The author’s pitch for the book is “Ocean’s Eleven with were-dragons”. What should I have in mind with something like that? Surely, I wouldn’t expect it to be a lofty promise of a catharsis. At the most, I would expect to be kept amused by fire-breathing thieves. And that’s about it with “Fire and Heist”. It is a ton of fun while it lasts.

What drew me in is the snarky voice of the protagonist. Even when moping from having dumped by her boyfriend, Sky Hawkins’ wry narration is entertaining. Her personality matches with everything I imagined a teenager dragon’s personality would be: confident to the point of recklessness. I like that she acknowledged that she is a self-absorbed privileged rich girl. I probably cannot stand being friends with her in real life but she fascinated me just as I am sometimes weirdly fascinated with the Kardashians.

The not-so-secret society of wyverns are filthy rich were-dragon families who can once shape-shift into real dragons. They openly live among humans but they have their own set of rules and inner social hierarchy. Their kind have a natural tendency to hoard gold. They have their own version of “honor among thieves” code in that they may steal from each other as long as they don’t get caught. Humans are naturally intrigued by them and they have a quasi-celebrity status with their private lives occasionally leaked in tabloids. Sky’s family is recently disgraced by her mother who went missing after a botched heist. Wildly overcome by her emotions from her first heartbreak and from losing a mother, Sky decided that it’s time to lead her first heist.

Though aware of her incompetence as a young wyvern, Sky’s is fired up by her motivations. She wants to restore her family’s honor and discover why her mom went missing. She might even win back her ex-boyfriend in the process. Disowned by her wyvern friends and forbidden by her family to do anything drastic, her assembled crew consists of (oddly enough) her ex-boyfriend Ryan, a human classmate, Gabriela and a full-grown adult wizard who often doesn’t act his proper age, Maximus. I enjoyed the banter among Sky and her crew. The plot is a series of actions that actually go somewhere. Without revealing too much, it follows the template of a hero’s journey. A there and back again kind of thing happened. The heist is arguably elaborate at first (they even have to do lots of practice, not without funny banter and bloopers) but Sky has to redo the same level of heist thrice over the entire course of the book that it eventually felt repetitive. The heist lost its steam in the end with the diminished excitement from all the repetition.

My actual rating of the book is more than three stars but not quite four stars. I rounded it up to four stars because I decided that it would benefit no one if I rob a fraction of a star rating from a book that I really enjoyed. The plot is flawed and familiar but still, “Fire and Heist” is an undeniably fun read, with it’s pleasures coming not exactly from the heist but from reading about its protagonist hanging out and doing stuff together with her family and crew.

I was really swept away by this dragon, heist, teen romance. Even a bit of family drama was thrown in for good measure. Sky is a wyvern, so are her friends and family. Her mother disappears failing at a heist, but no one will tell Sky the truth about the heist and where her mom has gone. Sky forms a team and sets to solve the mystery herself. Decent read, I'd read a sequel.

Sky Hawkins is a wyvern - a human that can change into a dragon and her life has been turned completely upside down. Her mom has gone missing, her boyfriend has dumped her, and her family has been shunned from the wyvern community. Leading her first heist just might set everything straight and lead her to where her mother is. Through her planning and execution Sky unravels more secrets than she set out for.


The Story
Dragons? Count me in, pretty much every time. I was super excited for shapeshifting dragons, especially from Sarah Beth Durst who delivered a fantasy that I have already loved (The Blood Queen). Unfortunately, this book was a huge let down for me. I loved the concept of this story - a young teen on her first heist starting her very own hoard, saving her missing mother, etc. But when it came to the actual story telling it felt quite bland. I was really hoping a lot more detail went into the actual heist planning and interactions between the characters, but it felt like a lot of this happened then this happened. Then half way through the paranormal contemporary turned into something completely different, and I was a bit thrown. I felt like a little more time could have been spent on the book and had it split into a duology, because the start of the second half of the book had a completely different vibe than the first. Thankfully it all came together at the end, so it somewhat redeemed itself.


The World Building
I liked how the wyvern world was interlaced with the human world. I was just a little confused on the openly justified fact that they're constantly stealing form each other? I did like the idea of how the wyverns got there and what it meant about their life on earth. The security measures around their hoards were super fun and creative, but I really wish the heist itself didn't go by so fast. In the end, it didn't seem that secure at all.

