DARK ACADEMIA + TAROT CARDS
Another dark academia book, on my quest to find one that I actually like.
After reading The Secret History by Donna Tartt, I decided to pick this up, and if you liked that book, you will like this one also. It has the same dark undertones, complex relationships, and questionable morals. I also picked it up because it’s about tarot cards, and I truly love those.
So The Cloisters is about Ann who finds herself going to New York, to work in an archive of ancient antiques/books called The Cloisters. There she meets the charming Patrick, the lawless Leo and the mysterious Rachel. She falls into the trap of their dynamics pretty soon, as they look for that very first Tarot deck and seek the wisdom of the fates. Is life predetermined or do we have free will?
Basically, this book is the typical dark academia – a world of calculating academics, preoccupied with the next curiosity or discovery, where human nature is mostly dark and steeped in secrecy. I found the naivete of the main character quite annoying, to be honest, as it was clear that everyone was misleading her. There was strong foreshadowing and clues that led me to figure out the ‘mystery’ of The Cloisters (even though I did change my mind about it a couple of times, which means that the author did their job well). The mystery that carried the story wasn’t a murder, but rather, the strange relationships at the workplace, which was somewhat enough to keep me reading for a while. Basically, Ann keeps trying to figure her coworkers out, and we go along with the ride. And while that was interesting to someone who likes figuring people out, it was mostly underwhelming and slow, with little action. I expected a lot creepier stuff, but I didn’t get much of that. Just a bunch of grey characters.
Overall, I feel like the dark academia books that I read so far were overall full of grey characters who don’t consider morals and ethics as important things. This nihilistic undercurrent is interesting, but kind of kills the human spirit. As a reader, I need to root for something, but I quickly find there is nothing to root for in these stories. They’re realistic, but not necessarily flattering about the human spirit. The best quote I found in this book to illustrate this is: “We are animals. We just do stuff to pass the time.” So things like purpose, faith, romance, doing the right thing, etc., are not even present here. It’s all a dark broiling undercurrent of a seemingly normal, albeit inconsistent surface. Which is cool, don’t get me wrong. These are real things from the real world, real people not just fictional characters, but I do miss the optimistic naivete when I am presented with so much… intellectual ennui and cynicism.
If you like dark academia vibes, tarot cards, and strange people who are hiding secrets… you might like this book. It’s similar to The Secret History, but maybe a bit less exciting. I wouldn’t give it more than 3 stars. I was really rooting for this book, but in the end, I found it lacking.
Reviewed by Violeta Nedkova
