Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. I went into this having loved the Chorus of Dragons, and worried that the fantastic world building that the author created with that series would be impossible to recreate in a single book. In short I should not have worried, I loved the world and the characters within it. The only small issue I would say is that the pacing was not ideal for me, but overall a very good read with a very satisfying ending.

Oh, the disappointment is real. Everything about this book sounds so incredibly cool, and I've heard only great things about the author's previous work. Also, a fantasy heist story with dragons, what's not to love? I really wanted to enjoy the hell out of this book, but it actively worked against me even just liking it at every single point.

Starting with the things I actually did enjoy: Parts of the world building are great! I love the concept of dragons as the once ruling humans this time around, and the relationship between them and their riders is so so so interesting and unique. I loved this part. I also liked the general world this story takes place in, the Skylands and the Deep and the people that live there - it was all really intriguing. While the world building can be a little infodumpy at times, I do love that part in fantasy books so this is a major plus. The second thing I really liked was the love triangle actually developing into a polycule, which I didn't expect.

That's also where my problems with the book start, though. A poly relationship is fun, yes, but you actually need fully developed likeable characters to root for in this relationship, you need chemistry between them. The characters on a whole are underdeveloped, with most of them representing about one character trait. The character development feels just as bland and superficial, and the same goes for the relationship building. I wanted found family, I wanted ragtag group of people coming together for a heist and developing cool dynamics. I got random people with sometimes really weird, wattpad fiction type names (Jaemeh.......) that run around with their one personality trait, expecting me to like them based on just that and some tell-don't-show development and tragic past infodumps. I can see the potential there, but that's about it. I didn't care who lived or died, and that includes not only the poly couple as a whole, but the main character even. For a character feared by the very dragon queen, born with powerful magic, capable of controlling animals and maybe even dragons, she sure is bland. I also felt like most of the flirting between her and Ris, one of the love interests, was really cringeworthy at times.

The pacing is also incredibly meandering. I was getting bored by all the endless preperations for a heist that then happened in what felt like five seconds tops. The whole book needs some more editing, cutting out a lot of the unnecessary side noise that doesn't add anything to either the plot or the characters. There are also some sudden pov changes later on in the book which I didn't enjoy.

So yeah, this is me being really disappointed because I was so excited for the cool heist with dragons story, and a standalone one at that. But sadly, this one fell flat on too many levels for me, and I started skim reading more and more at about 20%, hoping until the very end that it would finally get better. For me, it didn't, but I hope others can enjoy this one more.

Thank you to Tor and Netgalley for giving me an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

Have you ever thought Six of Crows was lacking in dragons? Then look no further.

This was my first Jenn Lyons book, and I have to say I did really enjoy it. Although at times it did feel like the book was having to drag me through the story, the fabulous world building kept me immersed. Usually in dragon books, it is the humans that control the dragons, so it was very interesting to read a world where this was the complete opposite. It really gave the book a unique feeling.

While the heist aspect was thrilling, I think it lacked the strong found family character connections that it was trying to portray. I feel like I was told the characters were close rather than learning it myself through the story.

Overall, I think Jenn Lyons is a master at world building, however, the character relationships just needed that extra layer of depth for me to rate the book any higher.

So. This book has potential, I can definitely say that.

The world building is one of the parts that I really enjoy. One thing that I note I like was the rings tradition. Like, wow. That was really unique and smart. Also, one thing to commend was the gender fluidity in this book. It is hard to execute the whole gender system without making it too preachy or immature. While in this one, it was smoothly done.

With that said though, vibrant world building aside, I think, the main issue I find lacking in this book is the characters. While world building can work around the show-don't-tell rule (in my opinion), the characters, you have to show them. Don't tell me all these great achievements, these back stories between them, show me. Hence probably why the characters suffered a lot. Plus, I don't really can get into the romantic subplot in this one, if you can even call it that. I don't see the chemistry, the attraction. And the fact that it was supposed to be about a poly relationship? What? How? Whyyyy?

Anyway. That aside. Love the world building. Devastated over the underdeveloped characters.

