I already knew I wouldn't be fond of the orange borders, and the art itself isn't my usual cup of tea, but since this was one of very few newer decks available at the local bookshop, I picked it up. Now unless a deck leaves me cold or repulsed, I'm of the don't-knock-it-until-you-try-it camp. And since I don't need to be whoopingly excited by every tarot purchase I make, I tend to be neutral and open about a deck until I've given myself the time to use it.
My initial impressions:
1) I really dislike the borders. However, I can overlook them, and I don't overlook anything orange-colored easily.
2) Cardstock leaves a lot to be desired. I'm very particular with paper because I work in an industry that's very nitpicky about paper. Ha.
3) Images are austere, and they feel more oracular to me. This, I don't mind.
4) The book really helped me appreciate the visual choices better. And the discussion of the court cards was quite enlightening.
I feel I can get the most use out of this deck when I'm in a reflective state of mind. The images trigger words for me, rather than stories, and if you've ever used single words as a writing prompt, you'll understand how vastly different the resulting narrative can be. I get a similar energy from The Earthbound Oracle, though I can't really compare the two. I know The Wild Unknown has been brought up, but I don't really consider TWU minimalist or sparse, as it CAN look busy because of the line work. And there are stories to be found there.
There are decks that are good readers when they're used to read for oneself, and I believe TRP falls under this category.