The Characters
In Sarah's previous adult fantasy novels I found her characters complicated and intriguing. However, I felt like in this novel they lacked any sort of depth. I don't think having a novel be classified as YA should mean that she should lose that part either. For the most part I thought that the characters themselves didn't really have much pizzaz or anything to make them memorable, let alone likable.

“I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

I was super excited to be accepted for this arc from NetGalley. I don't request many arcs but when I found out my girl Alaina was going to read it I requested it right away and we buddy read it together. And man, am I so ridiculously happy I did!

This is the story of Sky Hawkins. She's a wyvern, a human who can transform into a dragon, but wyverns haven't been able to transform for generations. Sky's mother performs a heist and fails and goes missing. After learning some facts about this heist Sky decides she going to find her mother. Against the wishes of her brothers, Charles, Liam, and Tuck, and her father.

Sky gets together with a few friends to pull off the same heist her mother tried to pull off. The putting together of the heist takes up the first half of the book. And I must say it is ridiculously boring. It was intriguing finding out about wyverns and the back story or whatever. But it was boring. That is why this book only got three stars from me.

Anywho, after she starts the heist things 100% pick up and everything gets real crazy real fast! The last half of the book was incredible, keep-you-on-the-edge-of-your-seat incredible. I couldn't get through it fast enough. I was completely drawn to the story after things started really picking up.

So I promise you that if you have the same issues with the first half as I did when reading it does get better! Pull through it and I really believe you'll come to love the story as much as I did!

The nitty-gritty: A fantasy with lots of potential that felt more “middle grade” than “young adult,” Fire & Heist had some fun moments but ultimately disappointed me.

I had heard all sorts of good things about Sarah Beth Durst’s The Queens of Renthia series, and so I was eager to check out her latest, a young adult fantasy set in a world where wyverns—people who can transform into dragons—live among the human population. The story description promised heists, dragons and romance, and Durst delivered all of these elements, although with varying degrees of success. I had fun with this book, and while it didn’t rock my world, I can see why Durst is so popular. My biggest complaint with Fire & Heist was how young it felt, and I’ve read other reviews that say the same thing. At times the writing felt as if it were geared toward the middle grade crowd, which isn’t a bad thing by any means, but since it’s marketed for young adults, it definitely threw me off and forced me to lower my rating. If I had to describe this story in a couple of words, those words would be “fun and silly.”

And fair warning, there are some mild spoilers in this review, because it’s hard to mention my concerns about the story without going into spoiler territory.

Sky Hawkins, along with her parents and her three brothers, is a wyvern, a creature descended from none other than Sir Francis Drake. Wyverns are treated almost like royalty, and the bigger hoard of gold and treasures a family has, the higher up in society they are. (Picture Smaug curled around his huge pile of gold and you’ll get an idea of what I’m talking about.) Unfortunately for Sky’s family, her mother’s recent bungled heist attempt has reduced the family’s wealth by half and lowered their status dramatically. After the attempt, Sky’s boyfriend Ryan Keene publicly shunned her, and now not only has her family been shamed, but she’s had her heart broken as well. And Sky’s mother? Well, she’s vanished, and no one will tell Sky what happened to her, although it’s almost certain that her father knows the truth.

But a chance encounter with Ryan gives Sky some hope that there might be a way to earn that status back. Sky’s mother was attempting to steal something from the Keene family vault when she was caught, and Ryan tells Sky that the entire thing was captured on the surveillance cameras. Since Ryan is familiar with the security locks and spells surrounding the vault, he proposes that he help Sky with what could be her first official heist: steal the jewel that her mother was after, restore her family’s honor and status, and possibly even discover what happened to her mother. What could go wrong?

I want to start out with some things that Durst did really well. The story starts out with a bang, with Sky home alone in her house when the burglar alarms are triggered, and she realizes that someone is breaking into their house. I loved Sky’s voice and the humorous moment when she discovers that it’s her brothers who are trying to steal their mother’s solid gold piano. This was a great opening scene that really drew me into the story. In fact, I loved the first half, where Sky, Ryan and Sky’s friend Gabriela are planning the heist. It had that Ocean’s Eleven feel to it that I had been expecting, and I thought the author did a great job of ramping up the tension while delving into her world-building at the same time. Because honestly, there are a lot of rules to this world and it was a little confusing at times.

