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roget's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexism, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Excrement, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Self harm, Terminal illness, and Vomit
More info on the SA tags:stardust_heidi's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Love love loved this. The main pairing was so perfect, the grumpy brooding dude and the takes no shit heroine. I thought the setting and plot were so unique. I can’t wait to read more of this author’s work!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
averyconfusedhomosapiensbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
Moderate: Sexual content and Grief
Minor: Murder
campisforever's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death
_courtney's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Confinement, Excrement, Kidnapping, and Death of parent
apierlessbridge's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I adored this book. It reminded me so much of the colors, sights, and sounds of Spain (*ahem* Hispalia) it was hard not to immediately book a ticket. Zarela is a great heroine; a flamenco dancer at heart who is forced to try to fix things that everyone else broke, I loved that she was so 3 dimensional. She wasn't your usual all-powerful YA heroine, but she was vulnerable and sad, but pushing through it anyway. Not to mention ARTURO. He was grouchy, kind of mean at first, but with great hair. I loved watching their relationship develop organically with actual mutual respect and boundaries. Also, the dragon lore was so fascinating! Very creative. I also loved how the other characters had actual personalities and goals and ambitions beyond just helping the story along.
I did not love the dragonfighting (*ahem* bullfighting) and while it didn't go into a ton of detail it is definitely a big part of the world. The story overall, though, was worth it in the end. I'm still thinking about the food....
I did not love the dragonfighting (*ahem* bullfighting) and while it didn't go into a ton of detail it is definitely a big part of the world. The story overall, though, was worth it in the end. I'm still thinking about the food....
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Kidnapping
patricktreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
The jump in on this work was very quick. Immediate fight situation which sucked me into real quick. I kind of wish the chapters were slightly longer, but they were still good.
I loved the representation, and I was honestly very excited with the Spanish being spread throughout. As someone who doesn’t know much, it wasn’t hard to follow along and still be able to understand. Honestly, I probably learned a lot just from the way the book mixed the language.
It was technically long page wise but it was still a very quick and easy read with constant motion. It wasn’t a….slow burn 🔥 if you will. I really wish there was a second one.
I loved the representation, and I was honestly very excited with the Spanish being spread throughout. As someone who doesn’t know much, it wasn’t hard to follow along and still be able to understand. Honestly, I probably learned a lot just from the way the book mixed the language.
It was technically long page wise but it was still a very quick and easy read with constant motion. It wasn’t a….slow burn 🔥 if you will. I really wish there was a second one.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Kidnapping, and Murder
bandysbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Together We Burn features a young female character who is the heir to her mother’s flamenco legacy and her father’s dragon fighting legacy. When tragedy strikes, she must face the dragons she’s feared to save her inheritance. In order to learn how, she solicits the help of a retired, disenchanted dragon fighter to train her.
I really wanted to love this book, but it ended up just being okay for me. I had issues with the characterization, the setting, the plot twists, and the pacing.
First of all, the setting. The country in the story is called Hispalia and is pretty much Spain. I don’t really understand the point of making up a country if it’s literally going to be a country that already exists. I kept waiting to see what would differentiate it from Spain and it’s never really made clear…aside from dragons existing.
Second, it’s incredibly hard to relate to or feel sympathy for the main character. Her father is a famous dragon fighter and initially that isn’t so bothersome…but then they talk about how the dragons are treated and it makes it hard to feel any sympathy for anything bad that happens. Additionally, the MC comes across quite entitled. Clearly, she comes from a rich family and I can see how that would make her out of touch…but at times she comes across as spoiled and inconsiderate.
Third, I was able to figure out who the bad guy was pretty early on. I also figured out what would happen when the MC faced a dragon. It just felt like a pretty predictable plot. Add to it pacing issues and it gets kind of difficult to stay engaged at points.
All in all, I think the idea was good, but the execution was a miss. There were definitely moments of engagement that I wish the author would have built upon more. A quick enough read if you want something fairly light about dragons.
I really wanted to love this book, but it ended up just being okay for me. I had issues with the characterization, the setting, the plot twists, and the pacing.
First of all, the setting. The country in the story is called Hispalia and is pretty much Spain. I don’t really understand the point of making up a country if it’s literally going to be a country that already exists. I kept waiting to see what would differentiate it from Spain and it’s never really made clear…aside from dragons existing.
Second, it’s incredibly hard to relate to or feel sympathy for the main character. Her father is a famous dragon fighter and initially that isn’t so bothersome…but then they talk about how the dragons are treated and it makes it hard to feel any sympathy for anything bad that happens. Additionally, the MC comes across quite entitled. Clearly, she comes from a rich family and I can see how that would make her out of touch…but at times she comes across as spoiled and inconsiderate.
Third, I was able to figure out who the bad guy was pretty early on. I also figured out what would happen when the MC faced a dragon. It just felt like a pretty predictable plot. Add to it pacing issues and it gets kind of difficult to stay engaged at points.
All in all, I think the idea was good, but the execution was a miss. There were definitely moments of engagement that I wish the author would have built upon more. A quick enough read if you want something fairly light about dragons.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
rorquals's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I’d give this book 3.5 stars if I could. It was an enjoyable read and I love the storyline of it. There were some faults but overall a pleasant experience.
