I enjoyed the book, but wished there had been a little more. I really liked the idea, but I just wasn’t clicking with it. I loved the ending. I hope I can reread it one day to have a better experience with it since it is something I would like. Full of Spanish, drama, backstabbing, and dragons!!

Together We Burn by Isabel Ibañez is a thrilling and captivating sequel to the author's debut novel, Woven in Moonlight. I loved book 1 so I was really excited to review this sequel! Thank you to netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this book,

In this book, readers are transported back to the magical world of Inkasisa, where the stakes are higher than ever as rebellion and war threaten the kingdom. The story follows Ximena, who must navigate treacherous political alliances and dangerous enemies as she fights for the future of her people. Along the way, she's forced to confront her own doubts and fears, and make difficult choices that will impact not just herself, but everyone around her.

Ibañez's writing is vivid and immersive, painting a rich and intricate picture of Inkasisa and its people. The characters are complex and well-developed, each with their own motivations and flaws. The romance between Ximena and Rumi is also beautifully crafted, adding an emotional depth to the story.

Together We Burn is a fantastic follow-up to Woven in Moonlight, and is a must-read for fans of fantasy and political intrigue. Ibañez's storytelling is masterful, and she leaves readers eagerly anticipating the next installment in this thrilling series.

Content warnings: parental death, poisoning, drugging, kidnapping, on page intimacy.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

Things I really liked about TOGETHER WE BURN: Lola, Guillermo, and Ofelia were all lively side characters. I appreciated a Spanish influenced fantasy and the worldbuilding that Ibañez does here. I LOVED the idea of dancing with dragons.

I wish readers were given more of what Guillermo's life is like and what he does as the magic being put into wands that are snapped to activate the spell is really intriguing. There is definitely a missed opportunity there.

Unfortunately, overall this didn't work for me. Part of it was the uneven pacing, another part is that I didn't really care for Zarela, or believe the romance with Arturo. Also... I easily guessed Arturo's secret, the big plot twist/who the villain was from the beginning because both fit into long running tropes. I was really hoping the plot would go in a different direction, but it didn't. This might not be as noticeable for teen readers though. I also felt like the on page intimacy came as kind of a shock as the majority of this novel does not read as upper YA.

Ana Osorio does a good job with the audiobook narration.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Macmillan Young Listeners in exchange for an honest review.

I DNF'd this book maybe halfway through. It was so slow. I was so excited because the premise was promising and had some of my favorite things. Instead, it was a dull read that I held on to for too long.

This book wove a great tale! It had great promise & great world building. The female main character is stubborn as a mule, but has a heart of gold. Her sense of duty to her craft & family is amazing.

She deliberately puts herself in danger to rescue her family business from closing forever. This book deals with dancing & dragons. It’s fiery & it’s refreshing.

Her love interest is also just as stubborn as she is, but with a deep dark secret that he keeps from her. This secret keeps him from bringing down his walls, but does not keep him from falling for her.

A huge slow burn with enemies to lovers with a cave scene & slight slight PG-16 spice 😂

If you want a more structured book, this would not be for you, but if you want to be refreshed & read something that hasn’t been done before. This is your read!

Together We Burn wasn’t a bad book, but something about it just didn’t do it for me. Don’t get me wrong—the world-building is impeccable with its original plot, and I adored the deeply-rooted Spanish influences with all my heart, but I think the biggest gripe I had was with the pacing. Maybe it’s just me. Maybe anyone else would enjoy the carefulness with which Ibañez rolls out the story, but it was not my personal preference and I’m the weirdo in this situation.

With that being said, I truly loved the detail in every character, even the sidekicks: Lola and Guillermo and even Don Eduardo!

Also I just wanna say KNEW IT!!! Some people hate to predict the ending or the villain’s great reveal, but I revel in the power… 😈

3.5 stars, would bump it up to 4 if the pacing wouldn’t have hindered my reading experience (Almost DNF because of it…)

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Isabel Ibanez truly delired with this book! Such a familiar yet unique setting and that's what always shines the strongest in her stories. She respects the culture of the country she sets her story in while also giving her own magical twist. It brings a mix of realism into the fantasy. Such a delight!

This book was such a delight from start to finish. As I’ve said before, I’m an absolute sucker for dragons. I don’t care if they’re the good guys, the bad guys, if they can talk or not. Just gimme the dragons. So of course when I saw there were dragons, I wanted to read it. The description, as usual, sold me.

Zarela is an eighteen-year-old who is trying to step out of her mother’s shadow after her untimely death. When a second incident happens, wounding her father, Zarela must find help to prove foul play, and also to keep the dragon fighting arena–her family’s legacy–up and running. She hears of a dragonador, a dragon fighter, who may be able to help, and she cannot take no for an answer.

I was fortunate to receive the audiobook version of this. I say fortunate because I’m quite picky about audiobook narrators, and more often than not I find they fall flat. In this instance, Ana Osorio kept me engaged and in the story the entire time, from the first sentence to the last. She ebbed and flowed with the writing, bringing me into the emotional turmoil of the characters’ struggles and kept me there. If you’re the type who can listen to audiobooks, or if you’re looking to give them a chance, I would definitely recommend the audio version.

