I was very excited for this book. Dragons, heists and misfits is my perfect book. I feel like there’s something missing in the story and that’s why I’m giving it 4 stars

Holy smokes. This was so good. It held my attention and the characters were so amazing. I could not put this book down at all

This is a placeholder for now as I'm a couple of days behind on my reading, but I wanted to make sure I got something out today.

I've read the first 30% of this tonight, and I'm pretty sure this is going to be a 5* book. I'm only forcing myself to stop reading because I have work in the morning.

I love Jenn Lyons, and the author has not failed in creating another unique world full with intrigues and plots and dragons! I'm super hooked already and can't wait to see what happens next.

Edit:

I was right. This book didn't disappoint. I loved everything about it.

I would love to see more of the worldbuilding, in terms of the Deep. It seems like a cool, hellish landscape, and I hope more will come of that.

I love the characters. They're intriguing, and it's interesting to see the dynamics between everyone and how it all plays out.

This can work as a standalone, but I really hope there is more to come!

Unfortunately, I ended up not finishing this one. I was really excited about the premise of the story, but I truly felt like I was reading the second book in the series rather than the lead. I really didn’t connect with many of the characters. I would say Anarhod was probably the most enjoyable, but the secondary characters were very much forgettable.l for me. I’m kind of bummed!

Dragons, heists, and a group of misfits. Anahrod spends her time trying to survive and being accompanied by her dragon, so when she is saved from being captured by a local warlord by a group of adventurers she thinks she's survived... only the group needs her for their own purposes, to steal from a dragon's hoard. The bigger problem besides trying to teal from a dragon is the fact that the very dragon they are trying to steal from wants her dead. This is a standalone fantasy story and it's a pretty thick read as well. The story kind of just immediately drops you into the world and if I'm being honest I just wasn't all that interested in the characters or the story. It initially sounded like so much fun and like something I would absolutely love reading however I just found myself getting bored and disassociating while reading it unfortunately.

Release Date: July 9,2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and Tor Publishing Group | Tor Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I enjoyed this story and would recommend to anyone who loves fantasy, dragons and heists! That said, some of the worldbuilding could have been done a bit better. I found it confusing at times and was left wanting it to be a bit more than it was.

Anahrod doesn’t trust dragons or dragon riders for a very good reason, however as she’s rescued by a dragon rider and her misfit crew, Anahrod believes her past might be catching up to her. an adventurous fantasy filled with dragons. magic and LGBTQ romance.

I always love books with dragons, no matter the age range or genre, if it has dragons there’s a high possibility of me picking it up, and this book delivers, with multiple dragons both friend and foe throughout the novel, however, I do wish we got to explore the dragons and their lore a little bit more personally.

I love the world-building in this novel, with people living in “the deep” on the ground and “the Skylanders” who live among the clouds in the mountains with the dragons, I felt like this made the story interesting and added more conflict than just the dragons. but the pace felt too rushed at the start and felt disjointed with the rest of the story, the rest of the book’s pacing is at a much slower pace, except the ending which once again sped up but felt a bit more natural than the first part.

One thing that really disappointed me was that I was advertised as a heist book, yes it’s a main part of the story, but it’s not THE story, this book has so much to offer and selling it mainly as a heist, felt like selling it short.

If you are looking for a dragon-filled fantasy with LGBTQ characters and high stakes this book is for you.

I LOVE dragons. As soon as I know a book has dragons, I am sold. Say less.

This book was a thrilling adventure! Initially, juggling numerous characters and a complex world felt overwhelming. However, once the intricate politics and magic system clicked into place, I was fully immersed in a captivating tale brimming with wit, emotion, and, of course, dragons!

The unexpected heist element added a thrilling twist to what could have been a straightforward good-versus-evil conflict. The characters were a fascinating mix, both endearing and infuriating, with rich backstories and distinct personalities. While the garden rings concept was cleverly woven into the plot, a quick reference guide might have been beneficial.

This was a solid three, but I was really hoping for more from it. I loved the twist on how dragons are usually portrayed, and I really liked the world building with the contrast between the Deep and the Sky. The characters were all super fun, but they just never quite grabbed my heart. I wanted to love them but they just felt tooooo try-hard at times. The twist on the kink element was also fun - I love this authors ideas, but that just makes me hold them to a higher standard!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy for review!

Review posted to Goodreads 7/10/24

The book has an amazing premise that promises a high-stakes heist set in a world where dragons have the upper hand -- a Six of Crows plot set in a Fourth Wing atmosphere. Although the book does offer all that, it's missing a lot to make it a stand-out and addicting fantasy book.

