APRIL 2019 - AudioFile
Audie winner Kyla Garcia delivers a thrilling Latinx-themed fantasy debut by Tehlor Kay Mejia. Dani Vargas has finished her training to become a Primera, one of two wives every husband must take in the nation of Medio. The second wife, a Segunda, is the emotional and passionate nurturer, while Primeras like Dani are rational and intelligent partners. Garcia gives Dani an appropriately crisp and matter-of-fact voice, while Carmen, Dani's sister wife, has a softer and more sensual tone. Garcia's take on their husband, an ambitious and ruthless politician, is perfectly smug. As Dani becomes embroiled in a secret plot to spy on her new husband, Garcia's narration evokes the breathless danger of covert and deadly missions. S.A.C. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
★ 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.)
From the Publisher
We Set the Dark on Fire burns bright... it will light the way for a new generation of rebels and lovers.” — NPR.org
“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)
“A richly constructed world full of fantasy and diversity, with a mystery that will keep them guessing until the very end.” — School Library Journal (starred review)
“This fierce, feminist novel throws memorable characters into a provocative set of circumstances, and the constant twists will leave readers yearning for the conclusion.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
”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.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
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)
“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 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
“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
“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 arelikely to leave readers eager for the promised second half of the duology.” — The Horn Book
“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, author of Beasts Made of Night
“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, author of Of Fire and Stars
“A vivid tale of political intrigue, power, and resistance that will thrill the hearts of readers.” — New York Times bestselling author Traci Chee
“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, author of The Bone Witch
“Mejia’s given us a gift in this lush, rebellious, queer, Latinx story.” — Latinxs in Kid Lit
"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
BookPage (starred review)
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.
NPR.org
We Set the Dark on Fire burns bright... it will light the way for a new generation of rebels and lovers.
Tor.com
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.
Buzzfeed
Mejia pens a compelling, gripping story that mirrors real world issues of immigration and equality.
ALA Booklist (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.
New York Journal of Books
With lots of action and palace intrigue, the novel is a page turner.
Shelf Awareness (starred review)
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.
Audrey Coulthurst
We Set the Dark on Fire simmers with political revolution and forbidden love between two powerful young women—I couldn’t put it down.
Latinxs in Kid Lit
Mejia’s given us a gift in this lush, rebellious, queer, Latinx story.
The Young Folks.com
"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."
New York Times bestselling author Traci Chee
A vivid tale of political intrigue, power, and resistance that will thrill the hearts of readers.
The Horn Book
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 arelikely to leave readers eager for the promised second half of the duology.”
Rin Chupeco
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.
Tochi Onyebuchi
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.
Buffalo News
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.
Shelf Awareness (starred review)
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.
New York Times bestselling author Traci Chee
A vivid tale of political intrigue, power, and resistance that will thrill the hearts of readers.
School Library Journal
★ 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
APRIL 2019 - AudioFile
Audie winner Kyla Garcia delivers a thrilling Latinx-themed fantasy debut by Tehlor Kay Mejia. Dani Vargas has finished her training to become a Primera, one of two wives every husband must take in the nation of Medio. The second wife, a Segunda, is the emotional and passionate nurturer, while Primeras like Dani are rational and intelligent partners. Garcia gives Dani an appropriately crisp and matter-of-fact voice, while Carmen, Dani's sister wife, has a softer and more sensual tone. Garcia's take on their husband, an ambitious and ruthless politician, is perfectly smug. As Dani becomes embroiled in a secret plot to spy on her new husband, Garcia's narration evokes the breathless danger of covert and deadly missions. S.A.C. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 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)
