Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this free ARC! Urban fantasy is kind of a newer genre for me and I overall enjoyed this one. I loved seeing how Elizabeth finds out that magic exists and how she's drawn into that whole world. I guess some of the middle of the book dragged on for me a bit, which is why it wasn't a 5-star read for me. I would definitely check out more from this author, though!

This was so much more than I expected, I loved Elisabeth so much, she’s intelligent, sassy, caring , brave and tough. As well as Elisabeth theres also a supporting cast of characters who are all well written and complex. The world building with all the supernatural creatures and magic is wonderful, I loved this and look forward to future books

Ordinary humans stumbling into the magical world isn't anything new, though usually those humans are far from ordinary as they typically have yet unfulfilled magical powers. Not so in A Grimoire for Gamblers. Our protagonist is truly human and has only stumbled into the magical world after the death of her father many years after admitting himself into a psychiatric ward.

I appreciated that Elizabeth doesn't have any powers. She's been thrown into this world and she doesn't mysteriously pick everything up through mitosis. As with most urban fantasy MCs, she's a little bit snarky and we spend a lot of time in her head listening to her as she tries to figure this all out. She doesn't immediately merge with this new world and spends a lot of the time wondering if her father's supposed insanity isn't genetic. At this point though, why not try a spell to see and she does, with the help of computers, scanners, and even a Cricut. Annnd promptly sets herself on fire. Okay, so she's muddling through the best she can but she's smart and she'll figure it out.

True to the rules of urban fantasy, the world-building is enmeshed in the "real" world as we humans know it. Oh sure, there are some interesting locales such as the casino where humans are gambling with their souls and a fighting arena where supernatural creatures are pitted against each other. At the same time, the vast majority of this book takes place right here, in the city Elizabeth knows.

There were a few holes in the plot I think, or at least in the plot devices. While the toy voodoo train set up in the attic was neat, I didn't really understand what it had to do with everything. Why would her dad have a train linked to the real-world train? And some of the characters weren't really explained. Gravelings? Vampiric Spirits? Also, from the first pages, Elizabeth mentions her boyfriend and thinks about him throughout the novel. He's not even really in the book other than her thoughts, so what was the point of having her in a relationship?

All in all, though, this was a pretty solid urban fantasy. It managed to be very unique in a lot of ways, including the technology-boosted magic. Work smarter, not harder, right? There were obviously some things that didn't work as well for me, but as this is the first in the series, I'm not going to judge it too harshly. It's hard to do urban fantasy that hasn't been done before and this is a solid foundation for the series to continue.

Elizabeth has returned home. Eight years ago, her father voluntarily committed himself to an asylum and her mother ran away to Florida. Last week, her father committed suicide. Returning to her childhood home, Elizabeth is surprised to find his train set still in the attic — and still running. In a fit of anger and frustration, she knocks the little train off its track. The next morning, she is shocked and horrified to hear that a real train also derailed …. Then things get really weird. A wizard shows up and threatens to wipe her memory. The local ice cream lady turns out to be a stone creature who can never lie (but that doesn’t mean she speaks the entire truth). There’s a troll living under the bridge, and a chance demon running a casino at the local crossroads. And so much, much more. If Elizabeth is to survive, she has to figure out exactly what happened to her father and mother eight years ago, and exactly who she can — and cannot — trust ….

For bookworms, it can be a struggle to find new series that we can look forward to enjoying for years to come. As such, I was thrilled when I came across A Grimoire for Gamblers, the first book in the Trove Arbitrations series. The book sucked me right in and didn’t let up until the last page; and now I badly want to read the second book (A Surplus of Sirens) and the upcoming third book (A Reckoning of Wraiths).

First, there’s Elizabeth. Mostly, she’s an ordinary person. She works in small town politics, loves her boyfriend Faisal, and worries that her father’s mental illness may prove to be hereditary. That soul-deep skepticism — even paranoia — proves to be a life line. When Elizabeth suddenly finds herself spiraling down the rabbit hole into a world of dangerous magic and even more dangerous enemies, her paranoia is a vital navigational tool; she constantly checks what she knows against her assumptions, what people have told her, and what seems most likely or unlikely given the facts; it helps her determine who to trust, who to avoid, and how to finally figure out the mystery of her father’s insanity.

Then there’s Max. Max is … complicated. I won’t say much about him. Only that he’s a wizard, that he’s made some ethically grey choices in the past, and that having Elizabeth thrust into his life is going to badly upset the fragile balance he has created. I look forward to seeing how he evolves (or not, but I hope he does evolve) as the series progresses.

Finally, there’s the magical underground world that has been invisible to humans for centuries; likely longer. Magic works by Right Mind and intention, by glyphs and mental focus and language. The illusions that hide wizards and trolls and others from humans also, in their own curious, bizarre way, reveal the truth — if you know what you’re looking for. And Elizabeth, as she begins to practice magic, learns what to look for, and what it means, and how she can use that knowledge to survive.