The world building
The world itself is not necessarily complex, but it does take a long time to get into the nitty gritty of its landscape. The copy I was provided did not provide a map, but it would have been helpful. The dragons itself and their dynamics aren't introduced until much later in the book, and at that point it felt rushed to fill in the story's gaps. I felt like the plot was stalled for the first half of the book (which is extremely long for a 450 page book) and lacks motivation.

The characters
I liked Anahrod's character -- she's capable and has grit, but also has flaws of her own that make her a fantastic protagonist. Some of the side characters are extremely forgettable and lacks character development. The romance aspects felt rushed and thrown together, which is disappointing considering the potential for sapphic and poly representation.

Overall, the book feels like it's trying to accomplish too much without ever focusing on and perfecting one aspect that could make it stand out. It's entertaining, especially near the end of the book, but that doesn't make up the lack of character development and awkward pacing.

Thank you for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I have always been a huge Anne McCaffery fan. Nothing has ever held a candle to her phenomenal Dragonriders of Pern series. But Jenn Lyons may have just created her own modern masterpiece. Going into this story I was excited it was a standalone. Now I'm hoping Lyons may mirror a master and create all the stories in her own incredible world.

Thank you to Tor and NetGalley for the arc

For now this is going to be a DNF for me!

The premise of this book sounds brilliant. Standalone fantasy, dragons, a heist, absolutely my cup of tea. Unfortunately the book just couldn't grip me the way I wanted it to and it's taken me a few weeks to barely reach the halfway mark.

Starting this book I felt as though I had picked up a second book in the series by accident. While the world-building is incredibly the interesting, it felt as though I had missed the part where the world is explained and explored which left me with lots of questions and quite confused. I had very little connection with the characters and I think this was due to the pace of the plot.

I've seen some really positive reviews so your mileage may vary!

Thank you again to the publisher and NetGalley for the arc.

Unfortunately this was a bit of a miss for me. I ended up not finishing but wanted to give my thoughts of what I did read.

This felt much to me like I pickup the sequel on accident and had no idea what was going on. And I know some books make you work for the back story or have a grand reveal, but I honestly wasn’t invested enough to get to that point. The world build felt messy and not set up in a way that felt easy to imagine on the readers side. I also wasn’t impressed that we were introduced to 5-6 new characters at the very beginning all within a few paragraphs of each other. It made it hard to keep people straight.

I did enjoy the writing, I didn’t feel that that so much was lacking. I just didn’t feel a strong pull toward any of the characters or their interactions with each other. I’m hoping others love this though! Thank you for the advanced copy.

A gripping read from start to finish. I haven’t read a dragon fantasy heist book quite like this before, the rich and complex world feels wholly unique to me. Although the story is jam packed with action and tension, the pace and world building are balanced. I was amazed at how much information Lyons manages to drop so naturally into the story.

I love the main character and most of the other integral characters. They contain multitudes and feel like real people. This found family is a super relatable group doing things we all in the ordinary world wish we could be doing. Minus the traumatic pasts, some of the things in this book are quite dark. Despite that, the story has an almost whimsical feel and the interactions between characters have humour.

There’s great LGBTQIA+ representation and the queer normative society Lyons has created is something we could learn from. At least in this regard, not necessarily the oppressive dragons (although some dragons would be nice 🐉). The romance in this book is MOSTLY sweet and off the page.

All in all, a wonderful fantasy book. I will be thinking about this world a lot. It has that magical feeling that makes you want to jump in and explore.

This world has pulled me in, and I want more. I thoroughly enjoyed this story. In a world ruled by dragons, what can mere humans do? I feel like we are meant to find out. One girl made a huge stir in this world and was killed by her own family 17 years ago. Is she really dead? What did she do to enrage the dragon ruler? How many times can one person be kidnapped?

Each of the characters are extremely interesting in their own way. They are unique with varying backstories, that are revealed at the appropriate times to keep the story moving. The representation of people's preferences based on rings is a nice addition. There are twists, turns, and obstacles throughout the adventure. Is everyone the bad guy? Are any of the dragons good?

The conclusion may have bean a little rushed but I was so excited to see what was going to happen that I was happy it wasn't as drawn out as some series. I love this world and would be happy to read more books based here.

Thanks to Netgalley for my advanced reader copy.

Thank you to NetGalley, Tor, and Ms. Lyons for the opportunity to read an ARC of this title. An honest review was requested but not required.

To be COMPLETELY honest I was drawn to this book by the cover. Frankly this book could have been about just about anything and I would have picked it up to read its jacket blurb based on the cover alone. Kudos to you, cover artist, you've more than earned your fee on this one.