First, I love Hispalia. The descriptions, though we don’t see much of the land, were rich and full and painted a wonderful picture of the world. As the world was based on/inspired by medieval Spain, it was so interesting, and I love the way that dragon fighting was likened to bullfighting. On that same note, I enjoy the way that the animal cruelty aspect was mentioned; it didn’t feel over the top or ‘preachy’ but did touch on a subject that is important in a fictional and very realistic way.

The characters here are so rich and vibrant. Every one of them was real and full of life, no matter how short a time they were in the story. The narrator, Ana Osorio, did such a wonderful job of breathing and speaking life and personality into everyone. Whether it was Zarela, or a merchant who only had two lines of dialog, it was always clear when a new person was speaking, and what their personality was.

I really enjoyed the subtlety of the ‘romantic’ undertones. The narration makes it clear that romance or love is not what Zarela is after, and even states that she refuses to find a husband, even when it might be beneficial to her family’s affairs. Instead, she stands up and does what she has to to keep her family’s reputation as well as their home. While it might have been clear from first sight who a romantic interest might be, Zarela didn’t let her mind wander, and never faltered in her course to keep her family afloat and find the traitor in their midst.

I can’t overstate my love for this audiobook and its narration. Her voice sucked me into the story, and I found myself hanging on every word in a way that’s atypical of other audiobooks, where I sort of go in and out, catching important details sometimes as an afterthought. Osorio is a natural storyteller, and combined with Ibañez’s words, gave me a story I could hardly put down, or turn off, as this case may be.

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the audiobook of “Together We Burn” by Isabel Ibañez in exchange for an honest review.
The narration by Ana Osorio had me struggling to take off my headphones. She kept pace and showed so much emotion that made me feel like it was Zarela herself telling us her story.

This book had me absolutely enchanted. I absolutely love the idea of being a matador to dragons rather than bulls.
This had many familiar tropes like killing of a parental figure and having that change the course of the MC’s future and having the MC be spunky and full of sarcastic wit that is typically seen in YA books but Isabel Ibañez found a way to make them feel new and exciting.
I especially love that even though her mother is killed by the fire of a dragon this doesn’t create a deep-seated hatred in Zarela.
The chemistry, banter, and passion between Zarela and Arturo, Zarela’s trainer, is the main reason why I’m so obsessed with this book. It is simply *chef’s kiss*.

Another dragon story! I loved it. I enjoyed the audiobook a lot. I like the narrator's voice especially for the main character and her best friend Lola. I enjoyed the slow burning romance and the enemies to lover trope. I liked the bit of mystery and suspense when someone Zarela's family trusted backstabbed them. I liked the strong female leading character. The guy, Arturo sounds awesome too. I liked how he kept himself back, fighting his attraction for Zarela. I would have loved to read his point of view!

This story followed Zarela, 18. She's the daughter of the famous dragon dancer by her mother and dragon fighter/performer by her father. Their family was successful and well known. One day, an accident occurred and her mother was killed by a dragon. Zarela and her dad moved on, Zarela followed her mom's footsteps by dancing and her dad continued to perform. After a recent show, Zarela's family dragons started to attack. Many people were dead and injured. Many more building structures were damaged. Some dragons escaped. Zarela's family name became a name the protesters shouted to punish. Through the attack, Zarela's father was injured. Her family business was left to her to save. She did everything including putting herself in her father's shoes to perform with the dragons even if she feared them. She also kept watch and investigated on who were trying to destroy her family name.

Majority of the story I listened from the audiobook but I went back to the book to read my favorite parts.

Thank you Wednesday Books and Goodreads for the giveaway win! Thank you Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen and review!

Dancing dragons, forbidden romance! Need I say more. I was hooked from the very start. I adored this book. There is lots of action and romance. I love the banter between Zarela and Arturo. This was a wonderful standalone and I highly recommend it. Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

I didn’t love the narrator or story and DNF after a couple chapters. It just wasn’t for me but the plot sounded really good.

Together We Burn by Isabel Ibanez is such an amazing book. I really loved how unique this book was. The concept was so much fun. The story was a bit slow to begin with but it quickly picked up. Zarela is the main character and she is trying to save her family’s arena. All she wants is to help her father keep everything he has worked for.

Zarela tracks down help. She needs a dragon trainer and Arturo may be the only person willing to help her. Aurturo turns Zarela away at first because he doesn’t agree with how dragons fighting in the arena. Eventually, after a lot of stubbornness in Zarela’s part; Aurturo ends up agreeing to help. As Zarela tries to save her family’s arena, she also tries to figure out what is going on. Nothing seems like an accident.

The audiobook is amazing. I love the narrator. I think the audiobook is totally worth listening too because it is so good! I absolutely loved diving into this world. The characters are amazing and I found the plot and story to be quite enjoyable

It took me a little while to get into this book, but once the story picked up, I couldn’t stop!
Zarela is a wonderful main character, full of passion and drive, and I loved the supporting cast of characters. The romance is a very satisfying enemies-to-lovers, with a brooding love interest who has plenty of secrets.I loved the reimagined matador/bull fighting with dragons, and the way flamenco weaves through the story.
If you enjoy exploring the Spanish culture in new and inventive ways, Together We Burn is just the fantasy tale for you.

