I found that the beginning of The Dagger and the Flame had me hooked, but quickly left me feeling unsatisfied. While it was a fun read, I felt some things were lacking.

To begin with, I did enjoy the story. However, when I finally turned the last page, it left me feeling like I do when I eat a bowl of vanilla ice cream: it was good (because ice cream, yum), but it needed something more, a topping if you will. There was enough to keep me interested, but nothing that left me saying it was a deliciously satisfying bowl of ice cream. It just ... was.

I think my biggest thing was that in the midst of trying to develop the "enemies to lovers" romance, the brooding shadow bad boy, and the banter and tension that everyone wants these days, everything else got lost in the process. I've read this story a hundred times (and will keep reading these stories because I enjoy them, too), and The Dagger and the Flame didn't do anything I haven't seen before. On top of that, the confusing world-building, one-dimensional side characters, and heavy reliance on the typical romantasy tropes leaves much to be desired. Not every book in this genre will be a completely new experience, and that's okay, but I need to feel invested enough in the story and the characters that these generalized things don't matter, and I didn't feel that happened here.

I think there were many things to enjoy about this story, which is clear from the overwhelmingly positive reviews I've seen, but for me, The Dagger and the Flame was missing its topping. I still had a fun time, but a bit more development of things outside the romance would have definitely had me giving it a higher rating.

I received an advanced copy of The Dagger and the Flame from Netgalley and the publisher and am leaving this review voluntarily.

So fun and interesting!! Went right into this after hearing the hype and loved the world and characters! The action and romance kept me in the edge of my seat the entire time! I can't wait for book two!!!

This one was really good. Had some slow parts to it for me but I feel like I will continue the series for now and see where it goes.

The last couple romantasy novels I’ve read were disappointing, so I went into The Dagger and the Flame with low expectations. I was pleasantly surprised!

Here’s what I enjoyed most:
–the magic system created around shade, especially how it was used differently in the two societies - daggers and cloaks.
–the friendships Sera formed with the Cloaks, especially Theo, who’s a great supporting character. The ending created an intriguing set-up for him in book two.

I love a heist, so I would’ve enjoyed seeing Sera spend more time stealing stuff with the Cloaks before going off in her own direction.

I also think the reveal about Sera’s mother deserved more on-page emotional processing. Maybe that reflection will come in the next book.

Finally, for anyone considering this book for a younger audience, know that there is one very steamy scene. The Dagger and the Flame is marketed as YA, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it for younger teens. For comparison, I would put the spice level along the same lines as Adalyn Grace’s Foxglove.

As a whole, this was a fun read, and I'm looking forward to the release of book two later this year!

Thank you to Margaret K. McElderry Books for providing me with an arc.

I request this book before I realized that most YA isn't working for me anymore and this one also did struggle with that for me. I couldn't really get into it which definitely isn't fully the fault of the book and is partially just that I am not the target for YA anymore. I do want to come back to this as I liked this author's other books but at this time I am DNFing it.

Two rival gangs run the city. One assassinates and one steals both crave power. If you guess that two rivals fall in love, you would be completely accurate. Of course, there’s more to the story, but that’s for you to read in the book.

I found this to be enjoyable and predictable. There are drugs and monsters, and people start dying. There is some great magic that comes from the drugs. It gives the story a little bit of a unique feel. I think the story is at its strongest when it’s focusing on the magic (drugs) and how it can be manipulated.

Now for the romance. It was fine but felt out of place when monsters are roaming. I really enjoyed both main characters back story and felt the tension as they started to like each other. This has a definite enemies to lovers vibe. There were stolen moments and flying notes.

My big hesitation about this is that the story feels YA but the romance feels older. There’s more profanity than I expected and wandering hands abound once the lovers get together.

This book contains scattered strong profanity and has make outs with wandering hands and a descriptive love scene with some unfortunate timing.

Sorry for the late feedback - I thought I had submitted it.

This was... fun? Not really rememberable or something I will pick back up again. The dual POV wasn't my favorite only because it was like a repeat of everything I had already read just from a different viewpoint? The enemies to lovers was GOOD. I am so sick of fake enemies to lovers but this part did not disappoint.

Will I read the 2nd book? Yeah!

This was a perfectly fine YA fantasy novel. I liked it, the pacing was good (in general), there were some fun plot points, the romance had some great lines….overall I have no regrets reading this. That being said, I don’t feel the need to continue the series. The romance was a bit fast for me, the two MCs fell fast without spending much time together which is one of my pet peeves. I think people who enjoyed These Violent Delights would like this.
If you generally like YA fantasy and you don’t need it to be an extraordinary standout or super unique, I’d definitely rec..

