Together We Burn is the story of how a flamenco dancer, Zarela, must save her family's dragon fighting arena, although she has no dragon fighter, no dragons, and no dragon trainers. She pairs up with a reluctant young man who doesn't want to be involved in the business, but wants to help Zarela.

This was a fast paced story with good world building, The dragon fighting appears to be loosely based on the bull-fighting culture, and I loved the combination of historical fiction with fantasy. Zarela is a driven heroine committed to her family and their legacy, but also wants to make the past meet the present by applying a more thoughtful treatment of the elements of the family business.

I enjoyed this book a lot more than I expected to! The synopsis didn’t really draw me in but I’m glad I decided to read it anyway. The MC, Zarela, is a badass flamenco dancer whose family owns a dragon fighting arena. She and her family have been through a lot - her mother was killed by a dragon, and then her father is gravely injured when the dragons get loose and attack the city. After everyone turns against them, Zarela must find a way to save her ancestral home and prove that someone has been trying to sabotage them.

I loved the cultural aspects of this and the bits of Spanish mixed in, I felt very immersed in the world of Hispalia. I loved Arturo, the broody and mysterious dragon tamer, and his belief that dragons shouldn’t be killed for sport. The romance is very slow burn with a bit of hate to love and a smidgen of spice. I liked that Zarela was the more forward one in the relationship. I wouldn’t say that I loved the twist but it did surprise me. Overall this was a fun and easy read and I would recommend it if you like dragons, Spanish culture, strong female characters, mystery, and romance.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I really liked learning about the dragons in this book. I also liked the relationship between the main character and the love interest. I wish the world was more expansive, though.

Dragons, flamenco dancing, action, burning romance, raw emotion, and a spectacular story. Ibañez tells a powerful story full of everything to love. Highly recommend this one.

Together We Burn is a young adult fantasy romance with a wonderful concept. The heroine, Zarela, comes from a line of dragonadors: basically, toreadors but the bulls are dragons.

Zarela's family owns an arena that holds flamenco and dragon-fighting shows. When a tragedy strikes and the dragons are released, killing many spectators and injuring Zarela's father, she has to figure out how to save her family's legacy. Zarela hires Arturo, a glowering, cranky former dragonador who refuses to fight dragons, and of course has a big secret.

The majority of the book is a wonderful slow-burn romance. Zarela and Arturo's banter and growing, grudging respect for each other was a lot of fun, and their scenes together sizzled. Zarela's a great heroine, feisty, smart, strong, and frightened, and Arturo is one of the few people capable of standing up to her.

The scenes with dragons also grabbed my attention: there's a sense of danger and awe that I loved. I felt I could fully picture the dragons, their different breeds, and imagine the smell and heat surrounding them. I also really enjoyed the sense of family and history in the book.

The ending fell apart a little for me. While most of the book was a mysterious slow build, the last 10% seemed too rushed and too easily tied up. However, since I enjoyed the majority of the book so much, it's still a four star read for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for my review copy of Together We Burn.

Together We Burn was a fast and easy YA fantasy read. I started it on audio, but my brain had a hard time connecting the threads of Latin culture and Spanish language AND dragons and magic on audio. Print worked much better. I enjoyed the world. I liked the friendship between Z and her household so much. I wanted more from the romance. I needed a little more lead into the twists and turns. Both felt a little rushed. It was a great read for a Sunday in the sun, but wished for a smidge more depth.

Thank you Netgallery for sending me a eARC of this book!

4/5 Stars

Wow this book blew me away, I was not expecting to be swept up into this fantasy set up in medieval Spain so quickly. The story follows a strong female protagonist, Zarela, as her family’s legacy of the arena La Giralda where she dances flamenco, and her father is a dragonador. This book was so beautifully written mixed with English and bits of Spanish. I was so enraptured by the rich culture and detail; Isabel does an amazing job of pulling you into the story and becoming fully emersed!
The characters within the book are so well described, it was easy to get a full grasp of the characters and their personalities. I found myself the more I read the more I could not put the book down. The only thing the author left me wanting for was more! The story wraps up beautifully at the end, but this is a world I would love to have dived into for another book.
If you are a fan of dragons and enemies to lovers, pick up this book!!

WOW I loved this book!!! Once I started it I couldn't put it down–I binge-read the entire thing in one day (the audiobook is equally incredible!)

If I were to compare this book with anything, it would be the movie How to Train Your Dragon... But this story really is so much more than that. The writing is so beautifully descriptive that it felt almost poetic or lyrical at times. I loved both of our MCs so so much, and the romance was perfectly balanced with action and plot twists. Arturo and Zarela follow the classic enemies-to-lovers formula, and I enjoyed watching their banter and rivalry melt into romantic tension.

