We Set the Dark on Fire

Would it be hyperbolic to say that I’ve been waiting my whole life for a book like this? Reading We Set the Dark on Fire made me feel fifteen again, devouring every immersive fantasy book with a twist of romance that I could get my hands on. But where those books fell short in both diversity and female empowerment, We Set the Dark on Fire excels and exceeds.Opening with a brief folkloric backstory, Tehlor Kay Mejia’s shining debut novel submerges its reader in the hierarchical world of Medio and its fraught borders. Medio’s tension with its border towns and what lies beyond its literal border wall finds roots in the mythology established at the beginning of the text: The disintegrating relationship between brother gods, both desirous of the same wife. Ultimately, the Sun God won the right to have a relationship with both an earthly queen, Constancia, and the Moon Goddess—his Primera and Segunda wives—over his brother, the Salt God. Scorned and cursed, the Salt God was banished. Mimicking this folktale, Medio’s contemporary social system is built around the upper classes having a Primera wife, who runs the household, and Segunda, for beauty and harmony. While the upper echelons superficially thrive on this model, the border and beyond—territory of the Salt God—suffers and is subjected to increasing violence.Mejia’s worldbuilding in the first few pages of this novel are brilliant, thorough, and engaging in a way that doesn’t feel beleaguered. Though Medio’s world may seem leagues away, its tumultuous border disputes feel so grounded in our contemporary moment that readers will instantly latch onto this novel. The orders that those who would risk traversing Medio’s border wall be shot on sight seem jarring when reading the novel, but then I turn on my TV or open social media and I’m reminded, once again, of the exigency of a novel like this.Additionally, Mejia’s masterfully and lovingly created world plays perfect backdrop to the complex relationship between new Primera wife, Dani, and Segunda wife, Carmen. Dani, an undocumented immigrant from beyond the wall, smuggled across when she was a child, has managed to stay under the radar, even through her new marriage to the most eligible and most politically well-positioned bachelor in Medio. But her passing comes at a cost: being indebted to the rebel group La Voz. As Dani performs increasingly risky tasks for La Voz, she becomes further entangled with their mission. Complicating matters is her at-first catty relationship with Carmen, but as Dani and Carmen grow more intimate, Dani’s investment in the revolution becomes all the more precarious.We Set the Dark on Fire sets the stage for what (I hope, please Tehlor Kay Mejia, please, tell me there will be more) promises to be a robust and revolutionary universe. Carmen and Dani’s relationship, alone, is a revolutionary prospect. We are getting more and more queer Latinx books for young readers, but to see this kind of representation in a fantasy novel is just lovely and wonderful (even if the plot of the book is dark and gritty). Like I said, this is the kind of novel I would have loved as a teenager. It doesn’t overemphasize its love story, but it makes Dani’s unfolding attraction to Carmen feel organic, naturally growing from their situation and Dani’s own burgeoning self-awareness. What’s more, the attention to Dani’s growth and empowerment will resonate with young readers, seeking similar empowerment from the texts they read. Finally, Mejia’s choice to make this a Latinx story is calculated and necessary. The names, foods, and contours of Medio’s spaces bespeak Latinx culture, but Mejia is careful to not overemphasize and caricaturize. This world feels real because it’s grounded in something real. Mejia’s given us a gift in this lush, rebellious, queer, Latinx story.All-in-all, We Set the Dark on Fire’s otherworldliness, its devotion to strong and multifaceted female Latinx characters, and its queer romance subplot make it impressive, and Mejia’s immersive prose make it lasting. To be fair, it may be a little difficult to get into because it does move slowly, building tension at the same time as the reader digs deeper into Medio’s innerworkings; even so, it’s worth the wait. For fans of Anna Marie McLemore’s books, We Set Fire to the Dark is a must-read. We’ll be talking about this book for years.