Jenn Lyons is officially on my auto-buy list! I adore her writing style; it is so descriptive and makes the world truly immersive. The world building was really impressive, especially for a standalone and wish I could have spent more time there. I loved the set up with the dragons and felt like it was a slightly different take on the usual dragon rider dynamic.

I loved the characters within this book, especially our main character Anharod. I really enjoyed being in a queer normative/open world with hints at some kink and BDSM in the main relationship. It is more “closed door” so shouldn’t put off anyone who isn’t a fan of spice. I thought the garden rings concept was also interesting. I do wish we had more from the main romance, but as there was so much going on within the book I don’t think it was a huge loss. I was still invested and could see this being a really good interconnected standalone series - feel like there are still more many stories to tell. Can’t wait to see where this series might go!

Would highly recommend for lovers of heists, dragon rider dynamics and queer/poly romance stories!

"The Sky on Fire" is an adult fantasy standalone written by Jenn Lyons. A novel with an appealing premise that unfortunately did not fully convince me in its development. I loved the presence of cunning dragons, of a high-risk heist, and more generally the setting of the tale. Seriously, the world building of "The Sky on Fire" is vast, fascinating and complex, described in an extremely vivid, accurate and understandable way. Sure, the numerous explanations tend to slow down the pace of the narrative a bit, but overall I still found it to be smooth, devoid of moments of boredom or heaviness. I loved the author's captivating, evocative and powerful writing, as well as the story told. On the other hand, unfortunately, the characters did not convince me. They seemed superficial, nebulous and devoid of particular sentiment. This prevented me from bonding with them, from becoming interested in their stories, leaving me somewhat cold toward the whole book. Essentially I followed them in their adventures, but in the end they conveyed nothing to me, and this affected my overall appreciation. A real shame, because I enjoyed all the other elements of the novel a lot!

Thank you to the Publisher and NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Sky on Fire is a standalone fantasy novel. Anahrod was meant to have been executed years ago, but she's secretly alive and living in the jungle with her titan drake. She reluctantly gets pulled into a daring heist by an adventuring party seeking her help to steal from a dragon's hoard in the cloud cities. With a dangerous dragon Queen on their tail, Anahrod must navigate high-stakes intrigue and confront her past to survive.

I was really drawn to the blurb of this book. I love fantasy standalones because they tend to have concise, focused stories and are well-paced. The Prologue was captivating and set a strong tone, diving straight into action and suspense. However, I found the transition to the main chapter with Anahrod challenging to follow. The narrative described her as unconscious while still presenting her POV, which caused some confusion.

From that point, I struggled with the book. I wanted to feel the characters' emotions and understand them more deeply. Comparing it to Fourth Wing, which is rich in both emotion and plot, might have set my expectations too high. While The Sky on Fire has a solid plot, it didn't delve deeply enough into the characters for me to form a connection, leading to a lack of engagement on my part.

I believe the book has a strong plot and I can see why others might enjoy it, especially with its intriguing heist element. However, the writing style didn't resonate with me personally, which affected my overall experience.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC from NetGalley but this is my voluntary and honest review.

Since I enjoyed greatly all previous books by Jenn Lyons, I was eager to read the new standalone, The Sky on Fire.
I mean, who can resist a book with dragons, even more when they are that the fierce and dangerous kind that can ruin a city with an ease.
The book had a great and detailed world building and although predictable, there were twist and turns in the journey that dive us into a heist by a band of misfits.
Unfortunately, despite that good combination, I struggled with the book and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't connect with it.
I was unable to feel the connection between characters, and I think the main reason for that was we were told about all of it and not created through gradual buildup using the events they go through.
The best example is the romance plot, I couldn't feel the chemistry between Anahrod and Ris.
We were told “she is flirting with me” instead of showing trough gestures and moments between them that will make us feel and build the connection between them naturally.
I am sad when I have to give a bad review, especially for a book by an author that I like, but I really couldn't immerse myself and enjoy The Sky on Fire to the fullest.

A first Jenn Lyons book for me, and I was not disappointed. This book ticked all the boxes for a high-fantasy, dragon filled adventure, bursting with action from beginning to end.

