Ross Quest has been told her entire life that she should never trust anyone unless they are a Quest. In her seventeen years of life–seventeen years spent as a successful thief with an incredible ability to escape–this advice has served her well, but when a heist goes wrong and her mother is taken, Ross is left with no options and enters the Thievers’ Gambit. Only the best of the best are invited to partake in this contest, a contest that comes with an amazing prize, as well as some serious danger. Unfortunately one of her rivals is also one of the competitors, a rival with a bit of a vendetta. Determined to win the competition and the prize, a prize that could free her mother from her captors, Ross soon discovers that she may not be able to follow the family advice if she hopes to come out victorious in the end, but not following it could lead to disastrous, and deadly, results.

Thieves’ Gambit was like Oceans 11 with some of The Skulls thrown in. It is a novel full of twists and turns with some big surprises and revelations along the way. There were some moments in which the narrative seemed a little slow, but for the most part this novel kept me hooked, wanting to know how the characters would overcome the obstacles in front of them, if they did at all. The characters themselves were intriguing. I liked the diversity within the group as well as the fact that each one brought something different to the story. I especially had a fondness towards Ross; she is a strong female character that surprised me with her inner strength as well as her maturity. While I expected there to be some sort of big “aha” moment(s), I was rather surprised by some of the revelations made at the conclusion of Thieves’ Gambit.

Thank you NetGalley, Nancy Paulsen Books, and the author for an eARC of Thieves Gambit in exchange for my honest review!

Rosalyn "Ross" Quest is a skilled thief and comes from a long line of skilled thieves. But when a job goes horribly wrong and her mother gets captured, Ross has one month to obtain $1 billion as a ransom for her mother. In order to do so, Ross accepts an invitation into the Thieves Gambit--a cutthroat series of trials where the world's most notorious families of thieves and con artists compete for a single wish granted to the winner by The Organizers. During the competition, Ross must break her one family rule to never trust anyone who's not a Quest in order to form alliances that will advance her in the game.

I thought this book was fun and fast-paced. For YA readers who enjoy the younger side of YA, then I think this is for you.

Thieves Gambit felt a little bit like a Disney Channel Original Movie to me. I think I would have loved this more if the stakes felt weightier/more intense, and the motivations of certain characters had better pay off. The ending was good, albeit predictable, but definitely will leave the reader curious to know how things pan out in the sequel.

If you like the vibes of Ocean's Eleven or the reality tv show The Mole, then I think you'll enjoy this one!

3.5/5 stars

Thieve's Gambit was a super fun spy-feels read. It started off a bit slow for me and I think there was a lot of building the characters, world, conflicts, etc. in the first one. I'm so excited for the next book because of the amazing ending. I loved the concept of the book where thieves compete for money and go through a series of challenges. I also loved the shifting levels of trust and alliances. The characters were so fun and diverse. The settings were engaging and exciting. I think if kids are willing to stick with the beginning they'll love this one.

Her whole life, 17-year-old Ross (short for Rosalyn) Quest has only known thievery. It’s the family business. She’s been trained in all kinds of ways to pull off heists with her mom. She’s also had one phrase drummed into her head: trust no one.

While she has traveled the world and owns some nice things, life as a thief has been lonely. Ross pretty much has her mom and aunt; friends … well, that’s laughable.

She’s ready to get out in the world and live like normal people: make some friends, go to college. When Ross has an opportunity to do a weeklong gymnastics program (she uses gymnastics to her thieving advantage), she decides to sneak off to do it. Her mom will never approve, but she has a plan to make it happen. Just as she’s in the middle of her escape, her mom gets kidnapped, and the ransom is outrageously high.

Another opportunity that mysteriously appeared in her personal (and very secret) email box just days before comes back into her mind: the Thieves’ Gambit. She knows little about it except that it’s an international competition for young thieves that grants the winner any wish. And it’s dangerous. She has no choice: this is the only way to free her mom.

The competition pits some of the best thieves against each other for a series of heists. Ross can do that. But she’s dismayed to learn upon first meeting the others that one is her childhood nemesis, and another is a suave, handsome guy who could easily become a love interest — if she had room in her life for that kind of thing.

The whole competition messes with her mind more than a few times and tests her dedication to the family creed of trusting no one. Stuff gets murky and sometimes confusing. The mysterious group in charge of the event is extremely powerful and knows how to get in her and everyone’s heads. There are twists and turns for Ross and plenty for the reader.

Thieves’ Gambit is a really exciting book with nonstop action that pretty much goes up to the very last page. I did not see things coming. It’s super-entertaining. And now to wait for a second book.

I’m always itching to read heist stories and this was a pretty good one.

