I think this is the most upset I’ve been by a book ending all year. How did you all wait a year? I checked out the sequel and started it twenty minutes after finishing this. When I say I was on the verge of wailing in real life… am I ashamed? Yes. Dani is at times somewhat of a passive heroine, but she never feels like one: seeing her grow from her passivity, in fact, is at the heart of the story.Īlso, THE ENDING. This is, however, notable.ĭani’s character growth also really worked for me. On a personal level, I think this book does a good job of expressing and unpacking homophobia, while also focusing on Dani and Carmen as a couple. I’ve seen some really excellent discussion of the pervasiveness of the trope of forced marriage, or forced heteronormativity within a society, in f/f romances.

Through the ensuing story, they serve as excellent narrative foils to each other. Dani has to learn to not be alone, to trust Carmen Carmen has to learn to do the same. The tension between them is so vivid and excellent. The trope of falling for an ex-friend you had a falling out with is an excellent way to build character development, and here is no exception. (Meanwhile, Dani is experiencing gay jealousy towards Carmen.) But this relationship build… floored me. The arc between Dani and Carmen is the heart of this book, and it is WONDERFUL For the first 30% of the book or so, the tension between Dani and Carmen almost reads as subtext there are moments where Dani’s relationship with La Vos member Sota feels as if in any other ya novel, it would be the main pairing.

No matter the intent behind this society, no matter the goals, those in power may always abuse it. Men in power can always abuse that power. The scene where Mateo harasses Dani is specifically resonant. The dynamics of classism, racism, sexism, and homophobia are all carefully examined, then carefully subverted. It’s hard not to draw parallels with America in this era. The novel serves as a fascinating exploration of immigration politics: despite the desperation of those outside the walls to break through, those on the inside see them as beggars, beneath them in some cosmic framework. All the while, though, she is falling for her home’s segunda, her school enemy Carmen. Dani is an interloper, and when a resistance fighter threatens her with this information, she’s forced to use her primera status to spy. In the inside of the wall, men each have two wives: Primeras run the house, while Segundas are the childbearers.

We Set the Dark on Fire follows Dani, a girl being trained in the art of being a wife.

We set the dark on fire series