I was pretty disappointed with this story, mostly because the synopsis sounded absolutely amazing and brilliant and like it was going to be an incredible story, but for me it went completely downhill as I kept reading the novel.

The story seemed like it was going to go one way, but then something happened in the middle of the book that completely changed the tone and ruined the book to me. I liked the heist’s parts, where our main character was trying to accomplish, but I had a lot of issues with the characters and the fantasy elements in general that I ended up not enjoying Fire & Heist at all.

First of all, I didn’t understand the characters at all. They were constantly contradicting each other, and not only their actions were so immature and juvenile, but also the interactions between our protagonist and the rest of the characters were so forced and akward. There was a lot of unnecessary dialogues and conversations throughout the book that didn’t add anything to the story, and I feel the characters hardly had any development, because they were the same in the beginning and in the end.

I got super excited about the dragons, but that ended up being such a disappointment as well. The magic system and the fantasy world building had barely any descriptions that could help the reader understand the dragon’s society. There were a couple of scenes where we learnt just a tiny bit about that world, but it was pretty choppy and could have been more complex.

Overall, the stort itself was so lineal and it didn’t have many action packed scenes, considering the premise and what the book was about. The ending was so anticlimactic and boring, and the characters were so weird and juvenile and badly written that I couldn’t really understand them or their motivations.

DNF @ like 10% - if you enjoyed Sarah Beth Durst's other novel, Drink, Slay, Love, you'll likely enjoy this one. Stylistically, this sort of light, colloquial take on fantasy should work for me, but I can't take it seriously. I didn't find the characters or world interesting, and the narrative reads like it's trying bit too hard. Just not for me.

Maybe would have finished it if were-dragons had been werewolf/dragons rather than humans that turn into dragons...

This Idea of this book was intriguing however the execution wasn't what i wanted it to be. I feel like this would be a great book for a Starter fantasy reader, but not for a seasoned fantasy reader. The concept was such a good idea, i loved the dragon concept and the heist. I just wanted more from the book, everything felt rushed and i wasn't a major fan of the writing style.

Humans that turn into dragons?  Heists?  Why wouldn't you want to read this?  I couldn't wait to get my hands on it.

Sky's family and friends are the most important things in her life - along with kissing and ice cream.  Her priorities are straight, and her humorous voice makes this such a fun read.  The world-building is amusing - in the wyvern culture, leading your first heist is cause for celebration.  As dragons, stealing and hoarding gold is encouraged, so in Sky's world, her situation is pretty much a coming-of-age story.

The family dynamics make up a good portion of this story - a family mourning their mother gone missing, an overprotective father, and brothers who clearly care about Sky, but show it in awkward, yet heartfelt ways.  Most of the supporting characters are well-drawn, and Sky's human friend, Gabriela, is like an adorable puppy you want to hug.

Fire and Heist is more of a fluffy read, but with an Ocean's Eleven-like heist, a lovable family, and a charming and determined MC, it's light and enjoyable.  Also, dragons!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Okay, fire and heist had potential. I was so pumped to dive into this review but for the first half - I was so freaking bored. I wasn’t connecting to any of characters and I also didn’t care one bit about the drama either. Thankfully, it started to pick up after halfway through the book. Unfortunately, it was a little too late.

In this book, you will meet Sky. She’s a wyvern, which is basically a dragon shifter. Sky was an okay character but I honestly couldn’t connect with her. I didn’t care about what happened to her or this heist anymore. Other than her, the other characters were also boring. Again, connected to no one in this book.

Overall, it was an okay kind of book. I had high hopes before diving in and ended up being completely disappointed.

Fire and Heist had promise, but I didn't quite feel it lived up to that promise. there are too many plotholes in the worldbuilding, along with some convenient tell-not-show moments. I also never felt the central romance was real - he seemed like a flat character who just did whatever the plot felt was necessary.

Ocean's Eleven but with were-dragons... ahem... I mean wyverns. A great story about a dragons coming of age heist that has more at stake than normal, a quest to rescue her mother who has mysteriously gone missing. It was a great read!

This book was just okay, I didn't have high expectations but I did expect a bit more. The whole book was centered around one heist which made it a tad boring at times. And for a book about dragons, there wasn't a lot of dragon action which was my biggest disappointment. Also, the characters were somewhat bland and the dialogue felt a bit cheesy and juvillie at times.

Overall, this book was nothing special and didn't stand out in any way. I think the idea was cool but it just wasn't what I thought it would be.

2 stars

I understand that this book was a Young Adult novel; however, I found the characters completely immature, and difficult to relate to. Throughout the reading experience, it felt too much as though the author was trying to create overly done, "tropey" characters , rather than simply fleshing the characters out and making them unique individuals.

