I received an advance reader’s copy (ARC) of Thieves’ Gambit by Kayvion Lewis. Since this version is just a proof and not the final version, I won’t quote directly and will keep my comments general.

In Thieves’ Gambit, Rosalyn Quest has grown up helping her family in their work, which just so happens to be international theft. She’s tired of this life, though, and wants to see what it might be like to do normal things like go to school and make friends who aren’t fellow thieves. But she knows her mother will never let her leave the life, so Ross decides to sneak away during a heist. The heist goes wrong, however, and Ross’ mother is kidnapped. To save her, Ross commits to the Thieves’ Gambit, a massive and secretive series of heists run by a mysterious organization, which promises to give the winner anything. Ross plans to use her wish to save her mother, but winning might be harder than she expected. Not only is there an old enemy competing, but a distractingly handsome young man as well, among other intense competitors. This time, Ross might have bitten off more than she can chew.

So this was an interesting book! I liked Ross well enough, and sympathized with her desire to live a normal life. I can’t imagine how strange it would be to have grown up the way she did, though I honestly think this backstory could have been explored in more detail. Still, an interesting premise for a decent protagonist.

I also liked getting to know some of the other competitors in the Gambit. Lewis managed to introduce them all in a single scene, and yet I wasn’t confused about who was who going forward; it was quite impressive writing. I especially enjoyed Ross’ interactions with Mylo and Kyung-soon, though her relationships with Noelia—her childhood friend and now archenemy—and Devroe—the handsome guy she finds herself wanting to trust—were also intriguing.

However, I never quite felt invested in Ross and Devroe the way I think I was supposed to. Maybe it’s because so much about their flirting was in the context of the Gambit, or maybe I just never saw a real spark between them. Either way, their back-and-forth was not anything I was into.

On the other hand, the really fun part of this story is the heists. There’s a midnight museum heist and a fancy auction theft, and both are quite enjoyable in different ways. I kind of wanted to deal more with that than with Ross’ romantic subplot, honestly. They were cool scenes.

Unfortunately, I think the twist at the end of the book didn’t work for me, partly because it seemed to come out of left field in a way that didn’t feel planned. It wasn’t one of those plot twists that you could go back and read the book again to find the clues. I don’t know, maybe I’m wrong, but for me, it just felt sort of random. And, more annoying, it turns out that this is going to have a sequel. Can’t the first of a series be more obvious about it in the description? I don’t want to accidentally happen into series that I’m not going to finish anymore!

All that said, in the end, Thieves’ Gambit definitely has a lot of good elements. The characters are decent, the action is good, and the settings are vivid. The elements that actually deal with the heists are great, and some of the intrigue surrounding the competition itself wasn’t bad. I didn’t love the romance, and the ending was a disappointment, but overall this wasn’t bad.

Thieves’ Gambit will be published on September 26th, 2023!