As a writer and a Shakespeare enthusiast, this deck spoke to me the moment I first laid eyes on it and I love how the booklet that comes with it appeals to both of those aspects. My favorite detail about the portrait of Shakespeare on the cover is the very noticeable bags under his eyes. I feel seen and represented.

The box is cute and sturdy, though I do worry about the durability of the paper covering the spine. It has already creased a fair bit from how often the box has been opened and it makes a crinkly noise every time I lift the lid, so the anxiety-filled part of my brain keeps screaming at me that it's going to break and the lid will come clean off. To be fair, it doesn't actually look like that will happen if I continue to be careful with it, but there's something about that sound that does it to me. Regardless, everything about this kit seems built to last and it has held up so far!

The cards are rather large for my hands, which makes them hard for me to shuffle, but they look great and are fun to work with. I really like how the texture of the brush strokes makes the artwork look like wood paintings.

I am a fan of the analyses of the characters and quotes chosen for the cards, but I especially love the Shakespeare appreciation discussed in the pages for The Magician and The World cards and scattered through the deck. There were points throughout the booklet where I started to wonder if the praise for Shakespeare was veering into "Shakespeare is high art that common simpletons just wouldn't understand" territory, but it never really crossed that line and I'm grateful for that.

There are some interesting interpretations of the most problematic relationship in The Taming of the Shrew and the portrayal of Caliban in The Tempest, which I don't fully agree with but can accept the intent behind in relation to the symbolism of the cards. I am all for reinterpreting Shakespeare's works in respectful and transformative ways, so this deck really hits the spot.