I though the premise of this story had great potential, but the execution of plot dynamics was unfortunately very cliched and felt unoriginal.

This book had a lot of potential and I was severely disappointed that I did not enjoy it.

*Thank you net galley and the publisher for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion*

Fire & Heist is a very fun YA fantasy novel featuring were-dragons and heists. Filled with engaging characters, edge-of-your-seat action, and a hint of sweet romance, readers will fall in love with Durst's new fantasy. If you're looking for something fresh in young adult fantasy or enjoy the idea of were-dragons in a novel, you'll want to check Fire & Heist out asap!

I was very excited about this concept because, come on, were-dragons AND heists? It sounded amazing! But sadly, once I got into it, I found Fire and Heist to be too juvenile. The first-person voice was a little grating, and I just couldn't connect. Ultimately, I think this could work for some people, but the execution didn't meet my expectations of the premise, sadly.

<b>I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for this honest review</b>

I flew through this book in one sitting. Sky had me hooked from the get go. She shares a lot of similarities to Pearl, the main character of Durst's novel Drink, Slay, Love. I just loved how she is easy to connect and is legit funny. Durst does a great job all around with nailing quick humor in, even during tense situations. That is never an easy thing to do. I'd find myself tense one moment waiting for the next moment, but laughing at a quick quip.

The story is mostly fast paced and fun, with my biggest issue coming from around the halfway point after Sky's first heist. The pacing slows down a little and I found myself getting a little bored even though much of what was going is relevant to the story.

Durst also does the relationships between characters really well. You can truly feel the connections between Sky and everyone around her. Finally, the whole idea of Wyverns/were-dragons is so damn fun in this novel, and I now want more of this in my life.

If you liked Drink, Slay, Love, well I can't recommend Fire & Heist enough. It's a great one off story that is perfect for a single sitting. It provides great banter, relationships, and action. It also has a nice message to wrap it all up.

I give Fire & Heist a 4.25 out of 5, and I wouldn't mind more of Sky to return in the future.

I loved this book! The full review will be posted soon at kaitgoodwin.com/books! Thank you very much for this wonderful opportunity to connect books to their readers!

Well that was incredibly refreshing, imaginative, addictive and SO HERE FOR THIS!
This story follows a young girl named Sky and her family deals with wyverns. SURPRISE! She is actually a wyvern herself! More specifically a human who can transform into one. HOW COOL! The plot is mostly about Sky's mother who goes missing, which leads to Sky to go against her family's wishes and sets on a mission of her own to find her. One thing I really loved about the whole book was the author's ability to really capture a moment. The setting was incredibly vivid. You could completely feel the characters struggles and determination to persevere. I really liked them all. They have a very snarky banter among them that kept the book tipping toward comedy and honestly brought even more life to the plot.

This story is clever, the writing is like butter, and it definitly deserves your attention.

This was a fun mashup of heist story and dragon fantasy.

*Thanks to Netgalley for providing an e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

*Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with an early copy in exchange for an honest review.*

I went in wanting actual fantasy and I got cheap contemporary instead. Upon closer reading of the description it doesn't sound like other fantasy books, but I still feel misled. I'm betting a lot of people will be expecting fantasy and end up confused like me.

Started skimming around 35%.

Aside from being completely thrown off by the genre, the story read way too juvenilely. Sky goes on and on about her boyfriend problems and how she's lost her friends and her love for pizza. I don't care.
The danger one would think accompanies stealing stuff is sidelined in favor of cutesy writing and cringey sarcastic observations about current/past events. And from what I read by skimming, it seems the planning for the heist lasts about three chapters 40% of the way into the book.
The story is painfully predictable. Sky's mother is missing and as soon as we find out what she was doing and one key element in the "world-building" I knew exactly where it was going. And Sky not only doesn't have a clue, she also doesn't ask the right questions. How can I say that when I didn't read the whole book? The perfect time for her to ask the questions came and went without her batting an eye. Back to the heist. How can I get invested in something when I know no one is going to die or become seriously injured? Where's the excitement in that?
The characters are desperately plain and shallow. The girl who's "strong and independent," aka stupid and lucky, the cute/hot boyfriend who has no other defining qualities, the obligatory new friend, the quirky salesman, and family drama. It also has one of my least favorite things: the I-can't-tell-you-what's-going-on-because-you-wouldn't-understand-even-though-the-truth-is-very-simple trope. Couple that with the I'm-trying-to-protect-you-but-won't-tell-you-what-the-danger-is-so-you-can-realize-you-have-no-hope-of-succeeding-if-the-plot-didn't-demand-it, and you have one of my most hated kinds of forced drama.
The whole were-dragon thing failed to impress me. Here I was expecting people to transform into dragons all the time and instead I get paparazzi dragons whose only love is being rich and having dumb council meeting things to look secretive and blah blah. They may as well be Kardashians for all the coolness they have. And then you find out something, and that something turns out to have the silliest fix by the end of the book. And I'm supposed to imagine a happily ever after with that new knowledge. I don't think so.
Overall it felt like the author wanted a heist and were-dragons but couldn't be bothered to create an original world or believably twist our world to support the ostensibly cool idea. If you can't bear the thought of reading real fantasy but want something that's not another high school drama fest, you can read this high school drama fest featuring were-dragons.
I have not/will not read any other books by this author. And the cover is kinda good.