I also loved some of the characters, in particular Sky’s friend Gabriela. She’s a human, but she’s completely obsessed with the world of wyverns. She even studies their history (which was a convenient way for Durst to spoon feed us some of the world-building elements) and she loves unicorns, which apparently are real and live in the land where wyverns come from, a place simply called Home. In the beginning, Sky isn’t that interested in Gabriela, who is more of an acquaintance than a friend, but once they start working together their blossoming friendship really worked for me.

Because the story is told from Sky’s point of view, it’s easy to like her snarky humor and enthusiasm for all things involving the heist, which include picking locks and doing complicated gymnastics moves over laser beams in order to get to the vault! (I kid you not.) But honestly, I didn’t really connect with any of the other characters. Her brothers are barely in the story at all, her father is typically gruff and standoffish, and even Ryan felt like more of a cookie cutter boyfriend than someone with real depth. And her mother! Well, spoiler alert, we do get to meet Sky’s mom about halfway through the story, and she was such a shallow and clichéd character that I almost put down the book at that point.

Which leads me to the rest of the issues I had with Fire & Heist. The first half is great, but (here’s where the big spoiler comes in), once Sky goes through a portal to Home, the entire story took a nosedive for me. The world-building, which didn’t really make sense to me in the first half, suddenly seemed ridiculous. In Home, wyverns can easily change from human form to dragon, and Sky is told she must compete in an event called the Reckoning, where your rank will be determined depending on how well you can fly and shoot fire out of your mouth. No surprise here, Sky has no trouble at all transforming into her dragon form (with only a short pep talk to “believe in yourself” before she’s told to jump off a cliff and fly!) There are also unicorns frolicking in the meadows and ROBOTS acting as servants to the dragons. I can’t even.

I think this story might have worked better as a duology instead of a standalone, because the second half felt so rushed and badly stitched together. I would have preferred to spend more time on the build-up to the heist, which would have given Durst room to develop her characters, then end the first book with Sky going through the portal. But sadly, this did not happen, and we ended up with an overstuffed plot that had very little depth or complexity. Plot developments that first seemed dramatic and full of danger were often too easily resolved. I can’t begin to count the number of “convenient” moments in the story that ruined the excitement I felt in the beginning.

Oddly, Durst actually pokes fun of her own world-building at times, and I loved these unexpected moments. But unfortunately, they weren’t enough for me to fully embrace this story. I recommend this book for younger readers who want something light and funny to read, and aren’t concerned about some very silly and confusing fantasy elements.

THIS BOOK HAS WERE-DRAGONS AND HEIST. If that alone isn’t enough to get your interest, there is no way I could change your mind with my boring-ass words. But I do have a review to write so I guess you could stick around if you felt like. I’d much rather you just read the book though.

MOVING ON. I’ve been reading Sarah Beth Durst for quite some time now and I’ve never read a book by her that I didn’t like. I expected Fire and Heist to be set in a high fantasy world so it took me a little longer to get around to read it but it’s actually set in an urban-fantastical world and I LOVE URBAN FANTASY. When you dive into a book featuring heists and were-dragons, you go in with certain expectations. The actual book was slightly different from my expectations was in it was less intense and more fun but fun is never a bad thing and I honestly just couldn’t stop reading.

Sky Hawkins’ life fell apart one month ago. Her mother did something so terribly wrong her family lost half their wealth, their place in their society and also, their mother. Sky also lost all her friends and her boyfriend/best friend who chose to shun her. Her father and brothers are also being weird about the big, bad thing that went wrong and trying to protect her from the world. Of course, that’s not really helpful and really frustrating given that this affects her just as much as it affects them.

When her ex finds a way to share the truth with her, she knows her family’s honor must be avenged and she must complete the heist her mother started. She assembles a rag-tag group of people to help her with the heist and so an adventure begins.

AND IT IS QUITE THE ADVENTURE. This book, in my opinion, is not necessarily about the heist itself but about everything that caused it and everything it will cause. Sky’s life has been split into a before and after and while she wishes things could go back to before, she is forced to re-evaluate her society and examine it without her rose-tinted glasses. There is quite the scandal surrounding the thing they are trying to heist and it only gets more intense.

I am a great lover of heists but I think what really stood out about this book to me was the world Sarah Beth Durst has built. It should seem excessive and over-the-top but honestly, it just worked and it was fun. Not really a surprise given that Durst is REALLY good with world building BUT YOU KNOW, I am happy.

