Actually I wasn’t aware of Thieves’ Gambit by Kayvion Lewis being published, untill I saw other bloggers give it some attention on release day. I believe it’s super popular on TikTok and I’m not on there so no wonder I’ve missed it. The film rights were already sold before publication, so I totally get the buzz surrounding this book. It’s marketed for fans of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. I love the first, but don’t like the second series. However, it still made me curious for this book. Was it finally a novel that suits me after a few mishaps?

• Title: Thieves’ Gambit
• Author: Kayvion Lewis
• Series: Thieves’ Gambit #1
• Publish date: September 26, 2023
• Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
• ISBN: 9780593625361
• Number of pages: 384
• Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Mystery

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.

In this story we follow Rosalynn Quest, who has been a master thief her whole life. Her entire family is and the most important lesson Ross learnt from birth is to trust nothing and no one. However, She longs for more, she wants to live a normal life. She made her perfect escape plan, but then she is sent on one last mission, together with her mom. During that mission, her mom gets kidnapped and Ross needs to retrieve $2 million to free her. But, how will she get this horendous amount of money? Yes, to place her bet on the Thieves’ Gambit and win.

This book is set around a tournament, like The Hunger Games. It has the games and riddels like The Inheritance Games has, so I understand why Thieves’ Gambit is compared to these successful series. However, such a comparison is quite dangerous and that shows. I had really different experiences with both series and maybe that’s what influenced my expectations. I was expecting more focus on the tournament and therefore that this book would be more like The Hunger Games. Unfortunately, my expectations were defeated. I wasn’t intrigued at all and this whole tournament just didn’t bother me. Neither did Ross, I didn’t know what to think of her. Yes, she’s really determined to free her mom, but what else? I just couldn’t be bothered. The rest of the story wasn’t for me either. I have to admit that a lot of skim reading has been done after the 50% mark.

I understand why this story is so compelling to the target audience. Lewis’ way of writing is really accessible and draws younger readers in because of the short chapters. Therefore, this book is fast-paced, something that speaks to many readers these days. However, this writing style also knows its cons since there is little to no depth into this story. Everything is so shallow and I’m not here for that anymore. Even the plot twists couldn’t interest me. I have to say that Thieves’ Gambit by Kayvion Lewis is yet another hype not working out for me.