This is such an imaginative world and my favorite 'dragon' book that I've read. I hope this is one of the biggest YA fantasy releases of the year because it deserves all of the hype and love. 🔥🧡

This story was a hard one for me. The setting was incredible, the descriptions were gorgeous, the characters were just the right amount of angsty, and the actual dragonfighting was handled quite well. The author (who is a favorite of mine) deflty balanced the historical and cultural significance of the sport against the humane considerations, and expressed such a complex issue beautifully. However, I am a giant lightweight when it comes to any sort of animal cruelty in books, and it was just a touch too gory for me (and took a little too long to come around). I will definitely still be recommending this to friends and YA readers, but with that one caveat.

I would like to first clarify that I received this E-ARC via Netgalley from St. Martin's Press, thank you so much for allowing me to read this book, but this review is my honest thoughts with no influence.

So Together We Burn follows 18 year old Zarela Zalvidar a flamenco dancer who has grew up in a world where people battle dragons in arenas for entertainment. After a life changing event Zarela and her father find themselves ruined and the only way to keep her family name is to enlist the help of a dragon tamer who would rather she her name be discredited.

This book was amazing in the beginning it started out a little slow for my liking but once I got more into the storyline I started to get hooked and just kept reading. Let me tell you this book is a slow burn not Mariana Zapata slow burn but that okay because miss Ibañez treats us to the amazing banter that is Zarela and Arturo. The interaction between theses two was chef kiss and I gobbled it up the way that he hated her with a passion but then it slowly turns to love was everything.

This book does involve a small bit a politics based in the tradition of dragon fighting but within that start to realize that there are forces working against Zarela and her family and she tries to save her livelihood the Zalvidar name. If you enjoy books with magic, dragons, loathe to hate trope and a good slow burn with banter then this book is for you. Together We Burn releases on May 31 2022 in all major retailers

I enjoyed this book. I was drawn to it based on the cover and interesting concept. This was a lighter fantasy than I expected, but I didn't mind. There wasn't a much world building as I expected, but what we got was enough to suck me into the story. The second half of the book really picked up with the mystery, the romance, and the overall plot. I was annoyed along with some of the characters, with the idea dragon fighting for the sake of "tradition" but it worked out in the end. Overall, it was quick and entertaining read that I'd recommend to any fantasy romance lovers.

If you had told me this was very much like How To Train Your Dragon I would have been absolutely excited about it. Which is how YOU should feel. Fire, Tragedy, Dragons, Friendship, Betrayal. I LOVED this one.
I loved the setting, I adore and respect Zarela with all my heart. She's determined, powerful, and heartfelt. I loved how she communicated with everyone to the best of her ability.
the tension-to-lovers part was deliciously satisfying. The tension, the awkwardness. Perhaps it moved a little fast, just a teeny bit.
I figured out one of the reveals right away, and the other one felt a little flat to me.

Rating:⭐⭐⭐/5

Let me preface this review by saying that in Together We Burn we come across a rather creative idea to interlace Hispanic cultural elements with the genre of fantasy in order to create a thrilling story of dragons, intrigue and romance. Is, however, a fresh approach to the genre enough to enthrall us with the book?

In the span of a year, the life of our main female character, Zarela Zalvidar has been upturned. Being the daughter of the most famous flamenco dancer and the most renowned dragon fighter in Hispalia, Zarela had to face the tragic fate of losing her mother to a dragon and is now on the verge of losing her inheritance, her position in society and everything she’s ever loved after someone sabotaged their dragon fighting event, which led to a carnage that turned the dragon guild and the people against her family. In order to survive and restore their dragon arena to its previous glory, Zarela decides to train to become a dragonador and once again, fate, brings her together with a broody but –undeniably- handsome dragon hunter who decides, after Zarela’s inescapable insistence, to train her. Together they fight to keep the arena open, to uncover who is behind the sabotage in order to restore the truth and to bring a new era of dragon fighting, where dragons and dragonadors leave the arena alive and unharmed.

All in all, this was an enjoyable read, however there were some aspects that if handled differently, would make this book more captivating. To begin with, throughout the book there were extensive descriptions of clothes, objects and foods which slowed the action and the unraveling of the plot. I understand that in order to incorporate the Hispanic cultural element, some were necessary, however there were paragraphs and paragraphs of food descriptions and at some point, it became tiresome. Finally, the ending felt a little rushed for me. After the revelation of who was behind the sabotage, everything unravel quite quickly.
Ultimately, this was a solid 3 out of 5 star review for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Wednesday Books for the ARC.

This book was really fun. It was a unique read filled with lots of adventure. I really enjoyed the characters and the dragon fighting aspect of the story. If you're looking for a fast-paced YA fantasy filled with adventure, love, and betrayal that I definitely recommend this one!

The audiobook was great. I thought the narration was well done and authentic to the story. Definitely recommend the audio format!