I ALSO LOVED all the relationships. I loved watching Sky step out and make friends with a human and realize that she was a sucky person in the past, I loved Sky and her brothers, I loved Sky and her fathers, and yes, I did love Sky and her ‘ex’ as well.

If you are a lover of fun and having a good time, this book should already be on your TBR, but if it’s not, I am definitely not gonna convince you so you should just go sulk in a corner and continue not having ANY FUN WHATSOEVER.

Fire and Heist is a solid read!
A family of thieves + Ocean’s Eleven heist - I am completely intrigued.
Urban fantasy - A genre I love!
Shapeshifting Dragons - who could or would say NO to that?
Fire and Heist is an intriguing, humorous and exciting read that leaves you wanting to know what's next. The beginning of the book has to be one of my favorite parts and made me love Sky and her family immediately! I enjoyed this book immensely!
My only issue is that I wish there was more to it, yes it was funny, exciting and intriguing, I wish this book had sucked me in completely and made me feel like Fire and Heist was Ocean’s Eleven 2.0. Regardless, this was an enjoyable read!

Thank you to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for this opportunity,
I will definitely keep up with what this author has up her sleeves next!

This was one of those books that seemed like it would be perfect. I mean, dragons and a high-stakes Oceans Eleven style heist?! That’s right up my ally. And for the most part, I did enjoy reading it. But, there were some that kind of fell flat for me.

For one, I wasn’t really in love with the characters. Sky was a solid lead, but she kind of got on my nerves. She just seemed a bit whiny to me. I actually ended up liking the supporting characters a lot better. They seemed a little stereotypical at times, but I would have been interested to learn more about their back stories.

As far as the plot itself goes, I thought it was pretty good for the most part, although the end felt a little rushed. But I did appreciate the uniqueness of the story. It’s not your typical dragon story, which I do like.

Overall, this book was alright. I liked the plot, but the characters made it a bit difficult to fully invest. I’m glad I gave it a read, but I’m not sure that I’m interested enough to keep going with the series.

this has been receiving extremely middling reviews and I understand why - it's a book that sort of reads like a sendup of fantasy tropes and sort of reads like a book leaning into those tropes. I, however, really enjoyed my experience reading this, and sped through it quickly. So let's just sum it up - this will be fun if:
1) you genuinely enjoy reading fast-paced heist urban fantasy
2) you have spent a lot of time poking fun at fantasy books you really liked
3) you enjoy pulpy you-kind-of-know-what's-happening-but-you're-still-along-for-the-ride kind of books where all the characters are pretty likable. look, let's not pretend we don't all enjoy these

I am not going to pretend this will be a book I find extremely memorable; however, I <i>am</i> going to totally lean into how much fun I had reading it and recommend it to anyone who finds the prior description somewhat intriguing. I laughed reading it!! It broke through my slump!! and hence it is good.

<b>full review to come on goodreads and on my blog!!</b>

If ever there was a book to emphasize that I read what I like, Fire & Heist is it. The story of a teenage wyvern and her family of thieves tickled me more than it should have. The target audience is a good thirty years younger than I am, but that did not stop me from devouring it. I adore with Sky and acknowledged privilege. More importantly, I fell in love with the unexpected pleasure of Sky's unlikely crew. Not only is their banter hilarious, but I also love how each of them embraces their quirks, the best of whom is Gabriella, Sky's human friend. She is not familiar with the world of wyverns, and her enthusiasm has no bounds. She is also an unashamed geek, and you cannot help but fall in love with her implacability in the face of Sky's imperiousness but her lack of filter and childlike wonder when it comes to magic and unicorns. We all need a friend as honest and as supportive as Gabriella.

The story itself is goofy. Dragons live on earth and are among the richest people on the planet because they hoard gold. Dragons obtain gold hoards by stealing from other dragons. Dragon society rewards those dragon families with the most gold and punishes those who are not successful burglars. Add in a home dragon land, a missing parent, unrequited love, more than one failed heist, a mysterious jewel, and power-hungry dragons and you have a story that is one part Romeo and Juliet, one part Ocean's Eleven, one part geek fantasy, and one part Hallmark movie. It is cheesy goodness at its best.

