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.

``Ann Stilwell arrives in New York City, hoping to spend her summer working at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Instead, she is assigned to The Cloisters, a gothic museum and garden renowned for its medieval and Renaissance collections.'' This Book is full of atmosphere both surrounding the artifacts being studied & the Power that they can hold over people who wish to set themselves up high in the allowed Halls of Academia , there are lots of twists & plots & it keeps the reader on the edge of their seat. So I can highly recommend this Book & hope that despite the current economic crisis , someone maybe kind enough to buy me a copy to put onto my Book Shelf as this is a book you can read again , #NetGalley, #GoodReads,#Instagram, #FB, #Amazon.co.uk, #Betweenthecovers, #<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/358a5cecda71b11036ec19d9f7bf5c96d13e2c55" width="80" height="80" alt="100 Book Reviews" title="100 Book Reviews"/>, #<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/ef856e6ce35e6d2d729539aa1808a5fb4326a415" width="80" height="80" alt="Reviews Published" title="Reviews Published"/>, #<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/aa60c7e77cc330186f26ea1f647542df8af8326a" width="80" height="80" alt="Professional Reader" title="Professional Reader"/>.

I really enjoyed this book, found it really easy to get into and could easily see this being a film or mini series. Great twist

An initially strong book that creates a vividly realised sense of place, a small and select museum in New York with a particular focus on renaissance and medieval period. The world of specialist academia, with its metaphorical backstabbing, leads to actual murder….

I’ll be honest that at that point I started finding it less enjoyable as it became less believable as time went on, with increasing descriptions of tarot cards and their ‘reading’. Initially well drawn characters seemed to become more cliched, and I was increasingly unconvinced by events and the relationships.

Enjoyable enough, but not a patch on a secret history- the comparison does it no favours I’m afraid.

The Cloisters promised The Secret History meets Ninth House. I profess I’ve never read The Secret History nor Ninth House, but I have read other books that are pillars in the dark academia sub genre. So I was ready for some common characteristics in this book, with other books in the genre.

Firstly, let’s talk about the art, especially early mediaeval art. This is a period of art that I am wholly unfamiliar with, but I thought Katie did an excellent job in describing the works in such a way that it became vivid and enthused the sort of passion that made me the reader invested in the art itself.

The setting of The Cloisters, acted like an invisible character in the story where it reflected Ana’s character journey. In the beginning, a place of magic and wonder, then a place of danger and mystery. Finally, a corrupt Institute with, its heavy stone and sweeping windows. Even though it’s set in New York City, this museum felt like a micro bubble for our characters.

I struggle to discuss my thoughts of Rachel, Patrick and Leo as individual characters as they are so interwoven with each other in secrets we aren’t privy to and the intrigue of it all made Moira, their colleague very relatable.

The overall experience of reading The Cloisters was akin to peeling back layers of paint on a wall to see what lay beneath and then finding more layers to chip away at. It was intriguing and the final conclusion resulting in only Ana coming out of it unscathed was satisfying.

It immediately becomes clear that The Cloisters is an exceptional book. The reader is drawn in straight away by the alluring storyline, the beautiful prose and the vivid characters.

The range of characters is fantastic, all are well laid out with just enough mystique that leaves you wanting to find out more, from the perfect but intimidating Rachel, the handsome Patrick and the rugged Leo.

Anne (the main character) is particularly complex. Her feelings are tangible; the grief for her father, the strained relationship with her mother, the claustrophobia of her hometown and the insecurities about working at the cloisters and her colleagues. Her inferiority comes across as if everyone is in on the joke but her.

The book brilliantly describes the relentless heat of a NYC summer and brings it to life, it really made me want to visit the Met Cloisters. It’s highly enjoyable to read and descriptive without waffling.

You can feel as the plot ascends the sanity descents and characters loose their cool as the summer heats up, it becomes a dangerous dance in which Anne seemingly gets lost in.

The ending is ingenious and I didn’t see coming, it was masterfully tied up with breathtaking revelations. It would be no exaggeration to call The Cloisters a new dark academia classic.

This was an atmospheric, deftly-written novel that I flew through. Very easy reading. I think this sort of book suffers from being compared to The Secret History, because nothing can measure up to it, but this is a good read in its own right, and Ann was a compelling lead character.

I love how this book explores the question of life being fate or freewill, choice or chance. That along with the very strong tarot theme makes for a very interesting read, and it’s set inside a historic NYC museum, how dreamy?! I really enjoyed this book, I haven’t read much dark academia but I definitely should read more!

This book wouldn't let me stop reading it. It's a slow burn that teases you in, then drags you deeper.

The characters were complex as were their relationships. I worried for Ann from the get go and had no idea who she should trust, so hoped she would trust no one.

#NoSpoilers but this is a story that wasn't what I expected but did not disappoint.

Highly recommend

I was excited to read The Cloisters, in large part because the author is an adjunct Art History professor, but it did not live up to my expectations. I didn’t feel invested in the story or any of the characters, and I found the dialogue to be stilted. Thank you Random House UK, Transworld Publishers and NetGalley for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this book even though it wasn't quite what I expected. Ann is a post graduate student who manages to get an internship for the summer at the Met in New York but ends up at The Cloisters Museum, part of the Met. It is a real museum and is accurately described by Hays. The plot is relatively slow and there are passages about art, but it is so well written that the enjoyment is in the reading rather than finding out what happens in the end. It was one of those books that if I happen to wake in the night I could never resist reading a few chapters. It doesn't happen with many books. I will certainly look out for future books by this author.
This is an honest review of a complementary ARC.

