Review also posted to my blog.


content warnings: violence, murder, discussions of parental loss, classism, misogyny, manipulation, descriptions of burns/being burned, allusions to homophobia, unwanted sexual advances (no assault), anti-immigration sentiments
representation: sapphic latina protagonist, sapphic latina main character, f/f main relationship, latinx main and side characters

“In a battle between two men trying to control her, she'd chosen herself.”

The fact that this hasn't been getting more hype astounds me! This is an #ownvoices latinx-inspired dystopian featuring political intrigue and a romance between two women, how is everyone not reading this?!

We Set the Dark on Fire follows Daniela Vargas, the top student at the academy which trains young women in the art of being either a primera or segunda, the two types of brides wealthy men will marry. On the night of Dani's graduation, a member of a resistance group threatens to expose her biggest secret - she and her parents illegally crossed the border. In an effort to protect her secret, Dani must help to uncover a conspiracy, protect her identity, and ensure that her falling in love with her husband's other wife doesn't complicate things too much.

Let's start off with the world building, because it was fantastic. There was never a moment while reading this that I found it too info-dumpy (which is a big trap books like these can fall into). The reader is only ever told information about the world when it is necessary, with smaller details of the culture being woven naturally into the story. Each chapter starts with a small excerpt from textbooks on being primera's and segunda's, which was a tiny and effortless way to enforce your knowledge of how this society functions.

A large part of this book is focused on politics, both overtly with the political intrigue going on as well as more subtly among the themes. This is a world very inspired by our own, something which is most obvious in its discussions of immigration. There are several times when characters talk about the border wall and keeping illegal immigrants out, and that's just the start of it. There's also fantastic commentary on the view of women in this society, which is essentially either a sidekick to a man or the woman producing his children. It's only mentioned a few times, but there are also implications that within Medio at least, queerness is not the norm and is actively frowned upon. And these discussions all feel organically woven into the story. There was never a moment when I thought that the topics brought up were heavy handed or out of place, which is in large part due to how well-written the book is.

This book isn't all just political intrigue and social commentary, though; it also has one of my favourite romances of the year so far. The segunda, Carmen, is initially presented as an enemy of Dani's, but quickly becomes an ally as the two women become closer. The romance is fairly slow-burn, Dani not realising her feelings until nearly halfway through the book and then it's much later until anything actually happens. Their quiet moments together were so sweet, and I loved both of them together as much as I did as seperate characters.

I only have two major negatives, one which isn't even the books' fault. 1) This book was marketed as a fantasy, which it most definitely is not. It's a dystopian which, sure, could develop into a fantasy in book two but sure as shit isn't one now. 2) There were some times when Dani would overhear or see something that felt just a little bit too convenient, and I wish the author had come up with some cleverer ways to have her access the information she knew.

Overall, this is a fantastic diverse dystopian with biting social commentary, interesting political intrigue, and a fantastic romance. If any of that sounds interesting to you, then I would highly recommend checking it out.