I love the fact that I can still enjoy novels meant for a younger crowd and never want this trait to change. Some people might say that life is too short to read bad books, but I say life is too short not to have fun and enjoy any book that interests you. In the case of Fire & Heist, the dragons caught my interest, the similarities to Ocean's Eleven kept my attention, and characters like Gabriella made me fall in love with this story of gold-stealing were-dragons.

Oh my goodness, what a fun book!! I absolutely adored Fire and Heist!

From the beginning I was captivated by this plot, although I have read one other dragon shifter book it was nothing like Fire and Heist, in fact that story can't hold a handle to this one in my opinion. Fire and Heist is likened to the Ocean's movies and Dungeons and Dragons.

I loved the journey that Sky went on, not only the physical journey, but also the emotional journey where she learned so much about herself and the strength that she has in herself. She was often called arrogant, but in my opinion she was more self assured than anything. She knew who she was and she fought to get her position back, even if it meant going against her families wishes.

The side characters played a vital role in this story and they were well developed and I felt as if I knew them as well as I knew Sky. I loved how Sarah Beth Durst was able to add in the mythical unicorn in the story as well.

Outside of a bit of repetition in the beginning Fire and Heist was the most fun I've had reading this year. I think that anyone who enjoys fiction will enjoy this story and it's suitable for most ages, as long as you don't mind kissing.

If you are wanting a book that will take you on an adventure then I highly recommend you read Fire and Heist!

I got this through NetGalley to review. This was an okay read. This is a pretty quick and simple book and was written at a pretty low reading level. In the end it just wasn’t interesting enough for me to really enjoy.

Sky is a weredragon of sorts and is determined to find her mother and redeem the family name. In an effort to do this she puts together a team to steal a precious gem from her ex-boyfriend’s father’s vault.

There was some interesting history about how the wyverns got to the human world from their Home. However, as I said, this was a very simple and straight-forward story. While it was a very quick read (I read it in a couple hours) it wasn’t all that interesting to me. The characters weren’t that engaging and everything about this was a bit vanilla (weird considering it’s about dragons and heists which should be exciting).

Overall this was not one of Durst’s best books but it was okay. If you are looking for a quick and simple read about weredragons in the modern world this might interest you.

Great YA Fantasy novel. Full of female empowerment, family bonds, magic, and dragons!! I believe students and adults will enjoy this story!

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

I got a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book could have been so much better, and had so much potential. Thankfully it was a quick and simple read, nothing to wordy or "colorful" type writing that can sometimes be just to over the top.

Sky is a were-dragon of sorts and is determined to find her mother and redeem the family name. In an effort to do this she puts together a team to steal a gem from her ex’s father’s vault.

There wasn't very much back story, and the characters weren’t that engaging and everything was just... very.. lackluster. I didn't connect with any of the characters either. The romance bored me and didn't care one bit about Ryan. Some things felt very childish, and overly dramatic.

Sky Hawkins: popular, rich, and were-dragon.

Then her mom disappears while doing a heist. And failing a heist is the ultimate dishonor for a Wyvern. Suddenly becoming a public pariah, Sky loses her friends, popularity, and gets publicly dumped by her boyfriend. When she hatches a scheme to reclaim their honor and get back their status and her mother, she is quickly shot down by her dad and brothers at the risk of being exiled from the Wyvern community.

“I understood that they said no- and that I was saying yes. I was stealing that jewel, reclaiming our family honor, and finding mom. And I was doing it without them.”

Not taking no for an answer, Sky sets forth with her heist, handpicking a crew to help her including new human friend Gabriella.

“Really hadn’t expected this reaction to asking a friend to engage in illegal activities, even if magic was involved.”

Ready to accomplish her first heist, Sky instead uncovers a secret that will change the world as she knows it.

This book was so fun! Dragons, magic, HEISTS. Focusing on family, friendships, and self-empowerment, Fire & Heist was a delightful read that I devoured quickly. I loved the authors voice and found myself laughing out loud multiple times. This novel was action packed with plenty of humor and family drama as well as a small side of romance. I enjoyed this standalone novel- just wish it could’ve been a bit longer and further explored the were-dragon realm.

The story is told from Sky's point of view - the youngest and only daughter of a wealthy and powerful Wyvern family living in Colorado. Her family is cast out of the high society into an almost exiled condition after her mother failed at a heist and then disappears completely. Her entire world is rocked, and she is determined to find out the truth behind what happened to her mother and why her family was not being completely honest with her. The self empowerment that Sky grabs onto in the novel is one of the most heartwarming aspects of the story for me. I find there are too many stories that still alow the princess to be saved, and that is entirely unacceptable in 2018. Sky is her own hero, taking the lies that everyone else spins and finding the truth for herself. Of course, she has some help along the way -- but she is the ring leader, the organizer, and the heart of the story.

