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Home > Categories > Books > Young Adult > Thieves' Gambit review
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.
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Review by: mizim (Miriam)
Dated: 17th of September, 2023
Ross Quest has been raised by her mother and aunt, to be a top-notch thief, always going on various heists with her mother and resting at home on an island. Ross has grown tired of this life and decides that she's going to run away on their next job, but things don't go as planned and her mother ends up being taken prisoner. She decides to accept joining Gambit, a 'game' where the other contestants are thieves her age and the prize is a wish. The book is quick into the action while also making sure (as it is also repeated many times) that a Quest should only ever trust a Quest - of course, this is a book starring teens, so expect plenty of angst and moments of emotional confusion.
There isn't much resting time between levels of the game, but we still get enough moments to learn little snippets about each of the characters, not just Ross. Lots of heists and planning, and then warring with each other means that there is plenty going on and I think it would be able to keep some of the more reluctant readers racing to the finish. I enjoyed the side characters more than I did Ross, which is great, but also a shame as the main character should be the one you're most interested with. I've seen some reviewers think the romance portion of the book feels forced and rushed, but I disagree as these teens are very hard, fast and in high octane situations, so I feel it fits well enough. There is a moment, which is meant to be a big twist but feels a slight let down, as given it comes from our main character, we should have seen some of the setup but aren't given that, but the final plot twist was done well enough.
The book is left open enough for a sequel, certainly one a bit more high tension, though I'm not sure I'll be in a rush to read it.
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