thanks to netgallery & penguin group for the free earc in exchange for a fair and honest review!

kayvion lewis has made a most engaging novel, reminding me a little of the middle grade book, mr. lemoncello's library. it's generally very enjoyable, and as i read it with the hopes of something light and interesting, i was very happy with it. definitely perfect if you enjoyed the inheritance games as well.

LOVED THIS!! What a ride! A competitive heist thriller with juicy drama and fascinating characters and a mysterious organization — yes please! I couldn’t get enough of this book! Can’t wait for the second one!

RATING: 5🌟
Review: WHAT A FANTASTIC BOOK!! I'm so happy I could read this book ahead of time. As a fan of both "The Inherentance Games" and "Oceans Eleven", this book totally lived up to the expectations. All the heists, all the characters, all the twists, everything was amazing. The relationships between the characters were simply phenomenal, and this whole book kept me on the edge of my seat: whenever I thought I'd guessed the little twist, I absolutely did not. And this ending really was something! I highly recommend this book to everyone who likes "The Inherentance Games" and overall YA heist books. It really is fast paced and a easy read. I usually have a hard time actually picturing books in my head, but with this one that happened really easily.
And for you, dear Kayvion, I need a second book for yesterday!

(I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review)

Thieves' Gambit follows Ross who at 17 years old is already a master thief. In a desperate bid, she enters the Thieves' Gambit. Thieves' Gambit is an international heist in which the winner gets any wish they want. She soon learns that two of her competitors are her childhood nemesis and a smooth-talking guy that has taken her attention. Can she still win the gambit and save her mom, or will she be distracted?

This was a really interesting book. It had a lot of action which I really enjoyed. This was a very fast pace and easy read. I did feel like the romance aspect of this book was not needed. It just did not seem like it fit the plot. But overall I did really enjoy this one and I would suggest it.

First, thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review this book in exchange for an honest review.

Second, I have a few words to sum this book up: Exhilarating. Fast Paced. Addictive. I wouldn't be surprised if this becomes one of the most hyped books of the fall.

This book was so much fun to read! I quite literally read this in one sitting because I just wanted to know what was going to happen next. This book was pitched as Inheritance Games meets Ocean’s Eleven and I definitely feel like it delivered on this. It is a series of heists that are part of a larger competition organized by a mysterious secret society. The main character, Ross Quest, is part of an infamous family that has committed some of the largest and most impressive thefts globally. When Ross accepts the invitation to compete for the final prize, a wish that the society running the competition will make true, she gets thrown into a world of betrayals and high stakes heists.

This book was well written with an interesting plot and great pacing. The characters were all interesting and several of them had well described, complex relationships with Ross. The heists were fun and unique each showing a different side of the competitors and I loved the way the game was staged. I can’t say a lot more than that without spoiling anything but trust me, you want to read this! I flew through this book and can’t wait to read the next one. It ended with an amazing set up for the next book, and I have no doubt that it will be as interesting as the first one.

I did find a couple of grammatical mistakes throughout the book so it might be a good idea to look it over one more time before publishing. I loved this book though!

I am a sucker for heists, and I'm SO glad I snagged this ARC!

The tension, the stakes, the unpredictable plot -- I was immediately sucked in and dragged along for a 90 mph ride with Ross and her competitors. I have so many feelings, I ended the book and just stared at the wall. And then I wanted to throw my kindle (in the best way). I tend to predict plots whether I want to or not, but Thieves' Gambit was the perfect balance of "I was right" and "What just happened" moments, I loved every page! Please, please, PLEASE tell me there's a sequel?? Kayvion, you can't leave me hanging like that!

WOW!!! This book was quite a surprise. The story drew me in and then took off not letting go until until the very end. I'm not sure if it stopped even then. Is there a sequel?

I couldn't help but like the main character Ross, A.K.A. Rosalyn. Even though she was brought up to be a thief, there was a certain vulnerability to her personality. She was also loyal to a fault and while she said she had a hard time trusting people, most of the ones who got to know her liked her because she cared about others and treated most of them with kindness. .

The situations Ross found herself in left me frantically turning pages to make she was okay. The entire story was quite a roller coaster ride of difficult situations and even difficult people. There were crazy twists and turns throughout. The ending was completely unexpected; although there were hints that something like that was a possibility.

