Didn’t love it but to be honest I’m really thinking I might just not be the best audience for this one. The beginning scene had me so into it but it didn’t keep up after that. I really honestly felt myself lost and struggling to listen at times. The story hits you right away with so much info that doesn’t really let up. The plot was really interesting but I felt very little for the characters so it was hard to keep my interest. I will say that the narration for the audiobook was great and I enjoyed listening to it!

The Sky on Fire by Jenn Lyons is a fantasy read that hooked me from the start. The plot centers around a thrilling heist for a magical artifact, with dragons playing crucial roles as actual characters, not just props.

One of the book's standout features is its rich world-building. Lyons has crafted a society ruled by tyrannical magical beasts, creating a compelling and immersive setting. The characters are quirky and distinct, each with their unique backgrounds and motivations, contributing to a delightful band of misfits vibe. There is also so much diversity in age, species, motive, life experience, and skills, that make it such an interesting dynamic.

Anahrod, the main character, is fiercely independent and stubborn, making her a standout. The romance element is fresh too, with a love triangle turning into a polycule—something you don't see often and was done well. !!Publishers and Authors!! We want more of this in our books!

However, there was a bit of a lack of chemistry, and I think that is largely due in part to having so much packed into such a short story. Some of the romantic aspects felt a bit juvenile at times, with playful teasing about who likes who. It was apparent what Lyons was trying to do, but for me, it missed the mark ever so slightly. I also struggled a little with pacing. Another small issue was pacing. At times, the narrative moves too quickly, glossing over scenes that could benefit from more detail, while at other points, it slows down too much, reminiscent of the pacing issues in The Priory of the Orange Tree.

My recommendation; The Sky on Fire is a must-read for fantasy fans. Its rich world, engaging characters, and innovative take on romance make it a standout in the genre. Jenn Lyons has delivered a story that is both enchanting and thought-provoking, that left me wanting more. It can easily be read as a standalone, but the epilogue does hint a little more

Audiobook note: The narration is absolutely fantastic!

I read a lot of (primarily) fantasy books. Of course I enjoy dragons. But would I be so inclined if many of them were jerks? Say, society only really existing because they allow it, we do come up with clever things. So when I was able to get my paws on "The Sky on Fire" by Jenn Lyons (out July 9th, 2024) who made some nutty dragons in her series, A Chorus of Dragons, I was as pleased as a wyrm in its lair. Did get audio as well so I didn't have to stop reading once I started.

Anahrod has a problem. That problem being her past has crashed into her current life. When a meeting goes absolutely sideways and she ends up being absconded with by a crew from the sky cities (did I mention they are down in the jungles) to carry out a plan based on her (alleged) crimes, and require her (alleged) knowledge to do so. See, she was tossed out/executed years ago, but didn't exactly die. Now they need her to steal from the hoard of a dragon. One who is kind of in charge of all the other dragons. And is incredibly magically competent. And is the one who had Anahrod executed (didn't take though).

Narrated by Lauren Fortgang, always a pleasure. Fantastic vocalizing of banter. Why does spice on audio always start when I'm in the grocery store???

Reasons to read:
-Big dragons doing stuff with crazy powers, just fire breathing is boring
-Banter
-Overbite
-BPPT confirmed!
-Sometimes folks just need a good stabbing
-Did magic grammar save the day?
-The characters are fantastic

Cons:
-No dholes, but I already knew they weren't in the story before I started

Thanks so much to NetGalley for the Audio ARC!

To start with the audiobook/narrator quality - top notch, loved it! Production value was great, the narrator hit the tone perfectly, and it was really fun to listen to.

As for the book itself, WOW I loved it. This was what I wanted from Fourth Wing and felt similar to what I got from the Fireborne trilogy....amazing dragons (with and without riders), fantastic ensemble cast, a heist, magic, a true love triangle (goes all 3 ways)....seriously, it has it all. The fights were epic and easy to follow, the banter was great, the flirting was SPICY (especially the scene on the airship....), the magic and lore were interesting, and to bring it all together it was really well written.

I don't want to give too much away but this hits all the best parts of a heist book and has amazing dragons too. This was perfectly up my alley and if you enjoy Eragon, Fireborne, Fourth Wing, The Founders Trilogy....I think you'll love this one too!

