This was an enjoyable read that was surprising in a good way. I didn't know much about this book going into it, just that it centered around vampires and humans. It had elements that reminded me of Interview With the Vampire, which had me hooked. Kazan, the human FMC, piqued my interest the most because she lies her way through everything and is pretty selfish. She knows she is selfish and so following the choices that she makes throughout the book was very interesting to me. The Hunter's Gambit is a solid vampire story with mysterious characters and an unexpected ending that left me wanting more.

Thank you, NetGalley and Angry Robot for providing the arc.

"– the truth gets you scraps and
vulnerability; lies get your needs met."

The plot was something dark fantasy with a little bit of romance. the setting of the Citadel and the whole vampire scene were lovely and the world-building was amazing. I loved all the descriptions of the knives and blades that the characters wielded. All of the action scenes were very dynamic. The fights were pictured perfectly and had fun reading all the action going on throughout the book.

"But now that she has broken that rigidity, even
slightly, she can’t stop breaking. Like glass shattering in on itself, sharp
pieces compacting and squeezing, filling her lungs and choking her. The glass
claws at her insides, shredding and tearing and crushing."

The cast of characters was outstanding, with our protagonist Kazan being a standout. Reya and Adrius as our love interests were great as well. Only wished that the romance was a bit lacking and would have loved more into that topic. With all the political maneuvering in vampire society, it was great to see the differences lined out in the personalities and actions of the characters. The development of the characters was at its best.

"A thousand shingles can form a roof, but it only takes
one sliding out of place to let the rain in."

I’m only sad this book wasn’t longer so the author could explore the vampire playground some more. Several vampire houses were given lip service but these worldbuilding fangs failed to break the reader’s skin. There’s so much more I wanted to read about how the vampire houses differ and interact that wasn’t included here. The importance of the Citadel and the need to keep it intact was understandable enough but the vampires’ motivations and underhand politics left me a little thirsting for more.

"No one has loved Kazan since her father, and she can barely remember
what that felt like. She doesn’t need love. She doesn’t."

I liked the story. It’s the spicy version of twilight! However the story doesn’t follow the twilight characters that well. I thought this was a great read.

This was a fun and exciting read with powerful and complex vampires that you can't help but love.
Our FMC is a blacksmith who has created a sword capable of killing vampires. While traveling she gets captured by vampires and is soon crowned vampire queen. In just a few days she will be sacrificed as part of an old ritual to maintain the fortress.

The world building was *chef's kiss" without being too complex the way Pierlot describes the intricacies of this story is so good. This is a single POV (Kazan's POV) written in third person format. With excellent slow burn romance elements its the plot that gets you and holds your attention as we read of all the FMCs endeavors.

I really enjoyed these pages, finding myself up far too late turning pages, desperate to know what happens next and I truly look forward to reading future installments.

Thank you netgalley for this eARC!

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

The Hunter’s Gambit by Ciel Pierlot is a third person-POV vampire locked room fantasy. Kazan is a swordsmith on her way back from a job when her party is attacked by a group of vampires. Instead of killing her, they take her back to their Citadel to make her their Queen in three days…and eat her.

What I liked was how Kazan is a young woman with a prominent facial scar who is still viewed as desirable. She has strong boundaries relating to her scar and sex and I really appreciate her expressing those boundaries. Very often, scars are something that gets a lot of focus in steamier scenes but not everyone wants their scars to be given any special attention at all, so it was nice to see the other side of the coin on the page.

The locked room Citadel of vampires is a very cool idea, especially when paired with the three days until the MC becomes food for the vampire horde. It creates a lot of tension as Kazan is trapped with beings who view her as food and are playing with her until they get their satisfaction as Kazan tries to do whatever she can to get out of her situation. In doing so, she meets Reya and reunites with Adrius, both of whom are attracted to her and might be willing to help out if it suits their own purposes.

I would recommend this to readers looking for a Bisexual lead in a vampire fantasy that is not a romance, fans of vampire fantasy, and readers looking for a polyamorous bent in fantasy.

I've been a big vampire fan since I went through my Twilight phase as teen, but just as Pierlot says in their dedication "why are these vampires so Mormon?" So I had such high expectations for the vampires in this book and oh boy did they live up! They are fabulous, the vampires live an afterlife of sheer decadence and debauchery and have no care for human life. The vampires in this were absolutely my favourite part and I love how they were written, Reya will always have a place in my heart.