That’s probably enough. If I say more, I’ll give away too much, and I want the book to be as much of a surprise for others as it was for me.

Highly recommended to fans of The Guild Codex by Annette Marie, The KC Warlock Weekly by MN Jolley, The Rules and Regulations for Mediating Myths and Magics by FT Lukens, Touched by Magic by Celine Jeanjean, and The Girl with Ghost Eyes by MH Boroson.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

A Grimoire for Gamblers by Amanda Creiglow is an adult fantasy that will appeal to fans of urban fantasy and The Magicians on Syfy. The story revolves around Elizabeth, whose father recently died by suicide in an extremely violent way. She discovers a grimoire in the attic which allows her to use magic. Then, a handsome wizard shows up at the house. At first, Elizabeth thinks it's all in her head, but then she realizes that it is real. Will Elizabeth be able to control her newfound magic powers?

Here is a magical excerpt from Chapter 4 when Elizabeth first performs magic:

"And then I yelp as the entire sheet of paper in my left hand is very suddenly engulfed in flame.
I should have had something prepared for success - a bucket of water, maybe. I was expecting a small flame, commensurate with my small, beginning-student power. But nope. I guess when you do a spell right, the spell executes.
On instinct, I release the flaming paper, which falls into my lap and catches my clothes on fire. And then I do something I never expected: I actually use stop, drop, and roll."

Overall, A Grimoire for Gamblers is a magical book that will satisfy people looking for a light-hearted blend of adult fantasy and humor. As an adult myself, I enjoy reading about protagonists that are closer to my age and that deal with problems like adults do. The author has some original ideas, such as including side adventures with trolls, demons, and vampiric spirits. I did take off 2 stars though, because I wasn't really drawn into the conflict of the book. I had trouble maintaining my interest in the plot, and I didn't really feel excited at any point. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of adult fantasy, you can check out this book, which is available now!

What is the definition of a Grimoire I wonder? Certainly, here a ‘Trove’ of papers was found in which a number of spells and ways to undertake magic were written. In many languages, by many hands. It had been collected and was being kept by a person who then died.
Once discovered, many in the magical world wanted this trove as it was rare but the girl finding it was not about to give it up.
This gave rise to a number of accidents, incidents and other magical occurrences. Elizabeth is trying to cope with her father’s suicide and the discovery of his trove and the reason for his suicide hits her hard. She struggles to know who to trust and who can help her understand what happened.
In may respects this is a simple story in the genre of being accidentally magical in adulthood with accompanying issues. The difference mainly being that Elizabeth is not a born witch coming into her powers but rather a mundane using what she finds to join the magical world.
Whilst interesting in its difference, it was not such that I feel compelled to follow up the storyline

A Grimoire for Gamblers is the first book in the Trove Arbitrations series by Amanda Creiglow. Small town mayor’s assistant Elizabeth has enough on her plate grieving her father’s suicide. She doesn’t need his stash of magical knowledge in the attic. She doesn’t need the hidden supernatural subculture of monsters it pulls her into. And she certainly doesn’t need hints that her father’s madness might have been a smokescreen for something far darker. But uncovering her father’s secrets could be the only way Elizabeth can stop a string of suspicious suicides… if the local wizard doesn’t rip the memories out of her mind, first.

A Grimoire for Gamblers is the start of a new series that I will be reading. I think the world building was well done, delivering a great deal of information throughout the book with out feeling like there were any big info dumps to wade through. I liked Elizabeth's character as well, I thought her grief at the loss of her father and her curiosity at the world she was discovering was well done. I thought the introduction to the secondary characters was very well done as well. I have questions, but not because the author left out important information but because I simply want to know more and see more of them in future installments of the series. I also liked that some of the magical creations and characters were ones that are not as prevalent in the genre. Some oft he magic and characters were ones I do not remember being worked into urban fantasy before, which made me very happy. I love discovering new to met hings and exploring them further. I think the twists and turns of the story were very well done, and I look forward to were the story might go from here.

A Grimoire for Gamblers is a solid series starter with a nice balance of satisfying ending and needing more.

It started of slow, I almost put it down after about 50 pages, but I am glad I did not.
The main character finally became likable and I started to care about her, the world building is simular to many other urban fantasies, but has some new twists and the support cast is full of likable and interesting characters.

I received an eARC of this title through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This was a DNF for me. I could not get into the story, the characters, or the writing. The writing style really took me out of this book. There was too much reflection and repitition in the way the character thought for me. I felt like there were times where it was overly stated what was happening even though the reader can pick up on it. For example, the talk of the protective amulet was overdone so many times where a dialogue would happen and then the narrative voice explained why they said something. The character constantly says "this is out of character for me", but does it all the time to just about everyone.

There was just a lot in this book's writing style that was not for me.

This was a very well written book. The plot was very enticing and I couldn't put the book down. This was a new to me favorite author and I will definitely try another book by this author.

