A review by kristinv20
Thieves' Gambit by Kayvion Lewis

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

this was fun! nice fast-paced ya thriller, has the old-money mystery feeling of Inheritance Games and a heist focus that would probably appeal to someone who liked Six of Crows or Little Thieves. all of these characters are noticeably young, like 16-19 age range, and the prose reads a bit younger as well - as long as you're okay with moderate (pg-13) violence, i honestly think this would be a good crossover for middle grade readers looking to get into ya. if there's a middle schooler in your life who loved the 39 Clues books, i think they'll love this. 
overall i enjoyed this, it's not the best heist novel i've ever read but it's far from the worst. the stakes are high, there's a ton of tension, and all of the characters play to their archetypes really well. it feels like a very classic heist story, just with a diverse teenage cast instead of a bunch of men in their forties. i did get frustrated by the amount of miscommunication and what felt like unnecessary conflict between characters, and there's a couple switches in allegiance that felt like they came out of nowhere. this was fun though, it was a good book to kill time with (i read a good chunk of this on buses to and from the doctor and it was a nice distraction).

arc provided by Penguin Teen and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
Expand filter menu Content Warnings