But, the rest fell a little short for me, Kazan, the main character, really let me down, I like that she was flawed and selfish but I thought that she was wishy washy and I just couldn't get along with her. The romance as well I felt was a let down, there was little to no chemistry and I wasn't a fan.

Two things I did love were that we got a Bi main character and it wasn't too spice heavy, there is one decent spice scene but the spice thankfully didn't outweigh the plot.

Honestly I would still recommended this, its not great but its fun, was a good read, and definitely worth it for the fantastic vampires.

I quite liked this. I’ve read plenty of books with vampires, romantasy books, vampire romance books, etc but this surprised me in a few places. I appreciated the general setup as to why Kazan had to interact with a bunch of vampires without them immediately killing her, which was interesting, and the various threads of political intrigue. Every character is either morally grey or just generally bad, which was fun. I appreciate that I never really knew whether to trust any of the vampires (and several proved that correct) but I also loved Kazan just sort of floating through life lying about literally anything and everything, even for no reason, just to prevent anyone from ever getting to close to her. The ending was, to me, both frustrating and yet also really fit well with the book as a whole. Great vibes, fun read. I will say that despite the spice scene this really doesn’t have romance and it’d be disappointing if you went in looking for it; yes, there are bisexual vampires, sure, but there’s no development of a relationship, no feelings for one another, no love. Just vampires having a vampiric fun time.

This one ended up being a DNF for me I just couldn't get into the book. It was a little to weird for me.

I've got to say, I ate this up.

Kazan was a really great MC in my opinion; strong willed, opportunistic, a secret vampire lover. What more can I say? It's got a little bit of everything; romance, violence, internal dilemma.

I've sold this book to friends already, referring to it as the "bisexual vampire book." If the book description interests you at all, just go for it, it's a great time.

I was so on board for The Hunter’s Gambit, I mean I LOVE a dark, sexy vampire story with oodles of violence and trickery. The action and plot were decent, but I wanted so much more of Adrius and Reya, and it felt like we didn’t get barely anything. The ending was a bit disappointing, as I expected/wanted essentially the opposite to happen and were left without much closure. I found the whole escape plot a little circular, as well as Kazan’s quick assumptions that totally screwed up a sound, solid plan. Kazan wasn’t very likable and didn’t show much growth, and I wish we could’ve seen the love develop and flourish between her, Adrius, and Reya. I think the premise and plan were fantastic but the execution really let me down. I really enjoyed the world the author built, I just wanted more from the characters.

Thank you to Angry Robot, NetGalley, and the author for sending me an early copy!

Thank you to Angry Robot and Ciel Pierlot for this ARC.

A locked-room escape adventure with malevolent vampires and possible spicy tension? Sign me up; I’m definitely reading it. The premise for “The Hunter’s Gambit” was unique and propelled this book to the top of my TBR for this summer.

I absolutely loved the protagonist and setting in this book. Kazan is feisty, selfish, and flawed, and that’s only in the first 50 pages. 🤣The worldbuilding and setting was also done perfectly by Pierlot. There were some truly beautiful descriptions of the locations, and I was immediately transported to this world. It is grisly, dark, and depressing—my type of setting for a fantasy book with vampires. 😉

The romance is one of my biggest complaints about the book. The chemistry between the love interests was bland and lacking. There was also no specific reason behind the attraction besides lust, which is a major ick for me. If you are going to include romance, I want depth. Honestly, this book may have been better without the romance and spice.

I will be super honest about my rating; this book was a 4-star book for me until I reached the end. I am not a fan of unresolved or open endings. Cliffhangers? Sure. But ambiguous endings are just not my thing. That, combined with the lackluster romance, made this a 3-star read for me.

The premise of the book I found intriguing, and was really excited to see where this story would go. Unfortunately it was not for me, it was not very satisfying, especially the romance bit, there was no actually love from what I could read, and I’m personally not a fan of threesome romances. I found the main character wishy washy and a bit annoying.

I was so excited to read this book! I love vampires. Unfortunately it fell short, I didn't really connect with the main character. And it all felt a bit tedious.

The Hunter's Gambit is a fun, quick read, definitely entertaining if you love vampires and magic. This book has strong characters, both human and vampire, and a strong start, which I appreciated. However, as the story progressed, the plot  unfortunately didn't seem to strengthen. Kazan is a blacksmith who specializes in forging weapons and swordcraft. As she journeys to another village with the intention of selling some of her crafts, her caravan is attacked by vampires. She is then taken to the Citadel to become their queen for three days. Her queen's title is more that of a captive, with a promised death by the end of the three days.

