Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for giving me a free copy to review and here's my honest review.
I loved the idea of this from the moment I read the synopsis and it didn't disappoint me at all. The characters were so well written and the writing style was flowing also the pace is so so fast I didn't feel time go as I read it. Not to talk about the romance my god the angst and feels I loved it so much. Liked the plot twists too they were so well written and I liked how the story went. If you're looking for a fantasy standalone with just the right amount of romance this is your to go choice.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for advance access to this wonderful eARC.

This was a five star read for me; absolutely devoured it!

What I loved:
- This had a wonderful equal balance between being plot and character driven; I'm not a huge fan of books that are overly plot driven so this was a nice surprise!
- Zarela is equal parts her mother and father and we understand how important it is to her to honour them both - it was brilliant to see how her character progressed.
- Whilst this is mostly a YA fantasy-romance, there’s also an element of murder mystery at play and I loved that! Ibañez really keeps us guessing!
- I loved the merging of Spanish culture with a fantasy backdrop; substituting the ethical implications of bull fighting for dragon fighting was a brilliant idea and it works seamlessly!
- The romance was on point. I struggled to settle into another book after this because I craved the chemistry in Together We Burn and actually went back to read my favourite parts.
- DRAGONS.

What I didn’t like:
- Nothing: I absolutely adored this!!

Read if you love
- This Vicious Grace, A Far Wilder Magic, This Woven Kingdom, A River Enchanted, The Prison Healer
- Romantasy, YA / NA fantasy
- Enemies to Lovers
- Forced to work together
- A smattering of spice….

Together We Burn-Review
Author:
Genre: Fantasy
Page Count:368 pages
Publication Date:5th of July 2022
The standalone fantasy I needed in my life
Thank you to @netgalley / @titanbooks for providing me with this e ARC/physical copy before publication in exchange for an honest review
Review;
This is a book like no other I’ve ever read it’s the perfect blend of Spanish culture and the YA tropes we all love. I really enjoyed the authors writing style and can’t wait to check out more books by them in the future.
This book was really amzing for me to read because it had one of my favourite creatures in it dragons. I’ve always loved dragons since I can remember I loved How to train your dragon books/show when I was younger and honestly still put the show on every once in a while. Like The Priory of The Orange Tree I was drawn to this book because dragons was in it however I ended up loving the story as a whole.
Like when I watch How to Train Your Dragons I was utterly disrobed by the thought of killing dragons because I view them as such magnificent beast. But I did enjoy reading the true relationship these people had with the dragons and how it’s their culture beliefs etc. I liked how this book draw a focus to traditions and how sometime they are a good thing within a society and how sometimes they can destroy society.
The world building in this book was absolutely incredible it really transported me.
The characters in this were simply wonderful. Zarela is such a powerful charcter who is talented, stubborn, brave and outspoken as she will do anything for her family. She will not be put into a box because of gender so really is an inspirational character. Arturo on the other hand is a perfect balance to her as he stand up to her and won’t let her get on his nerves. Another charter I loved was Zarela’s best friend Lola. They had the sweetest conversations and their friendship was true and real.
The only this that I didn’t like about this book was that if felt rushed a little at the end but other than that I enjoyed the pace of it.
Overall I’d highly recommend this book if you’re in the mood for a fast pace standalone fantasy book.
Rating;
4 stars
TRIGGER/CONTENT WARNING
-Death of parent
-Kidnapping
-Animal cruelty

I’ll admit I was completely and utterly swept away by this book. Set in a fantasy version of Spain, where instead of bulls, they fight dragons, Zarela is the daughter of a flamenco dancer and a Dragonador. Her father fights in their arena, part of their family for generations. Until disaster sees him injured and Zarela finds herself trying to keep the family business going, and dealing with the Dragon Guild. She’s determined to save her home and family, and enlists the help of Arturo Díaz de Montserrat, a dragon hunter, to train her. And she won’t take no for an answer.

