Thank you to netgalley and Angry Robot for the arc of this book for my honest review.

Going into this book after reading it's description I was excited, a spicy vampire book sounded right up my street. Unfortunately for me, the story just didn't capture me. The world building and the story itself just felt like it was missing something. The main character is morally grey, and normally, with those types of characters, there's at least something redeeming about them, but that was not the case here. Kazan constantly lies and makes promises she doesn't keep, especially with the 'love interests'.
For me, the spice also fell a bit flat, and there was no chemistry between Kazan and the other vampires. The epilogue/ ending to the story was disappointing and rushed after dragging out the rest of the book. Maybe I'm just too much of a happy ending lover, but I expected from the end of the story than what we were given.

I was immediately obsessed with this book upon reading the dedication:
“Dedicated to everyone who read Twilight and thought: ‘Why are these vampires so Mormon?’”

Kazan Korvic is an incredibly skilled blacksmith who forges weapons meant for killing vampires. In attempt to sell one of her weapons, Kazan joins a caravan that is ambushed by a malevolent group of vampires. She is captured and taken to the Citadel, where she must endure three days of drunken debauchery before she is ritualistically killed for her blood. Kazan is desperate to save her own life and seek revenge against her captors.

I absolutely love stories that depict vampires as murderous and menacing, but also hedonistic and incredibly sexy. Our main characters are flawed, but not unlikeable. I found the atmosphere to be well crafted and quite lush. Ultimately, I really enjoyed this book.

A three day soirée with vicious vampire hotties, a ginormous castle, blood magic, spirit possession, and a human girl fighting for her life.
I’m here for it all!

Thank you to NetGalley and to Angry Robot for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

A dark fantasy with a splash of romance, The Hunter's Gambit forms its own take on vampire lore and creates a whole new world.

Our FMC, Kazan, is a blacksmith who made a sword that kills vampires. She is captured by vampires when they sabotage her travelling party, and is crowned 'vampire queen' - a title that comes with the vampires sacrificing herself in only a few days' time.

The world-building in this was excellent; it wasn't information dumping and yet it was beautiful and intricate. The human sacrifice looming over Kazan's head really turns up the tension in this one.

The characters are also really fun. Kazan is headstrong, but flawed and selfish. Adrius and Reya are great companions, and I loved the representation of a bisexual FMC and vampires just having a fun vampire time. It definitely didn't feel like a traditional romance plot - more lust, less emotions.

Thank you to Angry Robot Books for an e-arc of this one! All opinions are my own.

This one was just okay for me. The premise sounded really good, and I love vampires, so this sounded right up my alley. However, it did fall a little short to me. I was able to finish it, but I had to power through. I did enjoy the escape plot, and I rooted for Kazan. I think I thought this book would have more romance in it, but it read more like a horror novel, and the romance was more of a subplot. However, I would recommend this book for people who enjoy horror and vampires, it just wasn't for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Angry Robot for the ARC!

Thank you to Netgalley, the Author and Angry robot for providing me the eARC of The hunter's gambit.

- The truth gets you scraps and vulnerability; lies get your needs met.

- A thousand shingles can form a roof, but it only takes one sliding out of place to let the rain in.

The vampire genre has a long-standing reputation for weaving tales of intrigue, murder, and supernatural allure, and this book certainly embraces those elements with gusto.

Coming to the book it's standout feature is it's morally grey protagonist - Kazan. And the dynamic between her and the other two central figures - Adrius and Reya, further enriches the narrative, despite the duo's underutilization as their presence, while impactful, feels sparse. This lack of substantial engagement is a missed opportunity that could have added greater complexity and richness to the story. However, the interplay among the three characters is intriguing and holds the reader’s interest, despite some shortcomings in their development.

The plot and action sequences are reasonably well-crafted, maintaining a decent pace throughout the book.

Overall, the escape plot, while initially compelling, suffers from a sense of circularity and is marred by Kazan’s rash decisions that derail otherwise sound plans. This detracts from her likability and stunts her growth as a character, making her appear inconsistent and impulsive. But her realization about her true nature and desires is portrayed with nuance, adding depth to her character and the story as well.

In summary, those who enjoy dark, complex stories with a focus on escape and survival, this book offers a thrilling ride, albeit with a few bumps along the way.

Honestly, this one fell short for me. I was excited for the premise of the book as it sounded fairly intriguing. However, it was very fast paced and I didn’t find the characters to be enjoyable or have any chemistry.

I actually almost ended up DNF’ing it, but decided to stick it out in hopes that it would get better. But that didn’t really happen…

Thank you to NetGalley and Angry Robot for providing the ARC.

What an absolutely morbid vampire story!

This book has it all - hijinks, intrigue, murder, puzzles, and more all wrapped up in this sinful and decadent vampire package that is sure to delight. This book is definitely more along the lines of a horror book with a small romantic subplot, with the focus being on Kaz's escape from this seemingly inescapable citadel. This book is perfect for anyone who loves vampires, mystery, and and absolutely bonkers series of events.

