--- product_id: 103693482 title: "We Set the Dark on Fire" price: "127 zł" currency: PLN in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.pl/products/103693482-we-set-the-dark-on-fire store_origin: PL region: Poland --- # We Set the Dark on Fire **Price:** 127 zł **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** We Set the Dark on Fire - **How much does it cost?** 127 zł with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.pl](https://www.desertcart.pl/products/103693482-we-set-the-dark-on-fire) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description “ 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? Review: Masterfully and lovingly created world plays perfect backdrop to the complex relationship - 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. Review: Plenty of things for YA readers to enjoy - 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. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #1,383,241 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #591 in Teen & Young Adult LGBTQ+ Romance #643 in Teen & Young Adult Contemporary Fantasy #1,800 in Teen & Young Adult Science Fiction & Dystopian Romance | | Customer Reviews | 4.4 out of 5 stars 1,214 Reviews | ## Images ![We Set the Dark on Fire - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/819wRE-AaML.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Masterfully and lovingly created world plays perfect backdrop to the complex relationship *by C***Z on August 13, 2019* 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. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Plenty of things for YA readers to enjoy *by O***A on June 7, 2020* 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. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Even better than I expected, and that's saying something *by E***I on March 17, 2019* This was [kisses my fingertips like a true Italian]. First, the worldbuilding was delightful. It was unabashedly Latinx in the food, the colors, the language; and even beyond the obvious, it's woven into all the coziest parts of the world. Everything felt so lively! The society was appropriately infuriating, starting from the myth that served as the book's prologue. I wanted to throw punches starting on page three. (But I feel it's worth noting that this righteous anger was fun, in a way, because it never felt hopeless. And unlike Ember in the Ashes, the threat of rape didn't smack you in the face every chapter. That was nice.) I love Dani so much. Our protagonist, the reader's centerpiece for the rebellion, is initially NOT here for a rebellion. She is a frightened survivalist of a young woman who uses a sharp analytical mind and a hundred masks to fake her way through high society. She has so much heart and spends so much time smothering it. Which means that there is so much delicious character development and dynamic to be had here. Dani changes, and she changes the people around her and reflects them in such interesting ways. And the romance...! It was unbelievably tender. I was holding my breath the whole time. I think the plot was very well paced, especially considering Dani's analytical habits. And I was so invested that I nearly threw the book when I finished it. But the last thing I have to talk about is the writing. The phrasing was so vivid. Every aspect of a description was in motion, and every action was colorful. It was captivating. I get the feeling Mejia's writing is only going to get more enchanting from here. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.pl/products/103693482-we-set-the-dark-on-fire](https://www.desertcart.pl/products/103693482-we-set-the-dark-on-fire) --- *Product available on Desertcart Poland* *Store origin: PL* *Last updated: 2026-05-20*