A friend gave me this deck as a birthday present. I was had high hopes for this deck but have to admit that I'm dissappointed. The art is okay and I know the vintage illustration look the artist was going for, but for me it just seems a bit too stilted and forced. There are some nice cards, but one the whole I found the illustrations dissappointing. I could probably still read with it, but it does not draw me in.
Another big issue is that while I was flipping through it, I noticed that I had 2 of one of the cards. After checking through it carefully I realized that one was missing. I asked around and found that this has been a problem with the initial printing of the deck. Lucky me! :( I don't want to hurt my friend's feeling so will probably just hang on to the deck, but any thoughts of reading with it are now gone.
It's not a bad tarot deck, but I think it could have been done better. The companion book has some interesting backstories for the cards, but seems like it was rushed to print. I can't recommend it though because there is no telling if you will get the complete package or not.
Wow. What a fab deck. I just knew it was going to be beautiful and ordered without even doing my usual hunt on the net to get sneak advance peaks! (Silly of me really, as there is a site called fairytaletarot.com where you can see loads of cards and read the foreword by Rachel Pollack too!)
Anyway, the artwork is gorgeous, detailed and beautifully coloured. The colours are perfect - it's not bright, like the inner child cards - nor pastelly - but neither is it dark. The book gives the tale behind each card - there are some I knew, and many I didn't. I recommend buying the kit, as the tales give more to the meanings of the cards.
Is this a Rider-Waite clone? I have no idea. You'd need to visit one of the many tarot review websites to get their more professional opinion - I'm just a collector of cards with beautiful artwork - not an expert.
The cards are made nicely too - reversible backs, nice stock which should stand up to use. And the book has an illustration of each card at the beginning of the relevant story, which is a plus for me.
Note: This is definitely not for use with children, like Inner Child and the other fairytale deck by I can't quite remember who. It is a deck for adults, as the fairytales here are the real versions, not the expurgated ones normally found in kids's books - and thus much more interesting!
Highly recommended.