The world building is immense - so large that it definitely takes some time to get your head around. The descriptions are lush, the creatures and people painted so strongly, mixed in with the system they have in their world. I will say that I still don't 100% understand the meaning of the social and garden rings which people seem to pick at 15 years of age. Alas, there was no explanation but a lot of hinting, so maybe I'm just dense...

The storyline was amazing, being split into sizable parts to allow a sense of where a new major plot point was happening. While the beginning may have been a bit slower, with the plot set up and the meeting of all our beloved characters, it was worth the build up because it was just non-stop action, adventure and dragons. Gwydinion grew on me a lot, his mischievous mind always turning. I also loved Sicaryon and wished there was almost more of him.

There was also hint of a potential growing poly relationship, which didn't feel forced or sudden at all. While it's true that the attraction between Ris and Anahrod felt quite quick, the story not being too clear on how much time passed between start to end, it wasn't quite insta-love nor slowburn.

I am seeing this a standalone, even though it opens up a way for a sequel if needs be with the ending. Since that is the case, I look forward to reading Jenn Lyons other books.

A new stand-alone fantasy about dragons was definitely a book that I had to read especially as I had enjoyed Jenn Lyons previous books.
Anahrod was supposedly executed 10 years by being thrown off a cliff however, she managed to survive and is now being searched for by a group who want her to join them in stealing a dragon’s hoard.
This is a heist story but it is also about the conflict between the dragons and their riders and the wider human civilisation. The dragons in this novel aren’t cute pets but have the power to destroy cities and won’t tolerate any threat to their supremacy.
I loved parts of this story but other parts didn’t hold my interest so much. The group carrying out the heist didn’t really come to life for me apart from Anahrod and even she at times seemed to be much younger than her supposedly 30 years. I wasn’t convinced by the romance between Anahrod and Ris as it felt as if it came out of nowhere and I’ve never been keen on Instalove.
I did really enjoy the world building and the different cities that we visited. The idea of the garden rings was brilliant and the treatment of gender seemed really well done to me. Although I didn’t feel that many of the characters were that memorable, my favourite character was Gwyndinion and I enjoyed seeing how he grew up during the book.
This was an enjoyable read but didn’t have the depth for me of the author’s previous work.
Thank you to Net Galley and Pan Macmillan for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

After careful consideration I decided to DNF this book at 56%. Sadly, for a book with so much promise (dragons, heists, a potentially poly relationship), I didn't find myself picking it up nearly as much as I'd like, it's just too boring and convenient.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

a big thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing this arc!

i really enjoyed this book! the dragons are very interesting and i like how it doesn’t follow the trope of making them docile pets; here, they’re big and threatening and will probably ruin your life lol
the main character is supposed to be in her ~30s but her characterization fell kind of flat. at lots of times she reads as a teenager or someone on her early 20s. the romantic relationship between her and some others characters felt a bit rushed for me and like it was coming out of nowhere, but perhaps this will be improved on the final version of the story.
there’s a lot of diversity on this book and it’s all very heartwarming! the way the author added the idea of ‘garden rings’ is amazing!! i wish we had something like that in real life 😅 there are a few background characters that i got attached to, so i was glad when i saw them coming back at the end of the book.
overall it was a very good reading experience! i would advise people to not get into this book with the idea they’re going to read another heist like the one in six of crows; though the premise of a heist + found family is similar, their execution is pretty different.

It took me a few chapters to get into the story, but once I was finally in, I didn't want it to end.

In a fantasy world ruled by dragons, humans are considered an inferior species who is supposed to serve the dragons and help them from getting madness due to their magic. Anahrod, a human, was falsely accused of a crime when she was a teenager at the academy, and she has been living in hiding for over 10 years. However, some people come looking for her to have her aid them in stealing from the dragon queen. It's an impossible feat, but their plan reveals a conspiracy against the true king, that the queen started to gain power.

I enjoyed the different relationships among the characters, and especially the polyamory love story. While the ending was a little bit cliche, I'd be curious to see how the relationship between Anahrod and the king of dragons develop.

