Fire and Heist

Enjoyed this way more than I expected to. It has its flaws, but overall I had a good time reading it and loved most of the characters and conversations.

I picked this up off the library shelf for the title; I took it home for the description. Were-dragon thieves? Awesome. It turns out it's not that simple. For one, the were-dragons have lost the ability to transform over the years - the last dragon to transform was Sir Francis Drake, and the book is set in modern times, so, at least a couple hundred years have passed. And humans know the were-dragons exist! I suppose without the ability to transform, they're little more than rich celebrities with parlor tricks. (Immune to fire to certain temperatures, ability to breathe fire.) What humans don't know is how much the wyverns tend to steal to enrich their hoards. And that some of them can do limited magic.

We open on Sky, sixteen, rattling around her mansion, dealing with her now dysfunctional family of three brothers and their father. Her mother went missing not very long ago, during a heist. The kids have been told she's gone, she's alive, she's not coming back, and to drop the matter. Were-dragon society almost exiled all of them for whatever their mother got into, so they're all on thin ice. Sky, of course, is having none of this. When she stumbles on a lead for where her mother went, she pursues it, and learns all kinds of secrets.

The book was okay, I suppose. I was a little appalled at were-dragon society, and that the dragons just - bow to the authority of the Council. Dragons should have more spine. The heist part was pretty cool, with Sky and her friends figuring out how to take apart every layer of security piece by piece.

I don't know. It was a fluffy book, but not a feel-good book, and I just wasn't that enthused.

You can find all my reviews at Goddess in the Stacks.

This book was really fun; I like heist stories, dragon stories, and “fight the power” stories, and this does all of them well. The 90's rom-com romance is fine - doesn't add or detract from the story. Didn't figure out the ending until it had arrived. Waiting for the next one!

This is a fast, fun read. It felt more middle grade than YA to me. It was ok, but not very intriguing. The characters are forgettable, and there's not much going on as far as a plot. I would definitely recommend it for middle grade readers though.
I received a copy from Net Galley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.