Tarot cards are so in! I really knew it when, right at the peak of the Stranger Things season 5 release, Target was carrying a Stranger Things tarot card box. They actually had quite a few different pop-culture sets available. It made me realize just how mainstream this mystical world has gotten.
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OUIJA BOARDS AND SECT RELIGIONS
Growing up, my parents were so contradictory. They were staunch Catholics - baptizing me as a baby and pushing me through all of the traditional sacraments. They required me to wear a cross and an azabache, which is a protective amulet made of onyx or jet stone that wards off negative energy and the ‘evil eye’
Yet, the line between “holy” and “haunted” was incredibly blurry in our house. My grandmother almost had a heart attack when my friends showed up with a Ouija board during a sleepover because she believed it was satanic to attempt to reach the dead. (It’s a board game people!) Meanwhile, my mom believed in mediums and sect religions on and off throughout my childhood. Her faith left her many times, and other times it reached levels of borderline fanaticism. I never judged her. It wasn’t my place.
That melting pot of beliefs meant that by my teen years, rituals felt pretty normal. I remember vividly sitting in on one of the tarot card reading sessions my mom had with a local medium. My view at the time was that they were charlatans - trained in basic psychology and body language, with a honed-in intuition that made the desperate, lost souls at their door easy marks.
However, looking past my teenage cynicism in those moments, all I could think about was how much I wish I could touch those tarot cards. They were usually kept inside an intricately carved wooden box with a crystal atop, in a dim room with one small round table, two chairs, soft instrumental music playing, and incense burning. The only person allowed to touch them besides the medium was the person who was getting the reading, something about pouring their energy into to the cards. I didn’t understand much more then, except that there were rules to follow.
WHAT DO I REALLY KNOW NOW?
I’ll skip the religious or sect parts because I’m about as knowledgeable as anyone can be about such things. As for tarot cards, I’m not sure I know much more, but I’ve definitely spent the last year researching them.
Last year, I bought a playful set of cards: the Cozy Witch Tarot Deck by Janaina Medeiros and bestselling poet Amanda Lovelace. I purposely didn’t buy the traditional Rider-Waite set because I wanted visuals that were a little less intense. The deck I bought is really comfy cozy for a bookish girlie. It came with its own guidebook explaining how the deck was setup and layouts for readings.
It sparked a lot of curiosity in me. I wanted to understand more deeply what each card meant, why, and how those symbols could turn into a cohesive reading. I mean, I’ve never believed they were some magical source of fortune telling, but I understood well enough that they served the beautiful purpose of storytelling.
For other tarot card newbies like me, here are a few basics of how a deck works:
The Structure: A standard deck has 78 cards, divided into two main categories: Major and Minor Arcana.
Major Arcana (22 cards): These represent the big monumental life lessons, major archetypes, and spiritual journeys. Think of The Fool, The Lovers, Death.
Minor Arcana (56 cards): These represent the daily trails & tribulations and fleeting emotions of day-to-day life. They are broken down into four suits: Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles.
The Go-To Layout: The most common reading style for beginners is a simple 3-card pull, which usually represents your past, present, and future.
See? It’s literally a framework for building a narrative.
BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS
All this tarot card talk also made me hyper-aware of the theme in fiction. During one of many library trips, I found myself noticing a book that seemed explicitly inspired by the cards. It gave major Hunger Games survival vibes with a romance sub-plot, where all the characters were based on the Major Arcana of a tarot deck. It turned out to be amazing, and it was a whole series! That was the moment I realized tarot was a recurring theme in fantasy books, and my TBR list started growing again.
If you’re new to tarot cards or happened to land here because you are curious about it like me, here are 3 books I loved that are inspired by tarot cards, plus an extra-cozy witchy favorite you need on your radar.
Poison Princess by Kresley Cole
(Book 1 of 6 from the Arcana Chronicles series)
Find it on Amazon or support local & listen to the audiobook with Libro.fm.
My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice level: 🌶️🌶️
The day after buying my tarot deck, I went to the library and found this gem! This was the first book series I read inspired by tarot cards (or so I thought).