This was a good start to a series! I loved that the world building was happening but not at the sake of the story. The story pulled me right in and there I stayed until I finished. I look forward to learning more about Elizabeth and the dark world she inhabits. Some twists I didn't see coming and questions left to be answered in the next installment! I am looking forward to it.

Elizabeth thought that the worst thing that could happen to her was her father going crazy and eventually following through with suicide. But when unexplainable things start happening to her she can think shes either following in her father's footsteps or there are unexplainable occurrences that really are explainable if you believe in magic.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

A Grimoire for Gamblers follows the main character, Elizabeth, as she is mourning the loss of her father. She has inherited her childhood home from her father along with the items that come inside it. The most significant being a magical trove and starts coming into the realization that her father may have had more secrets then he let on. These secrets lead her into a supernatural world that she was never supposed to be a part of and a series of gruesome deaths that may not be mere coincidence.

I thought this was an interesting read and felt it was a compelling enough of a story to keep you wondering how it would end. I found myself towards the end sometimes getting annoyed with Elizabeth because I felt like she didn't think things through, rushed into things, and could come off as judgmental. But she is going through a lot in a very short amount of time and so all of that can be understandable.

Overall, an interesting story that makes me wonder how the series will continue!

This book is a bit dark but I really liked the writing and the setting. I thought the storyline also more original than most urban fantasies at the moment. I look forward to the next in the series!

This was a great story with wonderful flow and amazing characters. The flow of the book weaved a great story which made this urban-fantasy hard to put down. I loved the characters and the single POV. I can not wait for the next book in the series.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC

At the start, I was a little skeptical at whether I would like this book or not.

This was an amazing urban fantasy novel. The world building was very well done and I enjoyed following the deep story that I was unable to predict. I loved that the story had so many different small plots going that slowly revealed solutions.

I ended up really liking the book and it wasn't at all what I was expecting from it. I would highly recommend it and I look forward to the sequel.

A delightful read that shows a very real human approach to discovering the world of magic! The characters were unique, and the plot had enough twists to keep you guessing until the end.

I really enjoyed my time with this novel! I’ve read a lot of urban fantasy, and was excited to find a fresh, novel take on magic and the supernatural, which allowed for some great storytelling along the way. The book had lots of great stakes and development, and immediately left me wanting more.

Elizabeth works for the mayor in her small town of Springfield, she's recently inherited her father's house after his suicide, something he's been attempting for the last eight years. Before he was committed, her father had been a creator and Elizabeth spent her childhood watching her father crafting things in his loft, particularly train sets, so she shouldn't be surprised when she finds a model railway in the loft. Except it seems to be running without any visible form of power, eight years after he left the house. Also, unlike his previous sets, this train set is an exact replica of Springfield. Unthinkingly Elizabeth flicks the train, knocking it off the tracks, and is horrified when the next day the papers are full of the story of how a train derailed in Springfield. Is she losing her mind like her father? Could the model railway be linked to the real thing? Elizabeth also finds a locket, together with a note from her father, imploring her to stay out of the loft, or at least wear the locket for protection.

Then a strange man claiming to be a wizard barges into the house shouting about humans and magic and threatening to wipe Elizabeth's memories. Only the locket seems to prevent him from doing anything to harm Elizabeth. Still unsure of whether what is happening is real or signs of impending mania, Elizabeth searches the loft and finds a locked box containing spell books and other paranormal paraphernalia, can it be real?

The box, the locket and the magical objects draw Elizabeth into a world of wizards and magical creatures hidden from normal humans and a series of bizarre suicides which seem to be linked to that of her father. Can she solve the mystery and prevent further human deaths?

OMG what a breath of fresh air. Elizabeth isn't (yet) a special snowflake growing into her powers. She's a mundane human with a magic book, and 21st century technology like a scanner and a printer to help her draw her spells accurately. The magical creatures are not the usual shifters and vampires (something wiped out the Fae), the mystery is dark and Elizabeth has to make some terrible choices.

I really enjoyed this and I am curious to see where Amanda Creiglow is going to take the series. I hope she keeps it dark and twisty.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This review of A Grimoire for Gamblers by Amanda Creiglow is courtesy of NetGalley. #AGrimoireforGamblers #NetGalley
Rating: 3/5

A lot of books have the concept of a secret magical world overlaid on ours. One of the most famous is Harry Potter. This isn't anything quite as epic. There's a mystery as the main character Elizabeth discovers the magical world which has some unknown rules after her father's death.

The book has some interesting moments, I like the original take on "internet troll" and "troll bridge" for instance.

One thing that bothered me a lot though reading the book is how Elizabeth's character seemed to lack consistency. One moment she's wary of a new character, the next she's buddy buddy and following them into the unknown. Elizabeth also has another character trait of being weak with a "woe is me, my boyfriend is away and can't help me mentality" but at the same time goes barging into magic. Actually, the constant mention of the absent boyfriend was annoying because it was repeated multiple times in the book.

I know other reviewers have said they like Elizabeth, but I can't say I do. There's some illegal, amoral stuff that she starts mentally justifying once she enters the magical world.