Review: We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia

4 out of 5 Stars to We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia

I was so excited when I saw my library had this! I really didn't know much about it going in other than that it had some f/f representation. I really enjoyed this book overall and I loved the characters but it had such a strange premise!

The book begins with a legend about the Sun God and the Salt God. The Sun God wanted two wives, one of whom was the Moon Goddess and the Salt God was salty (I’m sorry I had to) about this because he had been in love with the Moon Goddess forever, chasing her with the flow of the tides. The Salt God therefore cursed the island and they had to build a wall to protect the people from the curse.

This was an interesting starting point and I enjoyed it but I was a little disappointed that this was was later deemed to be a fanciful story that the rich used to oppress others. I think it’s really cool that there were so many important messages in this story and how this reflects the way people in our society use texts like the Bible which let’s be real have little relevance to anything to excuse their awful behaviour. I still would have liked a hint of the fantasy/magical from these Gods maybe being real though.

The story follows Daniela ‘Dani’ as she graduates from what is essentially a finishing school. The school has two streams: Primera and Segunda. In the present-day society the rich people in particular have taken their inspiration for their family units from this Sun God character and the men take two wives, one Primera and one Segunda. The whole thing is pretty sexist and the Segundas are basically glorified trophy wives who are supposed to be beautiful and not too bright. The Primeras are the rational ones who are like the husband’s business partner and who don’t have the children.

There was a bit of a lag in the middle of this book where I didn’t really see where it was going to go but it did pick up towards the end and the ending was SUCH A CLIFFHANGER. I can’t believe we all have to wait for the next book for any of that stuff that went down to be explained.

What I liked about this book:

·             Dani’s character overall and her outlook on life and love

·             Carmen in general

·             The format with the extracts from the Primera handbook

·             The natural and sweet development of the love story

·             The flawed but realistic character traits of both girls

What I thought was average about this book:

·         The setting was kind of confusing I wasn’t sure if it was post-apocalyptic or the olden days or why they had papers as ID but also cars

·        The husband was awful and the vibe that he was going to sexually assault Carmen was squicky. Also he kissed her without consent? Ew. An important issue but I didn’t know about it going on and I didn’t love it

·        That the husband was so creepy, see above, and then at the end Carmen is like sure we’ll just leave Dani alone with him???

Overall I highly recommend this book! Please read it so we can yell about the ending together until the next one comes out.