Together We Burn is the story of a young woman fighting to save her home. She steps up and defends herself and her family against ruthless men who would love nothing more than to see her torn down, and she is determined to prove herself to those who would underestimate her. I loved Zarela’s relationship with her father – it’s not perfect, and at the start it is a little strained, but he never seemed to think she couldn’t handle things, and he trusted her. The main issue he has is the possibility of injury. There’s also a lovely wider cast, from Zarela’s best friend to Arturo’s employer, and they fill out the world nicely.

The dragons were written really well, and I loved the way Ibañez conveyed their presence, their danger, and their majesty. These dragons are not just vicious beasts, as Zarela comes to learn, and the scenes where she gets up close to them are some of my favourites in the book.

And Arturo…

Of course, I absolutely freaking loved him. He’s a bit of a broody hero, and like Zarela’s father, despite his reluctance to help her he never seems to believe she can’t or won’t do what she sets out to do. Even angry at her, he supports her, and I liked their interactions throughout.

There were so many moments where Arturo’s pain was clear, and where it was obvious he was hiding something, but not what – it worked really well to have that undercurrent of mystery to it and Zarela didn’t push it too much, either. And the world around them felt fleshed out and vivid, with the various guilds and characters and the setting around Zarela. I liked the direction it took, and it had me completely captivated.

This was a really enjoyable read and easy to get swept up in, with a nice blend of fantasy and history. Definitely worth a read if you’re considering it.

Thank you to Titan Books for providing me this ebook via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Views remain my own.

This book had me at “dragons” – it couldn’t do much wrong after that. Regardless, I grew to completely love the characters. I enjoyed watching both the charged interactions between the love interests and the playful banter between the best friends. I was totally won over by the novel’s protagonist, Zarela. She may have been naive and a little too trusting, but she was also determined, resilient and brave. Zarela’s begrudging ally, Arturo, was extremely brusque with her but his obvious love for dragons helped me to quickly warm up to him. Her best friend, Lola, was also a great character. She was so much fun and brought a welcome energy to each of her scenes. I particularly liked Lola’s dynamic with Zarela as she managed to bring out a different side of her friend.

The romance itself was brilliant – this is how you do enemies-to-lovers! I appreciated how both characters had to earn each other’s respect and that they made each other better.

The mystery surrounding who betrayed Zarela and her father was quite predictable, but it didn’t lessen how much I liked the novel.

I really loved the world the author crafted, making me wish that this book was the first of many. It would be amazing to see more of the characters and dragons because I felt like this novel only scratched the surface. I hold out hope that Lola will get her own spin-off!

OVERALL: This book had me at the first mention of dragons but the simmering romance and unfolding mystery kept me hooked right up to its perfect ending.

Together we burn is a fun, well-written and fast-paced young adult fantasy novel set in a world heavily inspired by Spanish culture. The setting is beautiful and I really like the author’s writing style.

My favorite part of this book was without a doubt the dragons. I was a huge fan of Eragon growing up and throughout the years, I haven’t come across many books where the dragons are portrayed in a similar way. While Together We Burn doesn’t focus on the dragons as much as how they play a role in the life of the humans. But I was still so happy to read a book with what I think of as “traditional dragons” in which the dragons actually stay dragons (no shape-shifting involved). As a dragon lover, I find the very idea of killing dragons, especially for entertainment, utterly disturbing and horrible. So, I struggled a little bit with that, especially in the beginning. However, it was interesting to see how the idea of dragons and how to treat them developed throughout the story.

Together We Burn has some really great character development where believes and old traditions are challenged. Traditions can be a great way to remember where we came from and keep the culture alive. But some traditions may cause more harm than good and in those cases we should really try to challenge the old believes instead of accepting that that’s how it’s always been.

My only major problem with Together We Burn is that I found the end/last hundred-or-so pages a bit lacking. The first half of the book made for such a great build up but the latter half felt sort of rushed. Other than that, it was a really good read!

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘛𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘈𝘳𝘤 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺!

I absolutely adored this! The story, characters, world-building, pace: it was all very well done. I especially felt like the storytelling was so vivid that I was really transported to Spain for a while. Can highly recommend!