Another topic Durst tackled was family and friendship - what defines real friends, and what family means to different people. At the very core of the story is a girl that wants her mom back; a girl who needs a friend; and a family broken by tragedy. All of these sub plots entwine to create relationships that are not only healthy, but loving, supportive and unconditional. Every time I thought she was about to give up, her love for her family -or her new found friends- kept her going. Sky's resilience and her desire to treat everyone fairly really resonated with me. It's a value I hold very close to my own heart, making this story uniquely special to me.

Aside from the phenomenal characters, Durst's writing is easy to follow, clean and fluid. There are no awkward passages, short and pointless chapters, or horridly over used cliches laced through the book. The novel is clearly intended for a younger audience and is written as such, however it is easily enjoyable for readers of all levels. There are darker themes underlying in the book that young adults and adult readers will pick up on and enjoy. I devoured the book in a matter of 4 sittings - and only because work and sleep interrupted. In the were-dragon world, Durst has created a world that is so vivid, you could almost reach out and touch it. Her portrayal of the Wyverns as celebrity type creatures made it all the more believable, as we all know real shape shifting dragons would be all the rage!

The symbolism used to correlate self worth with a dragon's horde was not lost on me either. I really enjoyed the way Durst played on our societal norms while creating her own world with it's own sinister problems.


I would say this story is definitely a coming of age, self empowerment book. If you enjoy fierce females, family bonds and forming unbreakable friendships - this book is for you!

4.5 stars

Can I just say that I was very pleasantly surprised by this novel? And by very pleasantly surprised I mean I was absolutely blown away by this!

I just . . . did not expect this to be that great? Right from chapter 1 I was hit with something akin to awe.

Because the voice in this book is so stellar. I still can't properly describe it, but know that I am IN LOVE with how genuine the voice sounds and how Sky felt so teenage and real and interesting.

Straight from the beginning, Sky felt super relatable while still being an actually interesting person. This is a really weird comparison, but her voice draws on the good parts of those crazy Wattpad novels with manic MCs who are inordinately random, and mixes it with actual moderation.

The voice was just really unique, and I can wholeheartedly say that I have never read a book with a similar voice before, and I think we need more distinct voices like Sky's. Not Sky's exact voice, but more teenage voices that are unique and not just blending into each other.

So yeah. I'm cutting this short now and just saying that I loved Sky's voice so much don't you dare @ me saying she's immature. I could use up all my 500 words talking about her voice but I'm cutting it short at 220.

Besides this, I mean, the concept is just really cool & fun & engaging. I love magical creatures, so a HEIST BOOKS feat. PEOPLE-DRAGONS (aka were-dragons aka wyverns) was so much fun.

Heist books in general are so much fun, and anyone who likes those types of reads should pick this up! I thought it was paced really well, and the fact that this book didn't solely focus on the heist was honestly really nice? There's more to it than just "finish the heist," but there's also other things happening!

The fantasy aspect was also really fun and I loved how it was sort of a portal fantasy/contemporary fantasy (no spoilers though!) which made the whole wyvern thing even more interesting. Magical creature/human relations are always really interesting to read about, and Fire and Heist did a really good job explaining this!

And the romance was adequately low-key! I mean, it wasn't about falling in love. It was about mending bridges, and I really liked that. There was a huge focus on family and social outcasts and friendship, and all of these themes were really enjoyable in the way that they made Fire and Heist stand out.

I definitely think the themes were a huge part of what made this novel more than just a meh fantasy, and as a standalone, they really helped wrap things up nicely! Sky's relationship with her family was complex enough that I wanted to read about it, but not too much that I felt it was unresolved.

Overall, Sarah Beth Durst is an author who I need to look more into, as Fire and Heist was a refreshingly fun read that I would definitely recommend to anyone looking for something entertaining yet outside of the norm!

sadly this book did not work for me. I ended up skimming the last 50% of the book as I found it boring and just all over the place. I think this book had great potential but felt like it didn't know what it wanted to be.

Ocean's 11 meets were-dragons with the tone of Also Known As and a dash of creepy cult happiness.

