Thank you publishers and to NetGalley for this advanced copy. I listened to the audiobook from my local library. I really enjoyed the narrator. This book was fun. It was action packed and thrilling. But also full of characters that you wanted to like and root for. I had a great time with the drama and development of the story. I definitely recommend this one to any scifi lovers.

i’m not a sci-fi girlie but this was SO MUCH FUN.

✅ sapphics in space
✅ a heist gone (very) wrong
✅ found family (but make it a little bit toxic)
✅ an AI-turned-god

murdock and her team of con women are tithed to a sentient warship, the justice, after their latest heist goes terribly wrong. the justice is a world unto itself, populated by tithed criminals and their descendants. it is a life sentence—unless they can plot an escape. aboard their new prison, murdock is forced to confront daunting realities as her loyalties are torn between the mentor who shaped her, the AI-turned-god at the heart of the ship, and her charming teammate.

the salvation gambit is a lively, fast-paced space heist. i loved exploring the civilizations aboard the justice and while murdock is a dumbass (she is frustratingly clueless at times), i forgave her because i too would fall for fitz. i would have appreciated a little more depth and character development, but overall this was a fun foray into a genre i don’t read often.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an advance copy in exchange for honest feedback.

Cool concept, good execution, but DEFINITELY too short for the world and the story. I wanted so much more out of this one!! Still a fun read though.

After a job gone wrong, Murdock and her gang of con artists are tithed to a sentient warship that’s styled itself into a punitive god. Escaping the ship would be hard enough - but when the Justice takes a personal interest in Murdock, the stakes only get higher.

I have been slowing dipping my toes into the space opera genre, mostly via the wonderful Becky Chambers, but I am always on the lookout for more. And the premise of this book immediately sold me - a cult surrounding an AI? A prison ship that's become its society? A queer rivals-to-lovers romance? Sign me up!

The world-building in this book is incredible. The Justice is a huge ship and is populated by a great many people who have slowly built up their own isolated societies, and over the course of the book Murdock and the reader get to know plenty of them. Murdock may be a brash heroine, but she's also got a great wellspring of compassion, as well as a great many insecurities, which makes her viewpoint satisfyingly nuanced.

I was also intrigued by the depiction of the 'found family' of con artists, which has plenty of internal issues without ultimately giving up on the value of the relationships. Even if I felt like Hark's depiction was somewhat heavy-handed at times, it was still an interesting approach.

My main quibble with this book was the pacing, which unfortunately detracted a fair bit from my experience. After a leisurely, detailed first half of the book, things sped up unbelievably, rattling us through oodles of character development and important plot points. I wish that the author had slowed down and spaced things out better - another hundred pages or so would have allowed for much needed breathing room. I also wish we got to know Hark, Bea, and the banded faithful better in that time.

More ambitious than Skrutskie's first duology, this science fiction book explores the ways that found family can go right...or wrong. The setting was a lot of fun, reminiscent of some of Cherryh's earlier work, and the dynamic between Murdock and Fitz was compelling throughout. Unfortunately, the rest of the pacing was off, the characters are not particularly memorable, and the ending was a letdown.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

I had such high expectation for this novel but it was just not for me. It took several attempts to finally make it to the end.

This was an entertaining read that had me intrigued with the world building and action scenes. But, I think this would of been better if it was part of a duology or trilogy.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

I really enjoyed this. The concept was really cool and different, and I loved seeing Murdock come into herself as she tried to find a way off the prison ship while fending off the advances of the AI that controls it.

There were a lot of twists and turns, as I have come to expect from an Emily Skrutskie book, but I think this one suffered a bit from being a standalone. Her twists and surprises and cool ideas had more room to breathe in the Bonds of Brass trilogy and I enjoyed that one more because of it. I would have liked to have a bit of space from the fast-paced action and I think if the story were drawn out longer it would have had more of an impact.

Still, it was very enjoyable, and I spent a long time after I finished it just thinking about it.

The audiobook was really well done and immersive, although I found the accent the narrator used for the AI kind of amusing.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey for providing an early copy for review.

This sci-fi adventure, focused around a group of interstellar con women, had SO much promise, and just didn’t quite get there in terms of execution, for me.

The good: the worldbuilding was very nicely done, and the microcosm of society in which the main characters are dropped was especially compelling and intriguing. The action sequences were SO well-written and incredibly fun to visualize, and the main character was well-developed, and managed to keep you rooting for her even when she was making terrible decisions.

On the other hand, the side characters were much less fleshed-out, and the romance arc fell flat for me; I think there could have been something good there, but it wasn’t given enough time and space to blossom.

Overall, a fun read which I wanted a little more from. Thank you to Del Rey and Netgalley for the advance copy!

I realize that I am (by far) in the minority with my opinion of this book. I felt like I needed far more character development. I also thought the pacing was a little slow at times. Maybe I got an initial bad impression with the slow start and just never gave it enough of a chance to impress me. For me this is just an average book. I know many will love it and that is perfectly ok.

I truly just didn't find the main character or the drama to be entertaining. It was all a bit silly. I was just expecting more of a thorough plot here rather than the drama element. I think this just missed the mark for me.

This was a good science fiction novel! I liked the exploration of the consequences of a megalomaniacal sentient prison ship. Murdock was an interesting character to follow. It's a fun standalone!

"'Faith is a strange thing, isn't it? ... You can explain all you want to a doubter, but if you want them to truly come around, you have to let them walk their own path.'"

With a group of criminals and a rogue AI on a spaceship, I thought that The Salvation Gambit would be right up my alley. And while I did enjoy some parts of it, the book fell flat for me in some places.
Most notably, I never really got invested in the plot. It wasn't slowly paced, per se, but I didn't care much for Murdock and the plot just felt a bit lackluster. The romance didn't really catch my attention and the only character backstory I found to be truly interesting was Ham's. That being said, I did like the idea of an AI being worshipped as a god and the headbands it used to communicate with its cultists looking like haloes.
Similarly, I didn't care much for the characters. Murdock was okay, but we never got time to really get to know Hark or Bea so I didn't have a connection with them. Ham was cool and I didn't mind Fitz, but none of them were characters I could really root for.
Even though The Salvation Gambit wasn't my cup of tea, I think it's a worthwhile read for readers looking for a quick space opera.
Thanks to Netgalley and the free e-ARC!
3.25/5

Thank you Netgalley, author, and the publishers for allowing me the opportunity to read this e-arc. I look forward to reading more.

Good sci-fi novel. The writing is really good- wish the plot moved a bit faster. I also would have enjoyed seeing more of the relationship between Mirdock and Fitz.

This wasn't for me, unfortunately. Too much action and plot, with very little time to really catch your breath and process anything (and little time for the characters to do this, either). I prefer a slower, more character-focused story, and this wasn't that necessarily, so it didn't end up working for me.

In a distant future, on a planet far, far away, we meet Hark and her crew on an "off day." Not only have these conartists been caught , but they are now being turned over to a ship called the Justice.  An old warship that collects each world's most heinous criminals. Quickly, it becomes clear that there they can not just con their way out of this. A quick, fun, and entertaining read.