The Tarot Café, Volume 1

By Sang-Sun Park

Meet Pamela, a tarot card reader who helps supernatural beings living in the human world. She'll help anyone, whether they're a love-stricken cat, a vampire spending eternal life running from his one true love, an unattractive waitress looking for the man of her dreams, or even a magician who creates a humanoid doll to serve the woman he loves. Although she is good-natured, there is a deep dark secret that she must deal with before she can move on to the next life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Apr 22, 2020
• ISBN: 9781427866349

Book preview

Reviews for The Tarot Café, Volume 1

[rosa.mill · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Pamela reads tarot cards for supernatural creatures. We get the creature/person's history, the cards that Pamela reads (with explanations of their meanings in itty bitty print--this could have been bigger) and the outcome of their story. The stories are all pretty moving and sad. I once again found myself wishing Tokyopop were still in existence.

[yougotamber · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Cute stories for a Manga but the artwork is what shines.

[jacey25 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Tarot Cafe was a very charming and very very fast read. It had three small stories that were told in relation to the tarot card reading (the back story). When the last card was pulled the reading would be finished and we would see the end of their tale (not always a traditional happy ending). I dabble in Tarot cards myself and I really enjoyed that the tarot cards (with the artist's story related imagery) were shown and the meaning were given in side notes as well as hearing Pamela (the tarot card reader's) impression. I can't wait to read more- I'm hoping to pick up something useful as well as enjoy the tales. Thus far the paranormal characters have included a wishing cat, a vampire and a pixie (I think it was). ReccomendedThree and a half stars

[themightyquinn · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Pamela the tarot card reader does four readings for extraordinary clients and each of their stories is told through the card reading. The androgynous depiction of the characters bothered me while reading, although I've since learned that this is a graphic novel aimed at teenage girls (and teenage girls like pretty, doll-like men?). The stories were interesting and there was good play between the text and the drawings. The characters occasionally had uncharacteristic, cartoon responses that I didn't understand, but the female characters having realistic, human, features was nice. Fine to recommend to girls 9-12, although I'd take into consideration that this one is for graphic novel fans and fans of the occult.

[imayb1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I have reservations about The Tarot Cafe 1. I liked the stories, but...First, the main character, Pamela, is a tarot reader who can see into the future. She also sees non-human clients, which is cool. Her clients come in very interesting varieties including (but not limited to) a tibit, a vampire, and a faerie.So, these odd people come to Pamela and have their fortunes read. They sit, she turns over tarot cards and tells them about their own pasts. The tarot cards are shown with asterisks and a translator's concept of what the card means. (Personally, I disagree with several of the interpretations, but I cannot say whether interpretations were in the original version at all.) The client's past is all seen in brief 'flashback' format. Then, Pamela gives advice from the cards and the client goes away. The reader is shown the client's concluding decision and we go on to the next client. It's a very staid set-up and delivery story arrangement and frankly, it's boring. While I am intrigued by Pamela's varied clients, the story format is regrettable. There are no deviations and there is little surprise. It is a case of telling what happened rather than showing what is happening. Written work does not survive this and for a medium which depends upon visual cues, it is a kiss of death. The artwork is similar to that of "Under the Glass Moon" or "Doll". It is heavily reliant on thick black lines to emphasize eyes in a gothic look. 'Pretty' seems to be dependant upon curly-cue-everywhere-hair in ringlets. Everyone looks heavily made-up (yes, men, too) and they are dressed as if they stepped out of a goth club. I prefer softer art styles which rely less on heavy outlining. The clients and the clients' stories might be interesting enough to buy another volume but I'm going to pass.