I really liked the worldbuilding - magic, dragons, and the integration of Spanish! Dragonador immediately had my interest for the unique spin on matadors

I couldn’t take Arturo’s barbed mouth at times. No one is going to kiss your behind, sir. But after he defrosted, he was all right. Zarela never failed to call him out for it too. More importantly, I enjoyed Zarela’s spunk and stubbornness. I was always rooting for her. How she cared for her family estate and its workers was done well.

One pet peeve on character descriptions: So many characters are referred to as having dark black skin. Visually what does this look like? Skin the color of ink toner or midnight? Because some characters have brown skin, this must mean something else culturally.

Overall, I enjoyed my reading experience. But I would've given this 5 stars if the author hadn't killed off the dad. This is what pissed me off with Wakanda Forever too the female character has already gone through so much and you make her an orphan :/ Still worth reading though! ( )

In Hispalia, eighteen-year-old Zarela Zalvidar comes from an impressive pedigree. Her mother was a beloved flamenco dancer and her father was one of the most famous Dragonadors. People come from far and wide to see her parents but all that changes in one instant, her mother is killed during one performance. Despite this tragedy, Zarela is prepared to take her mother's role during the five-hundredth anniversary show, but tragedy strikes again, and this time her father is horribly injured. The doctors tell Zarela that her father will never be able to perform again. Even worse, the Dragon Guild is breathing down her neck threatening to take everything her family has worked hard for from her and these strange happenings to her family may be hiding something much deeper than just accidents.

I was really surprised about how much I loved this book. I love novels that infuse culture with magic and this book does just that. Spanish history of bullfighting infused with flamenco dancing and dragons. The blending of Spanish history, bullfighting, flamenco dancing, and dragons in this book is truly unique and captivating. It adds a whole new dimension to the story, infusing it with culture, tradition, and a touch of fantasy. The way the author weaves together these elements is seamless, creating a world that feels both familiar and fantastical at the same time.

A heavy responsibility lies upon the shoulders of Zarela especially when two different occurrences happen in the family's arena. When she goes below to find the rest of her dragons dead and their caretaker murdered, Zarela knows she needs to find a way to, not only solve this mystery but also to restore the honor of her family's name. She knows she has no choice but to part with items belonging to her mother and you can feel her pain when she has to sell these items. She is attached and with good reason - these belong to her mother and they hold so many memories for her, yet she knows that her family needs money.

And while she is eighteen, this is a lot for a young woman to bear upon her shoulders. Yet, she does it with the best intentions and when she finds Arturo her best bet, she stubbornly sets her mind to gaining his help. The two clash and I think that is what makes their relationship work - they are as different as night and day. This is what makes them click.

The one thing I don't understand is why parents are usually the ones killed off - especially when it comes to mothers. While I understand that this helps push a narrative, I find it as one of the most overused storylines. This one is no different. It is literally in the first few pages of the novel.

Final Thought:

Despite all of that, I enjoyed this novel. The storyline is unique using Spanish culture and the art of bullfighting, magic, and dragons ( )

I enjoyed reading this one, especially with the different approaches to dragons and using them to fight in the rings like bulls. I also loved how Zarela switches what she does with the dragons at the end.
This starts out packing a punch with Zarela experiencing disaster and tragedy when she's at the arena with her father watching her mother dance before the dragon fight is to start. This disaster leads to her, as a flamenco dancer trained by her mother, having to figure out things to save her family legacy. When the Dragon Guild tries to take the family inheritance from Zarela, she finds herself with no choice but to train to become a Dragonador. She has to figure out how to get Arturo, the most talented dragon hunter in the land to help her train and learn all about dragons to keep the Dragon Guild from taking everything from her and her family.
Zarela has to help her father with his health and running things and then train to become a Dragonador to keep from losing everything to the Dragon Guild. It's hard work and Arturo is infuriating and hard for her to train and get along with at first, but then things change and their story becomes a love story. As things go along, there are a few big surprises or twists in the story and we see Zarela grow and change as she comes into her own. Others are trying to sabotage things for her and her family as well that she has to figure out who it is, what they're doing, and how to stop them. I would give a few content/trigger warnings though of grief, and death, and a bit more explicit on the page intimacy action also.
Thanks so much to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Wednesday Books for letting me read and review this story. All thoughts and opinions are my own. ( )

Originally posted on Just Geeking by.

Content warnings:
There are multiple scenes of violence, death, murder and gore due to dragon attacks, which include burn wounds caused by acid and fire. The topic of loss and grief, including the loss of parent and spouse features prominently. Dragons are brutally killed throughout, and these scenes may be disturbing to some readers. There is also a kidnapping scene involving the drugging of a woman, and ongoing misogyny throughout the novel.


Together We Burn by Isabel Ibañez is a book that combines dragons and flamenco dancing to create a riveting fantasy story with an enemies to lovers romance. The world that Ibañez has created is inspired by medieval Spain and is mesmerising. I’m terrible at dancing. I have zero talent for it, and have no natural rhythm when it comes to movement. Ibañez’s writing brings the passion and power of flamenco dancing to life, and every time I felt myself get lost in it. The beauty and light of flamenco dancing is juxtaposed against the brutality of the dragonadors which is based on the controversial tradition of bull fighting. It’s a controversy that Ibañez handles well in the world of Together We Burn, blending it into the story.

There are typically three types of dragon books out there; dragons are monsters, dragons are our friends or dragons are ancient mystical creatures. Together We Burn is something different, and the whole guild system that Ibañez has created is incredibly detailed and interesting. We only really get to see a few of the guilds in detail, although there is a list of all the guilds at the start of the book which acts as an overview of how the guild system works.

Zarela is a great character, strong yet also young and Ibañez shows her inexperience brilliantly, showing her struggles and doubts as she takes on the Dragon Guild. She’s a young woman standing up to against a group of men, she’s at a huge disadvantage, and she knows it. As the daughter of an infamous flamenco dancer, Zarela recalls her mother’s lessons about dressing the part and uses clothes and colour to bolster her appearance and her confidence. I appreciated the fact that when she did so the men didn’t instantly swoon over her. That was something I liked about Ibañez’s writing, her characters reactions and responses throughout always felt realistic. I especially felt this with the interactions between Zarela and her best friend Lola which were fantastic and often had me giggling.

The mystery sub-plot of who is out to ruin the Zalvidar family was quite obvious to me, and I refer to it as a sub-plot because to me the main plot was Zarela’s aim to their family’s next Dragonador and save their arena. There is so much more to that, and it’s entangled with the romance. There are secrets upon secrets in Together We Burn, and even if you begin to work them out as I did the moment they come to light still makes it worth reading.

Together We Burn is a book about dragons like you’ve never read before. Come for the dragons, stay for the ingenious world Ibañez has created.

For more of my reviews please visit my blog! ( )

Definitely not your average dragon story. It took me a bit to get into it, but when I did, the story flew. Dragon fighting, family betrayal, enemies to lovers trope, murder, the fight for the truth, all wrapped up into one story. Throw in some flamenco dancing & magic and you definitely get a different type of love story. Zarela is a fighter, fights for her family, fights for her families legacy and what she believes in She’s met her match with Arturo, who has secrets of his own. This is one for dragon lovers! ( )