Thanks to @penguinteen for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review 

✩💰💎Review:

Lewis’ debut novel is a thrilling must-read that is entertaining to no end!

“Thieves’ Gambit” follows 17-year-old Rossalyn Quest, a master thief  who plans to run away from her notorious family to leave behind her life of crime. Things take an unexpected turn, however, when her last job goes sideways, leaving her mother’s life in the balance. In a desperate bid to save her, Ross enters the Thieves’ Gambit, a legendary, yet dangerous competition in which the world’s top teen thieves go head to head for the ultimate prize—a granted wish for anything in the world. 

There are no dull moments in this book! Lewis’ high stakes, fast-paced storyline made it impossible for me to put it down. I was endlessly entertained and engaged by the series of heists Ross had to complete in the tournament, the cinematic feel of Lewis’ writing, and the backstabbing, lying, and cheating amongst competitors amidst the chaos.

As much as I loved the novel’s plot, I loved Rossalyn Quest as a protagonist even more! Caught between her dream of a normal life and staying loyal to her family of thieves, Ross’ internal conflict is complex and relatable. Her fierce love for her mother is admirable and I found myself rooting for her to win the wish the entire time! The only thing standing in her way is her struggle to trust others. This layer of intrigue only deepens when her fellow competitor Devroe Kenzie begins to break through her walls with his charm and persistence. I adored their partnership and couldn’t help but audibly scream when it turned into something more. 

“Thieves’ Gambit” is full of love and betrayal and I could not get enough despite the ending absolutely destroying me. I need book two immediately and hope that Lionsgate Studios moves forward with the development of Lewis’ debut so that I can see it on the big screen! 

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Book 6 of 2024

Well, this was the best book I have read so far! I can totally understand why Lionsgate bought the film rights because this book just reads like a movie!

I totally want to read the next book/books in this serious. Oh, you sneaky bastard you Devroe!

Rating: 4/5

Book Blurb: The Inheritance Games meets Ocean’s Eleven in this cinematic heist thriller where a cutthroat competition brings together the world’s best thieves and one thief is playing for the highest stakes of all: her mother's life.

At only seventeen years old, Ross Quest is already a master thief, especially adept at escape plans. Until her plan to run away from her legendary family of thieves takes an unexpected turn, leaving her mother’s life hanging in the balance.

In a desperate bid, she enters the Thieves’ Gambit, a series of dangerous, international heists where killing the competition isn’t exactly off limits, but the grand prize is a wish for anything in the world—a wish that could save her mom. When she learns two of her competitors include her childhood nemesis and a handsome, smooth-talking guy who might also want to steal her heart, winning the Gambit becomes trickier than she imagined.

Ross tries her best to stick to the family creed: trust no one whose last name isn’t Quest. But with the stakes this high, Ross will have to decide who to con and who to trust before time runs out. After all, only one of them can win.

Review:

A cutthroat competition amongst the best thieves and winner gets one wish granted, but one thief is playing for the greatest stake of all: her mother's life. Rossalyn "Ross" Quest is a seventeen year old girl and a master thief, her mother raised her to be one, and she's excellent at escape plans... yet the only escape plan she hasn't been good at is escaping her mother and her life as a thief. All Ross has ever wanted was to be normal, to have friends, to make connections, and just as she was getting ready to enact her escape to go to college her mother is suddenly captured and won't be released unless Ross comes up with a billion dollar ransom. Luckily for her, her antics have not gone unnoticed and she is invited to participate in the Thieves' Gambit, a series of dangerous international heists against other competitors... and killing isn't off limits. The winner is granted one wish, anything they want, and Ross knows that this is the only way to save her mother. Yet this competition has it's own issues, from the fact that some of the competitors include her childhood friend turned nemesis and a handsome guy who might just steal her heart. Ross knows she'll have to do whatever it takes to win, but can she backstab some of the people she's begin to think of as her own friends... and are the betrayals awaiting her closer to home than she realizes? The Quest family creed is : trust no one whose last name isn't Quest.... yet she's in for a shock. This is the first book in the series and the end of this book definitely has you looking forward to the next one. This was a really fun heists/puzzle adventure and lives up to the Ocean's Eleven aspect. Filled with fun heists and cutthroat competition, I can't wait to see where the next book goes and how the relationship drama works out! This is a fun read for anyone who likes heists stories.

*Spoiler: Ross falls for Devroe, who later betrays her and asks that his wish be saved for later. Ross's mother competed and won the tournament years before and never told her. Devroe's mother was in the same competition as Ross's mom and wanted to use the wish to save Devroe's father (who died) and Devroe wanted revenge. The last phase of the competition involved kidnapping someone and Ross finds out that her mother had conned her the entire time to get the billion dollars and that she knew her aunt would be kidnapped in the competition. The competition curators agree to give back Ross's beloved aunt if she works for them for a year... and works in a partnership with Devroe. Ross and Lia (her childhood nemesis make up and become friends after Ross finds out her mother sabotaged that friendship). Ross agrees to work for the curators of the competition and with Devroe, despite his betrayal and the fact that he broke her heart. The book ends with her saying she should have known better than to trust anyone).

*Thanks Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group, Nancy Paulsen Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Thieve's Gambit

by Kayvion Lewis / 4.5 stars

Can there be honor among thieves? Rosalyn Quest may have been brought up in one of the legendary thieving families, but she's been sheltered and never made friends. She lives by the rule; never trust anyone who's last name isn't Quest.