There’s a great group of unreliable characters here. Reading the group dynamics was a fun part of the overall book. Watching them grow together to become a team was actually really sweet.

While yes, I was able to guess some of the twists, that didn’t deter my enjoyment of the overall story.

I will say, I was expecting this to be a standalone. But after THAT ending, it’s very apparent this is going to be a series. Hold on to your hats!

I honestly went into this book with such high expectations— I had it explained to me as an oceans 11 meets inheritance games (which I loved) and maybe that was the issue— I had such high expectations so soon before reading it that it fell a little flat for me. It was very YA and I just wasn’t in the mood for that. I would love to circle back and reread it once I have a clearer head about it to give it a fair chance.

Rosalyn Quest has grown up in a thieving family. At 17, she’s already a master thief, specializing in escape plans. She’s looking for a way out to experience a normal teenage life. But when a heist goes wrong, she enters the Thieves’ Gambit for a chance to save her mom.

All of the stars for this book! There were a couple parts that were a little clunky, and I had to reread sections to figure out how we got from point A to point B, but I was too engrossed in the plot to let that take away from the story. The Thieves’ Gambit was a fast-paced heist thriller that I couldn’t put down. I loved the challenges of the competition and each of the characters in their own way. Supposedly there’s a second book that will be released next year, and I cannot wait for it!

If the overlap of competition and heists sounds interesting to you, I cannot recommend this one enough! I’ll definitely be buying a physical copy for my shelves.

Thank you @netgalley and @penguinteen for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

What I Liked:

-While I actually guessed a couple of the larger twists, there were a couple of small twists that still caught me off guard.

-Heist books are fun. I really enjoy how they lean into unreliable narrators.


What I Struggled With:

-While I can't nail it down exactly, there was something about the novel that left me wanting more. Maybe I wanted to see Ross and the others struggle a little more to complete the gambit challenges?


Final Thoughts:

-I enjoy a good heist story. And while Thieves' Gambit was good, it didn't blow me away. Between that and the frequency of language used (see below), I most likely won't be reading any other books in the series.


Other Notes: I didn't keep exact track of cautions while reading, but there is semi-frequent mild/moderate swearing, semi-frequent blasphemy, moderate romance, a couple of kisses, moderate violence, and a girl is asked if she has a girlfriend. Of course, I may have missed something since, as I noted, I didn't keep exact track.

Thank you Penguin Teen and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange form my honest review.

I had so much fun with this book! I'm a big fan of heist books so this was right up my alley. The twists and turns of the heists had me invested the whole time. It was a very cinematic read and the tag of "The Inheritance Games meets Ocean's Eleven" is an accurate description. Like most heist stories there is some suspension of belief for some plots points, but that doesn't bother me as it was still so entertaining. The cast of characters for the heist competition was diverse and compelling. I loved seeing glimpses of each character and what brought them to the competition. Hopefully we get to see more of them in the sequel. On that note, the set up for the sequel was SO GOOD! Several twists as the story wrapped up (some I was expecting and some I wasn't). Excited to see how the story continues in the sequel!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My Selling Pitch:
Do you want to read a predictable and aggressively YA heist novel?

Pre-reading:
I want this to be a romp of a YA so badly. Apparently, she was bought for a movie and she’s not even out yet.

Thick of it:
Who puts Twizzlers inside of pretzels?

It’s giving aggressively YA

The metaphors in this are so clunky.

Oh, not a cat book. (It’s not one. I’m just trigger-happy.)

Wow, can’t wait for the love interest to betray her to get a mother knows best moment. (If I can open the book and tell you the plot, something’s gone wrong.)

It’s very Boomer trys to use slang.

So her mother def rigged that kidnapping. (Sighhhh why do I still try to read YA?)

Painting the soles of flats doesn’t even make sense because they would wear off instantly.

Serial killer sin

I love Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal.

But like the other girl is just gonna have already taken her artifact and give it to what’s her face as thanks for saving her life since she’s already disqualified from continuing. (SIGH.)

That’s a fun card game.

Oh, you know what would be fun? If she loses the game, but she uses her teammates to get her mom back. (I mean basically, that happens too.)

Red isn’t too flashy? I don’t believe you.

Hey, you know what doesn’t sit right with me? A man having multiple objects to drug drinks and the author trying to make it romantic. Like girl, that’s rapey as shit. I do not like.

I love that money doesn’t exist as an obstacle in this book. (Not.)

A cinnamon boy sin

Ew, queen.

So has everyone’s fam been kidnapped and that’s why they’re all playing and they’re all gonna quit the game and save their parents? (Honestly, a better book.)

I’m bored.

This is a heist book. I shouldn’t be bored.