DNF at 43%

I really really wanted to love this book! It sounded really interesting & you don’t come across Spanish inspired worlds very often.

I did really like the Spanish inspired setting including the little insertions of the language & traditions.

But I just couldn’t get on with the dragon fighting, it wasn’t for me unfortunately. I also really struggled to empathise with the main characters & as a result didn’t really care about the plot.

I was buzzed about dragons coming back into fashion, just a shame it wasn’t what I hoped!

Together We Burn is a unique and utterly enchanting tale that I’ll think about for years to come. The minute I saw the dragon on the gorgeous front cover, I knew I had to have it, and it was everything I hoped for and more.

Each beautifully written page explodes with dragons, flamenco dancing, a delicious slow burn, enemies to lovers romance, drama and intrigue, and I loved every word. And did I mention the dragons? The author’s almost lyrical prose brilliantly brought the scenery, culture, magic and people of Hisplalia to life in such vivid detail that I was sucked into Zarela’s world. And the plentiful food descriptions left me craving a Mediterranean meal!

The world building is exceptional and very easy to follow and I appreciated the handy reference guide at the front of the book. I loved the guild and magic system and the concept of the book was unique and unlike anything I’ve ever read.

One of the standout features of this novel is the cast of wonderful characters. Zarela is a force of nature - talented, stubborn, brave, proud, loyal and outspoken and she’ll do everything for her family. She doesn’t conform to the rigid constraints placed on her gender and she’s a real inspiration. Dragon tamer Arturo is a perfect match for her - he stands up to her, and in turn, she breaks through his tough, closed off exterior and makes him feel.
I really loved Zarela’s fun, outgoing best friend and maid Lola. Their banter was brilliant and their strong friendship bond felt really genuine.

I loved the fantasy take on the Spanish tradition of bull fighting, using dragons in their place. The book contains a strong message about the ethics of dragon/bull fighting versus the cultural tradition it’s steeped in.

I don’t often read standalone novels, but Together We Burn was a really satisfying read which was well paced, crammed full of love and drama, and tied up beautifully at the end. I’m sad to leave the world of Hispalia, so I hope the author has more adventures planned for the future!

One of the things that puts a lot of folks off fantasy stories is that they can often feel very similar. Thanks to the proliferation of European, and especially British, inspired fantasy there are a huge number of fantasy tales that take place in old castles, have armoured knights, and are filled with other stereotypes. But in recent years we've had an increase in fantasy stories inspired by the histories, cultures, and myths of other places and people; and Titan Books latest novel does this wonderfully.

Together We Burn takes readers to Hispalia, where we meet Zarela Zalvidar. Zarela is the daughter of one of the most beloved flamenco dancers in the city, and her father is a famous dragonador. At the start of the book we witness Zarela lose her mother when one of the dragons breaks free during a performance, burning her mother to death. Years later, another disaster hits her family's dragon fighting arena. Several dragons break free, killing members of the audience. Some are killed, but others break free and flee. Sadly, one of the dragons injures her father, leaving Zarela alone to take responsibility.

With the arena in need of repairs, the leaders of the city demanding that she provide compensation to the families of those lost, her father fighting for his life, and next to no money left, Zarela makes a bold decision; she will fight dragons in her family arena. With the help of the handsome but aloof dragon hunter Arturo, Zarela is determined to become the best dragon fighter she can be, restore her family legacy, and find those responsible for the disaster.

Together We Burn is a delightful fantasy story inspired by Spanish culture that feels fresh, original, and incredibly inventive. The world that Ibañez has created feels very similar to our own in a lot of ways. This isn't a high fantasy novel with people of various races, wizards fighting with magic, or end of the world doom. Instead, it seems to ask a simple question, 'how would society be different if dragons existed?' And it turns out not hugely. I loved that a lot of the time reading Together We Burn it felt like I was reading a historical novel. With a few slight changes it could have easily been a book set within the real world; and I think that's a huge strength here, as it allows readers an easy access.