When a job goes bad, her attempt to get out of the thieving life and try to be "normal" for awhile is sent off course. Now she needs to find a way to come up with a billion dollars and rescue her mom. Her only option is the strange email waiting in her family's black box email account. Sent by The Organizers, asking her to join this year's Gambit.

When she arrives, her only acquaintance is Noelia Boschert - the girl who betrayed her and ran the lesson home about trusting no one when they were both only 9. She quickly learns that out of the 12 teens invited, she might be the only one who hasn't heard of The Organizers or the Gambit. She doesn't plan to be out of the loop for long though.

Each contestant must make their way through three phases in order to be the winner. From the outset, Devroe tries to join up with Ross, offering to team up with her in the museum. Despite turning down his offer and being determined to work alone, he saves her later in the night. Then The Organizers are separating them into two teams, and Ross is questioning everything she's ever known.

Can she really trust her teammates? Can she save her mom without them? And when push comes to shove, can she win the Gambit her way?

i think this is the last one for this book for right now

just to be completely clear, i appreciate the strategy devroe used, like getting the most capable person to like you and choose you and trust you and using it to your advantage is a perfect con and he executed it perfectly

my issue is that in the next book he’s going to be forgiven because of some BS like ‘he actually liked her and he didn’t mean to hurt her’. i just want ross to hate him or at least just not want to be around him and for him to own what he did, like let him be a liar and let him only have wanted her because he wanted to win please

Title: Thieves’ Gambit

Author: Kayvion Lewis

Rating: 3/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Favourite character: Noelia

Overall this is an entertaining book with an intriguing concept and plenty of twists. A number of them were predictable but there were a few which took me by surprise.

Some of the characters were two dimensional but given the book felt a bit short this is unsurprising. I’m hoping some of them make an appearance in the second instalment of this series and we can go deeper into their backstories.

I liked how Ross’ relationship with Noelia developed throughout and I was more invested in that than the relationship with the “tall, dark and handsome” boy with a British accent.

There were a couple of pacing issues with the ending twist being very short and any action sequences being blasted through with not many consequences for the main character.

Despite this it was still an enjoyable read with a few twists that took me off guard.

alan rickman 💫

it's crazy what you can do with a marker and an insatiable love for a now deceased british film star

Y'all can't pick and choose.

Okay now, imma gonna rant a bunch about x-men 97, Gambit, lazy writing and the culture of "plot twists and shock value" to engage the audience in a show.

So, yeah, spoilers ahead, proceed with caution, etc.

First and foremost: Gambit DID NOT HAVE TO DIE to put Rogue in a spotlight. Actually, this is the whole "Wanda and Vision" story and an actually shitty trope of "the woman who overcomes herself through grief and denial of her love (and, at some degree, her womanhood). Like, it's been done a fucking lot of times already and in each and every new try it just gets stale to me. Now we'll have Rogue grieving and suffering and raging until she overcomes this *bad feelings* and finds her center, sublimating the loss of her one true love. At the top of my head I can tell at least three women heros (and anti-heros) with the same bullcrap background.

Second: Gambit is, and always have been, a fan favorite. Back in the day, he even had his own monthly title with very interesting story arcs. So, killing off *Gambit* has a weight. It has the "WOW! PLOT TWIST!" effect to the show. Like, "oh, game of thrones!" kinda show, "no one is safe" and blah blah blah. Which grants a show buzz, clout and engagement. Look at us: they've killed Gambit two weeks ago and here we are, raging at that, so mission accomplished. Lazy as fuck, but effective, right?

And last, but not least: it's been said by the showrruners themselves that "an important character would die in the 5th episode" (just as mentioned before, quod erst demonstrandum and all) but they were debating who this character would be and weighing their options. And - oh, snap! - they've decided to kill off the Thief Cajun with a no-so-family-friendly backstory. You know, Disney being Disney.

So, yeah. I was stoked to see the X-men again, back in their old glory from my early days and all, but then again, this one show don't seem to me to make those beloved characters of old me justice. It's the times we live in, perhaps.

Gambit is a complex character that goes WAY BEYOND his relationship with Rogue. So is Rogue. But I genuinely think a Disney show won't touch Rogue’s terrorist past, her inner conflicts and debates in a way that will make her real justice. And, about Gambit, they won't even BEGIN to make him justice if being Rogue's love interest and occasional comic relief is all they have in store for him bc his backstory as a thief with shady connections with Sinister and Marauders is off limits.

Maybe he's better off dead on that.

WHEN THEY ARE BOTH THIEVES >>>>

Gambit and Rogue's excellent adventure

Marvel's Voices: X-Men #1, 2023

bolting up in the middle of the night realizing "Montague and Gambit are the same flavor of character" and passing out again immediately with no further explanation

I AM UNWELL

PLEASE READ THIS BOOK

IT’S A LOT OF HEISTS AND IT’S SO GOOD AND SO FAST PACED AND THE LOVE INTEREST!!! OOOOOO THE LOVE INTEREST

anyway i have realised that i would probably rather die than be vulnerable with someone because of the chance that they could use that against me and i know that the betrayal wouldn’t get me it would be the pure embarrassment like you had the chance to play me and you did?? kill me now please