Fire and Heist was an highly anticipated YA fantasy book I was looking forward to read this year. Unfortunately, it didn't really hit the mark and it wasn't quite as good as I hoped it would be even though it has a lot of potential.

I didn't connect with the characters. The romance bored me and I really couldn't care less about Ryan and their relationship. It didn't make me feel anything. The high school drama crap was annoying. The world-building was a bit odd and I felt like it missed something. The 'heist' in itself didn't capture my attention. The idea behind it is really cool but it could have been better. Also, am I the only one to think that it's really weird that Sky's family never really looked for her mother?

Anyway, Fire and Heist was an okay read for me. There is room for improvement but I did enjoy some parts of it. I honestly hope you'll like it more than I did.

(I received an ARC to read and review from the publisher via Netgalley)

A heist story worthy of Ocean's Eleven with were-dragons and spunky teenagers! Sky Hawkins has hit a rough patch. Her mom is missing, her family is being shunned by society, her friends abandoned her and her boyfriend publicly turned his back on her. Sky has always been strong-willed and bold but unaware of the benefits her privileged life gave her. When it's clear how tough life can be, she comes up with a heist that could help her and her family regain power and acceptance within society. What she doesn't know is how deep the rot within the were-dragon society goes and the dangers she and her crew are courting. Sarah Beth Durst's book is a enjoyable YA urban fantasy that touches on relatable topics like surviving heartache, friendship problems, and challenging the status quo while remaining true to yourself.

4.5 stars.

I love Sarah Beth Durst's writing. You can never go wrong with one of her books.

What I love the most about her books is that they are light hearted, feel good stories. If you want a pick me up, her books are great to delve into. There isn't any melodrama in her plots and they focus mostly on character relationships, growing into oneself, and striving to bring something fresh and unique to the table.

To put it plainly, her books are just plain fun.

There was everything of that in here. I loved how our main character has an excellent, loving relationship with parents that are present and available, siblings that listen and communicate to each other, and all of whom are supportive of her views and desires but aren't pushovers. Sky develops a great friendship with Gabriela which doesn't focus on romantic interests but rather working together to achieve a goal. I loved how the importance of family connection was placed into this book and surrounding yourself with people who love and care for you.

The romance in here is very wholesome actually and doesn't take up much screen time. The characters both love and care for each other. The first half of this book focused more on the wyvern in human world interactions but the second half delivers on the dragon promise. I thought it was so cool when the characters are able to transform into dragons, super neat.

Fire and Heist is sweet, fun, and with a bit of humor. A good cheer yourself up book that I would definitely recommend. Fans of her writing would love this one as well.

Were-dragons! Sky and her family are part of a long line of wyverns, or were-dragons. While they have lost the ability to transform into dragons, they are still obsessed with their golden hordes, are fire proof, and can shoot flames from their mouths. It is typical that wyverns launch heists to gather more gold for their horde. However, after the last secret heist, Sky’s mother disappeared and the failed heist forced Sky’s family to lose their rank in the were-dragon community. Nothing has been the same since her mother went missing, so Sky is determined to find out what happened to her mother and get her family’s status back. With the help of several unlike crew members, Sky begins her first heist, to bring her mother back. It is important for her to be successful, otherwise her family might be completely reject from the wyvern community. Will she make it? Will she find her mother?

I found this concept super fascinating. I actually enjoyed many of the characters and look foreword to further exploration of the world in future books.

I found this book rather disappointing. The blurb and overall concept sounded fascinating since it wasn't something that's explored as much in YA. I was excited to have a protagonist who was actually a ghost, but I found that the world-building was quite confusing and that the book dragged on for the most part.

In the book Naya is the daughter of a captain but is killed before she can carry out any missions. That doesn't stop her, however, because as a wraith (basically a ghost) she works as a spy to help her country.

Most of the book focuses on her understanding what a wraith is and how she can help her country, which I found slow and rather boring. I also wasn't a fan of many of the characters, finding them two-dimensional and uninteresting. The world building itself was decent, although nothing wholly original when compared to other books. Overall the whole book was very meh.

Sky Hawkins is a wyvern. She's also the youngest in her family, having three older brothers. Her ancestors were exiled from Home through a Door that had disappeared. Wyverns have done quite well on Earth gaining wealth and being the target of paparazzi. Sky's family has recently lost wealth and status when her mother's most recent heist was a failure and resulted in her disappearance. Sky's family has been shunned by the others. It was especially painful for Sky because it was her boyfriend Ryan who shunned her at the most recent Reckoning.

Sky is determined to complete her mother's heist and restore her family's honor and place in their society. Leading a successful heist is a mark of adulthood in her society. Her ex-boyfriend convinces her that he shunned her on order from his father, the head of the Council, and wants to help her plan the perfect heist. Sky also recruits a human friend from school who is just about the only one who will have anything to do with her there. Gabriela is fascinated by dragons and is especially in love with unicorns which are native to the dragon Home. Sky also needs a wizard to help with some of the spells needed for her heist and recruits Maximus who is one of the few wyvern wizards.

Sky and her crew need to work in secret. Her father and older brothers are all against any tries to clear their mother's name and complete her heist. Sky is determined and the group comes up with a plan that should work. However, things go wrong in a big way and Sky finds herself exiled to the dragon Home world which isn't the paradise wyverns on Earth believe.

Although she is reunited with her mother, what she learns about Ryan's father's actions makes her determined to return to Earth and set things right.

I thought the world building with dragons living on Earth as celebrities was well done. I liked the Sky was such a determined person. I also liked the crew of new friends that she gathered around herself. I liked that dragons on Earth believed that they no longer had the ability to shift into to their dragon forms even though they they hadn't lost their ability to breath fire - to one degree or another. The one thing I liked about Home was that Sky learned to shift into her dragon form. I didn't like the rigid class society there.

Fans of dragons, heists, and friendship will enjoy this story.

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.

This book was a good book however not one of the best I have read this year I definitely recommend checking it out and seeing what you think for yourself.

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.

Durst never disappoints weather it is young adult or juvenile, Fire and Heist is a great heist and a fun romp.

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.