Name: The Tarot Cafe Manga Collection: Volume 1
ISBN: 9781427859334

Sang-Sun Park

"Combines volume 1-3 of the Tarot Cafâe original publication."

The Tarot Cafe Manga Collection: Volume 1

Ava Shaffer

honestly i was pretty confused throughout most of this bc of all the different creatures and time jumps. i liked the structure of each different story with the tarot reader but a lot of them were cringey & weird

Alexia Cambaling

I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a collection of several volumes and episodes of the manhwa, The Tarot Cafe collected in one volume. I believe there would be 3 volumes.

The Tarot Cafe is a pretty good manhwa with a compelling story and beautiful art. Unfortunately, it's burdened by being too blurry in places (on my iPad) with the smallest text being downright impossible to read on a small screen. Those explain what the tarot cards are and their purpose. After switching and reading on my laptop instead on PDF format, the experience got significantly better. The images and text became more crisp and easier to read. This is great for viewing the gorgeous artwork and enjoying the story better. The scrolling can be tedious, however.

The story revolves around Pamela, a witch and tarot card reader who has the power to see her client's future. She basically helps them out in exchange for a bead. What said beads are for is yet to be explained. Throughout the 500+ page book, there are several episodes explaining several plot threads. Some are smaller than the others, with the bigger ones presumably spanning several volumes. The Tarot Card helps give a glimpse into the clients' pasts and at the end, their future. This takes us to unique and varied settings from a tower, to a Middle Eastern harem, to medieval Europe.

The main plot involving Pamela and her past spans back hundreds of years and ties her back to several characters who appear in several episodes. It's clear that helping her clients would aid her in achieving a certain goal which may be explained further in the next volume. The characters presented are pretty distinct both in looks and personality. Each of the clients have their own stories which are enjoyable to read and I would love to see continued in the next volumes. Still, the story, while incomplete (not surprising for a manhwa) is still good and I can still recommend it.

I will have to recommend that anyone interested get a physical copy though. I originally read this in ePub format which would have brought the overall score down if I hadn't switched to PDF. Otherwise, a large screen and a good display would be a good idea.

Recommended for fans of mangas and graphic novels and those who love a good urban fantasy featuring a witch/Tarot card reader.

This review can also be found on my blog:  The Bookworm Daydreamer

The Tarot Cafe Manga Collection: Volume 1

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