The pacing is quite fast, which I enjoyed, however, with the majority of the book detailing Kazan's three days in the Citadel, I would have expected more action. Majority of the book is her roaming around, trying to find a way to escape. She does have a sexual connection to both Adrius and his seneschal, Remy, however, it wasn't built up in a way I would have preferred. Unfortunately, it felt like the plot was underdeveloped, which is disappointing because this story had so much potential.

Thank you NetGalley, Angry Robot, and Ciel Pierlot for this ARC!

I love the concept of The Hunter’s Gambit. The vampires are exactly as I imagine vampires would be. They live a life of opulence and they are truly vicious. Their annual mock coronation highlights their cruelty and disregard for human life and that aspect of the story is well-done and very effectively conveys the vampires’ callous nature.

I liked Kazan and was invested in her character, but I wish we had a better understanding of why she lies. I wanted to understand her better and I think the book could have benefited from a deeper exploration of her relationship with lying. At one point, she agrees to something, then changes her mind and apologizes for lying. But that wasn’t a deliberate attempt to deceive and I’d like to understand why she saw it as a lie. Otherwise, I loved how tenacious Kazan was and her defiance of the vampires and will to live in the face of incredible danger was admirable.

Adrius has a compelling backstory and his status among the vampires adds depth to his character, but I feel Reya could have been a little more developed, though I loved that she was a bit morally gray.

There was a spice scene that was several pages long but wasn’t as explicit as I thought it would be (because vampires are known for their debauchery) and personally, I liked that. It really worked for the story though and one of my favorite parts was that there was a question of consent/preferences before things got too hot and heavy.

Despite a couple personal issues I had the book, there are still aspects that resonated with me and made the story enjoyable, and I think complex world-building really makes The Hunter’s Gambit stand out.

This was a really excting read has the perfect balance of seductive and dangerous in a vampire.

I would have put a tiny bit more of world building

This book is a quick read. It was okay, but it's nothing groundbreaking or outstanding. It's just another vampire book with morally grey characters. The best thing about it was the dedication at the beginning that literally made me lol.

It kept me entertained, and the pacing was quite quick, which kept my interest. However, I couldn't really connect with the characters. They were fairly one dimensional. Even the backstory for Kazan, the FMC, wasn't very deep, which didn't help me to connect to her.

The worldbuilding wasn't very in depth either. I would have liked to have seen more of that.

I feel that this book could have been so much more than it was.

If you're looking for a dark vampire read that doesn't shy away from anything, you found it! I loved the story arcs for all the characters and that ending! It also has some spice which was a nice bonus.

“She can still play to win.
She wants to make them pay. She wants revenge, she wants to humiliate them as they've humiliated her … Yes, she is trapped in here with them. But they are also trapped in here with her.”

When vampires are involved you know it’s gonna be fun. And it absolutely was. A human woman finding herself the next feast for a group of crazy vampires but she has to act as Queen first for three days straight. Two vampires that are very intrigued by her and how ferocious she can be despite her frailty. A coup that is under way but as yet to be uncovered. Some fun with the spicy scenes and some frustration but overall an enjoyable plot and some interesting characters. Vampires do have a way to make the romances and the fantasy books feel more feral, in a way. And I felt it through the pages of the book, though maybe not as much as I would have wanted. ON the other hand though, there was a surprising sweetness to the whole plot that felt needed, considering the conditions our FMC finds herself facing in this world. I liked the action and I liked the challenges she posed. Plus, the book felt so easy to get into, I almost read it in a day !!! I’m so glad I got a chance to!!

Firstly, thank you for letting me read this ARC

I overall really enjoyed this book, it is a twisty, turny, primal, fast-paced tale of Vampires and love/lust! I also loved having a bi-sexual love interest throughout with Kazan, as this is not something often seen within Vampire books to this extent... loved it.

However, the plot itself felt a little lacking, I am hoping this is going to be the start of a series and this could be why... fingers are crossed. Some of the characters felt like they were cliche versions of what people want a vampire in a book to be, but I found them to be fun and light-hearted in the context of the story so I enjoyed them on the whole.

I would recommend someone who is looking for a fun vampire read pick this book up, as I read it pretty much on a weekend, and didn't want to put it down, even to get a coffee.