Thank you NetGalley and Tor for a digital copy of this book.

Anahrod was sentenced to death 17 years ago and thrown off of a cloud cutter at fifty thousand feet, but now has been found by the very people she’s been running from - dragon riders, and, oddly, a 15 year old boy. Unexpectedly though, they don’t plan on returning her to the dragon regent Neveranimas who ordered her death, instead forming a band of misfits intent on stealing from the dragon’s secret hoard. Anahrod tries her best not to bond with friends old and new, while keeping her particular abilities close to her chest.

The premise of this book is intriguing and sounds like a great combination - dragons, magic, romance, and a heist! Sign me up. The plot itself has sufficient twists and turns to remain interesting once you get past the first quarter, although none of said twists and turns are surprising, in fact all of them are heavily foreshadowed.

Unfortunately for me, this book is trying to do too many things, and not succeeding at any of them. If this wasn’t an ARC I would have DNF’d this book at around the 5-10% mark. The introductory chapters are clunky and too heavy with unnecessary worldbuilding that then leaves no space to get a genuine feel for the characters. It fails to follow the advice of “show don’t tell” - we are told for example, that Ris has been flirting with Anahrod, but I recall being surprised by this information, as nothing about their interactions had up until that point been flirty or banter filled. There are too many characters introduced at once with no distinct voice between them, other than the one who speaks only in obscure poetry and quotes from in-world plays and literature.

I believe this book could benefit from another round of editing. It is possible that the author’s writing style just isn’t for me - this is the first Jenn Lyons book I’ve read. However, there are a number of very clunky sentences (especially up front) that can’t just be attributed to “writing style” - for example, “Ris and Naeron might have Deeper ancestry (Ris) or even come from the Deep (Naeron) but neither understood jungles.” The book also suffers from a lack of self-awareness. The characters go to great lengths to mock each other for their lack of creativity when it comes to naming things, while the author added fantasy vowel combinations to the name Jamie to come up with Jaemeh.

Despite supposedly having all the elements I wanted to read, I could not get into this book. One of the main issues for me is that the first tenth of the book simply did not grip me. It can’t decide what it wants to be: it’s a romance, but there’s no build up to the romance; there’s a bit of smutty language, but then there’s a fade to black; it’s a dragon mystery but there’s not that many dragons and it’s also very predictable. I do truly think that there is a good novel in here somewhere, it just needed more time and more editing to be something I would have enjoyed reading.

Unfortunately not for me as a reader. I struggled to get into the story. I really wanted to like this more. The writing style was very hard for me to read. I would still recommend this if you enjoy the authors previous work and dragons.

I LOVED "A chorus of dragons", and so, even though the blurb didn't necessarily captured me that much, I wanted to try "The sky on fire". As expected, I did love it as much as its sibling, but it is still a nice surprise I enjoyed reading.
Jenn Lyons as the knack to create orginal, full worlds that aren't seen and seen again, and I love her for it, especially because she integrate queer characters seemlessly (for me, at least). These characters are not define by their attractions or identity, or at least not only by them, and it is such a pleasure to see it. Same goes for gender. I tend to have trouble with female main character, a personnal bias also rooted in the tendency of having a female character defined mostly by her "feminity", being a woman before being a person and it annoys me to hell.
I didn't have that impression with Anahrod. Or any of the other characters. Sure, Anahrod's relationship with two other characters was proeminent enough, and I can see it being an issue for some, but all in all, I liked the balance with the plot, and the fact that it wasn't a simple love triangle but more than that (like "A chorus of dragons", for those who have read it.) Sure, the characters might have had better defined goal, more concrete desire and better development, but it worked well enough for me, so I call it a well done job.
A plot who goes in many direction while keeping one goal in sight, maybe a bit wobly at time but I enjoyed it, even with the change in location, numerous characters etc. It was a great way to explore the universe.
I liked the dragons too. Cruels, but not only, with some being kinder and fairer, other being way more interested by power and their ego. Diverse, I should say, like humans can be, something I like to see in other "intelligent/sentient" species.
So ! All in all a great read, with a cast of characters I cared enough about, a fast moving plot and wonderful world !

