Thieves’ Gambit
Thieves’ Gambit (Thieves’ Gambit #1)
By: Kayvion Lewis
[Fulfilled ‘A book with a heist’ prompt as part of Shelf Reflection’s 2024 Reading Challenge]
[This book was nominated for the ‘Best YA Fiction’ category of the 2023 Goodreads Choice Awards Reading Challenge ]
“Know your exits, pick the best one. That was my thing, wasn’t it? Always knowing the best way out.”
“I was stealing my own future back.”
This was a fun read! It was Ocean’s Eleven— the youths version— mixed with… I don’t know, like Big Brother or something. I was going to have a better comparison than that but then I decided to stop thinking about it.
It’s a competition between a bunch of high school thieves that are part of big family thieving conglomerates. Winner gets one wish.
I’m always a fan of heist/competition type of stories. I like the planning, the gadgets, the tricks, the suspense. This had all of those components. You have to suspend some belief, but that comes with the territory. I had to just pretend all seventeen-year-olds are as competent and skilled as they were, which is fine.
I could definitely see this as a movie because it was action from start to finish. And it takes us all over the world from the Bahamas to Cannes, France, to Cairo, Egypt to the British Virgin Islands.
I wouldn’t say I was ever truly shocked. At 12% I had some suspicions that mostly turned out to come to fruition but I wasn’t mad about it. I think it needed to play out that way or I would have been disappointed.
Brief Synopsis
Our main character is Rosalyn Quest. She lives in the Bahamas with her mom and aunt. The Quest family has a monopoly on thieving in North America. From the time she was young Ross has been training to be part of the family business.
But the nature of their work requires isolation and anonymity and Ross is wanting a little more freedom and perhaps a friend or two. As she attempts to escape to a summer sports camp in the middle of one of their jobs, her mom is discovered and captured. The ransom? One billion dollars.
The only way to get that sum in such a short time is to accept her invitation into the Thieves’ Gambit and win her wish. Looks like she’s not quite done with the family business just yet.
The competition is in three parts, all of which require some sort of heist to steal something. The competition pool begins with 12 youths— including her archnemesis Noelia— and each phase narrows the pool further and further.
Ross’s biggest challenge is figuring out how to win if her number one rule in life is ‘Trust no one.’ Especially other thieves. She is forced to work with Devroe, and, of course, because this is a YA novel, sparks start flying. But is he for real? They all have a reason to win this gambit— what’s his?
“People will play you like a violin to get whatever they need from you. People you think are your friends, people you think you can trust, they’ll snap your heart in half and leave you to die.”
I thought the author did a good job of making all the characters different. They all came from different countries and had their own ‘thing’ and their own ‘look’. It helped keep them straight and be able to picture them.
This book had a little bit of Hunger Games in it in that Rosalyn had Katniss’s courage to not play the game the Game master— or in this case the Count— wants them to play. I’m not convinced true thieves would care the way she does, but then we wouldn’t like her, so it still works.
There is some violence but it’s not a dystopian book so it’s not dark and violent. Just, ya know, friendly shooting and punching and stuff.
Some have compared this to The Inheritance Games series. I have not read that yet so I can’t say either way. Part of me wonders if it would end up being too similar or if there is enough divergence to enjoy both. Feel free to let me know. From reading the Goodreads summary it seems like they both deal in the world of wealthy and privileged, but that series (well at least the first book) might have more puzzles and riddles and that type of stuff whereas this one was more about elaborate heists for valuable objects.
Recommendation
I would recommend this book. It’s fun, light, suspenseful in the sense of action and competition, and the characters are likeable. It is a YA novel and you can tell, but I still thought it was a compelling plot and we didn’t get too much in the weeds of teenage love which I was glad for since it’s not marketed as a romance and that’s not what I was looking for.
The second book in this series released this last November. I have it on my to-read list so we’ll see if it continues to be a series I recommend. It looks like it takes up 6 months after this book and will be a similar globe-trotting thieving competition.
For what I expect when I read YA novels, this was a great read!
[Content Advisory: 21 d-words and a use of BS; no sexual content]
**Received an ARC via NetGalley**
You can order a copy of this book using my affiliate link below.
Share this book review to your social media!