Truly enjoyable.

I actually enjoyed The Hunter’s Gambit quite a bit. The vampire lore in this book is both recognizable and something new at the same time. We see familiar vampire characteristics/tropes that have been revamped into something different, and I thought that was a great way to tackle a vampire book given how saturated the genre can be.

I thought Kazan was a great character, and I loved being in her head for this book, particularly near the end when she undergoes major growth as a character. Her realization about what kind of person she is and what she wants in life was done really well. I also loved Adrius and, to a somewhat lesser extent, Reya. The dynamic between these three characters was quite interesting to read.

I didn’t really want to put the book down. It was a quick and easy read while still remaining interesting and complex enough to hold my attention. While I really liked the ending, I can see how it wouldn’t be for everyone as it is fairly open-ended. It was satisfying to me personally though.

I think it would be cool to get maybe a novella from this world about the first Vampire King or something of that vein. The lore with that was super interesting to me and I think it would be great to see the very start of the rituals we see in The Hunter’s Gambit.

Overall, I enjoyed this book! If you like vampires but want some fresher takes on the typical vampire tropes, I would definitely recommend The Hunter’s Gambit!

Thank you so much to Angry Robot and NetGalley for the ARC of The Hunter’s Gambit! All opinions are my own.

This was an enjoyable read that was surprising in a good way. I didn't know much about this book going into it, just that it centered around vampires and humans. It had elements that reminded me of Interview With the Vampire, which had me hooked. Kazan, the human FMC, piqued my interest the most because she lies her way through everything and is pretty selfish. She knows she is selfish and so following the choices that she makes throughout the book was very interesting to me. The Hunter's Gambit is a solid vampire story with mysterious characters and an unexpected ending that left me wanting more.

Thank you, NetGalley and Angry Robot for providing the arc.

"– the truth gets you scraps and
vulnerability; lies get your needs met."

The plot was something dark fantasy with a little bit of romance. the setting of the Citadel and the whole vampire scene were lovely and the world-building was amazing. I loved all the descriptions of the knives and blades that the characters wielded. All of the action scenes were very dynamic. The fights were pictured perfectly and had fun reading all the action going on throughout the book.

"But now that she has broken that rigidity, even
slightly, she can’t stop breaking. Like glass shattering in on itself, sharp
pieces compacting and squeezing, filling her lungs and choking her. The glass
claws at her insides, shredding and tearing and crushing."

The cast of characters was outstanding, with our protagonist Kazan being a standout. Reya and Adrius as our love interests were great as well. Only wished that the romance was a bit lacking and would have loved more into that topic. With all the political maneuvering in vampire society, it was great to see the differences lined out in the personalities and actions of the characters. The development of the characters was at its best.

"A thousand shingles can form a roof, but it only takes
one sliding out of place to let the rain in."

I’m only sad this book wasn’t longer so the author could explore the vampire playground some more. Several vampire houses were given lip service but these worldbuilding fangs failed to break the reader’s skin. There’s so much more I wanted to read about how the vampire houses differ and interact that wasn’t included here. The importance of the Citadel and the need to keep it intact was understandable enough but the vampires’ motivations and underhand politics left me a little thirsting for more.

"No one has loved Kazan since her father, and she can barely remember
what that felt like. She doesn’t need love. She doesn’t."

I liked the story. It’s the spicy version of twilight! However the story doesn’t follow the twilight characters that well. I thought this was a great read.

This was a fun and exciting read with powerful and complex vampires that you can't help but love.
Our FMC is a blacksmith who has created a sword capable of killing vampires. While traveling she gets captured by vampires and is soon crowned vampire queen. In just a few days she will be sacrificed as part of an old ritual to maintain the fortress.

The world building was *chef's kiss" without being too complex the way Pierlot describes the intricacies of this story is so good. This is a single POV (Kazan's POV) written in third person format. With excellent slow burn romance elements its the plot that gets you and holds your attention as we read of all the FMCs endeavors.

I really enjoyed these pages, finding myself up far too late turning pages, desperate to know what happens next and I truly look forward to reading future installments.

Thank you netgalley for this eARC!

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

The Hunter’s Gambit by Ciel Pierlot is a third person-POV vampire locked room fantasy. Kazan is a swordsmith on her way back from a job when her party is attacked by a group of vampires. Instead of killing her, they take her back to their Citadel to make her their Queen in three days…and eat her.

What I liked was how Kazan is a young woman with a prominent facial scar who is still viewed as desirable. She has strong boundaries relating to her scar and sex and I really appreciate her expressing those boundaries. Very often, scars are something that gets a lot of focus in steamier scenes but not everyone wants their scars to be given any special attention at all, so it was nice to see the other side of the coin on the page.

