Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

So I REALLY REALLY REALLY wanted to love this deck. Props where they are due: I was thrilled by the packaging, quality of cards and book. JHigh Quality and innovative box design. 5 Stars for packaging. 5 stars to Esther for her Tarot Meanings. The book is very well written and the quality of the pages and binding are also superb. Sadly the stars stop there. Thus the low rating. Becasue, after all, after 40 years of reading Tarot and many many decks in my collection, I didn't pay big bucks for the book and packaging. I wanted to READ with these. With Clients and/or myself. The artist is talented, no doubt. But there lacked a deep understanding of the Tarot as the imagery and meaning often clashed. The art itself seemed to fight its way off the cards, each color and shape vying for attention so that the whole card became a riot of colors and shapes and the feeling was not friendly or inviting. I own the The Day of the Dead Deck, and Tatoo Tarot, so I'm not afraid of dark imagery, but there needs to be coherence. Place them next to one another and it's a neon art factory with so much packed on to one card that it's a headache. My teen daughter and dear friend who also excitedly sat with me opening the deck were of the same opinion. In some cases had the artist simply enlarged the main character (see the Starman image on the box? Imagine if the card had been cropped like that, the face and torso, not an entire image of shape color and alien writing and on and on). But there were other challenges with this deck. Many times the main characters seemed forced rather than owing their status. Their backgrounds commanded more attention than they did. In other cases the image was just not in keeping with the intended meaning. The slashed up and bloody prince of cups standing with his silent rebel yell but not much else to make you see he had a hero potential. Then you look in the book and see that the writer of the meanings described beautifully what the Prince should stand...worlds apart from the image you are looking at. It's as if the artist and the writer did not have the same interpretation. The cards seem to be desperate to say something...struggling more to be cool than meaningful. They needed editing. The Kings face (many of the faces) are marred by lines drawn over the features. There is no warmth and indulgence with the King of Cups! He seems just as remote as all the other characters that show up. You don't get a sense of moving from the four elements, nor intellect to emotion to passion, nor the journey the Fool takes. They all seem like razor sharp characters waiting to consume you in their own indulgences. The three of us were so very disappointed. THAT said, I believe if the artist was willing to introduce feelings of compassion, fear, sorrow, loss, balance, hope, and support into an otherwise intimidating set of characters then their next Tarot collaboration would be AMAZING. My friend summed it up perfectly, 'maybe the artist needed to make this an oracle deck because I don't feel Tarot was quite understood.' I'm still shaking my head. I really want to love these cards.