Thieves’ Gambit by Kayvion Lewis

*Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing with a review copy in exchange for my honest opinions.

Publication Date: April 9, 2024

Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books

Pages: 400

Genre: YA thriller

Rating: 3/5

Thieves’ Gambit is a fun action packed young adult heist novel. Ross is a member of the infamous Quest crime family but she has been aching for freedom and the chance to be with kids her own age. Ross lives with her Mom and Aunt, who are all estranged for some unknown reason from the rest of the family. However, Ross has been taught her whole life that she can trust no one but their little pod so she has had hardly any interactions with the other people. Because of this Ross is planning her escape from her family to an ultra competitive gymnastics camp when she receives an invitation to the Thieves’ Gambit. The Thieves’ Gambit is a competition between other high level teenage thieves where you play to win a wish of your choice. Ross is planning on passing on the invitation when something happens that forces her to need that wish.

Lewis did an incredible job of describing everything so perfectly that I could see the action taking place in my head. I also thought the heist competitions they had to complete were fun and surprising. But this story was more than just heists and also had a fair amount of surprises and had a great ending.

My biggest issue with this book is the character’s ages. The situations they were in made it so unbelievable that they weren’t at least 19. Without spoiling anything it just became too many times where these 17 year olds are passing themselves off as adults. And that prevented me from being fully immersed in this story because I just couldn’t suspend my disbelief enough.

I’m not sure if this is a duology or the beginning of a series but the way this book ends ensures that there will be a lot to deal with in the next installment. I was a bit ambivalent on if I was invested enough to want to know what happens next but the ending definitely answered that question for me. And it’s a resounding yes, especially since it takes place 6 months after this one ends so they will probably be adults.