The story takes place in Hispalia which is similar to our Spain, in a world that uses dragons instead of bulls in a fighting arena. We follow Zarela, the daughter of a prominent dragon fighting family. Zarela has to deal with many hardships and trials to protect her family name and solve the mystery of who is sabotaging her career.
The story is filled with adventure, enemies to lovers, mystery and bi-lingual goodness.
There were a few issues I did have with this book which I hope don’t take away from the story. Firstly, there is a lot of repetition in the book. I don’t know if it was used to fill pages or what, but it made it difficult to get through. Also, this book is labeled as fast-paced, but since there was so much repetition, it didn’t pick up for me until halfway through the book. I put this book down so many times and thought I wouldn’t finish until I got to the halfway mark when things picked up. Lastly, this is an ARC, so I’m hoping they catch the spelling and grammatical errors before publishing, but I did catch quite a few while reading.
I’d still highly recommend this book. It’s a new read with a really inventive storyline which I think people will enjoy. Thank you to Net Galley for giving me an ARC.
The story takes place in Hispalia which is similar to our Spain, in a world that uses dragons instead of bulls in a fighting arena. We follow Zarela, the daughter of a prominent dragon fighting family. Zarela has to deal with many hardships and trials to protect her family name and solve the mystery of who is sabotaging her career.
The story is filled with adventure, enemies to lovers, mystery and bi-lingual goodness.
There were a few issues I did have with this book which I hope don’t take away from the story. Firstly, there is a lot of repetition in the book. I don’t know if it was used to fill pages or what, but it made it difficult to get through. Also, this book is labeled as fast-paced, but since there was so much repetition, it didn’t pick up for me until halfway through the book. I put this book down so many times and thought I wouldn’t finish until I got to the halfway mark when things picked up. Lastly, this is an ARC, so I’m hoping they catch the spelling and grammatical errors before publishing, but I did catch quite a few while reading.
I’d still highly recommend this book. It’s a new read with a really inventive storyline which I think people will enjoy. Thank you to Net Galley for giving me an ARC.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Death of parent
foreverinastory's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Thank you to Wednesday books and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
2.5/5
Ugh this was such a chore to read.
Together We Burn is a Spanish inspired high fantasy. The world of Hispalia has an ancient tradition of dragon fighting. Zarela Zalvidar is a talented flamenco dancer and the daughter of the most famous Dragonador. When catastrophe strikes during their 500th anniversary performance, her father is gravely injured and La Giralda is left in almost complete ruin. Zarela has no choice but to take over running La Giralda and face her fears of dragons in order to keep her family's business running.
This was hard for me to read because of the animal cruelty towards dragons. Plus Zarela has such an apathy towards them and it just really put me off this book. Plus then we also get a good heaping of sexism, misogyny and traditional gender roles and I'm just so tired of that shit showing up in fantasy. Can we not imagine a better world than that?
I didn't particularly care about Zarela or her romance. Though I did like Arturo, the love interest. He's super grumpy and he's against dragon fighting completely. I didn't really see the chemistry or appeal for him to like Zarela but whatever, I'm not stressing over it.
The ending was predictable but it annoyed me that the option did not occur to Zarela until like 80% into the book. Really? All this time to finally use some common sense?
Ultimately, I did not particularly like this, and I wouldn't really recommend it, but the cover is pretty.
Rep: All Spanish inspired cast, cishet female MC, cishet male side character with a permanent injury from dragon fighting.
CWs: Kidnapping, fire/fire injury, death, death of parent, murder, sexism, misogyny, grief, violence, blood, animal cruelty, animal death. Moderate: sexual content.
2.5/5
Ugh this was such a chore to read.
Together We Burn is a Spanish inspired high fantasy. The world of Hispalia has an ancient tradition of dragon fighting. Zarela Zalvidar is a talented flamenco dancer and the daughter of the most famous Dragonador. When catastrophe strikes during their 500th anniversary performance, her father is gravely injured and La Giralda is left in almost complete ruin. Zarela has no choice but to take over running La Giralda and face her fears of dragons in order to keep her family's business running.
This was hard for me to read because of the animal cruelty towards dragons. Plus Zarela has such an apathy towards them and it just really put me off this book. Plus then we also get a good heaping of sexism, misogyny and traditional gender roles and I'm just so tired of that shit showing up in fantasy. Can we not imagine a better world than that?
I didn't particularly care about Zarela or her romance. Though I did like Arturo, the love interest. He's super grumpy and he's against dragon fighting completely. I didn't really see the chemistry or appeal for him to like Zarela but whatever, I'm not stressing over it.
The ending was predictable but it annoyed me that the option did not occur to Zarela until like 80% into the book. Really? All this time to finally use some common sense?
Ultimately, I did not particularly like this, and I wouldn't really recommend it, but the cover is pretty.
Rep: All Spanish inspired cast, cishet female MC, cishet male side character with a permanent injury from dragon fighting.
CWs: Kidnapping, fire/fire injury, death, death of parent, murder, sexism, misogyny, grief, violence, blood, animal cruelty, animal death. Moderate: sexual content.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Sexual content