I'm not going to say I didn't like it, I just didn't finish it.
It dragged, I felt no affinity to any character except maybe the mayor, and at 20%, I decided I had better use for my time.
I do thank Tor and Netgallery for the advanced audiobook, I hope you find your reader base.

⭐️⭐️.75/5

The Sky on Fire is a fun but messy fantasy with interesting characters and an intriguing plot.

This one did not work for me. I enjoyed the characters but wanted to see even more world and character development. The plot was great, but the execution felt thrown together, with many scenes feeling oddly placed. The pacing was fine, but the story felt long. I loved the diverse characters and world, but parts of the romance felt odd. Though this story had a lot of fun aspects and ideas, I would not recommend it unless the reader has already had their eye on the read.

I enjoyed the audiobook narrator! She used accents that fit the characters well, and I loved the personality she brought to the read.

Thank you to the publisher for the free ALC!

This was sooooooo much fun!

🏃‍♂️Fast paced
♀️Sapphic - level 1 🌶️
🐉Dragons (good & evil)
🏡Found Family
👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩👧Throuple

Anahrod has been in hiding for years after a failed assassination attempt from a high-ranking dragon. She is then kidnapped several times 😂 and forced into a heist in order to protect her brother (The dragon she is stealing from is also the one trying to murder her). Chaos ensues ....

The banter between characters is so fun; I lol'd several times. I like how the romance didn't dominate the plot. There are several lovable characters, and most importantly, the plot itself hasn't already been done a million times. Really refreshing summer read!


Release Date: July 9th 2024

I loved this! Ocean’s Eleven meets Fourth Wing, and I’m so into it. I thought the world in which dragons rule over humans, instead of the other way around, was fun. I’ve already recommended this to several friends who enjoyed Fourth Wing. As an audiobook, Lauren Fortgang (who I know from other audiobooks, and always does well) was a great choice; she does different voices for each character so well, it makes it easy to follow the ensemble cast.

This would have been a complete five star read for me if it weren’t for just a couple of points (one, really), and let me preface this with, I love a stand-alone. Sometimes I don’t have the time for a long saga, and a fun ride that I can move on from quickly is so appreciated. That said, this could have been a duology or trilogy and I wouldn’t have been mad if it meant we got just a bit more world building. The world was SO interesting and creative, and the core cast was large, so I felt like I never got as much development on any one character as I would have loved, despite how long the book already was.

Still, I was very satisfied with the ending of this and how the ends were tied up, and felt like I enjoyed the (long) ride the whole way. 4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

Man I really wanted to love this but unfortunately let me down. I feel like there was barely any world building and what there was focused on the wrong things (we know all about the sexuality rings barely anything on dragons or magic) plot felt very rushed in some places extremely slow in others. I really loved Jenn Lyons Chorus of Dragons series so this is very sad for me.

However the narrator did very well with using different voices and conveying emotion! Will be checking out future books narrated by them

I truly wanted to love The Sky on Fire but to my disappointment, I did not. The biggest issue I had was how bland and forgettable all of the characters were (including the MFC). I wasn't invested in any of them and didn't care whether they lived or died. It seemed as though each only had one character trait and that was it, the character development was severely lacking. I did find that the world building was very interesting, where dragons rule over humans instead of the other way around was a nice touch, and the world in general, the Skylands and the Deep, were interesting enough to keep me reading but other than that I found the book lacking in many areas. This is the first book I've read by Jenn Lyons and I don't know whether I'd pick up her other series based on this one.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Macmillan audio for providing the audio eARC.

Note on Narrator:
The narrator performed exceptionally well and I found myself engaged with each character's portrayal.
Truthfully, they were the only reason I didn't drop the book when it became clear how it was going.

On the story:
This started off promising.
It gave the feeling of a band of misfit anti-heroes, similar to Dungeons and Dragons, and the quest to both do good and get rich - which we love. But while DND campaigns can be long YET fun, this was just ungodly long and boring. There were so many side quests for the main character as they tried to not join the quest that I understand was to help with character development but, in my opinion, didn't achieve it.
The characters were not fleshed out and connections were very lacking or unbelievable.

It's safe to say I did not enjoy this. Which is disappointing as I was very excited for this title.