I received this book for free from Crown Books for Young Readers in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Fire & Heist by Sarah Beth Durst
Published by Crown Books for Young Readers on December 4th, 2018
Genres: Adventure, Urban Fantasy, YA
Source: Crown Books for Young Readers
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In Sky Hawkins's family, leading your first heist is a major milestone--even more so than learning to talk, walk, or do long division. It's a chance to gain power and acceptance within your family, and within society. But stealing your first treasure can be complicated, especially when you're a wyvern--a human capable of turning into a dragon.
Embarking on a life of crime is never easy, and Sky discovers secrets about her mother, who recently went missing, the real reason her boyfriend broke up with her, and a valuable jewel that could restore her family's wealth and rank in their community.
With a handpicked crew by her side, Sky knows she has everything she needs to complete her first heist, and get her boyfriend and mother back in the process. But then she uncovers a dark truth about were-dragon society--a truth more valuable and dangerous than gold or jewels could ever be.
THIS BOOK HAS WERE-DRAGONS AND HEIST. If that alone isn’t enough to get your interest, there is no way I could change your mind with my boring-ass words. But I do have a review to write so I guess you could stick around if you felt like. I’d much rather you just read the book though.
MOVING ON. I’ve been reading Sarah Beth Durst for quite some time now and I’ve never read a book by her that I didn’t like. I expected Fire and Heist to be set in a high fantasy world so it took me a little longer to get around to read it but it’s actually set in an urban-fantastical world and I LOVE URBAN FANTASY. When you dive into a book featuring heists and were-dragons, you go in with certain expectations. The actual book was slightly different from my expectations was in it was less intense and more fun but fun is never a bad thing and I honestly just couldn’t stop reading.
Sky Hawkins’ life fell apart one month ago. Her mother did something so terribly wrong her family lost half their wealth, their place in their society and also, their mother. Sky also lost all her friends and her boyfriend/best friend who chose to shun her. Her father and brothers are also being weird about the big, bad thing that went wrong and trying to protect her from the world. Of course, that’s not really helpful and really frustrating given that this affects her just as much as it affects them.
When her ex finds a way to share the truth with her, she knows her family’s honor must be avenged and she must complete the heist her mother started. She assembles a rag-tag group of people to help her with the heist and so an adventure begins.
AND IT IS QUITE THE ADVENTURE. This book, in my opinion, is not necessarily about the heist itself but about everything that caused it and everything it will cause. Sky’s life has been split into a before and after and while she wishes things could go back to before, she is forced to re-evaluate her society and examine it without her rose-tinted glasses. There is quite the scandal surrounding the thing they are trying to heist and it only gets more intense.
I am a great lover of heists but I think what really stood out about this book to me was the world Sarah Beth Durst has built. It should seem excessive and over-the-top but honestly, it just worked and it was fun. Not really a surprise given that Durst is REALLY good with world building BUT YOU KNOW, I am happy.
I ALSO LOVED all the relationships. I loved watching Sky step out and make friends with a human and realize that she was a sucky person in the past, I loved Sky and her brothers, I loved Sky and her fathers, and yes, I did love Sky and her ‘ex’ as well.
If you are a lover of fun and having a good time, this book should already be on your TBR, but if it’s not, I am definitely not gonna convince you so you should just go sulk in a corner and continue not having ANY FUN WHATSOEVER.
3.5 Hot Espressos