In Together We Burn, we follow Zarela, an 18 years old flamenco dancer. She is also the daughter of a famous Dragonador and when he is hurt, she has to take the reigns. Dragons were killed and now she has to find a new one to put in her arena... That's where Arturo (a dragon hunter) comes in.

One thing about me is that I hate arenas fictional or real where animals are put there to be hurt and killed just for the entertainment of entitled human beings. Animal cruelty is probably one thing I would fight against my whole life but that's beside the point. I'm only saying that because the main character sometimes grated on my nerves and I hated that she didn't want to change things with the dragons even after one of them danced with her. Even if it's for the sake of tradition, it's not a good enough reason in my opinion.

Overall, this was my first book by this author and while this was an okay story, it's just not a memorable one for me. I'm glad I had the audiobook version of this book or I feel like it would have taken me a lot more time to go through it. However, I might have remembered more if I hadn't listened to it.

(Thank you for letting me read and review an ARC via Netgalley)

3.5/4🌟 Zarela comes from a famous family who run a dragon arena. Her papá, the famous dragonador, and her mamá, the famous flamenco dancer. Only, disaster continues to strike for this family after their dragons escape from their pens and unleash ruin upon the city of Santivilla.

I rather enjoyed the world building of this book given it’s inspired by medieval Spain with an extra spice of dragons added to the mix. The plot and the plot twists were okay. The romance was also okay. I enjoyed this book but at the same time felt like their was something missing…

Maybe I was hoping for more dragons? And, the ending did feel rushed.

*I received an e-arc from Netgalley and Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review*

Together We Burn was my first book by this author, and it did not disappoint! I really enjoyed this lush and magical tale that takes place in the beautiful ancient Hispalia inspired by medieval Spain. It features flamenco dancing and dragons that fight Dragonadors in the ring.

Zarela Zalvidar is a flamenco dancer and the daughter of the most famous Dragonador in all of Hispalia. People come in droves to their arena to see her father fight, and she knows that one day the responsibility of the arena will fall on her shoulders.

At their five hundredth anniversary show, the unimaginable happens and disaster strikes the arena. Lives are lost and her father is gravely injured. Facing punishment from the Dragon Guild, Zarela knows she must keep the arena which is her ancestral home and her inheritance safe. Her one and only option is to take her father’s place as the next Dragonador. She seeks out the handsome dragon hunter, Arturo Díaz de Montserrat who blatantly refuses to help her. She doesn’t take no for an answer and continues to pursue him. Even if he agrees to help, someone is out to get her family and Zarela knows that she will have to do what it takes to protect herself and her family legacy.

Together We Burn has the right amount of action, adventure, romance and mystery to keep you enthralled. I for sure recommend this standalone fantasy which is releasing on May 31, 2022. Be sure to add it to your TBR now!

3.5 stars

I’m gonna be honest the flamenco dancer turned dragon fighter (think bull fighting) was what sold me on this book, and on that premise alone I was not disappointed. I really liked Zarela and her character growth, and loved the Spanish inspired cultural details, but I think I expected more from the book when it came to the world building and the magic system. Other than that I thought it was a fun and interesting read! Will definitely read more by Isabel Ibañez in the future!

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the ARC of Together We Burn by Isabel Ibanez. The premise for Together We Burn is incredibly unique. Dragons, Flamenco dancing, deeply ingrained tradition....were all buzz words that attracted my attention. While most of the book was a solid read, the ending didn't suit my taste. I'm not sure, but I wanted a few other things to happen and a different direction to be taken. This is reading preference, of course. I would say if you love dragons, this book would definitely be one to pick up.

{3.5 stars}

Zarela and her family are performers, they stoke the flames of their culture with flamenco dancing and dragon fighting (think bull fighting). When her father is injured and can no longer fight as a Dragonador, Zarela decides to take over his mantle herself to save their family arena. Enter the handsome dragon hunter who is Zarela’s only chance. We see her fighting for her chance to prove herself the rightful heir to the family business.

I would say this one skews towards the younger side of YA, it’s quite clean with the exception of one scene and the world building is not too complex. Magic is mentioned here and there but is not a huge focus. I loved the glimpses of the Spanish based culture (dance, food, architecture) and the beauty of a family working together building their own legacy. And of course dragons, nice to see dragons be a bit fearsome once again. That said, the love story was a little forced and overly sweet for me. This reinforced my feeling that this one skewed younger, Zarela was certainly experiencing the gooey-ness of first love.

It’s a solid, action packed fantasy read that will help you escape for a few hours but it didn’t feel like one that will stick with me for a long time. It reminded me in a lot of ways of Adrienne Young’s The Last Legacy where the focus was on the family business and a young, headstrong girl’s role in it.

Thanks to Netgalley for advanced access to this novel. All opinions above are my own.