Book review

The Cloisters by Kay Hays

stand alone book

paw rating from my reading buddy, Perry the pug: 2

keywords: Dark academia, magical realism elements, grief, death of a loved one, Female MC, mystery, tarot cards, slow paced, history, suspense

In short: A awesome idea about mystical, magical history, full of suspense, darkness and gothic tale vibes.

Full review

I want to start by saying I absolutely loved the idea, this book couldn’t have been more perfectly written for me in terms of context of the story, sadly for me this did not translate into something I could fully enjoy reading which is a shame as I was very excited about reading this and was sure it was going to become one of my favorite books.

The cloisters starts with introducing the audience to Ann Stilwell who after losing her farther suddenly cant wait to leave her small town and be surround by her passion, history, a passion she learnt from her father.
After a surprising acceptance to the Metropolitan museum of art, Ann think all her dreams are going to come true, this sadly is not the case, when arriving at the museum she finds there has been a mistake made and there is no longer a place for her, though disheartened luck appear on her side as just as she leaving another curator claims to need help and takes her on as researcher for his team, although this team is not placed with the museum of art but a building called the cloisters, a place full of medieval and renaissance art along with a garden full of poisons plants and flowers.

Despite Ann not supposed to be here it seems to be a better fit then the main part of the metropolitan museum and Ann starts to enjoy her researching and new life until this shiny piece of luck she thought had happened when getting the job becomes darker and more deadly the more she researches a 15th century Italian tarot card set, the set that the curator Patrick seems to desperately want.

Kat Hays does write beautifully and her writing style is very descriptive, you can honestly feel yourself in the cloisters rooms and feel the odd tension in the air but despite this atmospheric world I found that I couldn’t connect to the characters, they all felt flat, like something key was missing to make them come alive.
I really wanted to get lost in this dark journey but I just couldn’t because I just couldn’t believe the characters, this missed with the extremely slow paced meant I really struggled to enjoy this tale and to focus on the important details in the book, I understand that Kat was trying to build tension and suspense but instead I just felt it caused to story to drag and I become bored. At the start it made sense to be this slow but as the story progressed the tempo needed to be increased to aid in the storytelling.

This book is a great idea, its dark, mysterious, interesting modern gothic tale but for me it was too easy for me to lose interest, this book is definitely what is classed as a marmite book, you’ll either love this book and it will become a solid favorite or like me you'll just not gel with this tale no matter how many times you read it. Despite me not enjoying this as much as I would have liked, I do suggest everyone to try this book once as it might just surprise you and end you on your best list.

I enjoyed The Cloisters in places but towards the end it lost me as being too far-fetched. I didn't engage with the Tarot theme although I appreciate that other readers might well do so. The ambiance of New York and the Cloisters itself was very good, and having lived in Manhattan I related to the setting. It doesn't bear any comparison with The Secret History, as the blurb states, even though the characters may be of a similar age. Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House/Bantam Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

'The Cloisers' by Katy Hays fits into the 'Dark Academia' genre (a genre title I only became aware of through reading this book). It follows Ann Sitwell as she leaves behind her mother and her painful past, to begin a summer working as a curatorial assistant at the Met. Through what seems like random chance, she is assigned to The Cloisters, a gorgeous gothic gallery famous for its medieval art, Ann begins to research early examples of divination and in particular tarot. Answerable to Patrick and working alongside beguiling Rachel, Ann makes a discovery that might both foretell the future and shorten it, as things at The Cloisters turn deadly.

Reviews of this book have been split. Some have loved it and described it as captivating, whilst others have found it slow and boring. I am a bit in the middle. There were parts of this novel that really hooked me in, and I wanted to find out what happened. I really enjoyed the descriptions of the gallery and, not having been to New York, I enjoyed googling it and looking at it in real life. However, there were other parts where the style of writing distanced me from the action. In particular I found Ann's narration awkward, her personality flat, and her actions often surprising (not in a good way) and unexplained. This made it harder for me to forget this is a work of fiction and become fully absorbed in the story.

I really wanted to like this book it had so much potential however fir me I felt it failed. The setting was but fir me I would have like to have more storyline and less about yet again how the cloisters was as a building. Once a setting has been discribed I would rather for us move on with the story. Not to have it described again in detail a few days later. Yes I get what the place feels like.

It was so slow, the bit where the police went looking for the murder weapon days after doesn’t make sense they would have been looking at that spot the day they arrived.
And the ending, just no. Hated it.
I really don’t like giving bad reviews but for me this was not me thing and I found it lacklustre. Sorry

Struggling to decide how to rate this book. I found the story readable & the description of New York & The Cloisters very good. However, I disliked the characters, Ann went from downtrodden mouse to disingenuous sneak in a matter of minutes. Rachel was probably the most interesting character with Leo being a stereotypical ‘hunky’ gardener? They were all a bit one-dimensional & the storyline would jump from one day to several later.
I loved the idea of the Tarot discovery & found the description of the cards at the end fascinating but just didn’t buy the reasoning around the plot (I have to admit that I rarely enjoy ‘present day’ fiction so that didn’t help - the characters always blend into one for me).
3.75/5 just for the scenery & Tarot explanation!