The locked room Citadel of vampires is a very cool idea, especially when paired with the three days until the MC becomes food for the vampire horde. It creates a lot of tension as Kazan is trapped with beings who view her as food and are playing with her until they get their satisfaction as Kazan tries to do whatever she can to get out of her situation. In doing so, she meets Reya and reunites with Adrius, both of whom are attracted to her and might be willing to help out if it suits their own purposes.

I would recommend this to readers looking for a Bisexual lead in a vampire fantasy that is not a romance, fans of vampire fantasy, and readers looking for a polyamorous bent in fantasy.

I've been a big vampire fan since I went through my Twilight phase as teen, but just as Pierlot says in their dedication "why are these vampires so Mormon?" So I had such high expectations for the vampires in this book and oh boy did they live up! They are fabulous, the vampires live an afterlife of sheer decadence and debauchery and have no care for human life. The vampires in this were absolutely my favourite part and I love how they were written, Reya will always have a place in my heart.

But, the rest fell a little short for me, Kazan, the main character, really let me down, I like that she was flawed and selfish but I thought that she was wishy washy and I just couldn't get along with her. The romance as well I felt was a let down, there was little to no chemistry and I wasn't a fan.

Two things I did love were that we got a Bi main character and it wasn't too spice heavy, there is one decent spice scene but the spice thankfully didn't outweigh the plot.

Honestly I would still recommended this, its not great but its fun, was a good read, and definitely worth it for the fantastic vampires.

I quite liked this. I’ve read plenty of books with vampires, romantasy books, vampire romance books, etc but this surprised me in a few places. I appreciated the general setup as to why Kazan had to interact with a bunch of vampires without them immediately killing her, which was interesting, and the various threads of political intrigue. Every character is either morally grey or just generally bad, which was fun. I appreciate that I never really knew whether to trust any of the vampires (and several proved that correct) but I also loved Kazan just sort of floating through life lying about literally anything and everything, even for no reason, just to prevent anyone from ever getting to close to her. The ending was, to me, both frustrating and yet also really fit well with the book as a whole. Great vibes, fun read. I will say that despite the spice scene this really doesn’t have romance and it’d be disappointing if you went in looking for it; yes, there are bisexual vampires, sure, but there’s no development of a relationship, no feelings for one another, no love. Just vampires having a vampiric fun time.

This one ended up being a DNF for me I just couldn't get into the book. It was a little to weird for me.

I've got to say, I ate this up.

Kazan was a really great MC in my opinion; strong willed, opportunistic, a secret vampire lover. What more can I say? It's got a little bit of everything; romance, violence, internal dilemma.

I've sold this book to friends already, referring to it as the "bisexual vampire book." If the book description interests you at all, just go for it, it's a great time.

I was so on board for The Hunter’s Gambit, I mean I LOVE a dark, sexy vampire story with oodles of violence and trickery. The action and plot were decent, but I wanted so much more of Adrius and Reya, and it felt like we didn’t get barely anything. The ending was a bit disappointing, as I expected/wanted essentially the opposite to happen and were left without much closure. I found the whole escape plot a little circular, as well as Kazan’s quick assumptions that totally screwed up a sound, solid plan. Kazan wasn’t very likable and didn’t show much growth, and I wish we could’ve seen the love develop and flourish between her, Adrius, and Reya. I think the premise and plan were fantastic but the execution really let me down. I really enjoyed the world the author built, I just wanted more from the characters.

Thank you to Angry Robot, NetGalley, and the author for sending me an early copy!

Thank you to Angry Robot and Ciel Pierlot for this ARC.

A locked-room escape adventure with malevolent vampires and possible spicy tension? Sign me up; I’m definitely reading it. The premise for “The Hunter’s Gambit” was unique and propelled this book to the top of my TBR for this summer.

I absolutely loved the protagonist and setting in this book. Kazan is feisty, selfish, and flawed, and that’s only in the first 50 pages. 🤣The worldbuilding and setting was also done perfectly by Pierlot. There were some truly beautiful descriptions of the locations, and I was immediately transported to this world. It is grisly, dark, and depressing—my type of setting for a fantasy book with vampires. 😉

The romance is one of my biggest complaints about the book. The chemistry between the love interests was bland and lacking. There was also no specific reason behind the attraction besides lust, which is a major ick for me. If you are going to include romance, I want depth. Honestly, this book may have been better without the romance and spice.

I will be super honest about my rating; this book was a 4-star book for me until I reached the end. I am not a fan of unresolved or open endings. Cliffhangers? Sure. But ambiguous endings are just not my thing. That, combined with the lackluster romance, made this a 3-star read for me.

The premise of the book I found intriguing, and was really excited to see where this story would go. Unfortunately it was not for me, it was not very satisfying, especially the romance bit, there was no actually love from what I could read, and I’m personally not a fan of threesome romances. I found the main character wishy washy and a bit annoying.