Together We Burn

Together We Burn is set in an amazing Latin inspired world, where instead of bulls they fight DRAGONS in an arena. Yes, it is epic. Zarela’s dad is one of the Dragonadors and they own an arena. Ater her mother’s death, Zarela dances flamenco before the fights, and her life seems to be going well, until disaster strikes. Her father gets injured, and Zarela is the only one standing between them and financial ruin. But for that she needs to become a Dragonador herself, and no one is available to train her except the grumpy Arturo who refuses to help. Fortunately Zarela is very stubborn and they soon seem to be dancing around each other.

The worldbuilding… it’s so amazing! The food is described in detail (it bothers me that Zarela often doesn’t eat when you see what gets put in front of her, I want to taste it through words please thank you very much). There is no info dump, but slowly you find out all about this world, and each little revelation is welcome. I love the Latin feeling everything has, and the dragons only make it more amazing. There are Spanish sentences but even I, a European with zero knowledge of Spanish, could understand it. The intricate politics of the guild was interesting and added another layer to the mystery of who was behind the sabotage.

I felt so bad for Zarela as her life crumbled in around her, when everyone thought it was her and her father’s fault but really it wasn’t. But she’s so strong and wow she shows everyone she is not to be trifled with. How she persuades Arturo to train her is my absolute favorite bit. Also their relationship is gold, they’re both so stubborn yet vulnerable but really complement each other. And their banter is the best! Though when I think of it, Lola might be the stubbornest of them all. I love her, she’s so outspoken and extraverted and really the friend you want guarding your back. All characters were very well developed. The villain was an unexpected twist, yay for that! I did had some trouble rooting for these characters at some points, I felt like Zarela always had to take the hard extremely risky way instead of realizing she really does have other options, because of that she felt immature at times which made it harder for me to root for her decisions. However in the end I absolutely loved her and she really grew up and realized important things that change her entire world view. And she also was really mature when a “misunderstanding” happens (yes I’m vague to avoid spoilers), which is a thing that often lacks in YA and I love how it was handled here.

The plot was original, it didn’t feel like YA but somewhere between YA and adult, with the fast paced aspect and plot twists of young adult combined with the depth of an adult novel. The middle sometimes felt a little slow even if it was fast paced with everything that’s going on, and I have no idea why, so that might’ve just been my mood. I mean, there is a mystery, dances with death, multiple disasters, revelations, realizations, overcoming fear, friendship, forbidden love and of course: dragons! So all in all I think it’s an amazing book and I definitely recommend this one.

I received an e-arc through Netgalley but it hasn’t influenced my opinions.