Hispalia is very similar to what people know about Spain, with similar architecture, culture, food, and language. There are parts of the book where the dialogue shifts into Spanish, when characters sit down to eat its recognisable food, and you can feel Ibañez's love for the culture and history bleeding off the page. There are so many fantasy books where it feels like the setting comes as a secondary thought, but in Together We Burn the world around the characters feels so alive, so well thought out that it becomes a delight to read.

The characters are also a wonderful part of the story, and Zarela is a really good protagonist. She's young, only eighteen, and falls into the category of 'young female heroine' that is very popular in YA books, but she reads as so much older. She feels mature in ways that a lot of teen characters don't. She's had a life where she's had to grow up quickly, and the events of the book are a big part of that too. So many of the criticisms you see about YA heroines, that they don't think things through, that they're too emotional, or that they make bad mistakes, don't apply here. Zarela has a level head on her shoulders, she isn't impulsive, she doesn't really make too many mistakes, and she makes for a great lead. 

The other characters around Zarela are great too, and there's a wonderful collection of folks in this book. Whether it's her best friend, or her father, I was so pleasantly surprised with hos well thought out and layered everyone was. A lot of the characters began feeling like they were going to fall into traditional, tropey roles, but Ibañez threw some wonderful curve-balls at reads and ended up subverting my expectations more than once. So many of the interactions and story beats took surprising turns and went in directions that I wasn't expecting.

I can't talk about the book without talking about one of the stand-out parts, however. The dragons. The world of Together We Burn has one of the more unique relationships with dragons that I've ever seen. Yes, there are wild dragons that stalk the wilderness between towns, and sometimes attack the city, but the main interactions that people in Hispalia comes from the dragon fighting. As the name dragonador implies, the dragons in this book take the place of bulls, and the dragon fighting copies the patterns and cultural place of bull fighting. The dragons become more than just monster, they become a part of this world, a part of their history and culture. It's unique, fascinating, and always amazing when you see one of the characters step into the ring with one of these monsters.

Together We Burn is a wonderfully unique kind of fantasy book. It builds a stunningly well thought out and layered world, inhabited with characters that subvert expectations, go against convention, and prove to be delightful throughout. The book is filled with lore, mystery, drama, and romance, and is sure to tick a lot of boxes for folks. Whether you're looking for strong female protagonists, unique fantasy worlds, or tense monster scenes, Together We Burn will provide it.

It took me a little while to get into this book, but once the story picked up, I couldn’t put it down!
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.

This is a quick and easy read - the plot feels a bit ‘surface level’, driven by Zarela’s goals and minimal secondary plot points.

I loved the reimagined matador/bull fighting with dragons, and the way flamenco weaves through the story.

I think there's a lot of potential in this Spanish inspired fantasy but there's a big BUT for me: I consider bullfighting a fascinating but very cruel sport and this book is a sort of peana to to bullfighting or dragonfighting.
At a certain point I was rooting for the dragons.
So even if it's not a bad book there's something that made me hard to read this story.
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Bull fighting but with dragons? Sign me up! A rip roaring ride of a story that,for me was held back by a number of pacing issues.

I'm sorry. I really wanted to like this! I was really looking forward to reading it, I was expecting a kind of How To Train Your Dragon-esque story. But this was... not it. It was very lackluster, and it just didn't work. The plotline makes no sense, it was very repetitive, there was a complete lack of explanation about the worldbuilding and magic system. I had to skim most of the book, because for a book that is under 400 pages, it was incredibly slow, until the last 50 pages when it became incredibly fast. <spoiler>I mean, hello, for a good quarter of the book she was just sat outside a house.</spoiler> The romance completely did not work for me - there was a complete lack of consent, he kept saying no and she kept ignoring him. And I just don't know how that even got past publication to be honest. Another thing that was horrible to read about was all of the dragon killing that went on for 90% of the book, with no real explanation of why that was happening. I just didn't like it, I'm sorry, I really wanted to!

*Actual rating is 3.5 stars*

I have conflicted feelings about this book. It’s a Spanish inspired fantasy world where you perform bull fights - but with dragons - sounded right up my alley. I really wanted to love it as the synopsis sounded so amazing, but there were a couple of aspects that kept me from loving it.

