A review by ryreadsreviews
The Fortune Seller by Rachel Kapelke-Dale

Did not finish book. Stopped at 25%.

 

Title: The Fortune Seller by Rachel Kapelke-Dale

• Publication Date- 2/13/2024
• Publisher- Macmillan Audio 
• Overall Rating- see below 

Review: Review copy given to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. 

I am excited to bring you all a review of The Fortune Seller. Before we get started I just wanted to own that I did not finish reading this book at 25 percent in. Let me explain. This is just a simple case of “reader know thyself first.” Instead of giving this book a negative review, I am going to tell you who this book IS for. 

I believe the description of the book is rock solid. It sets you up well. This is a coming of age story, about class, growing up, female friendships, destiny, and wealth. The one critique I have of the synopsis is it states that it is a story that is in the back drop of “two mysterious deaths.” Now remember, I stopped reading at 25 percent in. However, to that point no one had died and there was no indication that anyone would. Which in the end could be intriguing. I think this would have worked better for me if there was a dual timeline or some indication that a darker plot was coming. 

The feeling I got from the synopsis was that this would be a darker story. And it may be after the point that I stopped. However, there wasn’t enough in it for me to keep going. I think you could like this if you like stories about young female friendships, envy, and in some ways it is an dark academia. I will say that it is an academic setting but there wasn’t anything dark yet…. 

I feel like writing a review like this is important. In an age of reviewing we don’t often indicate when a book is “bad,” versus when it just isn’t for you and your interest. This book is not bad, it just isn’t for me and my interest. I had hoped there would be more of a thriller aspect or dark side of friendship. Again, owning that I didn’t make it past 25 percent before I realized this wasn’t for me. 

There is some uniqueness in The Fortune Seller. There is a group of young riders at Yale’s equestrian program. They are wealthy, jealous and worried about the future. Going into this, I was actually excited to read something different, I’ve never read anything like the way this is set up. However, it wasn’t dark enough for my tastes and the characters felt somewhat flat according to my expectations of what this story would be. 

If female friendships, coming of age and worry about the future and destiny is your cup of tea you certainly should give this one a try. I hope this review helped set your expectations.