I don’t care about this romance. They have no chemistry.

Why do these children have so much goddamn money? Like I know they’re thieves, but it’s annoying at this point.

I just can’t take this seriously. Do not trust a 17-year-old boy. He’s got no frontal lobe.

I don’t think that’s having trust issues. I think that’s I don’t want my family member to get professionally murdered. I’m cool if you wanna double-check me on that.

What are these bad guys? They don’t make any sense. It’s to the point that it makes the book feel plothole-y because it’s just so unbelievable. I know it’s a YA, but there should at least be some threats to these characters.

That is literally the plot of Spy Family.

I feel like this book is aggressively fine. It’s not bad. It’s not good. At no point did I feel the need to pick it up and keep reading. I was never like wow, I don’t want to finish this, but it was never like wow, I have to keep reading to find out what happens. It doesn’t feel like there’s any stakes. And that might be fine for a romcom or litfic, but that’s literally the point of a thriller, so if you fail that, you fail being a thriller.

God this book is predictable.

His desire for revenge doesn’t even make sense. What did he think the organization was gonna do? Invent a miracle cure overnight? That doesn’t make any sense.

Wow, their company’s LinkedIn must be messy. You screwed us over. Want a job?

Post-reading:
Guys, I’m too old to read YA.

I can’t do it anymore. I’m too much of a cynic. But then books like Divine Rivals and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder exist and I’m like no wait, there’s still hope!

But then books like this exist. You know, I don’t like writing negative reviews. I want books to be good.

The characters in this are flat and one note. They are diverse without it feeling like pandering or virtue signaling, so good on you, book. It seems like that’s almost impossible for YA to do these days. There’s a romantic subplot in this. Who knows why because the characters have no chemistry. It’s very insta love, and it goes nowhere. Quite frankly, she had more sapphic chemistry with her bestie.

There’s no banter in this book. How do you write a heist novel without banter?

Most damningly this book has no stakes. At no point was I worried for the characters. They’re never actually threatened. The plot is extremely predictable. You have read this book before. The heists aren’t clever, and maybe I’ve been spoiled by Six of Crows, but nothing felt smart. Nothing felt very gadgety. Nothing felt like a betrayal or double-crossing. And what’s wild is that those things are in this book. They have gadgets. There is a big character betrayal. They just feel so obvious or unbelievable that it makes no impression on the reader. And to thrill a reader is literally the whole point of a thriller.

It’s a fun concept, but it’s badly executed. It’s very skippable.

Who should read this:
Young YA thriller fans

Do I want to reread this:
No

Similar books:
* A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson-YA whodunnit
* Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo-OG fantasy YA ensemble cast heist series
* Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson-aggressively YA boarding school whodunnit
* Nightbreaker by Coco Ma-urban fantasy YA dystopian competition
* Five Survive by Holly Jackson-YA locked door thriller
* The Stranded by Sarah Daniels-YA dystopian thriller
* How to Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie-campy, YA revenge thriller
* Spy Family by Tatsuya Endo-campy, found family spy thriller

First I would like to thank Penguin Young Readers Group for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This is the story of Ross, thief, who is part of a notorious family of thieves but just wants a life outside the thieving world. When something happens to her mother, Ross is forced to enter into a global secret competition to get her mom back. While in the competition Ross finally gets a little freedom and learns things about herself and her life that will impact her future.

What I loved:
- The Gambit, I love thief/heist stories and this global competition seems to epitomize all of the best of those stories
- Shoes, Ross and some others have an affinity for particular footwear and I would love to see the shoes featured in the story
- Group, I loved how the competitors were a diverse group of young people with different backgrounds and beliefs
- Villain, depending on how you interpret the book there are multiple villains and that made the end of the book interesting and a great tee up for the next in the series
- Series, this is a book with a good ending but also a great set up for the next in the series and I can't wait to get my hands on it.

This was a great book about a young person figuring out their life while participating in a life or death international thieving competition. It will keep you on your toes with a lot of good twists and turns throughout. I am looking forward for the next book in the series and I cannot wait to see what is next up for Ross.

4.5 stars

This was my most anticipated book of the year and it did not disappoint! There are so many fantastic elements: teen master criminals, a potentially deadly competition, twists and turns, and a hint of romance. I love all of these and they were put together so well into a fun and exciting story.

I want to be a member of a notorious family of thieves, learning multiple languages, traveling, and having all kinds of cool tools to help steal these priceless items. The main character Ross has been learning the family trade since birth and has a lot of cool tricks up her sleeve. I also appreciated her wrestling with family obligations and breaking free to be her own person. I think a lot of teenagers go through this as they finish high school and poor Ross has it even more so after being raised in isolation.