The biggest issue for me was the pacing. In that sense the book was all over the place for me. There are these bursts of activity which had me glued to the pages, eagerly exploring what will happen next. But then there also were these slow parts where nothing really happened. Another thing that I didn’t like was how easy it was for me to figure out who the “big bad” was. While I didn’t nail the motivation, I did get the person right and since the story relies on that conflict and unraveling their identity, I just found it a bit dull.

Moving on to the characters and the main character Zarela is very headstrong, and seems to be very rash about most of the things she does. Which sometimes made me irritated that she constantly dug her heels into the ground and didn’t listen to anyone else, to instead go for her latest “brilliant” idea. Although I did find this frustrating, there is a good reason why she does these things, and although they don’t always come out in the best way there’s no way to deny that she truly loves her family and friends. That much of her actions stems from a place of fear, and the burden of having to sort things out alone. I really liked Zarela and Lola’s friendship. They shared these moments of fun activities, like their night adventure in search of clues, and I would honestly have absolutely loved a story with focus on the two of them. Then we have the broody and grumpy guy Arturo, the dragon tamer who reluctantly decides to help Zarela. While it’s pretty clear that he’s a sofie underneath his stoic lone wolf persona, I did have a hard time warming to Arturo for the first like 2/3 of the book…

The plot started to get better for me around the middle mark, and the last 3rd of the book was just really enjoyable, it finally became the story I wish it had been all along! And that ending? I would lie if I didn’t say that the ending made me tear up with joy and gave me a fuzzy warm feeling. It was just lovely. So there’s definitely both good and bad things, and if you think the book sounds interesting and is the kind of person who likes broody guys then this one is worth picking up!

Bullfighting but make it dragons – that’s Together We Burn by Isabel Ibañez. I wanted to love this book, I really did. Dragon fighting, dancing… it sounded fabulous.
For the first couple of pages, it was.

I absolutely love the setting. The Hispanic feeling is great, the smattering of Spanish words and phrases was a very nice touch and just enough that I could still understand it. Never had to look up a single word – it was always very clear what the meaning was and I appreciate it.
But that’s it.
First of all, I wish there had been more flamenco dancing. We barely got any of that and I would’ve loved the fire and spirit of it presented in writing.
Second, the dragon fighting. At first I was very sceptical about it. It was clearly inspired by bullfighting, which obviously is a very problematic tradition, so I was worried about it being glorified in this book. It wasn’t and I was very glad about that. This book really showed both sides, the traditional aspect and the animal welfare part of the discussion and it was a great metaphor for the problems with bullfighting. Very well done, exciting, interesting.
However. Look, it’s an extremely interesting topic! But, well, if you give me a book about dragon fighting, I’m not exactly coming for the ethical discussions. If you want to write a book about bullfighting, do it, I’d love to read it! Why do we need dragons? I actually believe that I would’ve preferred this book if it had just been bulls. It wouldn’t have changed a single thing about the story.
The setting was awesome for a fantasy world and the topic was interesting, but I didn’t really feel like it went well together.

Apart from that – the relationship between Zarela and Arturo. I liked the way it started out, but I didn’t feel like there was much development. Also, I'm really starting to hate the trope of "I'm such a horrible person, no one could ever love me, because one day as a child I accidentally sneezed during a funeral" (or, well, you know, something equally ridiculous, like in this book, but I don't want to spoil). And in the end the whole relationship got a bit rushed.
Actually, the whole ending seemed a bit rushed and anti-climactic to me. It’s a book about dragons. That promises excitement and magic! But again, the dragons were basically glorified bulls.

It was a very promising story and the setting was absolutely amazing, but it wasn’t great.

Thank you, NetGalley and Titan Books for offering me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Netgally for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

We follow Zarela, daughter of a Dragonador and the most famous and beloved flamenco dancer in Hispanic. Inspired by Spain though we have a magical twist, dragons. They are fought for performances, killed and used for magic. One year ago, Zarela lost her mother due to a dragon attack during a performance and now there has been another one. This attack might be the one who ends all of it, her name and the centuries of traditions and even her home.

