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A review by candicen423
We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I loooooved this book. The characters, the location, the myths, just the whole general vibe, everything. I have no complaints, but there are a few things I wish were slightly different…
Daniela Vargas, our protagonist, Primera, and all around good person. A good person with less-than-good secrets (if they got into the wrong hands at least). I love Dani don’t get me wrong but there was moments when she felt so incredibly flat in terms of character development. She has a well developed background and when she does actually express emotion it’s well written but a lot of times her general personality is lacking. That could actually be intentional though since so much of her Primera training was about controlling emotions and not letting them lead your life. Again, I love Dani I just would have also loved seeing more of her unique personality.
If we want to talk about well developed, interesting characters, look no further than Carmen Santos. Our Segunda, an absolute jerk turned hyper-protective girlfriend with quite a few secrets of her own. Tehlor probably took all of Dani’s personality and just gave it to Carmen with the amount of layers and nuances of his character has. And the end. I can’t. Apparently We Unleash the Merciless Storm is written from Carmen’s perspective so I can’t wait to read that one.
Probably my biggest wish is that we got to see more of the girls just being friends before it dove into romantic interest. It all just felt verrrry sudden. Like, they hate each other, have one single interaction that made them both realize oh, she’s not so bad, and suddenly they’re both falling. Like, really guys? I know your husband sucks but still.
Oh and one last little thing I loved the way La Vos was written, kind of blurring the lines of good and bad. They’re trying to fight for their rights and their freedom, but they’re also kind of a terrorist group. It’s just an interesting dynamic, especially watching our main characters get involved with all of this.
All that ranting aside, such a good book and I highly recommend. Really looking forward to reading the sequel!
Daniela Vargas, our protagonist, Primera, and all around good person. A good person with less-than-good secrets (if they got into the wrong hands at least). I love Dani don’t get me wrong but there was moments when she felt so incredibly flat in terms of character development. She has a well developed background and when she does actually express emotion it’s well written but a lot of times her general personality is lacking. That could actually be intentional though since so much of her Primera training was about controlling emotions and not letting them lead your life. Again, I love Dani I just would have also loved seeing more of her unique personality.
If we want to talk about well developed, interesting characters, look no further than Carmen Santos. Our Segunda, an absolute jerk turned hyper-protective girlfriend with quite a few secrets of her own. Tehlor probably took all of Dani’s personality and just gave it to Carmen with the amount of layers and nuances of his character has. And the end. I can’t. Apparently We Unleash the Merciless Storm is written from Carmen’s perspective so I can’t wait to read that one.
Probably my biggest wish is that we got to see more of the girls just being friends before it dove into romantic interest. It all just felt verrrry sudden. Like, they hate each other, have one single interaction that made them both realize oh, she’s not so bad, and suddenly they’re both falling. Like, really guys? I know your husband sucks but still.
Oh and one last little thing I loved the way La Vos was written, kind of blurring the lines of good and bad. They’re trying to fight for their rights and their freedom, but they’re also kind of a terrorist group. It’s just an interesting dynamic, especially watching our main characters get involved with all of this.
All that ranting aside, such a good book and I highly recommend. Really looking forward to reading the sequel!