Thank you to Nancy Paulsen Books and NetGalley for the ARC of this novel. This moved exceptionally fast and kept me reading past when I thought I should as I wanted to see what the next twist and turn was going to be. Ross Quest as the scion of a thieving dynasty enters a competition to save her mother with all of the drama therein with new friends and love interests. I would highly recommend having the sequel ready to go once you finish this as you will want to know what happens next as well as the ending feeling a bit flat with the immediate tease of the next one. 4 stars.

I’d didn’t expect to enjoy this one so much. Felt like watching mission impossible. Theives Gambit was fun and fast paced. I can’t wait to read the next one.

ARC Review:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Rosalyn (Ross) Quest stems from a family of thieves. Growing up she was taught the tricks of the trade by her single-mother and maternal aunt. Now a teenager, Ross is desperate for a break from both family and work. But when her mother is captured and held for ransom, she must accept the challenge of a lifetime.

Kayvion Lewis’ debut novel, Theive’s Gambit is poised to be the next big YA series!!!

This is a faced-paced, action packed book. Filled with a diverse cast of young characters, who just so happen to be professional con artists- at the height of their careers.

Entering the Thieves Gambit (a game requiring intellect, deception, and adaptability) while not a death sentence, comes with eminent danger to those who accept and the ones they love most. However, one lucky winner will walk away with a year long contract and single wish granted.

I enjoyed the complex family/ friendship dynamics found in this book. Not only does it feature interpersonal relationships, it challenges us to reexamine how we view and offer trust.

Needless to say, I will be continuing on with this series. Heist Royale, the second book in the series, has been on the market for a while now.

*I recently learned that Hollywood has optioned the rights to turn the novel into a movie. I look forward to learning more about this revelation!

Special thanks to Netgalley, Penguin Group, Penguin Young Readers Group, and Kayvion Lewis for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! No spoilers. Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to. Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Maybe even a book club pick.

This book is everything a YA reader could ask for! Packed with action, suspense, and just the right amount of romance, it kept me hooked from start to finish. The plot had some fantastic twists and the pacing was spot on. The characters were relatable and I hope they will be explored more in depth in the future as it was left open for the sequel—there’s so much potential for the story to expand further. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book. I can’t wait to see where this series goes next!

Thieves Gambit is an interesting novel about a heist game with high stakes, backstabbing, crazy missions and betrayals. I really enjoyed reading it and did not see all of the twists coming (although definitely saw a few). I enjoyed the writing, it was quick and engaging. It was a good middle grade to upper middle grade in style book similar to the Inheritance Games. I am looking forward to reading the next in the series.

Thieves' Gambit is an interesting YA novel about a group of thieves roped into participating in a competition to obtain what The Society wants stolen. It's also a coming-of-age where the protagonist wants more to her life than just participating in heists with her family. In the competition, she finds friendship and what she thinks is love, but the cliffhanger ending makes it hard to tell if that is true.

I had not really heard much about Thieves’ Gambit by Kavion Lewis when I received an ARC. Going in blindly, I wasn’t sure what to expect but wow!! The characters are extremely well written, especially our main character Ross Quest. There is mystery, suspense, & more than enough to keep you hooked. This one is a true page-turner. I will definitely check out other works by this author.


Thank you NetGalley &Penguin Group for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book deserves more buzz than it got. The beginning started a little slow, and I kept forgetting it was young adult because Ross seemed so young. Though the seventeen-year-old lives this wild, heist-filled life, she is really young because she is so secluded from others. As I got to know her more as a character, that young-sounding voice made a lot of sense.

By the time she enters the Gambit, she already sounds older than the girl in the opening pages. As she reaches the final phase of the game, she sounds older still. I’m pretty impressed with the author’s ability to seamlessly shift the writing with Ross’s maturity while the story careens around hairpin turns with the stakes climbing all the time.

I also really liked the characters, especially the team Ross works with during the middle of the book: Kyung-soon, Mylo, and Devroe. They each add something different to the team, and the experience of working with them changes Ross in ways she wasn’t prepared for. I loved that.

I think readers looking for an Inheritance Games meets Ocean’s 11 story will not be disappointed in this wild ride of a tale. I’m eager to read the sequel.

Thieves’ Gambit is a fun book full of mystery and heists. Ross Quest is a teenager and master thief. Her family is legendary in the heist world, but she wants more and has a plan to run away. Unfortunately, her plans are thwarted when a heist goes wrong, and her mothers life is in danger. Ross desperately enters the Thieves’ Gambit, a heist competition that provides one wish to the winner.

This book was action packed and had me hooked from the very beginning. I loved the concept of the Thieves’ Gambit and all of the heists. The characters were fantastic, and I especially loved Ross for her strength, quick thinking, and bravery. There were so many plot twists and betrayals and I was on my toes the entire time. I was also totally rooting for the enemies to lovers romance. The plot twist at the end totally shocked me!

Thank you to Penguin Young Readers and NetGalley for the ARC.