3 stars!

I thought this was a fun YA story with a very unique premise and world. I liked the idea of the two orders, the Cloaks and the Daggers, and how the criminal scene runs the entire city. I think unfortunately I didn't feel super invested, and after I finished the book I didn't feel like I needed to read the second book in the duology. I thought Ransom and Seraphina had decent chemistry, but again wasn't 100% sold on their relationship. Ultimately, just ok and maybe not the perfect book for me. It also took me six months to finish it, so maybe that speaks to my enjoyment level.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Romance, rival gangs, and enemies to lovers romance! This is such a fun start to a series and I can't wait to read the next book! I really like the world building that Catherine Doyle has done for this and the characters are so interesting! It's a fun read and one I would absolutely recommend for romantasy readers!

I really enjoyed this book and the world that was built here! Loved the whole rival gangs and I am always a sucker for the someone is trying to kill one person but can't bring themselves to do it! I am excited to see where this goes next as we have dived into everything surrounding the characters of this book and their families that brought them to the plot of this book. I think this was a solid YA romantasy!

Unfortunately Dagger and the Flame missed the mark for me. In theory, it should've been right up my alley. I love YA fantasy, I love enemies to lovers, I loved the idea of a rival gang theme, but I just didn't love this.

It's not a particularly bad book, but it just was boring. While the magic system and plot started out interesting enough, the characters just didn't pull me in. I didn't care about anything that they were doing. While there was great banter, there was no actual slow burn meaningful tension. I just never bought into their romance.

It could've been a mood reading situation, but in the sea of YA Romantasy, this one just didn't do it for me.

I really enjoyed this one. I liked the dynamic between the two gangs and the relationship between the two main characters, I cannot wait until the next book. I did think the one scene in the alley was a bit out of place for this book. It felt unnatural and out of place for the characters.

This was an unexpected delight. True, it follows a familiar enough tale - two young people on opposing sides, inevitably drawn to one another - but the verve with which Doyle writes gives this story a fresh and glowing life.

Seraphine is on the run following the mysterious murder of her mother, seeking refuge amidst the thieves’ guild of the Cloaks - who use the magical compound Shade, sewn into their clothing to make them one with the shadows. Meanwhile, Ransom is a Dagger, sworn to the guild of Assassins, marked indelibly with the Shade he consumes to give him killing strength, and Seraphine is his next mark. But secrets will be discovered and darkness comes to light as the two must, however briefly, join forces to discover why monsters are haunting the city of Fantome; and along with a strange new magic, passion is fanned into flame…

Some excellently written yearning, a sprinkle of banter, and a fun group of friends - I would have liked even more time spent on the Dagger side to make them more empathetic. Really enjoyable and well paced.

Happy to have a new enemies to lovers romantasy to recommend to our YA readers clamoring for MOAR....
The book cover is exquisite.

DNF'd at 40%

I liked Twin Crowns so I was hoping to really love this one, but nothing about the characters or their enemies relationship was really grabbing my attention enough. I thought the magic was a bit interesting and the action was good, but I couldn't get into any other part of the book.

Might give this another try at a later date when the mood calls for a ya fantasy.

The Dagger and the Flame is Doyle's first book in a new series. Doyle has woven a new magic system with Shade being the medium to flow with or kill with shadows. I enjoyed our snarky 17 yr old Seraphine with her will to live. Ransom (yep that's his name) is our MMC and his POV was so great to have as between the two MC's we get a great insight into the Cloaks and Daggers who rule the city. While it is a YA book I feel like this book would have been even better if it had a aged up the characters as Seraphine was very open about all she has done with her farm boy she left behind and one fairly explicit scene for which if you want to go there just age up and be a new adult and true romantacy. For that and for some stalled plot in the middle I give this 4 stars. I will be reading the next book to see who Doyle will turn this cluster she ended us in will work itself out or how it will still be some romance at all in the next book will be interesting to see how she pulls this off.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

The story pulled me in right away and I loved the enemies to lovers push and pull throughout the book. The discovery of what the FMC is capable of and how far she was willing to go was an interesting journey. I lived the character arcs for both the MMC and FMC. It definitely read YA but it delivered a captivating tale and I cannot wait for the next book.

I liked the overall feel of the story but I have to say that the ending was not as good as I was expecting it to be. I did enjoy the characters and the unique idea of the plot and world building.
I would love to read the next one and hopefully change my mind

3.5 stars