We Set the Dark on Fire

 Mejia, Tehlor Kay. We Set the Dark on Fire. Book 1 of the We Set the Dark on Fire series. 2019. 384p. ISBN 9780062691330. Available at FIC MEJ on the library shelves.

Life on the island of Medio is divided between those who live on the inside part of the wall, closer to the mountains that rise up to the sky, and those that live on the other side, closer to the salt and the brine of the sea. Crossing the wall to the inside leads to death on sight, and those that succeed at entering the wall remain hidden, trying to survive in one of the villages in the right shadow of the wall. Daniela's parents smuggled inside, and for her whole life Daniela has feared being discovered. 

The top student at the Medio School for Girls, Daniela has been trained for the last five years in being the perfect Primera, the wife of a highly ranked notable in charge of administering the household. Her rival, Carmen, has been trained to be the Secunda, the wife who will bear the family's children. Both of them find themselves selected by the heir of the Garcia family, a rich family with connections to Medio's President. Daniela has to hope her flimsy identification papers will hold to scrutiny, but she is rescued by an underground resistance group that provides her with the right paper to complete her marriage in exchange for information.

Thrust into an unfamiliar situation that doesn't match her training, Daniela soon finds herself above her head. Her husband is clearly planning something big, and with presidential aspiration of his own, refuses to share any information with his Primera. Caught between her new family and the resistance, Daniel has nowhere to turn to avoid Carmen's scorn, but soon she realizes that Carmen may be more than she appears, and a forbidden love begins to grow between the two wives of Senior Garcia.

With the resistance becoming more active, and with bloodier repressions, Daniela soon faces a deadly choice. Should she continue hiding who she really is to safeguard everything her parents sacrificed for when she sent her to the school, or is it time to stand up and fight for the rights of those who are oppressed, even if this means death?

An interesting dystopian take on a love triangle embedded in a revolution, We Set the Dark on Fire does not remain focused but covers several themes. Fans of LGBTQ+ literature will appreciate watching Daniela acknowledge her nascent feelings for Carmen, while those that enjoy politics will cheer her on as she undermines the system from the inside.