I'd give the book 4 stars.

I want to thank NetGalley and Nancy Paulsen (PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group) for my ARC. While I guessed part of the ending early on in the story, I guess my biggest beef with Ms. Lewis is her lack of character description. I had.a hard time picturing all the characters involved in the Thieves Gambit. I would have also liked some flashbacks to prior gambits so I would be more vested in this gambit. There is potential in this series and for Ms. Lewis to grow as a writer.

What a wild ride! I love a good heist, and this one had so many puzzles and problems to solve in each challenge that it had me reading this book in one sitting. Granted, I was on a long flight, so all I was doing was sitting, but still. The MC was loyal to a fault to her well-known heist family, and brought a lot of tension to her relationships, having been brought up to believe that she couldn't trust anyone who wasn't family. So while it was interesting to see how she navigated that, it was also incredibly frustrating. There were a couple twists that I didn't see coming, especially that ending. It was actually quite frustrating though, and I'm only mildly interested in seeing how the sequel goes with trust having been completely shattered between the MC and multiple characters.

I LOVED Thieves’ Gambit. I’m a pretty busy person with not a ton of time to read, and I simply flew through this book in a matter of a few days. Ross Quest is a trained thief from a family of legendary thieves, but she is eager to forge her own path. When her mother is kidnapped on a job gone wrong, she must enter the Thieves’ Gambit to save her. The Thieves’ Gambit is a competition of heists, reminiscent of Squid Games and The Hunger Games, and Ross feels like she may be in over her head. I had already seen this book hyped up on Booktok, and I was NOT disappointed! Thieves’ Gambit is described as “cinematic,” and I couldn’t agree more. The whole time I read, I was envisioning what actor would play each character. Also, Devroe is simply the best love interest, and I will die on this hill.

Thank you to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Ross Quest, the youngest member of a family of master thieves, who is more than a little bit fed up with always being hypervigilant and speaking to no one outside her family, decides to run away. That is, until her escape attempt goes drastically wrong and ends up with her mother taken hostage. With a month to acquire enough money to pay the ransom, Ross does the only thing that has a chance of saving her mom- she joins the Thieves' Gambit, a hyper competitive thieving competition where the winner is granted a single wish.

Guys- this book was so good. The heists, the friends, the drama, everything. I guarantee that this book will find its audience come September. The multiple different heists could have very easily become repetitive, but they don't. Each heist comes with different objectives and different obstacles to overcome. Not to mention the other competitors. Speaking of the competitors, you'll love them. For Ross, whose only connection to the world has been other people with the last name Quest, these friends are kind of a novel experience, and it takes some getting used to for her. And the plot twists??? Yeah, twists plural. The plot twists MAKE this book.

The only problem with this arc is that I have to wait even longer for a sequel. Also, I need everyone to read it. Like now.

I highly highly recommend this book to anyone who likes YA and heists. You'll love it.

3 stars

this book felt very disappointing to me. going into the book, i had expected something along the lines of <i>carmen sandiego</i>, the show. i was really excited to read this book as i wanted something that would get my heart pumping with action and powerful main characters, but what i got fell flat.

i found the plot to be repetitive with the same heists and schemes repeating with each passing round. it was on the more predictable side, and i quickly got tired of the book. ross is an okay character, but i didn’t feel as connected to it or invested in her story. there were a couple of scenes that got my attention and really highlighted how smart the characters were, but, honestly, the stubbornness on ross’s side really irked me. it ruined a lot of the other scenes for me.

the ending was incomplete as well. i know that this book is only the first installation, but nothing in this book really convinced me that i need to pick up the second book when it gets released. maybe the second book will be better, but i will probably not be reading it.

Friends. Enemies. Thieves. Cons.

Like a mystery and suspenseful book that will keep you on your toes? This is the book you want. It was a quick and easy read. Very YA with YA themes. Nothing more than a kiss with hidden romance. Acceptable for younger children as well. Similar to the Inheritance Games but still unique in its own right. A refreshing book not set in the US and from the point of view of a Caribbean Island girl. Characters of all different races and backgrounds. LOVED the diversity.

Of course there's a cliff hanger! I'm ready for the next book before this one has even been published.

