The Tarot Trials: Book 1
Publication Date: October 20, 2026
From the New York Times bestselling author of the Dark Olympus series, this high-octane, fast-paced epic fantasy of tarot magic and deadly competition launches an explosive new series perfect for fans of V.E. Schwab and Carissa Broadbent.
The deck has always been stacked against her.
Kestrel has trained her whole life to compete in the Tarot Trials. Her mother won once, earning a place among the five ruling Cinque—then paid for it with her life, executed for alleged treason against the Minor Court.
But fortune favors the bold.
Now it falls to Kestrel to take up her mother’s mantle as Champion of the Moon, enter the Trials, and face her fate. If she can master her new powers of shadow and illusion, navigate the poisonous game of alliances and lies, and corner the fellow Champion who dealt the killing blow to her mother years ago, she may uncover the truth she’s seeking without losing her head… or her heart. But in the Trials, betrayal is a question of when, not if. And winning the game isn’t about what she must do to win, but who she needs to survive.
At the Publisher’s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
For an author to successfully create a fantasy world, readers need a bridge between what is familiar as new things are introduced.
Going into Katee Robert’s new action-adventure fantasy, The Tarot Trials, I initially thought it would be similar to some of the previously read taboo dark romances attributed to the author. Wrong.
The main character, Kestrel, participates in a Hunger Games-style competition as a way to find answers about her mother’s execution. Her single-mindedness threatens to overshadow the alliances she needs in order to be among the remaining five.
The 22 champions represent the old gods, which means they also channel special magical powers. This is a cutthroat competition of life and death, alliances and betrayals.
Without any sort of visual foundation, character descriptions provide a gateway into giving the readers insight into what is happening. While I applaud the author’s right to make the rules in the fantasy world, plural pronouns had me searching for multiple characters. Had there been clear statements of gender fluidity, it would have been easier to absorb.
The Tarot Trials delivers an interesting premise, but one that proves challenging to fully execute.
Katee Robert (she/they) is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of spicy romance. Entertainment Weekly calls their writing “unspeakably hot.” Their books have sold over two million copies. They live in the Pacific Northwest with their husband, children, a cat who thinks he’s a dog, and two Great Danes who think they’re lap dogs.
