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    We Set the Dark on Fire
    We Set the Dark on Fire
    We Set the Dark on Fire
    Audiobook9 hours

    We Set the Dark on Fire

    Written by Tehlor Kay Mejia

    Narrated by Kyla Garcia

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    “We Set the Dark on Fire burns bright. It will light the way for a new generation of rebels and lovers.” —NPR

    “Mejia pens a compelling, gripping story that mirrors real world issues of immigration and equality.” —Buzzfeed

    Five starred reviews!!

    In this daring and romantic fantasy debut perfect for fans of The Handmaid’s Tale and Latinx authors Zoraida Córdova and Anna-Marie McLemore, society wife-in-training Dani has a great awakening after being recruited by rebel spies and falling for her biggest rival.

    At the Medio School for Girls, distinguished young women are trained for one of two roles in their polarized society. Depending on her specialization, a graduate will one day run a husband’s household or raise his children. Both paths promise a life of comfort and luxury, far from the frequent political uprisings of the lower class.

    Daniela Vargas is the school’s top student, but her pedigree is a lie. She must keep the truth hidden or be sent back to the fringes of society.

    And school couldn’t prepare her for the difficult choices she must make after graduation, especially when she is asked to spy for a resistance group desperately fighting to bring equality to Medio.

    Will Dani cling to the privilege her parents fought to win for her, or will she give up everything she’s strived for in pursuit of a free Medio—and a chance at a forbidden love?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherKatherine Tegen Books
    Release dateFeb 26, 2019
    ISBN9780062907943
    Author

    Tehlor Kay Mejia

    Tehlor Kat Mejia is a bestselling and award winning author of young adult and middle grade fiction. Their debut young adult novel, We Set the Dark on Fire, received six starred reviews, as well as the Oregon Spirit Book Award for debut fiction, and the Neukom Institute Literary Arts Award runner up honor for debut speculative fiction. It has been featured on Seventeen, Cosmopolitan, and O by Oprah Magazine’s best books lists, and was a 2019 book of the year selection by Kirkus and School Library Journal. Its sequel, We Unleash the Merciless Storm, followed to continuing acclaim, while Miss Meteor (co-written with National Book Award Nominee Anna-Marie McLemore) was named to the American Library Association’s 2021 Rainbow List, honoring outstanding contributions in LGBTQIA teen fiction. Tehlor’s debut middle grade novel, Paola Santiago and the River of Tears, was published by the Rick Riordan Presents imprint at Disney/Hyperion. It received four starred reviews, and was named Amazon’s best book of 2020 in the 9-12 age range. It is currently in development at Disney as a television series to be produced by Eva Longoria. Tehlor lives with their daughter, partner, and two small dogs in Oregon, where they grow heirloom corn and continue their quest to perfect the vegan tamale.

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    Reviews for We Set the Dark on Fire

    4/5

    332 ratings15 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      This fantasy sets up a very different world. It has an island society with a sharp division between the rich and the poor. Based on an ancient religious myth, high society gentlemen take two wives. The young women are trained in exclusive schools to be either Primera - the wife who is her husband's advisor and the social face of the marriage - or the Segunda - the wife is centered around the home and children. Both sets are trained in the same school.Daniela Vargas is the school's top student in the Primera track. But Dani is keeping a major secret, her whole life is a lie. Her parents snuck into the correct part of the island and Dani is at school under forged identity papers. On the verge of graduation and marriage, Dani is approached by a young man who introduces himself as Sota and who knows way too much about Dani's hidden past. He blackmails her into working for the Resistance which creates difficulty for Dani. She has been following the plan to marry into power in order to provide a better life for her family and to achieve the life her parents want for her - despite not wanting the life for herself.Making her life even more complicated is that the Segunda chosen for their marriage is a long-time rival of hers from school. Carmen as bullied and belittled her for almost their whole school career though they did begin as friends. Dani finds herself in a marriage to a man she doesn't like who also isn't following the rules about these sort of marriages. She is supposed to be his adviser and partner but he is treating her as a not very bright minion. And Carmen is behaving strangely too. All of sudden not only does she want to be Dani's friend but she is encouraging romantic relationship between the two of them. Dani falls in love with Carmen despite not knowing whether or not she can be trusted. This story is filled with twists and turns and people with secrets and their own hidden agendas. Dani has a terrible time trying to decide what to do and who, if anyone, she can trust. The world building was engaging and Dani was a character that I was engaged with. I kept hoping that things would go well for her. This is apparently the beginning of a series because the ending lacks resolution to many of the plot threads. I'll be looking forward to more to find out how things work out for Dani.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Such a fun, quick read.
    • 4/5
      I don't even know what to say, WUT happened at the end :)?!
    • 5/5
      This is now one of my new favorite books!?? Great
    • 4/5
      It's the lesbian dystopian YA novel we all needed. I enjoyed it, although it could have been more action-packed and developped. Still a good listen, though. Would recommend!
    • 4/5
      really really really enjoyed it!!! fast paced and super fun
    • 4/5
      So on one side of the wall there is poverty and want and on the other side there's a culture with a wild societal structure where the elite have two wives, one who deals with the ordering of the household and the other who is ornamental and bears the children. Dani has come from nothing and the other side of the wall and has excelled in the school that trains girls who excel to be one or the other role. When Dani graduates to be married to one of the elite she finds that her co-wife is Carmen and they have a past. An enmity. But they have to survive in this world of complex politics where their husband could be the next leader and where a resistance wants more rights.It could have been better with a little more grey with their husband who is just a moustache away from twirling it. The building relationship between the two women was a little quick and while I'm curious to see how things pan out with all the characters I'm not rushing out to read it.
    • 4/5
      We Set the Dark on Fire is about a girl named Daniela Vargas, aka Dani, who, for the last few years has been going to the Medio School for Girls, a place where young women are trained for one of two roles in their marriage after graduation: Primeras, who run their husband's household, and Segundas, who raise the children. Dani is the school's top Primera student, but her papers are a lie. She's from the outer parts of the island and she must keep the truth hidden or be sent to prison. When a resistance fighter threatens to expose her, Dani must use her Primera skills to become a spy to the Garcia family she just married into. Meanwhile, she's falling hard for her home's Segunda, a girl who bullied her throughout school, Carmen. Will Dani hold on to the privilege her parents fought so hard to win for her or will she give up everything to fight to free Medio?