I mostly enjoyed the world-building and adventure aspect of this book, which were very well done. The story is fast paced, which I like and the romance subplot came through well.
The only thing I wished for was more depth in the characters. I wasn't able to form a connection to them and think that was the one thing missing for me.

A group of misfits plan a heist to rob a dragon in a high stakes fantasy adventure.

This was a really good read. Fast paced. Wide detailed world building with a nice ensemble of characters.

I went into this book wanting to find another on off romantacy and was pleasantly surprised that this book chose plot over romance.

Although the plot was fast paced and detailed I did find the characterisation lacking. Would have really liked for the characters motivations to be more fleshed out and to have taken the time to really dive deep. But with this being a one shot story I wasn’t too put off by it.

Such a good standalone, dragon rider fantasy! A well flushed out world, diverse characters and a queer, polyamorous romantic subplot. This just cements how much I love this authors writing.

The sky on fire is a standalone fantasy book with dragons and a high-stakes heist, promising an action-packed and intense story. In theory, I should have loved it. In reality, it was so disappointing I almost cried.

This was my very first book from Jenn Lyons and I'm afraid to say I really, really disliked the writing style, which is what made this book especially hard to finish. It's just personal preference and there's nothing wrong with it, but it's extremely descriptive and wordy. It made me want to skim through the words every time a half-page long description appeared.

However, the main issue is the characters: this book feels like a ton of characters just slapped together at random. New characters are constantly introduced, just to appear only one more time at a super convenient time, to do something to further the plot. The main characters don't fare much better: they are all fun and quirky, but lack complexity and have very minimal personality traits. At this point I have would preferred less characters, but with a developed personality and a satisfying arc.

The plot was also extremely predictable: there were no plot twists of any kind and everything went exactly how I expected it to go, which is simply not good. The pacing was a bit off too. Getting into this novel was very difficult and it dragged quite a lot in the middle. While the last 30% or so redeems it a little (sort of), it's not enough to make it truly satisfying.

To end on a positive note though, there were a few things I enjoyed.
The worldbuilding is dense, perhaps a bit too much for a standalone, but it overall stands on its own legs without infodumping too much.
I especially appreciated the representation we got, even of a few of the "less common" LGBT+ identities.
I also liked the interesting twist the author gives to the classic dragon/dragonrider trope, making dragons the “abusers” and not the other way around.

Overall, I think my main problem was that I was just very bored throughout the whole book. I just wanted to dnf it and I would have under any other circumstances.
The sky on fire is a standalone fantasy book with dragons and a high-stakes heist, promising an action-packed and intense story. In theory, I should have loved it. In reality, it was so disappointing I almost cried.

This was my very first book from Jenn Lyons and I'm afraid to say I really, really disliked the writing style, which is what made this book especially hard to finish. It's just personal preference and there's nothing wrong with it, but it's extremely descriptive and wordy. It made me want to skim through the words every time a half-page long description appeared.

However, the main issue is the characters: this book feels like a ton of characters just slapped together at random. New characters are constantly introduced, just to appear only one more time at a super convenient time, to do something to further the plot. The main characters don't fare much better: they are all fun and quirky, but lack complexity and have very minimal personality traits. At this point I have would preferred less characters, but with a developed personality and a satisfying arc.

The plot was also extremely predictable: there were no plot twists of any kind and everything went exactly how I expected it to go, which is simply not good. The pacing was a bit off too. Getting into this novel was very difficult and it dragged quite a lot in the middle. While the last 30% or so redeems it a little (sort of), it's not enough to make it truly satisfying.

To end on a positive note though, there were a few things I enjoyed.
The worldbuilding is dense, perhaps a bit too much for a standalone, but it overall stands on its own legs without infodumping too much.
I especially appreciated the representation we got, even of a few of the "less common" LGBT+ identities.
I also liked the interesting twist the author gives to the classic dragon/dragonrider trope, making dragons the “abusers” and not the other way around.

Overall, I think my main problem was that I was just very bored throughout the whole book. I just wanted to dnf it and I would have under any other circumstances.