Together We Burn
Isabel Ibañez's Together We Burn is a lush, enchanting standalone fantasy inspired by medieval Spain, filled with romance, adventure and just the right amount of danger.
An ancient city plagued by dragons
Eighteen-year-old Zarela Zalvidar is a talented flamenco dancer and daughter of the most famous Dragonador in Hispalia. People come for miles to see him fight in their arena, which will one day be hers. But disaster strikes during one celebratory show, and in the carnage, Zarela’s life changes in an instant.
A flamenco dancer who must become a dragon hunter to save her family legacy
With the Dragon Guild trying to wrest control of her inheritance from her, Zarela has no choice but to train to become a Dragonador. But when the most talented dragon hunter left in the land -- the infuriatingly handsome Arturo Díaz de Montserrat -- withholds his help, Zarela cannot take no for an answer. Without him, her world will burn.
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Community Reviews
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!
The audiobook was great. I thought the narration was well done and authentic to the story. Definitely recommend the audio format!
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ I would give this a solid 3 stars, maybe 3.5 depending on the day! A well-rounded read and overall enjoyable, though not my most favorite by way of the first book I read by this author, "What the River Knows", which blew this out of the water. But all in all, good.
This book had the classic twists and surprises that Isabel (author) seems to love and gravitate towards, and maybe had I read this story first I would have been MORE surprised, but I could see what was coming from very early on in the book and the 'twists and turns' were more projected. I still had SOME unexpected twists, like Arturo's last dragon fight and dragon flying, but even those felt...lack luster (?) by the story's end; were they really necessary to the story line? Or were they just filler details added to cushion the bigger plot points and introduce new developments? And I say that only because I felt like we didn't get much or hardly any detailing to either of those plots: Arturo raised Roja after finding her egg, ok great, but the relationship wasn't nearly as developed or detailed as I was expecting and I felt like it fell short. Even with his dragon fighting days, I was expecting MORE: more reason for his angst, more reason for him to be at odds with his uncle, etc.
The fact these things were involved in the story but not nearly as detailed as the random descriptions of food and how sweaty Zarela was throughout the whole book left me feeling incomplete. But it also wasn't enough so that I wasn't able to enjoy the read as a whole.
The classic slow burn and enemies to lovers in this book is so similar to WtRK that I seen the repeats in character development, and I kind of rolled my eyes in a sweet way, again with the predictability. OF COURSE he tells her 'no' after their first, fiery kiss. OF COURSE he has to go save her in the face of peril. OF COURSE it's the innocent touches that start inconspicuously.
However, I am still a little bent about Arturo's vendetta "against" Zarela and her family, now knowing what I do. It seemed in the beginning to be rooted more in a societal/political stance (she comes from a renowned family name, and is inherently "spoiled", etc) but then turned out just to be a projection of his guilt over what part he played in her mom's passing. Which, again, OK?? But that doesn't seem like reason enough for him to be SO hell bent on hating her and becoming enemies to begin with? I don't know, I just feel like his guilt would have manifested itself differently over the course of their budding romance- more like later in the book; i.e. cave scene ("I am NOT who you think I am", guilt)- than it was and in turn that just felt weird for me.
Zarela has the classic Isabel FMC traits that I love and respect about Inez and now Aelin from ToG, but I would not seat them at the same table. Zarela, though likable, was a tad annoying for me. Outside of the constant sweating (which seemed a LOT) her constant stance to honor her family and the lack of preparation for most events throughout the book were almost too much. I could predict what she was going to say or do after a few chapters of knowing her character, and that made it hard to form REAL connection, because there wasn't any variation to her: she will absolutely try to escape at any second. She absolutely will be confrontational but also cryptic to her intentions for the betterment of said individual or self preservation.
The writing in this story, though being same author, was not nearly as lyrical as WtRK, and I credit that to being one of her earlier books. But I did have a couple re-reads of chapters/paragraphs/sentences that were reminiscent of the same vibe: detailed descriptions, emotive realizations, etc. But greater than all this I would have to say I would have liked to read LESS about the food, the details of Zarela's dresses, and the weird "back and forth" in what was trying to be an enemies to lovers development (we didn't get any REAL headway on this until the last 3-4 chapters. Everything else preceding was overly drawn out and didn't feel 'real' outside of just flirting and banter.) and MORE about the dragons, dragon riding, or evil uncles. The resolution of the book, though feeling full circle, felt rushed. The uncle was rushed off to justice with no questions asked, even though there was no proof or viability to claims Zarela made (no more than her accusing the association of antis or the Dragon Master, which everyone was quick to point out before) and suddenly her name is reinstated.
