Given a chance for the wish of a lifetime and freedom from the life she knew, Ross joins a dangerous competition.
The Thieves' Gambit is a fast-paced young adult novel that follows Ross Quest, who works with her mother as one of the best thieves in the world.
Ross has started to plan her escape from this life, in hopes of finding something normal, when a job goes wrong and her mother is kidnapped. Instead of attending a gymnastics program, she joins an infamous competition of teenaged thieves.
The Thieves' Gambit is hosted by mysterious group of donors. Ross is invited personally, along with a handful of other teens, to participate. The winnings? A wish, and a chance for work for the board for the next year. Ross finds she has no choice but to join the gambit, and wish for the money that will help save her mother from her captors.
At the competitions, she runs into her enemy, a girl named Noelia she had spent time with at a ski resort as kids, among other thieves of varying skills. To survive the competition, Ross may need to make alliances, and the handsome Devroe seems keen on helping her. But her family lives by one rule, never trust anyone who isn't a Quest.
Though I found the beginning of this novel a little slow, the pace does pick up and the story gets interesting when the teens start to realize they might be getting played by a bunch of adults around them. The teens have impressive skills and are willing to risk themselves and others for a wish.
I overall rated this book a 3.5/5 stars. There was a lot I liked about the book, but also a bit I wish was better. The idea of having this kind of competition, and having a group of teens figuring out who the real enemy is, but by the end I felt like something might have been missing.
Thieves' Gambit is scheduled to be published Sept. 26, 2023.
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