      I had this novel on my TBR Bookshelf since it came out almost two years ago. I don't know why I didn't pick it up sooner, but because of Quarantine, I've been slowly making my way through all my books. I don't know who wrote the review, but I read a few from this book and someone's first line was something along the lines of "How bad is it to be a straight male and have two wives, only to have neither one of them like you and to fall in love with each other". That line honestly sold me on reading this book and I read it through in 3 days.

      I just really loved Dani's character. The inner struggle she goes through rather she essentially continues being the model Primera her parents lied and fought so hard to get her to become or to turn it around and help fight against everything she's trained for for the last four/five years.

      Carmen's character took some getting used to, but the author wrote it that way on purpose. The couple arc between Dani and Carmen is written well and honestly becomes a major part of the book (who doesn't love ex-friends falling in love?). The tension between them changes from partial subtext at the beginning to learning to trust to trying your hardest to keep them safe. Tehlor Kay Mejia does an amazing job with this narrative.

      The story displays women not settling for something just because it's "been like this for hundreds of years". The women know what they want and they're willing to fight for it.

      I knew I wanted the sequel to this book halfway through reading it. I searched high and low at local bookstores and ended up ordering it over the weekend so I could get it ASAP. I'm pretty excited to continue this story and I am grateful I did wait so long to read it just so I can get started on the sequel.
    • 2/5
      diverse(?) teen dystopian fiction (society uses Spanish words but I don't see a lot of distinct cultural references aside from the papel-picado-decorated chapter headings--just "rich" vs. "poor"; there is some talk about border wall politics.)
      abandoned at page 194 (halfway through) because the plot was barely moving and the characters weren't that interesting. I'm also kind of tired of these "feminist" books that spend the entire story oppressing the female leads in various ways before they finally get to fight back and the end. If you're going to make a strong female character in a messed-up world, make her kick butt the whole way through.

      This would probably be a decent story if I bothered to finish it, but I think there are better out there. I would still like to see more diverse authors getting published, so we are heading in the right direction.
    • 4/5
      Dani and Carmen are rivals at the Medio School for Girls, both harboring their own secrets. Upon graduation, rebels enter the school and Dani is approached to spy for the resistance in exchange for legitimate papers. The society is structure that in the upper circles of society men have two wives, a primera and segunda, with specific roles. Dani and Carmen are both married into one of the most important families. The two go from animosity, to friendship, to more. The stakes are increasingly high and both young women are sympathetic to the plight of those that live near the border wall and those on the other side of it who are scraping to survive. A cliffhanger ending.
    • 5/5
      I guessed the twist at the end but wasn't upset about it because I was drawn into the world. I hope the characters can find their own place in this world and maybe even improve it in the future books.
    • 5/5
      I love a good spy-behind-enemy-lines story, and I also love the characters. I love the world building, and the sneaky manipulations of the aristocracy that have happened over the years, because ugh, so wonderful. I look forward to more worldbuilding and history coming to light!
    • 4/5
      We Set the Dark on Fire envelops the reader in a different land where your status determines your future. Dani’s parents wanted better for her, so they forged identification papers. Dani attends an all girl school prepping her for a prearranged marriage. Dani cannot stand by as her husband and his family allow such horrible injustices to take place. Dani needs to decide if she wants to risk everything for what she knows needs to change. Excellent YA novel!
    • 4/5
      Ah, this novel checks all my boxes:
      Own Voices? Check
      LGBTQ Rep? Check
      Smashing the Patriarchy? Check
      Cool Dystopian, yet realistic setting? Check
      Dani hides her poor background/illegal immigration status to get accepted into a sort of Wife Training Academy (Medio School for Girls) for high-class women. While they are there, they study to be one of two roles. A graduate will one day run a husband’s household or raise his children. In this patriarchal island world, rich men buy two wives, generally from other wealthy families.
      The way the society is set up didn't bother me in the least. Not the buying people part- of course, But, many women are stretched so thin that a dystopian fantasy of splitting it up isn't far fetched. One woman as a business partner while the other handles the household seems like a fair split. In this case, it isn't hard to hate Dani's husband ( Mateo); he has like zero redeeming qualities, and her partner's wife (Carmen) may or may not be a threat as the story begins. So things are complicated.
      Without saying too much, Dani is blackmailed into helping La Voz, a rebel group, spy on the Garcia family. That part could have been plotted a little differently. I did like the story enough to set my doubts aside on the plausibility of some of that.
      I'm looking forward to the sequel book in early 2020.
    • 4/5
      I actually really liked this book mostly because I don't like too much world building in my dystopian novels so this actually hit the mark for me, although some have criticized it for being underdeveloped. The lesbian relationship is treated positively and respectfully. I was disappointed that the author included a masturbation scene because, although I understand that it's part of the character's sexual awakening, I didn't think it was necessary and it makes it infinitely harder for this librarian to put it on the shelf and keep it there without it being challenged. It has real world political parallels, such as the border wall that the government is building, that would make for an interesting book group conversation. Fast-paced (except for the romantic parts) and interesting, I would recommend it to dystopian fans or those who would like a shrouded way to discuss modern politics.