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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
5 stars!
I usually love books with thieves and heists in them, and this book was perfect for that! The mini plot twists throughout the book were perfect because they weren't predictable at all for me
I usually love books with thieves and heists in them, and this book was perfect for that! The mini plot twists throughout the book were perfect because they weren't predictable at all for me
adventurous
funny
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book was wild. The plot twists had me gasping and I wanted to throw my Kobo across the room.When I found out that the whole kidnapping was set up I gasped. Overall a great read. I'm definitely reading the next book. If you liked The Inheritence Games then you'll like this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping
Moderate: Gun violence
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4.5
Thank you Netgalley and Nancy Paulsen for the eARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. Anything past "Recommended" will have some spoilery content, but the first two paragraphs reflect my desire to recommend this book to teen audiences.
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.
++
Thoughts with Potential Spoilers: The daughter and I were talking about a novel (2nd in a series) she was reading that had her frustrated by the true lack of agency of one of its protagonists (and, really, in some way, all three of them). The character made decisions, but they felt like they were not really choices because survival/oppression. She’d experienced this a couple months ago with another character/series. It isn’t an unrealistic situation for a character to find themselves in—just a relatively unusual one when it comes to fictional heroes.
The conversation moved to the tricky business of plotting court intrigue and developing character trajectories in and around them. I thought of this conversation as I was mulling over the Thieves’ Gambit post-read.
I finished Thieves’ Gambit and felt at ease in recommending it to teens as a great addition to the relatively small shelf of heist novels. I still feel that ease; and I can see why it was optioned for film. But I also experienced despondence—not unlike what I think the daughter was communicating to me.
It's in the lingering after, that I felt sadness for how vulnerable to manipulation Ross was and is. Why choose Devroe as a partner when she had better and more effective partners in the other two? You realize that just as the organization wants the contestants to be not only good at thieving, but entertaining as well, the novel has the same aims. The story wants characters making questionable choices that won’t actually spell disaster, just suggest it for a while. And to clarify, it is the novel (or organization) that defines “disaster” not Ross or anyone else.
There is nothing surprising or disappointing in noticing how the characters merely serve the plot; nor how any sense of agency is so adeptly outmaneuvered as to suggest it was only there to increase dramatic interest to begin with. Such devising only echoes the premise: the thieves' gambit exists to merely serve the "organization.” It isn’t just to accomplish the heist, but to manage it in an entertaining way. And there is where the rub lies. As much as the young thieves invite us alongside them as they struggle to distinguish themselves, the novel itself has put us readers in the balcony alongside the organization. The contestants needn’t only succeed at their tasks, they need to do so with dramatic interest--that is the only way they can be spared; to proceed. In the end, the readers aren’t actually that different from the organization and that doesn’t feel great considering who they are. And I wonder if the novel had ended differently, we would have been able to see ourselves differently. But I suppose our ending is Ross’ ending: where escape is an illusion; and maybe some part of us likes the future into which we’ve been coerced.
Seems Kayvion Lewis is quite the mastermind. I’m hoping she will devise a path upon which Ross Quest will be to realize for herself. Or will she just stick around for the sake of her mother or the hot boi—neither of whom deserve her?
Thank you Netgalley and Nancy Paulsen for the eARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. Anything past "Recommended" will have some spoilery content, but the first two paragraphs reflect my desire to recommend this book to teen audiences.
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.
++
Thoughts with Potential Spoilers: The daughter and I were talking about a novel (2nd in a series) she was reading that had her frustrated by the true lack of agency of one of its protagonists (and, really, in some way, all three of them). The character made decisions, but they felt like they were not really choices because survival/oppression. She’d experienced this a couple months ago with another character/series. It isn’t an unrealistic situation for a character to find themselves in—just a relatively unusual one when it comes to fictional heroes.
The conversation moved to the tricky business of plotting court intrigue and developing character trajectories in and around them. I thought of this conversation as I was mulling over the Thieves’ Gambit post-read.