In a post-apocalyptic world, characters Evie and Jack have to lean on each other to survive. They don’t realize until later that in this new world, they’re actually living avatars of cards from the Major Arcana. AND……so are all the other dangerous forces trying to control the world.
This story gave me great starting points for my research on what the Major Arcana cards represent and how stories can be woven through them. Surprisingly, it wasn’t just a gimmicky story. It was an amazing, quick, action-packed read full of forced proximity, yearning slow burns, and love triangles. If you need a total palate cleanser, start here.
All the Hidden Gifts by Carolyn O’Donoghue
(Book 1 of 3 from the Gifts series)
Find it on Amazon or support local & listen to the audiobook with Libro.fm.
My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice level: 🌶️
This book is about Maeve, a high school student trying to fit in with the cool kids when she accidentally finds an old tarot deck hidden at her school. She starts off innocently enough doing 3-card readings for her classmates, but things get weird when she starts to intensely bond with the deck. After a major blowout with her former bestie, a reading goes off the rails and they summon a supernatural entity known as ‘The Housekeeper’, which causes her friend to vanish. Maeve and her crew have to survive a religious entity taking over their town to bring their friend back home.
Super good read! I enjoyed the diverse characters, eerie vibes, and the illustrations sprinkled throughout the book. It is a slower paced YA, but every moment matters because that’s exactly how it feels when you’re a teenager. I’ve started to read less YA lately, probably because I relate to the characters less. However, with my own kids officially entering their teen years, I’ve started enjoying the genre again because I can relate to it through them - the heightened emotions, first loves, and trying to find their place when everything seems to hard.
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
(Book 1 of 4 from The Raven Cycle series)
Find it on Amazon or support local & listen to the audiobook with Libro.fm.
My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice level: 🫑 No spice, just pure slow-burn
If you want a series where tarot cards aren’t just a plot device, but a central part of the world, you have to read this book.
Blue is the daughter of a clairvoyant and lives in a house full of psychics. While Blue is not a psychic herself, she has an interesting power that amplifies everyone else’s powers. When she finds herself caught up with a group of wealthy, obsessive private school boys on the hunt for ley lines in the city, her world is turned upside down.
Another YA that hit so well. It was a beautifully set urban fantasy that is shrouded in ancient magic and found family. When I first read this book years ago, I didn’t even realize that tarot card readings were involved (if you forget what you read as quickly as you read it like me lol).
The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer
Find it on Amazon or support local & listen to the audiobook with Libro.fm.
My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice level: 🌶️🌶️
Rainy March is a book witch, which means she literally hops in and out of books to keep them and the fictional characters safe from themselves and ‘burners’ who want to destroy stories. Her coven has strict, corporate-like rules to preserve the integrity of their work. But when her latest mission lands her in the same book as her bookish crush, the Duke of Chicago, she starts bending all the rules.
Another amazing book! I got this as an Advanced Listening Copy (ALC) through Libro.fm and thought it would be a fun car ride read with my teens. NOPE! Lol. My kids are never going to let me live it down that I told them this was a witchy mystery with a romance sub-plot. The first three chapters were literally Rainy mooning over the Duke’s eyes, clothes, and forearms. My kids still tease me about my supposed bait and switch. Despite the excessive yearning and a couple of fade to black moments, we absolutely loved their unique magic system, the mystery of her grandfather, and the HEA, of course.
BONUS!! A few more tarot card and witchy-inspired titles to consider. I have NOT read these yet, but they have been on my radar, so I figured I’d share them with you too.
The Mask of Mirrors by M.A. Carrick (A heavy tarot-inspired fantasy con-artist story)
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna (Ultimate cozy coven vibes)
The Tarot Trials by Katee Robert (expected to release on October 20, 2026 - a dark, high stakes romance option)
Hope some or all of these make it into your TBR list (I’m not sorry, you’re welcome lol).
If you have any other recommendations for tarot card or witchy books, please drop them in the comments below. I’m always looking to expand my shelves!
Until next week…..keep your spaces cozy, and your reading a little unhinged.
Take care,
Your Resident (future) Bookseller
Quiet Nook Books