I got this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
The cover is what grabbed my attention. It is beautiful, don't you think? Such rich colors. And DRAGONS!! I have a soft spot for all things dragon. I've read many books with dragons in it and enjoyed them quite well. I have not read a book about a were-dragon before now.
Fire and Heist
by Sarah Beth Durst
Sky Hawkins is a teenage girl whose mom has just disappeared, her long-time boyfriend just broke up with her in a very public manner, and her family has been disgraced. Sky, her three brothers, and her father are still in shock from these events. They are trying to move on and accept their new life minus their mom, position in the were-dragons society, and half their fortune is gone. Nothing is the same as it was before. She is desperate to literally and figuratively put her family back together. Since money, specifically, gold is so very important to were-dragons, Sky plans her first heist.
In dragon society, leading a heist is a coming of age tradition. Sky cobbles together a team and a plan to pull it off. But of course, heists never go as planned.
Along the way, she uncovers family secrets and even societal secrets that will change her future forever.
The Writing
I devoured this story. The writing of this story is very clean and clear. The tone is fun and relatable. The pacing is quick but not breakneck speed. The characters are engaging and surprising, in a pleasant way. Durst has created an entire culture for these wyverns (were-dragons). These people, who used to be able to transform into dragons but have lost the ability over the last few centuries, are culturally more like dragons stuck in human form. The culture she has created seems extremely plausible given a dragon's love of gold. It makes sense that the wyverns would base their society on the size of their hoards.
Another thing I like about this book: It is not an angsty romance. Yes, there is a boy involved, but she does not spend pages and pages merely pining over the boy who rejected her. She regrets what happened and she does spend some time working through this rejection and her future, but the author weaves it into the story very well.
Who Will Like This?
If you like dragons, you are sure to like this! If you like Rick Riordan's stories about mythology with rich worldbuilding, then you are likely to enjoy this book too.

Blog post containing this review is scheduled for 9/9/18 on quillandbooks.com

I really enjoyed this book. I found this book to be such a fun read. I thought he world building was so fun and the magic system was so fun to read about. I found this book to be such a fun read. I really enjoyed the heist/dragon novel. I really loved the lead character so much and just love the heist side of this novel. I thought the various locations we went to was also so well crafted. I also love the complex family dynamics that was featured in this novel. I read this book so fast and it just made me smile. I really loved this as standalone but would love too see more stories told in this world!

I was provided an eARC of this in exchange for a fair review.
I wanted to like this book, I really did. It has pseudo-dragons and a family of thieves and a sassy female MC. However, I just couldn’t get into it. Something about the writing style, or maybe the plot holes, or just the fact that I never seem to like modern contemporary fantasy of this ilk. In many ways it reminded me of the Talon series by Julie Kagawa, but without her talents. I likely will not read more from this author.

This book took two of my favorite things to read about, heists and a fantasy world, and put them in the same novel. I had pretty low expectations for this book, but it was actually really cool. Wyverns, or dragon shifters, were a really fun fantasy species to read about. They all steal and have a horde of treasures, so theft is part of the culture and looked upon highly if properly pulled off without getting caught.

 The characters, in my opinion, were the downfall of this novel. They were rather vanilla, boring and felt run-of-the-mill. They weren't bad, but they weren't anything special either. I had a hard time finding this book as interesting as it should've been because the characters were so dull. 

 The plot was what kept me reading. The author said she wanted to write Ocean's Eleven, but with dragons, and she did. The planning of the heist takes up a good portion of this novel, but the execution of it is glossed over. There is a fun fantasy twist that helped keep some of the excitement, but I think the planning of the heist should have been explained less and execution of the heist explained more. The tension and excitement are not brought for what should have been a very interesting part of the book. 

 It was okay overall, but a lot of things could have been done better. When I think of combining fantasy with thievery I think of Six of Crows, this came nowhere near the heights that novel reached. Fire and Heist could have been done way better, but it was still a fun fast read.