We Set the Dark on Fire is a dystopian novel that is more akin to The Handmaid's Tale rather than The Hunger Games. When we first meet Dani, she is training to be a Primera at the Medio School for Girls. In Medio, women can fall into one of two camps: the Primera, who takes care of the household, i.e., responding to correspondence, accepting and attending social functions, hiring staff, etc., and the Segunda, the woman who takes care of her husband's physical and emotional needs. Every man in Medio has two wives, ensuring he lacks for nothing. At the end of five years of schooling, the women are married off. In Dani's case, she is set to be married to Mateo, the son of the chief military strategist to the President, and a man with his own political ambitions. Dani isn't expecting a fairy-tale marriage but even a gesture of affection would confirm she is doing the right thing. Even without it, though, she goes through with the marriage, Her parents didn't sacrifice so she could turn her back on what they envisioned for her. Her faked documents are what allowed her to attend the school and while the Medio school and Mateo didn't realize they were fake, the rebellion group that blackmails her into helping them, does. Our own Benedict Arnold! Not only is Dani worried about being exposed, she has to contend with Carmen, her enemy at school turned Segunda. At school, Carmen made Dani's life miserable and now they have to share a husband? Wonderful.Dani is a strong female character - ambitious, determined, logical - but while she is strong in certain respects, I wanted to shake her some times. She is mistrustful and suspicious of everyone, from the resistance group to Carmen, to the older women around her, and consistently changing her mind after committing. I wanted more depth to her character.While I thought the romance between her and Carmen came out of nowhere, I enjoyed their dynamic. I thought there were quite a few sweet moments between them. You could see the affection and care they had for each other. I would have liked to see more build-up, however. I had to go back and re-read the book to see what clues I'd missed. I would have enjoyed the opportunity to see more of the girls' time at school, i.e., the selection process would have been fun to read about. I am curious about how Dani was chosen by the Garcia family. The snippets from the handbook that begin each chapter were great additions. I also would have liked to know more about the mythical backstory of the island, so I hope we learn more in the second book.I thought Mejia constructed a painfully realistic novel; I never doubted that any of the events could happen around the country. Many of them hit close to home, including the construction of the border wall, illegal immigration and the desire/sacrifice for a better life, and of course, the sexism and misogyny. While I thought she did a great job of covering these topics, there were instances where I felt the writing came off as heavy-handed. The ending also felt sudden, leaving us with a cliffhanger. Luckily, I don't have to wait to read the second book to find out what happens next.There are plenty of things I enjoyed about this novel - representation of the Latinx community, queer teenage relationships, relevant political themes, and much like in our own world, young people fighting for improvement in their society - and am glad I picked it up.

This was a fantastic book with unexpected twists throughout. It has a colorful back story and leaves you hanging, eager to find out what happens next.

The story is good and the book is well written. However, I'm having a hard time writing this review because it wasn't really for me.It's definitely more young adult than I had expected. The world building is really good, and the story itself is good, but the character development was lacking. For example, even though the main character starts off graduating top of her class at what is pretty much a finishing school, she seems to lose all her 'skills' in managing her behavior immediately. It kind of felt like a huge plot hole, looming over the story, and wasn't really a necessity to begin with.A lot of the characters seem under developed, even to the point where I couldn't remember who someone was and got confused for like a whole chapter.However, I did like the romance, while it didn't fit with the supposed back story of the characters, it was really well written and I got swept up in it.As you can tell, I have mixed feelings about this book. I don't know if I will continue this series.

Novel set in a fictional Latina-style dystopian country where the elite males have two wives and girls are sent to a finishing school to prepare them for their wifely duties before they’re sold into marriage.Meanwhile, a rebellion is simmering as the poor go hungry, but the rich have surplus food going to waste.Dani must decide whether she will be a cog in the machine or rise up against the ruthless regime! With some romance added in to the mix as well.

Admittedly not the best book in world I’ve ever read, I certainly enjoyed and it and can’t wait to see how it wraps up. Love the lack of white ppl in this ahaha

I have fallen so deeply and utterly in love with this story. Everything from the world building to the slow development ot the romantic story arc worked perfectly for me. Every plot twist and new revelation leading to both girls discovering more about themselves and each other, their new and old lives, and also the other forces involved in what their life is becoming, kept me glued to the pages, emotionally invested all the way in all of their fates and also in the outcome of their struggles.Part of the magic of the story surely was the intricate and natural way in which it incorporated the sometimes hopeless present political and societal struggles in the world and managed to wrap them in fire, but also in hope and a gentle reminder that not everything is lost and dark always. In addition to that I loved and hated in equal measure the compassionate and empathetic way in which the story navigated the patriarchal and deeply sexist system the world was build on, not shying away from harsh realities like sexual and intimate partner violence, the psychological and emotional consequences of it, and the wide ranging effects it has on everyone living in that kind of society.It made this a very hard book to read, and the ending wasn’t exactly what I had hoped for. But at the same time it was the perfect book for me, left me even more emotionally invested than I thought possible and it stoked that tiny spark of hope in my chest that might not be entirely rational or even realistic, but felt wonderful nonetheless.

3.75 STARSIn many aspects, this is a very interesting book. There are a lot of Latino characters, the atmosphere is very "The Handmaid's Tale" style and the dystopic world created with all its political intrigues is very interesting.I absolutely love that there's an f/f relationship HOWEVER the beginning of the love story of these two characters is too rushed and sudden. Moreover, the story in general is a little bit obvious: what should have been shocking revelations were actually things that I could predict chapters before.Anyway, since the book ended with a cliffhanger, I will surely read the second novel.

It's a great book, I had to finish it in one sitting. It grips you and then does not let go. Immediately ordered the sequel. The quality of the print is fine, and the inside is okay. Especially for the price. But the paper quality is not the best and the cover got a bit scratched up by the time i received it. I know books have other purpose than to be perfect, and the tarnishes are signs that they have been read, but I do like to have my books looking their best as often as I can.