Review Detail

THIEVES' GAMBIT is a riveting and consuming YA contemporary heist story. Rosalyn Quest (Ross) is a member of the high-profile Quest family and has grown up learning all the tricks and skills of their trade as thieves. Her family has quite the wealth and reputation, and Ross has learned that she cannot trust anyone else along the way. However, she dreams of being something other than a thief and making her way in the world as something else. She has plans to get out when her mother is captured and her only means of saving her in the time granted is to get the wish offered by the Thieves' Gambit, a contest of selected thieves for a mysterious wealthy and powerful group of people.

As she enters the contest in order to save her mother, Ross will be confronted by the person from her past whose betrayal when they were kids led to her hardened heart as well as a cute boy that she wants to trust - but knows she logically shouldn't. In this dangerous and tricky contest, only one of them can win, and each of the contestants is in it for the prize.

What I loved: This was such a fast-paced and consuming read. I was completely caught up in Ross and her story as well as the contest, its challenges, and the other players. The story flows really smoothly with just enough information to keep the reader invested in the other contestants to understand why Ross feels the way she does about them but keeps the focus on Ross and her desire to save her mother. The feeling of not living up to or wanting family expectations and seeking independence is one that will resonate with many teens. Ross wants to find her own way and go after her own goals, but her family (particularly her mother) has kept her trapped in the family business.

Other themes around trust and betrayal, lies and selective honesty, friendship, family, morality, competitiveness, and following vs questioning orders were also really thought-provoking. Ross's life has been relatively sheltered in that she does not get to do things other children do, being home-schooled with an education purely around thievery. Her world has been built on the premise that people outside of her family are not trust-worthy, particularly since her first friendship ended so badly. While she wants to trust others, she is reluctant to.

Other contestants become interesting as Ross begins to maybe consider trusting them, evaluating her own sense of morality, what she is ordered to do, and what she is willing to do to win. Particularly, there is Devroe, who wants to work with her, but she cannot bring herself to trust him - or to really consider betraying him. As they spend time together through the contest, she begins to question her options and what she should do, especially when her heart gets involved. This thread was intriguing and built throughout the story.

The end featured a lot of twists, most of which were easy to see coming, but there was one that surprised me, and I will definitely be interested in seeing where this goes. I am excited to see this is a series, and I can't wait for the next book in Ross's story!

Final verdict: THIEVES' GAMBIT is a thrilling and consuming heist read that I highly recommend! This will work well for fans of THE INHERITANCE GAMES, THE GILDED WOLVES, and SIX OF CROWS.