3.5 stars.
If you like books like inheritance games and hunger games then you might like this. Although the language is somewhat basic it is fast paced and intriguing enough. As an older reader I have to confess it did feel more juvenile than The inheritance games and I couldn't help but compare them both.
With a diverse cast of characters and action packed plot it won't bore.
I this gambit we have a competition among young impressive thieves. The prize? A wish. Any wish that "The Organization" will grant. This high stakes game takes us around the world as the players team up and betray one another as only thieves truly can.
I enjoyed this book finishing in 48hrs however I felt it lacked a bit of mature depth, feeling slightly comic like at times.
Thanks to Penguin group who provided me with a copy of the book for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Thank you Penguin Group Penguin Young Readers Group & Nancy Paulsen Books for the arc!

Heist novels tend to be pretty fun reads. Action, adventure, and mystery are some of the elements that make these stories interesting and exciting to read. That is one of the reasons I was originally drawn to give Thieves’ Gambit a chance.

The beginning of the novel was pretty decent. We get introduced to the protagonist, her family, and her justification for entering the Thieves’ Gambit competition. One of my main criticisms of the book comes from the fact that we know very little about the other competitors’ motivations and deep desires. When introduced, we get told a significant characteristic about each competitor that essentially becomes their temporary nickname (i.e. Card Boy, Ring Girl, Headphones) and their ethnicity. Though, realistically speaking, it makes sense that you would have a genetically diverse cast of characters (after all, there are thieves in all corners of the world), the description dump makes the diversity feel a little more performative than natural.

Moreover, some of the plot was pretty predictable as well. Not in the sense that it included very commonly repeated tropes, but more in the sense that when a character says, “I would never ____,” they usually do 😐. The romance was also pretty insta-lovey; there was very little to convince me that these characters should be together or that they genuinely cared about each other (at least from one of them).

However, it was not all negative.

I did enjoy a lot of the friendships introduced in the story. Even though we didn’t get to fully meet every single character in depth, the main ones highlighted in the story have been pretty likable. Their interactions with each other and the bonds created between some of these characters were very nice. I also like the way that there’s an air of mystery behind everything. Questions constantly ran through my head that I was hoping would be answered at some point in the novel.

The ending was one of the best parts if I’m being honest. I was not expecting several of the twists revealed in the end, and each one was more shocking than the one before. While some of my original questions have been answered, nevertheless, I am excited to check out the sequel in hope of finding even more answers.

All in all, it was not a bad book. It could have been better, but it was still a satisfactory read.

Wow wow wow. What a great read to finish the year with!

This book was so amazing and once I got invested it was difficult to put the book down. I loved all the little thieves so much and it was very fun to be stressed about the success of the heists alongside them. The plot was so good, and the writing was incredible! I need to read book 2 stat with the way this one ended like nowwwww. The competition, the schemes, the friendships, the betrayals, the love, all of it was so perfect!!

I will say parts were predictable and it took a minute to get me into the story, but wow. It's one of the best reads of 2024 for me.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

This was so fun. I love a heist and these heists were super fun. The twists were not fully expected and read so well. I need to read the next book. I loved the characters and can’t wait to meet them again in the sequel. I highly recommend if you like heists and love a competition.

I'm a big fan of the Inheritance Games, so I thought this would be similar. While it gives off the same vibes, it missed the mark a little for me. Some parts of the Gambit were pretty slow and the character development wasn't really there. The ending also felt incredibly rushed — which I know is to set up another book, but the last 30 pages could have been much more drawn out instead of some other parts of the story, especially because it tried to do a lot of plot twists right at the end. If the second book is more thought out, I'll read it, but overall a 3.5 star read.

For fans of The Inheritance Games as this thriller brings world class thieves together for a high-stakes competition. It’s a YA that’s part thriller and part romance as the competitors determine if it’s better to work alone or together..

Dnf’ed at 10%. I really liked the premise, but the writing style wasn’t working for me. I think it’s great for young teenagers though.

This book was a notably quick read, making it perfect for someone looking to get lost in a story without a huge time commitment. The heist itself was undeniably the highlight of the narrative; it was skillfully crafted and filled with tension, keeping me engaged throughout. I found myself on the edge of my seat, eagerly anticipating each twist and turn as the plan unfolded—definitely the peak of excitement in the story.

However, once the heist was over, the momentum seemed to wane. Unfortunately, much of the rest of the book struggled to hold my interest. The character development felt rather superficial; I had hoped for deeper insights into their motivations and backgrounds, but that never materialized. As a result, I didn’t feel particularly invested in their journeys. Even as the story progressed, it felt like the characters remained static and failed to evolve, which dampened my overall enthusiasm for the narrative.

Creative, imaginative, such a unique premise! Not your typical heist buddy story (unless maybe you're a Doctor Who or Mortal Kombat fan). Action-packed but filled with heart.

"I had to step up my game. Or stop worrying about strangers and focus on my own problems, as Mom would probably say."

And what's the family business? Hmm, be careful who you trust.