[Review] We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia

We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia

Series: We Set the Dark on Fire #1

Rating: 4 stars 

Published: February 26th 2019

Goodreads Synopsis:

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, but both are promised 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 bright future depends upon no one discovering her darkest secret—that her pedigree is a lie. Her parents sacrificed everything to obtain forged identification papers so Dani could rise above her station. Now that her marriage to an important politico’s son is fast approaching, she must keep the truth hidden or be sent back to the fringes of society, where famine and poverty rule supreme.
On her graduation night, Dani seems to be in the clear, despite the surprises that unfold. But nothing prepares her for all the difficult choices she must make, 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 to give up everything she’s strived for in pursuit of a free Medio—and a chance at a forbidden love? 

We Set the Dark on Fire was a great social commentary, allegorical to the current political crisis regarding the inhumane treatment of who is considered "illegal". It also addresses misogyny and sexism in a very real manner (from what I know of The Handmaiden's Tale, I consider this to be the YA version of it). 

"I grew up jut inside that wall, in a place full of other people just like me. Scared people. Beaten people. The kids up here got ghost stories, myths and legends, a lady with long hair searching the waves for lost children." 

Daniela Vargas lives in a world where high ranking political leaders and upperclass men are given two wives - a Primera, the official wife, who runs the daily affairs and is known as the 'intelligent one' and a Segunda, the mistress, whose job is to have a child with the husband and is known as the 'beautiful one'. Dani rises to the top of her class and is assigned to Mateo as Primera, alongside her enemy Carmen Santos. However, Dani hides a secret from all of them - she is not who she says she is, and is actually from a nation that Medio is currently at war with. Her family escaped with their lives through illegal documentation, and so, Dani must enter the den of wolves in order to survive and thrive. 

I related to Dani's character because she too was under a lot of pressure to conform and fit in to a society that was against everything she stood for, and in spite of that, wanted to make her parents proud.

It's right for parents to prioritize their children's lives. Their safety. Their happiness. But I've let their dreams for me become me. I've done everything they ever wanted, and it didn't make me safe. It only made me selfish. 

Dani transitions from someone entirely concerned to protecting her identity and is self serving to one that ones to liberate the people from Median oppression. She also grows to trust in herself and open up to people in such a shady world. This is where the romance with Carmen comes in. It's a slow burn and the ending left it on a big cliffhanger but it was so appreciated that queer girls can have their romance in such a strictly dichotomous world! 

I just have some qualms with the ending because it was where all the truths became known (at least the ones relevant for the first book anyway) and then it turned into a rather messy confusing drama that was hard to follow. I'm still not sure what happened after reading it a few times. People died, people left, the secrets continue. 

Regardless, I can't wait to see where this series goes!