There's nothing so important as planning your first heist. Gold. Treasure. Hoard. It's as important as family in a wyvern's life—and Sky Hawkin's family is broken. After her mother's last failed heist resulted in her disappearance and the family's shunning from wyvern society, Sky is determined to pull off her first heist by stealing the jewel her mother couldn't.

She just needs a crew.
~
I had a copy of the ARC from NetGalley for a while now, but since I'm very much a mood reader, I have a 50-50 chance of liking books by Sarah Beth Durst (I chose this book by summary before realizing who the author was), and the off-putting mid-3s rating, it took me until now to finish it.

It's good. Not overwhelmingly amazing to warrant a four, and it's not frustrating enough that I wanted to DNF or give it a 1-2.

If that's a fairly lackluster assessment...then, well. Sorry? This book had so much going for it, but it felt like something was missing.

Heist books are hard to execute, mostly because heists are 99% exhaustive planning and 1% execution—and the execution should be fairly boring unless something goes wrong.

Something always goes wrong.

But still.

There were so many breadcrumbs as to what Sky was stealing that it was frustrating when she was like, whuuuuuuuuuuuuut I don't understand? and people keep calling her so smart, talented and accomplished.

But I did enjoy the heist itself. When it was talking action and planning, the book was pretty decent and entertaining. Plus there's a cool laser-room scene that's Simone Biles meets Catherine Zeta-Jones in Entrapment (view spoiler)

Where the book failed (to me) was in the world-building and characterization aspects.

The characters all fell flat for me. They all felt very one-dimensional. Plus the villain was lacking in motivation and well, everything else.

Part of this had to do with the world-building. Alternate history fantasies, like heist books, are incredibly hard to pull off. Whatever you change ripples through the timeline and changes everything. But what was changed?

Apparently, wyverns were around for millennia but stayed kinda in the shadows so as not to alarm the humans until Sir Francis Drake burned the Aramada in its harbor in 1587. Then King Atahualpa from the Incan Empire was a wyvern (because gold and Incan Empire), and despite him saving the Incan Empire in Peru from the Spanish invaders, smallpox still killed everyone. And now wyverns live side-by-side humans are like, super popular with fan sites and paparazzi devoted to following them around and they're, like, super rich. Oh, and despite being super wealthy and cool and special, they attend regular human high school.

And that's it.

You can see why I was disappointed.

I understand why the world-building...wasn't really there...because then it would have derailed the entire plot and heist situation in favor of much backstory, but it was like there was the opportunity and the chance to remake the world into something better, and that better was 2004.

Despite this frustration, the book moves along at a pretty steady pace and it's a quick, entertaining read.

I just feel like this particular heist could have been pulled off a little better.

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

As a wyvern (think were-dragon), leading your first heist is a big deal - bigger than taking your first step and saying your first word. It's your first chance to really gain power and acceptance within your family and community. However, leading a life of crime isn't easy, and Sky learns the truth about her mother, who recently went missing, the real reason her boyfriend broke up with her, and a valuable jewel that could restore her family's standing. With her crew at her back, Sky knows what she has to do in order to successfully complete her heist along with getting her mother and boyfriend back. Then, she discovers an unbelievable secret about were-dragon society - something much more valuable and dangerous than treasure.

I was so pleased when I found out I was approved for Fire and Heist on NetGalley because it sounded exactly like something I needed in my life. Basically, all I needed to hear was Ocean's Eleven with were-dragons and I was sold. I'm a sucker for a heist fantasy really. The novel does quite a bit of things well, particularly the first half. I liked getting to know Sky and her family as well as the planning of the heist. For the most part, the tone of the story is quite fun and fast with a lot of good twists to keep you turning the pages. However, when it comes to pulling off the heist we didn't get to see as much of it as I would have liked. I also would have preferred to get a bit of a better feel for the wider wyvern world. Plus, I wish the secondary characters were a little more fleshed out.

Overall, Fire and Heist by Sarah Beth Durst is a fun, unique YA fantasy with just a dash of romance and plenty of dragons and a decent sense of humor. If you like Ocean's Eleven, White Cat by Holly Black, Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer, and Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo, I have a feeling you'll also enjoy this new standalone novel. I have to admit, I wouldn't say no to seeing more stories set in this world. I'm going to have to read more of Durst's work soon - The Queen of Blood and The Lost are at the top of my list.