The Cloisters is on my list of places that I want to visit when we next travel to New York so I was really pleased to be able to read an ARC of this book.
Ann Stilwell is a junior Art Historian and gets a temporary job at The Cloisters working with Rachel to research the use of Tarot cards in Renaissance Italy. The feel of the story is very gothic with mystery lurking in every corner of the museum and poisons in the garden. The setting is brilliantly described and I want to go and visit even more after reading this. Ann’s character is quite naïve and not completely sympathetic as she treats her mother quite badly. I did enjoy her journey through the book though and was also really interested in the details of the Tarot cards.
The other characters didn’t appeal so much but then I don’t think that they were supposed to. The theme definitely seems to be the lengths that people will go to for Art and/or scholastic recognition and the book conveyed this really well. The characters were great foils for each other as they were all very different with completely diverse aims.
Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A beautiful cover and a very interesting premise made me want to read this book as soon as I saw it.

This book falls into the category of a really great idea, but it just didn't come together or really flow.
The author has clearly researched in depth, her knowledge of art and Tarot show, what I was expecting was a deeply dark, gothic novel and I didn't feel it achieved that unfortunately.
It feels like it could be a novella, pages of superfluous text made it quite a slow reading experience and I didn't feel that the twists of the story, or it's finale, were worth the slog.

What I did appreciate was the descriptions of the Met and the Cloisters, having never visited New York, it was a pleasure to read such detailed accounts of these buildings.

Thank you to NetGalley & the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

An interesting read with some great descriptions of place, and some truly creepy tarot moments! I enjoyed this book.

I loved The Clositers, the rich imaginative narrative from Hays was superb. i could sense the aged history within its walls, the vaulted ceilings, its exhibits and most of all its beautiful gardens.
Hay's characters sparkles within the confines of the Clositers. Ann, thrust unexpectedly into its hallowed space working closely with its curator Patrick and the manipulative and somewhat enigmatic Rachel..
As they pursued the ancient arts of the occult and tarot cards, Ann found herself drawn into a the underground world of stolen artefacts, of the messages held within the tarot cards that Ann increasingly relied upon.
Her discovery of what could be the oldest set of tarot cards set of a chain of events that Hays brilliantly brought to live. She tree Ann under Rachel’s spell, Rachel’s hold on her seeming to cloud Ann’s judgement, her perspective.
You wanted Ann to wake up, to realise what was happening, to be the better person. Yet Hays showed a woman who knew that professional recognition and success was within her grasp and wanted to grab it and have it for herself..
Would she throw off her seemingly naive and somewhat timid persona and grab it with both hands, irrespective of the consequences.
I shall leave that for you to find out but I can guarantee you will not be disappointed.

I truly tried with this one but maybe I am just not in the right mood or frame of mind. This story has the potential to be really interesting but it takes so long to get to an interesting point that I put the book down and couldn't bring myself to pick it back up again.

Set in the rarefied world of academia, this is a story with a slow burning plot as student art historian Ann settles into The Cloisters, a museum in New York, to help curator Patrick and fellow intern Rachel research the use of Tarot cards in medieval times. Since the death of her father, Ann is carrying a lot of personal baggage, and welcomes Rachel's friendship and the romantic attentions of gardener Leo. But things are not all they seem at The Cloisters - is there more tragedy ahead for Ann?
I have to confess that for the first few chapters, I struggled with this story. Though the writing itself is beautiful, neither the setting nor the characters particularly appealed to me. It was all a bit too clever and esoteric and the plot did not seem to be going anywhere. But towards the middle, things got a lot more interesting, as the plot fell into place - taking on supernatural overtones - and Ann, Rachel and Leo became more three dimensional and far more interesting. By the end, I was gripped.
Worth four stars for the writing and the plot (finally), but I do think it's a shame that the beginning was so slow, as I might have given up were it not a book I'd committed to read.

Katy Hays debut is beguiling, a moreish twisty gothic novel set in a sweltering New York summer, immersing the reader in the atmospheric medieval art museum and gardens, The Cloisters. It delves into the lives and culture of desperately ambitious academics, engaging in research in the field of divinity, the widely used practices in the medieval era to predict the future. This includes the likes of geomancy, astrology, oracles, magic and the occult, but their focus is specifically on the history of tarot cards as they hunt for a breakthrough in proving the theory, that as well as their use as playing cards, they were being used for far more mystical purposes. A grieving and troubled Ann Stilwell is desperate to leave her small home town of Walla, Walla and her mother's inescapable and overwhelming feelings of loss after the death of her beloved father.