I was pleasantly surprised to hear that The Sky On Fire was a mashup of Dragonriders of Pern and Six of Crows, two books/series I enjoy very much. I mean, I guess so, if the dragon/rider partnership was subverted from a (mostly positive) symbiotic partnership to a (mostly negative) master/servant situation. I particularly enjoyed that about this book: so many of my favorite dragon-related books have taught me to expect something good and instead I was handed... this. Jemaeh's ongoing emotional and mental abuse by his dragon Tiendremos was ... surprising, and it made for a very original experience.

I both enjoyed and disliked the pacing of the book. Enjoyed from the standpoint that a good heist novel needs to keep things moving at a brisk pace, or risk getting bogged down by details (or worse, by boredom). Disliked insofar as the breakneck pace scuttled some of the deeper character-building and world-building details I would have appreciated. For example: throwing in new characters each chapter certainly kept things moving but it was a challenge to keep up with them all. And I was very interested in the bonding process between dragons and humans, and lots of dragon-related details, and was disappointed not to get as many as I hoped for. And, for all the buildup, the ending was over SO quickly. Anahrod was a great character though, and I enjoyed the crew a lot, particularly Naeron, and Ris' golden dragon Peralon. It was a nice change to see a gender and affinity spectrum portrayed straightforwardly and normatively.

Overall this was a fun ride and would have been practically perfect in every way if I could have just gotten all my dragon-related questions ANSWERED, goshdarnit! lol.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4 because this is my review.

I was so excited for this book and I’m bummed to say, it wasn’t for me. I read about 60% fully intending to read it all but had to DNF it at that point. The premise sounded so good and parts of it were executed well but it just wasn’t enough for me at the end of the day. It was such an interesting fantasy world but I also felt the world building was lacking. The characters were all one note to me. Everything was moving so fast, jumping from one place to the next, that I never felt connected to the characters or attached to any of them. It could have been a great found family story but relationships were not developed enough and like I said, the characterization was not good. The plot really began to meander and some plot points were just plain dropped without being referenced again. At the 60% mark I realized that it was becoming a slog to read and I just didn’t care what happened anymore. I wish the entire story had been developed a bit more and I wish I could have loved this book. Your mileage my vary.

Definitely a different take on dragon riders! Yes there is a bond between dragon and rider, but dragons are in charge here. I thought the magic was interesting and found the main character compelling. I love a heist story, and the set up to the heist took a good portion of the book. The ring system to designate preferences was such a cool idea. I would have loved this to maybe be a duology- then I could have gotten more background in the group of characters, the politics of the world, and the dragon lore. I would even love a novella in this world. The ending was left where the world could be expanded and I would be interested to see more.

3.5 - I think this was the right book at the wrong time for me, and I feel bad because I think this is something I would normally love. But unfortunately, my brain is so tired right now, and a standalone fantasy with a ton of characters and action and a lot of world building all in one book was a bit too much. I think I'm planning to go back and reread this in the fall though, and I expect I will enjoy it so much more then.

That being said, I loved the concept of this!! A heist, a world full of dragons and dragon riders, characters with so many different flaws/personalities/identities, and really great world building for a single book. Anahrod is saved by a group of misfits, who take them on their heist to rob the world's most powerful and famous dragon hoard. The characters were such a fun, odd, diverse bunch, with each character reflecting a different identity. I really enjoyed each of the characters, but didn't find myself connecting that deeply with any of them.

I really enjoyed the world that Lyons created, somehow an entire magical, fantasy world in just one book. The fact that she created such a diverse, particular world in a standalone, took us through the entire heist and wrapped up the storylines for many of the characters was very impressive. Some parts made me laugh, which I loved, and I thought the heist plot was cool. Overall, I think if you like heist plots (like Six of Crows), fantasy worlds full of dragons, and want to read a fantasy standalone where you don't have to binge an entire series, you would probably really enjoy this!! Thank you to Tor Books for providing me with this free book in exchange for my honest review.

First and foremost, things I liked:
I loved our main characters, flaws and all, and felt that they showed growth by the end of the book. I also absolutely LOVED the society & garden rings as a way to show preferences and career. Finally, I also really enjoyed the positive “alternative” relationship style. I can’t say more without spoiling part of the story, so you’ll just have to read to see what I mean.

Things I didn't particularly love or that subtracted from my score of the book:
I didn't like how "thrown into the deep end" of this world we were from the get go. This is my first fantasy book that doesn't do a huge world building front half and instead just threw words at us for animals/cultural items without an explanation for multiple chapters. However, I grew to enjoy this and it didn't subtract more than a star for me. It did take a full star though because it left me floundering and not wanting to read it for multiple days in a row because I didn't feel like struggling to understand what was going on.

All in all, I really did enjoy reading this book, just wish we got a little bit faster on descriptions of things in the world or what certain words meant.