The Cloisters by Katy Hays: Book Review
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If you’re drawn to atmospheric thrillers set in shadowy academic corners, The Cloisters by Katy Hays is an easy book to get curious about.
This debut novel mixes art history, tarot, ambition, obsession, and a creeping sense of dread inside the gothic halls of The Met Cloisters in New York City.
Dark academia, secret gardens, medieval art, and characters with hidden agendas? I was in.
My Take: The Cloisters gave me exactly the kind of dark academia atmosphere I wanted: a real museum setting, medieval art, tarot, ambition, and characters I never entirely trusted. The story is more slow-burn than pulse-pounding, but I found the setting and mystery strong enough to keep me engaged. My Verdict? Read. If you enjoy moody literary thrillers with intellectual intrigue and a slightly gothic edge, this one is worth trying.
What It’s About
Ann Stillwell arrives in New York for a summer internship and finds herself working at The Cloisters, the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s medieval branch in Upper Manhattan.
What begins as an academic opportunity quickly becomes something more complicated when Ann is drawn into the orbit of Patrick, Rachel, and Leo, a small group of researchers fascinated by medieval art, mysticism, and an unusual deck of tarot cards.
As their interest in the cards deepens, academic curiosity begins to blur into obsession, ambition, and questions about fate – and Ann starts to realize that the people around her may be keeping far more from her than she expected.
The Cloisters – What I Liked
The Setting
The setting of The Cloisters was probably my favorite part of the book.
The Met Cloisters already feels like the perfect place for a dark academia novel: stone walls, medieval art, enclosed gardens, old manuscripts, and the sense that history is pressing in from every direction.
Katy Hays uses that atmosphere well. I could almost feel the cool stone and the quiet, slightly eerie mood of the museum as I read.
The Characters
Ann works well as the outsider stepping into a very insular academic world.
The people around her are intelligent, secretive, ambitious, and not always easy to trust, which is exactly what this kind of story needs.
Rachel and Leo especially added tension for me because I never felt entirely certain what their motives were.
The Plot & Storyline
I liked the way the tarot cards are used as more than simple decoration.
The story keeps asking whether the cards matter because they actually predict something — or because the characters believe they do. That ambiguity gives the novel a much more interesting psychological edge.
The combination of medieval history, mysticism, ambition, and obsession felt fresh to me, and I enjoyed watching the mystery unravel.
The Cloisters – What I Didn’t Like
The pacing was a little slow for me in the first part of the book.
The atmosphere is rich and immersive, but there were moments when I wanted the plot to move forward a little faster.
I also felt that a few character motivations, particularly toward the end, could have been developed more fully. Some of the final reveals felt slightly abrupt to me.
Still, neither issue kept me from finishing the book quickly or enjoying the overall experience.
The Cloisters – Read, ReRead, or Reconsider?
The Cloisters is a Read for me.
It’s moody, intelligent, atmospheric, and built around a setting and subject matter that are different from the usual psychological thriller.
I especially enjoyed the mix of art history, tarot, ambition, and academic obsession. The slower pacing kept it from being a more enthusiastic recommendation for me, but I’m glad I read it.
Frequently Asked Questions About The Cloisters
What genre is The Cloisters?
It’s a dark academia thriller with elements of literary fiction and psychological suspense. If you like intellectual mysteries with brooding atmospheres, this one’s for you.
Is the museum in the book real?
Yes! It’s based on The Met Cloisters, a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC specializing in medieval art and architecture.
Is there supernatural or magical realism in the book?
The tarot deck has symbolic weight, but the novel remains grounded in realism. The mystery lies in whether the characters believe in fate and prediction – not whether it’s provably magical.
Is this book part of a series?
No, The Cloisters is a standalone novel.
What other books has Katy Hays written?
Katy Hays is also the author of Saltwater, another literary suspense novel exploring wealth, legacy, and long-buried secrets – this time set on the Italian island of Capri.
Is The Cloisters by Katy Hays Worth Reading?
Yes – especially if you enjoy atmosphere as much as plot.
For me, The Cloisters worked because of the setting, the medieval-art world, and the constant sense that the characters knew more than they were willing to say.
It’s slower than some thrillers, but that suited the dark academia mood. If you like secretive academic circles, old artifacts, intellectual obsession, and stories that make you question what people really believe, this one is worth reading.
What To Read Next
- Saltwater by Katy Hays – Try Hays’s next novel if you enjoyed her mix of literary suspense, wealth, secrets, and atmospheric settings.
- Dark Academia Books for Winter – Browse more moody academic reads with secretive institutions, obsession, and gothic atmosphere.
- The Silent Fountain by Victoria Fox – A good next choice if the eerie setting and slow-burn mystery were what appealed to you most
- The Ruins by Phoebe Wynne – Another atmospheric story where a beautiful setting hides something darker underneath.
- The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell – Try this if you want another creepy, character-driven mystery built around a house filled with secrets.
- Explore Mystery & Thriller – Browse more mysteries, thrillers, and suspenseful reads on Looks Like Books.