Dark academia, history of art and tarot? Sign me up!

Katy Hays debut isn’t out til 2023 but is already a buzzy release – and in the world of dark academia it’s got a lot of well loved books (read The Secret History) to live up to.

Graduate Ann Stilwell is moving to New York escaping the confines of her small western town. She’s not secured a coveted space on a graduate program but she’s hoping a summer internship at the Met will change that. However, in mysterious circumstances, Ann’s original mentor is overseas, and she is instead whisked into a world of secrecy and intrigue in the ‘Cloisters’ – a secluded research space away from the the central museum.

Here, Ann works under the tutelage of Patrick, an enigmatic curator to delve into the history of tarot and its use in divination, alongside the glamorous Rachel who seems to have everything that Ann does not. As their research deepens Ann discovers a secret which will have terrible consequences.

The novel has a lot to live up to in a much loved genre but it is certainly suffused with mystery, secrets, scandal and intrigue. The use of tarot and interweaving themes of fate and art are fascinating, and Hays does a fantastic job of interweaving the lore around them into her tale. Equally the setting of the Cloisters is wonderfully conjured, a haven of knowledge, a luscious garden brimming with life, and death, a clandestine site of affairs, simmering in the heat of a New York summer.

The Cloisters is an excellent dark academia mystery thriller, embedded in the magic of tarot and questions of free will and fate. This book is perfect for any fans of the genre, lovers of tarot or art history.

‘The Cloisters’ has all the great trappings of dark academia; toxic, obsessive relationships, frenetic pursuit of knowledge, plenty of mystery and a twist that I genuinely did not see coming. The ending felt slightly more rushed than I would have preferred but otherwise the pacing was fantastic and matched protagonist Ann’s growing desperation to pursue her career ambitions.

I particularly loved Ann’s relationship with Rachel. While I found Rachel’s character to be a little contrived, I really loved how she and Ann fell into a friendship that was obsessive, nuanced and homoerotic - it’s a cliche, but as Rachel says, it /is/ different with girls.

4/5 stars for the pacing at the end and a few cliches, but on the whole such a great read. Highly recommend for dark academia fans, and also for readers of general fiction who are interested in dipping their toes into the genre.

3.5 stars

"Choice is the one thing we all share". The Cloisters is an exploration of fate, free will and choice intertwined with the magic and secrecy of academia focused on the renaissance era. One of my personal favourite areas of study, it was great to read about things I had pondered myself - the wheel of fortune and it's political connections, and how fate was interpreted in years past.

Whilst distinctly rather monotone throughout (I didn't feel a change in emotion even when the book came to a head), I think The Cloisters does well in the genre it fits in. Ann was a good narrator, but I think what others have done well to capture my attention is giving me that unreliability that just wasn't featured here.

I did, however, love the opening. It gave me major Bell Jar vibes. And a few of the quotes I highlighted were just beautiful:

"Iacta alea est - the die is cast"

"The way our jealousy, greed and ambition were waiting to devour us all, like a snake eating its own tail. The ouroboros." GOD I LIVE FOR THIS IMAGERY!!! THE REEMERGENCE OF WHAT HAUNTS US, SO BRILLIANT

A solid read, however, that I devoured in the moment I had spare, I'll definitely be giving Katy Hay's future publications a read!

This has so many things I love, a dash of history, a pinch of gothic, and enough genuine surprises to keep me guessing.

This is a hugely entertaining, look at the ruthless world of academia, the moneyed classes and the American Dream and I’m sure that I won’t be the only reader to draw comparisons with Donna Tartt’s The Secret History.

I don’t want to say too much for fear of spoilers but I will say that some of the twists were genuinely audacious.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an arc of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this! I wish it wasn’t marketed as “The Secret History for a new generation” as it can stand on its own without the comparison. I found the characters really fleshed out and believable. I thought I knew how it was going to end but actually I didn’t!

I loved the setting of a museum. Especially as it’s name ‘The Cloisters’ conjured images of cool, quiet and solemnity. Everything you imagine of a museum yet it gave no clue of the turmoil boiling beneath the surface.
The characters we encounter all seem to have something unspoken going on and this leads us deeper into their mysterious lives. What really links them all?
As the story draws to its conclusion, be ready for revelations and answers and more than one surprise! An excellent book. Thoroughly recommended. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I wanted to love this book so much
I loved the setting! I am a sucker for a nature setting and the gardens in this book gave me what I wanted
The characters didn’t do it for me, they felt very one dimensional. They felt like caricatures. So many red flags were dropped and so many silly choices made
I loved the Tarot elements of this book despite knowing nothing about Tarot cards or reading. I found this to be really interesting
The book felt quite slow, like it was building to a big reveal but the reveal was pretty expected. The twists didn’t come as surprises either
I found myself feeling a little underwhelmed by the last 20%
The atmosphere was nice and creepy

I struggled with this as the art references, whilst lovely, were completely over my head. As were some of the very intellectual conversations.
To me, that detracted from the story.

3.5


The Cloisters is beautifully written, describing a fantastic dark & atmospheric setting (I got lost in Google afterwards looking at photos of the actual museum) & a set of characters who are not all as they appear.

With tarot & academia at its heart this book weaves an intriguing story, but could have gone a little deeper & darker in areas, but that's just my taste. I did have a full gasp moment near the end though with one element I hadn't see coming.