First of all, I am Spanish. Although i am not from the south of Spain. What people dont really care to know about Spain is that it is a country filled with different cultures. The flamenco and the majority of the culture demonstrated here belongs to the SOUTH of Spain. It is NOT Spanish culture, it IS part of the Spanish culture. With that being said, it explores really well that part. The food was spot on, while we do not only eat olives we do enjoy them a lot. And we love olive oil. Everything is better with olive oil trust me. I appreciated the use of names that could be considered traditional. Not only that but the language used was really appreciated. We do not speak like that anymore, although some might, yet i really appreciated seeing as how that politeness has never abandoned us, only evolved. It was really nice, thanks. Isabel also mentioned a lot of traditional clothing, so thanks for that.

The most important point is the obvious reference to bullfighting through dragon fighting. In Spain, we call it TAUROMAQUIA and i will be using that word through the review to refer both bullfighting(sounds so weird) and the dragon fighting part of it. The thing about tauromaquia is that most people hate it. Tauromaquia and bull shows are mostly related to upper high class people and people who come from royalty and marquess things. It was a form of entertain me for the rich and while now everyone can go and see it, the working class still does not. The only ones to go continue being upper class and tbh snobs. A lot of Spanish people hate it and fights for it to be abolished. Sadly, the rich have more power. The fighters attitudes are disgusting and see animal cruelty as something prestigious. I will never support this. I will never feel pity for someone who gets hurt while doing this. They brought it to themselves. Leave the bulls alone.

I expected a critique of this yet only the male main character was against it bcs it awful. The association against it was portrayed as something evil and villainous. It was a disappointment to see this. The author made people that are against animal cruelty as stupid people who do not care about traditions. And i know that she probably didnt want to do that because she added some quotes about that being bad and shit but it felt like that all the time.
The FMC only changes her views about the fights/ tauromaquia because IT BENEFICES HER. Not because its right. Because she gets to gain more from it. it was disappointing once again. It made my blood boil seeing how this could have been a book about protecting animals and that not all traditions are meant to be perceived the same way all the time and can change.

The end of the book felt a little rushed and the conflict was resolved in like 2 paragraphs. It was like :

- I did something beautiful do you believe me now about everything that you told me was a lie??

You are so right about everything omg you danced beautifully you must be right i always respected x and will respect you now everyone in favor?? Yes?? Nice

I am giving it a 3 bcs my ideology and i guess its not fair for the author. The book was good, the romance was good, the descriptions were good. Yet it left a bad taste in my mouth seeing how tauromaquia was low key supported and how the fmc never really talked about it being a bad thing. didnt even change her opinion, just decided to do what was going to give her more money.

Thank you to NetGalley and Titan Books for providing me an eARC to review!

In all honesty, I started skimming from page 80 so I am by no means an expert on this book, and if it wasn't an ARC I would have DNFed it. This just really wasn't for me - I didn't like the main character (I found she leaned too much into the girlboss/petulant zone for my taste) and I didn't understand why I was meant to be rooting for the people that killed dragons for sport? I know that things change over the course of the book, but it just seemed like none of the main characters really wanted to take responsibility for this tragedy that happened on their watch and we were still meant to support them in their quest to clear their name and go against the animal activists who kind of had a point that what they were doing was not quite morally correct.

I think if you are a fantasy romance person who doesn't need a watertight plot to like a book you would enjoy this a lot more (though it does get a little raunchy for YA in my opinion) and the concept was interesting but I just didn't think there was enough meat behind it to keep me interested. From what I skimmed it got a little goofy/melodramatic and that's just really not my thing. I am still interested in Ibañez' other books though!

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.

Wasn’t sure what to expect going into this book, but the concept is very unique and I was interested to see what the author would do with it. The book itself is well written but I felt that a lot of the story was very predictable and it left me feeling a little short sold. It could have had a lot more detail but overall I still loved the book and would read it again.