Together We Burn, by Isabel Ibañez, follows Zarela Zalvidar, whose late mother was the most famous flamenco dancer in Hispalia and whose father is the most celebrated Dragonador (dragon fighter). Her family has owned their arena, where they host dragon fights, for generations, but a disaster that occurs during one show puts the future of Zarela’s family and their livelihood at risk. With her father injured, Zarela must figure out how to save her family’s legacy, enlisting Arturo Díaz de Montserrat a dragon hunter, to help her learn how to become a Dragonador herself.

I went into this book expecting to thoroughly enjoy it, and it exceeded all of my expectations. While I had loved Ibañez’s debut, Woven in Moonlight, and it was even one of my favorite reads of 2021, I adored this book even more.

Zarela is a protagonist you can’t help but root for. She’s determined and stubborn and is willing to do anything to preserve her family’s legacy. Despite that, she’s deeply unsure of herself, having lived in her mother’s shadow her entire life after taking her place performing following her death. Although traumatized from watching a dragon kill her mother, she is still able to find the courage to face, and even befriend, dragons if that’s what it takes to save her family’s arena.

Arturo is a completely compelling love interest. He’s deeply against dragon fighting on a moral basis, but is willing to put that aside temporarily to help Zarela. He’s as driven as she is, and they just fit together and bring out the best in each other. I shipped them so much; while every aspect of this book is wonderful, the romance is a particularly well-done element.

Every character in this book feels multidimensional and complex, even side characters who aren’t present that often. Ibañez puts the same care into each minor character that she depicts as she does into everything about the book, making the entire world she depicts feel lush and alive.

The world-building is superb; it’s a fairly contained story, taking place within the politics of a single city, but the story still feels as important and compelling as any of the broader battle-driven fantasy books that so often dominate the genre. She uses exactly the right amount of detail about the world and government and magic system so that it still feels real and compelling without the reader feeling bogged down with information that, while interesting, has little to no impact on the story being told.

I also just want to take a moment to talk about the dragons. They’re so built into the nature of the world that the author creates that they don’t even necessarily feel fantastical at all, but rather a logical derivation of the story being told. Beyond that, I was just really happy to read a book about dragons; for such a hallmark of the fantasy genre, I feel like you don’t see them that often right now.

I can’t recommend this book enough. I loved everything about it, from the characters to the worldbuilding to the plot. Ibañez crafted a truly amazing story in Together We Burn. If you love fantasy, you’ll love it, but particularly if you’re looking for a really well-done standalone, or a book that takes place in a fantasy world without being an epic or having world-ending stakes. It’s the story of a girl doing everything she can to preserve her family legacy (it just has the bonus elements of dragons and magic). I’m giving Together We Burn 5/5 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.