her to spend her summer working at the Metropolitan Museum in New York she grabs the chance, however fate steps in when she is told there is no placement but the curator (Patrick Roland) from The Cloisters happens to overhear this and offers her the chance to work there. Once there she is befriended by her work colleague Rachel Mondray as they research a project close to Patrick's heart, Tarot, looking for an elusive deck which will show that the history of Tarot goes back to a far earlier period than historians have been able to prove.

With its questionable narrator, a slow building plotline which you know is not going to end well and Katy Hays brings The Cloister's Museum to life, if you have never been all I can say is do so. However back to book, this is the closest read to Donna Tartt's The Secret History, I've read so many books that are compared to it but never live up to the expectations, however Katy Hays The Cloisters does. And something that I never mention but have to is the cover design, which is lush, beautiful and absolutely perfect for this fabulous novel.

Free will or fate? What if your whole life has already been decided for you? What about choice and chance? What omens hover over The Cloisters in New York City one summer? Are the characters futures inescapable? Ann Stillwell wants more than anything to escape Whitman, her college but most of all her home in Walla Walla, WA, as grief over the death of her father is hanging over her like a dark cloud. She heads to NYC to work as an intern at the Metropolitan Museum of Art but she’s disappointed to discover there is now no place for her. However, Patrick Roland offers her work at The Cloisters in Fort Tryon Park which specialises in medieval art. Is this fate or chance? She’s to work alongside Rachel Mondray who studies the history of the Tarot. What will the Tarot suggest about the future, which way will the Wheel of Fortune spin? Who is Fortuna here? What will the oracles predict?

This is debut? Seriously? Oh my, there’s some amazing talent in these pages with such an assured touch it feels like a seasoned writer. It’s a beautifully written slow burner which utilises multiple senses and I find it magnetic and hypnotic reading. The atmosphere at The Cloisters is dazzling, mesmerising, almost intoxicating and overwhelming. The buildings and gardens being Medieval in style lend themselves to the Gothic vibes in the storytelling especially via the exhibition that Rachel and Ann have to curate on divination. This leads to some incredible discoveries and subsequent secrecy. The writing is infused with oddities and warnings, there’s some risk taking, as well as possession and control which leads to a feeling of suffocation, then distrust which mulches into fear. What is real and what is imagined is so intriguing and compelling. It’s shadowy at times with truths glimpsed but looming overall is ambition and lure and lustre of the Tarot.

The characterisation is excellent with some being conundrums. Is clever Ann as lacking in confidence as she seems? Is it a case of the depth of still waters? Is bold Rachel firmly in the centre of the Wheel of Fortune as Fortuna? What about Patrick? What’s his game and what about Leo in the magical medieval garden with all those weird and wonderful plants, what lies in his heart? Is he also playing games? What all this amounts to is a very intense tale with the promise or otherwise of the Tarot maybe/maybe not guiding all.

This novel captivates me (you can probably tell!) as it has everything I love blended in a novel from the historical background to a suspenseful mystery steeped in tension with dark Gothic vibes and hallelujah, a really good ending! It’s incredibly well researched and the author should be proud of what she has produced. It’s a big winner for me and one I highly recommend.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Random House UK/Transworld for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

A dark look at American academia. This novel really brought the history of tarot to life and the exclusive world of museums in New York. The characters are very vivid. I feel that saying it’s the new Secret History does the book a disservice as murder and academia are it’s only links, the characters and story line are very different.

Life in a museum may seem boring, but not this one.
Tarot, new friendships, unexplained deaths and mysterious relationships are just some of the threads in this novel.
Why is Rachel so friendly? What does she want? Is she the killer?
And what is Ann doing in the centre of it all?

Obsession Amidst Academia…
Dark, enigmatic and mysterious - a winding, twisting tale of secrets, obsession, power and control amidst the academia. Hoping to spend summer months at New York’s Met, Ann Stilwell is sent to Cloisters, a gothic museum and garden and soon becomes embroiled within an elite group of researchers and a sinister game. Beautifully crafted characters populate a slow burning plot and an immersive storyline.

The tarot, the wheel of fortune that grinds within this novel, dark, atmospheric and hidden history, an unveiling work that consists of the occult and secrets. Two girls that meet by chance, their personal and work lives set off in a spin within the cloisters, set in the suburbs of New York the novel doesn't tire in its pace and has a cast of well developed characters. A very good read.