We Set the Dark on Fire

by Tehlor Kay Mejia

Overview

“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?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062691316
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	02/26/2019
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	290,911
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.60(d)
Lexile:	840L (what's this?)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

TEHLOR KAY MEJIA is a bestselling and award winning author of young adult and middle grade fiction.

Her 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 her daughter, partner, and two small dogs in Oregon, where she grows heirloom corn and continues her quest to perfect the vegan tamale.

Editorial Reviews

★ 12/17/2018

In this debut starring Latina teens, Mejia spins a complicated tale of love, intrigue, moral compromise, and action, with a prescient sensibility that echoes current headlines and political issues. In an island nation divided by a wall, where tradition dictates that upper-class women marry out of duty and that every man has two wives, two school rivals are matched with the ambitious scion of a political family. Danielle Vargas, 17, has trained for years to be the perfect Primera, the ideal intellectual partner for her husband-to-be, while her friend-turned-foe, Carmen Santos, was born to be a Segunda, the passionate nurturer of the family. But the husband they must share, Mateo Garcia, is cold, domineering, secretive, and utterly uninterested in Danielle’s desire to help. When a revolutionary group uncovers her greatest secret—she’s from the impoverished side of the walled country and holds forged identity papers—they blackmail her into spying on the Garcia family. Even as Danielle becomes further embroiled in conspiracy and subversion, she and Carmen forge an unexpected and intense relationship. The first in a duology, this fierce, feminist novel throws memorable characters into a provocative set of circumstances, and the constant twists will leave readers yearning for the conclusion. Ages 14–up. Agent: Jim McCarthy, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

We Set the Dark on Fire simmers with political revolution and forbidden love between two powerful young women—I couldn’t put it down.

Audrey Coulthurst

We Set the Dark on Fire burns bright... it will light the way for a new generation of rebels and lovers.

NPR.org

Frequent twists and turns and questions of whom to trust make for a page-turner,
as does a clandestine queer romance. Unresolved questions at the fiery end are
likely to leave readers eager for the promised second half of the duology.”

The Horn Book

A stunning debut. Tehlor Kay Mejia weaves a gorgeous narrative where etiquette can be wielded like a weapon and where wit can be just as powerful as a sword.

Rin Chupeco

★ 11/01/2018

Gr 8 Up—As the top Primera of the Medio School for Girls, Dani has spent the last five years trying to forget the world her parents fought hard to leave behind—the world beyond the border wall, where people are dying of hunger and illness. Dani has learned to check her emotions and prepare to be her husband's equal, a partner who will help him in all things political. Then she is paired with longtime enemy Carmen Santos, a Segunda who, with her beauty and grace, completes the third side of the marriage triangle to Mateo. When Sota, a member of La Voz—a group seeking to bring down the government that keeps people like Dani's family in the margins—saves Dani by providing her with legitimate documents to keep the government from discovering her true origins, Dani becomes entwined in the group's goals, using her role as Mateo's wife to pass on his plans to the rebellion. As Dani becomes more involved with La Voz, she struggles to keep her feelings for Carmen at bay—emotions that, in Medio, are forbidden. Intricate mythology sets the scene for a cast of characters full of complex motivations. Readers will find themselves drawn to a richly constructed world full of fantasy and diversity, with a mystery that will keep them guessing until the very end. VERDICT A must-have fantasy filled with action and political intrigue.—Selenia Paz, Harris County Public Library, Houston, TX

School Library Journal

★ 2018-11-12

Power, truth, and lies intertwine dangerously in Mejia's debut novel about oppression and resistance with a cunning Latinx teenage heroine.

Medio, an island nation divided by a wall, is literally in between extremes: "On one side there was the might of a nation. On the other, desperation." Clear parallels to Mexico in imagery and themes abound. Born on the wrong side of the wall without legal papers, 17-year-old brown-skinned Daniela "Dani" Vargas graduates after 5 years of diligent training at an elite finishing school to join the powerful Garcia family as their son's Primera. In this well-constructed world, an ancient mythology forms the basis for a practice in which husbands have two wives each: Primeras are quick-witted and emotionally restrained while Segundas are brave and passionate. When Dani's Primera training falters in the face of her ruthless, power-hungry husband, her past overwhelms her present, and she is recruited to spy for the resistance. Excerpts from the Medio School for Girls rulebook precede each chapter, a juxtaposition that effectively reveals Dani's conflicted self-awakening. An action-packed third-person narrative, smart dialogue, and lush descriptions offer readers a fresh and steely heroine in a contemporary coming-of-age story. This well-crafted fantasy offers a mirror that reflects themes in our own difficult world, namely privilege, immigration, and individualism versus the common good. A queer subplot with sensual tenderness adds rich complexity to the story.

Thrilling and timely. (Fantasy. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews

Mejia’s debut creates a lush and beautiful Latinx-inspired world featuring complex female characters. With thrilling adventure, unexpected twists and a cliffhanger ending, readers will clamor for the next installment.

Shelf Awareness (starred review)

Mejia’s given us a gift in this lush, rebellious, queer, Latinx story.

Latinxs in Kid Lit

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

Buzzfeed

We Set the Dark on Fire is dystopian YA as you’ve only dreamed it could be. Mejia’s story is specific yet universal, intricate and vast; it’s fire and smoke and the phoenix rising from the ashes.

Tor.com

With lots of action and palace intrigue, the novel is a page turner.

New York Journal of Books

A vivid tale of political intrigue, power, and resistance that will thrill the hearts of readers.

New York Times bestselling author Traci Chee

"Magical, explosive and fierce, We Set The Dark on Fire is a book that reminds readers that power is in the people and change starts the fire within their veins."

The Young Folks.com

Reminiscent of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, We Set the Dark on Fire burns with parallels to today’s biggest news headlines. Readers will walk away with thought-provoking questions to ponder, and the story’s ending will ignite further fascination.

BookPage (starred review)

With its achingly slow-burn romance and incisive examination of power structures, this is a masterfully constructed novel, made all the more impressive as it’s a debut.

ALA Booklist (starred review)

Tehlor Kay Mejia has fashioned a gripping tale of romance and rebellion. Dani captivated me and held my heart in a vice grip all the way to this book’s stunning conclusion.

Tochi Onyebuchi

Tehlor Kay Mejia makes an impressive debut in this thrilling tale of political intrigue… The author offers terrific suspense, compelling Latina heroines, a sizzling, forbidden romance and an interesting political backdrop of a nation with an entire mythology and founding narrative that conveniently supports the status quo.

Buffalo News

Mejia’s debut creates a lush and beautiful Latinx-inspired world featuring complex female characters. With thrilling adventure, unexpected twists and a cliffhanger ending, readers will clamor for the next installment.

Shelf Awareness (starred review)

A vivid tale of political intrigue, power, and resistance that will thrill the hearts of readers.

New York Times bestselling author Traci Chee

Read More