I really enjoyed the take of dancing with dragons, and combining equal parts of both of Zarela's parents to make it her own (a character development I felt held well throughout the book) and the overall "feel" with the authentic beauty of old world Spanish culture, romance, and mystery. But the execution in story development and some personal preferences of the author's writing just left me feeling "eh"; not absolutely enthralled with this book but also I would recommend to someone looking for a lighter read involving the aforementioned elements.
This book had the classic twists and surprises that Isabel (author) seems to love and gravitate towards, and maybe had I read this story first I would have been MORE surprised, but I could see what was coming from very early on in the book and the 'twists and turns' were more projected. I still had SOME unexpected twists, like Arturo's last dragon fight and dragon flying, but even those felt...lack luster (?) by the story's end; were they really necessary to the story line? Or were they just filler details added to cushion the bigger plot points and introduce new developments? And I say that only because I felt like we didn't get much or hardly any detailing to either of those plots: Arturo raised Roja after finding her egg, ok great, but the relationship wasn't nearly as developed or detailed as I was expecting and I felt like it fell short. Even with his dragon fighting days, I was expecting MORE: more reason for his angst, more reason for him to be at odds with his uncle, etc.
The fact these things were involved in the story but not nearly as detailed as the random descriptions of food and how sweaty Zarela was throughout the whole book left me feeling incomplete. But it also wasn't enough so that I wasn't able to enjoy the read as a whole.
The classic slow burn and enemies to lovers in this book is so similar to WtRK that I seen the repeats in character development, and I kind of rolled my eyes in a sweet way, again with the predictability. OF COURSE he tells her 'no' after their first, fiery kiss. OF COURSE he has to go save her in the face of peril. OF COURSE it's the innocent touches that start inconspicuously.
However, I am still a little bent about Arturo's vendetta "against" Zarela and her family, now knowing what I do. It seemed in the beginning to be rooted more in a societal/political stance (she comes from a renowned family name, and is inherently "spoiled", etc) but then turned out just to be a projection of his guilt over what part he played in her mom's passing. Which, again, OK?? But that doesn't seem like reason enough for him to be SO hell bent on hating her and becoming enemies to begin with? I don't know, I just feel like his guilt would have manifested itself differently over the course of their budding romance- more like later in the book; i.e. cave scene ("I am NOT who you think I am", guilt)- than it was and in turn that just felt weird for me.
Zarela has the classic Isabel FMC traits that I love and respect about Inez and now Aelin from ToG, but I would not seat them at the same table. Zarela, though likable, was a tad annoying for me. Outside of the constant sweating (which seemed a LOT) her constant stance to honor her family and the lack of preparation for most events throughout the book were almost too much. I could predict what she was going to say or do after a few chapters of knowing her character, and that made it hard to form REAL connection, because there wasn't any variation to her: she will absolutely try to escape at any second. She absolutely will be confrontational but also cryptic to her intentions for the betterment of said individual or self preservation.
The writing in this story, though being same author, was not nearly as lyrical as WtRK, and I credit that to being one of her earlier books. But I did have a couple re-reads of chapters/paragraphs/sentences that were reminiscent of the same vibe: detailed descriptions, emotive realizations, etc. But greater than all this I would have to say I would have liked to read LESS about the food, the details of Zarela's dresses, and the weird "back and forth" in what was trying to be an enemies to lovers development (we didn't get any REAL headway on this until the last 3-4 chapters. Everything else preceding was overly drawn out and didn't feel 'real' outside of just flirting and banter.) and MORE about the dragons, dragon riding, or evil uncles. The resolution of the book, though feeling full circle, felt rushed. The uncle was rushed off to justice with no questions asked, even though there was no proof or viability to claims Zarela made (no more than her accusing the association of antis or the Dragon Master, which everyone was quick to point out before) and suddenly her name is reinstated.
I really enjoyed the take of dancing with dragons, and combining equal parts of both of Zarela's parents to make it her own (a character development I felt held well throughout the book) and the overall "feel" with the authentic beauty of old world Spanish culture, romance, and mystery. But the execution in story development and some personal preferences of the author's writing just left me feeling "eh"; not absolutely enthralled with this book but also I would recommend to someone looking for a lighter read involving the aforementioned elements.
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