4.25-4.5 stars

I really enjoyed this one!

I listened to the audiobook (thank you NetGalley!) and hearing the Spanish words and accents was such a delight!
*I would have prefered a male narrator for the male parts, the switching between characters (in dialogue) was a bit confusing.

The story gives a unique spin to the torreadores tradition from Spain - here we have dragons and dragonadores.

It took me a while to get into it (it seemed like the heroine and her father were too fixated on their traditions, their name, what they represented etc.

But eventually, the story really progressed and it made for such a fiery read! The action started moving, the sparks started flying, the banter picked up and the sexual tension because intense and impossible to resist. Also, we got some interesting dragon action - a flamenco dancers dancing with dragons in the ring?? Yes, please! I need to see that scene in a movie. (Catherine Zeta Jones and Antonio Banderas from the Mask of Zorro were constantly on my mind while reading this for some reason LOL I mean, that dance scene... Yes.).

Zarela is one of my favorite heroines - independent, strong, resilient and feisty - she takes no sh*t from everyone and the poor girl does have it bad and gets hit over and over by drama and tragedy.

Arturo is just too dreamy for anyone's good - brooding, silver eyed, badass, hot and everything. Just a full package.

So overall, a really fun, unique read that I would totally recommend!

I can’t complain about this story. It’s a different take on a common story. The common story is a girl trying to put her family situation back together after it was destroyed - the different take? Dragons. There are dragons.

This world was interesting. There are dragons along with dragon fighters - and most of the world seems to revolve around them. There are arenas where people fight the dragons in front of a crowd and it was really quite interesting. It reminds me of the colosseum in a way. The world building was done well and I can’t complain about that at all really. It’s a pretty typical world for a fantasy novel and nothing needed to be overly explained in order to follow it.

There’s of course a love interest, but it wasn’t my favorite part of the book. I definitely preferred the storyline about the dragon fighting arena but I see the need for the love interest.

I loved that the chapter numbers were in Spanish in the audiobook. While I can really only understand to 10 in Spanish, it felt perfect for the audio to be authentic in that way. It was refreshing. Thanks to NetGalley for this one!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I love Ana Osorio's accent while she was narrating this book, it was gorgeous and I could listen to it all day! I will definitely look for more books narrated by Ana in the future.

I really enjoyed this book. I thought the politics of the dragon fighting were very similar to the ones in Spain regarding bull fighting. I like how Zarela and Arturo came together to find a solution for the family's arena.

I am very much looking forward to reading more books by Isabel Ibañez in the future.

The mystery element to the story was very obvious to me so no surprise there but it was still interesting to see how the main character would take the big reveal so the book was not ruined for me because of knowing the truth. To be fair, it is almost impossible for a plot to surprise me anymore since I read so much (I think at least) so that is never a deal breaker if a book is entertaining or not.

I did enjoy the romance of the story, an enemies to lover vibe that was the best kind of slow burn. And yes this was steamy in a few parts, so while this is listed as YA I would be more likely to recommend this to older YA readers (the main character is 18 so technically an adult and she acted completely as an adult in my opinion). I was a little surprised by how independent, headstrong and pushy Zarela was, very much the pursuer in the romance, especially since the time period the book is set in (while being an alternate world where dragons exist) has women as property of men for the most part.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read with romance, heartbreak, action, danger, dragons, magic, suspense and dance. Together We Burn wrapped up nicely and I am pretty sure this is a standalone story, but I would love a companion novel featuring a certain mischievous servant getting into trouble and finding romance. I liked the development of the characters that the author created and I am super interested to read more books by her in the future

Dragons, a broody love interest, and a badass female main character! This is such a great book, did I mention the dragons?! The dragon fighting reminds me a lot if bull fighting, which is a super cool and interesting take on dragons that I don’t think I’ve ever seen before. This book is unique and fun and I love the characters so much (especially Lola).

Zarela really steps up and fights for her family when her father is injured during a dragon fight. She’s already lost her mother to a dragon, and she sells her mother’s ring to buy more dragons when all of theirs mysteriously die. Zarela meets Arturo, the broodiest of broody boys, who begrudgingly helps Zarela in her efforts to save her family’s dragon fighting arena and their livelihood.

I’m giving this 4 stars because the ending was a bit strange to me (spoilers ahead, beware). Her uncle basically wants to be her father? It just felt really weird and gross (obviously because he’s the villain in this whole thing), and I didn’t love that that was his reason for sabotaging everything. Super creepy uncle vibes.

Overall, really enjoyable and I love the lore of this book.

I really wanted to like this audiobook because it was a fantasy set in Medieval Spain. The synopsis was very intriguing because instead of bullfights, it was dragon fights. However, I could not get connected to the characters. They seem mostly detached from the story. Still, the writing is very beautiful, and I love how it incorporated Spanish history and culture with this audiobook. The narrator performed the story very well, and I like how she portrayed all of the characters. I recommend this for fans of The Moon Sister, These Violent Delights, and Seraphina!