The pacing is great, there are a lot of adventures and games, and I can't wait to see what else Lewis comes up with!

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own. Thank you to Nancy Paulsen Books and NetGalley for the copy.

I have to say despite the “Thieves’ Gambit #1” listing on goodreads I wasn’t expecting quite such a dramatic cliffhanger type ending that will have me waiting a frustrating year or so to know what happens next. I don’t regret devouring this one but I am a little annoyed as patience it’s my best quality. I really liked the main character and found her to be interesting and compelling. The storyline was a little predictable and I’ve never been so heartbroken to be right. Ross Quest is a teenage master thief and the first rule her mother taught her is that she can’t trust anyone not named Quest. She has started to plan for a different kind of life so she can meet other kids, make friendships and live a more typical life. But when a job goes horribly wrong she’s left with no other choices than joining the Thieves’ Gambit which has a final prize of one wish to the winner. I’ll definitely be anxiously awaiting book two in this series.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book was an exciting thrill ride from the start. 17 year old Ross Quest has been molded from very young in the family business. She is a master thief but wants to enjoy the life of a normal 17year old kid. After Ross’s mother is captured She must take part in the Thieves Gambit in order to get money to free her mother. I absolutely loved the characters and the pacing of the story. With action on almost every page as a reader you can’t help but read it in one seating.

Thank you PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group, Nancy Paulsen Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Thieves’ Gambit delivers on what it promises: a tournament-style heist novel with the kind of action and intrigue that'll have its YA-audience turning the pages. Alongside satisfying action sequences, Kayvion Lewis also throws in a healthy dose of romance and family drama. Thieves’ Gambit moves, hurtling the protagonist and her reader into a conclusion that will be difficult to escape. Don’t worry, this is just book one. Lewis will be back with more Ross Quest and her shadowy world.

It'll be interesting to see Lewis develop wisdom in her main character. In Thieves’ Gambit, Ross is a naive but adept protagonist, who despite her aptitude for heist-related shenanigans is painfully vulnerable to the manipulation of others. Her ability to escape relatively unscathed (physically) is unparalleled—but where will she actually land emotionally and professionally after that harrowing conclusion?

Recommended for young Ocean Eleven (2001) fans and readers of The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Barnes or The Loop by Ben Oliver. If you like heists: few write it better in YA than Leigh Bardugo in the Six of Crows duology. I’ve heard Hunger Games referenced as a description: take it only as I think it’s truly intended: as a sub-genre indicator that the novel has a tournament-style premise. I wouldn’t recommend comparing the two.

Y’all. This book. THIS BOOK. It was absolutely enrapturing. I loved every second. It’s not often a book feels like watching not just a movie, but a cinematic MASTERPIECE, and this book completely nailed that and more!

The main character, Ross, is a pro at her thieving craft, but just wants to be a normal 17 year old. I think we can all, at any age, relate to that vibe of just wanting to fit in. Ross is just so real and I really loved her.

Though she very much wants to be normal, Ross’s mom’s kidnapping thrusts her from just not a regular kid to WHAT IN THE WORLD IS NORMAL? Ross must compete in The Thieves’ Gambit to win a wish to save her mom.

This book is such a fun and fast paced book with unexpected twists and turns on every page. The dynamics and power shifts and motives were so fun to figure out, and honestly, I was so surprised at every little reveal. The stakes were high, and the emotions higher.

This book was such a masterpiece. I knew it would be good, but I honestly wasn’t expecting this perfection. Kayvion Lewis wrote a masterpiece and I can’t wait to read more!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Teen for the ARC! The opinions expressed are my own.

I’m now obsessed with this book, as soon as I read it was Ocean’s Eleven meets The Inheritance Games and found out it was a series. It’s a heist, a competition, romance, and coming of age, all rolled into one compelling and fast paced book. The characters are diverse and nuanced, and the plot tightly written while still leaving you guessing. The culmination left us on a bit of a cliffhanger with more questions than answers, guaranteeing we’ll all be reading the next book.

This book was a fast-paced, thrilling rollercoaster ride! I was hooked from the first page and breathless until the end. If you love a good heist story, you'll love Thieves' Gambit. I sure did!

Definitely will not want to put this book down!

There are twists and turns at every turn. The heists, the betrayals, and so much more. You will definitely be rooting for Ross and her chance to “escape” her life and lead a normal one.

Do not skip this one. This is a binge worthy book for sure!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read and review.

I was excited for this book and while I did like the writing I had a difficult time staying engaged. It wasn’t really all that exciting and I could tell what was going to happen next. I guess I was hoping it would keep me guessing and it really didn’t. Not a bad story but I had a difficult time connecting to the main character.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the arc.