A fast-paced, delightful heist story!

From the very first chapter, I had SO much fun with this one. The underground world of thieves was fresh and fun, and I absolutely loved the complex family issues Kayvion tackles. Ross is a unique, whip-smart character, flawed and strikingly likable, and Devroe was a fabulous rival/and love interest. And the ending! So many fabulous twists that packed a hard punch. I'm already craving a sequel, but it almost feels like an ending of that calibre fits, so I'll be thrilled either way.

Highly recommend to fans of heist stories and ensemble casts. Can't wait to see what Kayvion will write next!

THANK YOU Penguin Random House for the arc!

Ross Quest lives with her mom and her aunt in the Bahamas. They run a family business -- which just happens to be robbing rich people and pulling off other dangerous heists. Ross spends her days training and getting ready for the next job. She's been raised to only trust her family. But now that she's seventeen, she wants just a taste of what a normal life would be like. So she makes plans to get away for a few weeks but, of course, those plans do not go well. Ross finds herself in the middle of The Gambit - a competition between other thieving teens to see who is best at their craft. But can she really trust any of these people? And who exactly is running the Gambit anyway?
This is kind of like the Hunger Games only not quite so blood-thirsty. You don't HAVE to kill your opponents (though you can...) but you do have to make sure that you are one of the winners. This was almost not-put-downable. And I think teens will love it. I would recommend it to anyone that enjoyed Jennifer Lynn Barnes' The Inheritance Games series or The Naturals. Or Kathlee Glasgow's The Agathas.
Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for an e-galley. I think this will fly off the shelves.

I liked this book. I thought it would be a little more cut throat but that's fine. It was fast paced & I did get invested in who would win. There were some plot twists & the ending left me expecting another book.

Received an ARC courtesy of NetGalley

The Quest family is known as the best family of thieves in North America! Rosalyn Quest aka Ross is 17 and is looking to do more than just crime with her mom. She gets an email from the organizers of a competition called Thieves Gambit. A competition she had never heard of until now and she decided not to ask her mom about it but brought it up to her Aunt. In which she told Ross it was dangerous and that the winner gets a wish. Even with that Ross was still set on wanting to experience college and know what it’s like to have friends cause she doesn’t have any. She tried bringing up the school issue to her mom and Aunt. Sadly it had fallen onto deaf ears and so she decided to create an exit plan to a gymnastics summer camp. She falsified some documents to wiggle her way in just in time to sign up. When her mom, Rhiannon Quest, set up a new heist for them to do Ross made it her mission to plan two escapes the second one being hers alone. Unfortunately the plan went awry and her mother got caught but Ross was able to escape using her exit plan meant for her escape into a whole new life. The captors have decided to hold her mom for ransom and have asked for one billion dollars!! That’s a whole lotta money as I’m reading I’m like how the heck you gonna pull that off Ross??! Welp low and behold she has decided to enter the Thieves Gambit competition and if she wins she has decided to use that wish to help get her mom back. Little does she know that whole game is about to turn her world upside down!

This book had me hooked in chapter one, as soon as I realized it was a mother-daughter crime duo!! I was already rooting for them lol! With that being said the big twist at the end had me SHOOK!!! I was not expecting things to go the way they went. Now I need to know what’s gonna happen next… book two when??! Lol I usually read mostly Fantasy books but when I saw the cover and it had two black people on it I knew I had to give it a read! And I’m so glad I did there were so many relatable moments. This book was so so so good so y’all make sure to give it a read when it comes out!!

I had the privilege of being able to read this before it is released. This book took a little to get into. The first couple of chapters were great and caught my attention. But then it kind of droned on until the last third of the book. Then I honestly couldn’t put it down. So many twists and turns and I really didn’t see them coming and it surprised me and kept me wanting to read more. This was a great book and I am praying for a sequel.

Thieves’ Gambit was a few exciting fast paced scenes broken up with slow, drawn out story. Lewis has created some really likable characters, an interesting villain, and an ending open to a sequel. I’m not a big YA reader, so I found myself wanting to DNF this book, but I’m glad I pushed through and am curious to know what the next book looks like for Ross and her friends.

Thank you to PENGUIN GROUP and NetGalley for the advance copy of Kayvion Lewis’s Thieves’ Gambit.