#Review - Together We Burn by Isabel Ibañez #YA #Fantasy #Historical

Series: Standalone
Format: Hardcover, 368 pages
Release Date: May 31, 2022
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy / Historical

An ancient city plagued by dragons. A flamenco dancer determined to save her ancestral home. A dragon hunter refusing to teach her his ways. They don't want each other, but they need each other, and without him her world will burn.

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 their five hundredth anniversary show, and in the carnage, Zarela’s father is horribly injured. Facing punishment from the Dragon Guild, Zarela must keep the arena—her ancestral home and inheritance —safe from their greedy hands. She has no choice but to take her father’s place as the next Dragonador. When the infuriatingly handsome dragon hunter, Arturo Díaz de Montserrat, withholds his help, she refuses to take no for an answer.

But even if he agrees, there’s someone out to ruin the Zalvidar family, and Zarela will have to do whatever it takes in order to prevent the Dragon Guild from taking away her birthright. 

Isabel Ibañez 's Together We Burn is a lush, enchanting standalone fantasy inspired by medieval Spain, filled with romance, action, and adventure. The story is set in the year 1820, in a land called Santivilla. 18-year-old Zarela Zalvidar is the daughter of Hispalia's most famous Dragonador, Santiago Zalvidar, basically a matador but for dragons, and a famous flamenco dancer, Eulelia Zalvidar, who she takes after. Her mother was killed a year earlier during a celebration of the capture of a dangerous dragon. 

Zarela is just as talented as a flamenco dancer as her own mother, but people are still obsessed with watching her perform Eulelia's best dances. Disaster strikes during their 500th anniversary show, when in the carnage, Zarela’s father is horribly injured, several of their dragons escape, and their tamers are killed. Zarela notices that things aren't what they seem. In fact, it seems as though someone has intentionally caused the family financial ruin if they can't fix the issues.

Now they face punishment from the Dragon Guild and could potentially lose their ancestral home, as well as their livelihood. Zarela must keep the arena—her ancestral home and inheritance —safe from their greedy hands. She has no choice but to take her father’s place as the next Dragonador. Dragons are used in dragon fights similar to bull fighting, and are mercilessly killed by the Dragonadores. In order to save her home and keep bringing in paying spectators, she has to learn to fight dragons herself, which means employing the help of a grumpy, sullen, mysterious, and Dragonador trainer Arturo Díaz de Montserrat. 

They team up together to save the arena, inheritance and ancestral home of Zalvidar family, but somebody out there is too bloodthirsty to destroy family’s reputation and everything they’ve worked for centuries. With her families future on the line, she refuses to take no for an answer. Zarela refuses to give up the dragon-fighting ring that has been in her family for centuries, no matter what she must sacrifice, including the only life she has ever known. But will Arturo's own secrets ruin everything they built together? Who has reason to execute a dragon trainer and ruin their family name? A rival ring owner? One of the political groups protesting the killing of dragons in the ring?

Together We Burn may not appeal to those who are triggered by the sudden and brutal death of a parent, but it is a worthwhile read for those who are looking for something different.

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