She arrives in New York City, to take up the only summer internship offer she received at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, instead she finds it is no longer available, so is taken on instead by Patrick Roland, the curator of The Cloisters. Keen on inserting herself as a hardworking and invaluable presence, she wants to remain beyond the summer, she rushes headlong into building relationships, more particularly with the beautiful, wealthy and charismatic Rachel Mondray who she works closely with. She has nothing in common with the academics, but she is ravenous, hungry for knowledge, to experience all the differences, she wants to absorb all that she can of New York, the joy, taking chances, jumping into a edgy, if casual, relationship with Leo, the gardener. Ann wants the city to mould her into a different person, confident, more nakedly ambitious and opportunistic. It becomes clear that Patrick wants her step beyond the realm of rationality when it comes to tarot cards, and to believe, she is uncertain, but there is no question that she can feel the cards come alive with an electric energy in her hands.

Ann's relationship with Rachel becomes intense, their lives closely intertwined, but as she receives warnings of the deaths that follow her, she starts to wonder, does she really know Rachel? Hays weaves a spellbinding and disturbing gothic story of academic circles, class, power, poisonous plants that served as ancient remedies, tarot cards, theft, betrayal, obsession, ruthlessness, and toxic relationships. Even as we might think we know Ann, with her cunning and guile, the knowledge gained through the feelings the cards give her, the flashes of what is coming, her life unravelling as she tries to walk into the future she wants, we find there is more to her grief for a lost father. This is unsettling and compulsive storytelling with its rich descriptions, the sense of claustrophobia, the complex moralities, and the memorable characters, whose lives I got drawn into with ease. I think this novel will appeal to the many readers attracted to the dark, twisted and the gothic. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

I found this debut novel so entertaining and enjoyable. Set in the Cloisters which is an art museum and sounds just amazing. A very naive Ann joins a small team of researchers who are intrigued by the world of tarot cards, their history and thier secrets. I just loved the build up of the storyline.

The three main members of the group are very cloak and dagger type characters. As the story unfolds it turns quite dark and intriguing and you are not sure who is telling the truth. I was fascinated with the gardens and the sideline that the gardener had. It makes you think especially after what happens to him. I was left with questions afterwards so it felt left unfinished but on the whole I enjoyed it.

I love a dark academia story. It’s just the perfect sub-genre for me, and that’s why I was so happy to get approved for this one on NetGalley (ages ago just only now getting round to reading it 🤦🏼‍♀️). The Cloisters by Katy Hays encapsulated everything I love about it. The settings of both NYC and The Cloisters were really vivid and suited the story so well, I felt like I could picture it in my mind, the dark corners and shadows half hidden by beautiful architecture. I don’t know much about tarot cards but now I really want to get mine read! They seem utterly fascinating and enchanting and I thought it was a really interesting thread weaving throughout this book.

I loved the character of Ann, I felt like I could trust her, and I really liked the resolution to her story. How despite everything that happened to and around her, she simultaneously stood out and fit in in that world. And Rachel, she was such a good character! So interesting, complex and unexpected and I really loved her storyline.

A great dark gothic vibe to this one, loved it!

I loved the book's mix of dark academia and obsession. I ended up reading the book in one weekend because I could not put it down. I would have loved more history given the author's background, but for a debut book, it was excellent.

As usual in my reviews I will not rehash the publishers' blurb...

This is a dark novel, set in the obsessive world of academia. I found the plot interesting, with several layers going on at the same time - with a dark, brooding background feeling that increased as the book progressed.

The settings were very well described - you could imagine the buildings, atmosphere, weather etc.

The characters were very well written, but I didn't actually "like" any of the main players - they all had flaws, some hidden, some very obvious. The interplay between the characters was very believable - for instance the gilded lifestyle of Rachel contrasted beautifully with Ann's "underdog" character.

I wasn't quite expecting it to end as it did, but perhaps the increasingly toxic undercurrents should have given me a clue!

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC. All opinions my own.

A wonderfully written gothic novel that was an absolute pleasure to read, I would absolutely recommend this book to my audience

A fun and gripping dark academia mystery perfect for cold dark nights reading in winter. I’d been craving something like this and heard it likened to a Ninth House / Secret History crossover and it definitely delivered on vibes. It took me a minute to get into the story and the set up but once I was there I raced through! I’m not sure it’ll hold in my thoughts in the same way Secret History and Ninth House, but I’m sure it’ll scratch the itch for many seeking similar themes and atmosphere from their reads.

I really enjoyed this book. It drew me in and kept me reading, I wanted to see what happened next most of the way through. I would have liked to see a bit more character development for the main characters, and the ending did feel a little rushed but overall a solid novel that I would have been really pleased to have picked up and bought in a shop with my own money..
Many thanks to NetGalley and Random
House for the eARC!

The synopsis and review both made me look forward to the novel. It was a fast, easy read. The setting and mix of characters drew me into the book quite quickly. However those characters, at first seemingly diverse, morphed into caricatures of each other. It was all very samey and drawn out not a book that brings me back for more from the author.