Book Review: WE SET THE DARK ON FIRE by Tehlor Kay Mejia
We Set the Dark on Fire, Tehlor Kay Mejia’s debut YA fantasy novel, is lush, lyrical, and sure to take the YA world by storm. Intensely descriptive and emotional, every page of this novel is a journey along a path of conspiracy and doubt, told through the eyes of a young woman who is desperate to find herself a secure place in a world that has been set against her since birth. This contemporary Latinx fantasy is a must-read for fans of dystopian worlds where badass women break social norms for the betterment of their people while celebrating their home culture in rich detail. The novel, set on a fictional version of the Philippine island of Medio, follows Daniela Vargas, a top student at the Medio School for Girls, where distinguished young women are raised and trained to be dutiful wives to their future husbands. Daniela, however, has a secret — she has been lying to everyone about her pedigree, her identity a forgery obtained by her parents to give their daughter a better life. When Daniela is chosen as the Primera for a rising political star, she must maintain her careful facade or lose everything. But when everything seems to go wrong at the last minute, Daniela finds herself facing a hard choice: become a spy for the revolution and be part of her people’s salvation or cling to the dream her parents had for her when they sent her to the capital.
Signal Boost #50 – T. Frohock (Where Oblivion Lives) and Alex Harrow (Empire of Light)
https://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFSignalBoost50FrohockAndHarrow/SandF–Signal_Boost_50–Frohock_and_Harrow.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSS In today’s episode of Signal Boost, Paul talks to T. Frohock about her new Los Nefilim series novella, Where Oblivion Lives. T. treats us to a glimpse of what life was like just prior to the Spanish Civil War, how she deals with the trauma of World War I, the queer relationship between Diego and Miguel, the villainy of humanity, and more! T. is a long time friend of the show, and we’re so glad she finally got to join us! Then Jen interviews Alex Harrow about their new science fiction novel, Empire of Light! Alex tells us about the complicated relationships between the characters, the importance of queer representation and how they specifically try to combat many of the negative queer tropes, why the super powers that they created for Empire of Light (the Voyance) comes with consequences, the importance of finding community, and more! We hope you enjoy the episode!