I finished Thieves’ Gambit and felt at ease in recommending it to teens as a great addition to the relatively small shelf of heist novels. I still feel that ease; and I can see why it was optioned for film. But I also experienced despondence—not unlike what I think the daughter was communicating to me.
It's in the lingering after, that I felt sadness for how vulnerable to manipulation Ross was and is. Why choose Devroe as a partner when she had better and more effective partners in the other two? You realize that just as the organization wants the contestants to be not only good at thieving, but entertaining as well, the novel has the same aims. The story wants characters making questionable choices that won’t actually spell disaster, just suggest it for a while. And to clarify, it is the novel (or organization) that defines “disaster” not Ross or anyone else.
There is nothing surprising or disappointing in noticing how the characters merely serve the plot; nor how any sense of agency is so adeptly outmaneuvered as to suggest it was only there to increase dramatic interest to begin with. Such devising only echoes the premise: the thieves' gambit exists to merely serve the "organization.” It isn’t just to accomplish the heist, but to manage it in an entertaining way. And there is where the rub lies. As much as the young thieves invite us alongside them as they struggle to distinguish themselves, the novel itself has put us readers in the balcony alongside the organization. The contestants needn’t only succeed at their tasks, they need to do so with dramatic interest--that is the only way they can be spared; to proceed. In the end, the readers aren’t actually that different from the organization and that doesn’t feel great considering who they are. And I wonder if the novel had ended differently, we would have been able to see ourselves differently. But I suppose our ending is Ross’ ending: where escape is an illusion; and maybe some part of us likes the future into which we’ve been coerced.
Seems Kayvion Lewis is quite the mastermind. I’m hoping she will devise a path upon which Ross Quest will be to realize for herself. Or will she just stick around for the sake of her mother or the hot boi—neither of whom deserve her?
Thank you to NetGalley and Nancy Paulsen books for providing an eARC of this book.
Rosalyn “Ross” Quest comes from a long line of master thieves: her mom, aunt, even her grandparents. It’s her entire life—everything that she has ever known. However, she wants more—she wants to meet other people outside of the thieving world. But when her plan to escape ends with her mom getting kidnapped, Ross only has one option: to enter into the Thieves Gambit, a competition amongst world class teenage thieves for the ultimate prize of a wish for anything. But what starts as just a game slowly reveals more to Ross about her competitors…and her family’s legacy.
This was SO MUCH FUN!! I absolutely loved the heist/Ocean’s 11 vibe of the book, and I know so many readers will enjoy it. This also felt like a novel that had real stakes to the “game,” and I loved the diverse cast of characters and their interactions. I could see this being a big hit for fans of Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Ally Carter, Sonja Stone, or any spy thriller (with the twist of this being about the thieves!). Great for middle and high school libraries!!!
Rosalyn “Ross” Quest comes from a long line of master thieves: her mom, aunt, even her grandparents. It’s her entire life—everything that she has ever known. However, she wants more—she wants to meet other people outside of the thieving world. But when her plan to escape ends with her mom getting kidnapped, Ross only has one option: to enter into the Thieves Gambit, a competition amongst world class teenage thieves for the ultimate prize of a wish for anything. But what starts as just a game slowly reveals more to Ross about her competitors…and her family’s legacy.
This was SO MUCH FUN!! I absolutely loved the heist/Ocean’s 11 vibe of the book, and I know so many readers will enjoy it. This also felt like a novel that had real stakes to the “game,” and I loved the diverse cast of characters and their interactions. I could see this being a big hit for fans of Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Ally Carter, Sonja Stone, or any spy thriller (with the twist of this being about the thieves!). Great for middle and high school libraries!!!
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I tore through this book, the premise immediately perched my interest and then the fast pacing of the book kept me engaged. I purposefully shut off my brain at times so I wouldn’t figure out the big twists and I still found myself piecing things together before they were revealed. Even with that I still enjoyed myself.
A quick and fun read, with some expected cheesiness throughout.