Where Is The Setting Of 'We Set The Dark On Fire'?

The setting of 'We Set the Dark on Fire' is this gorgeously brutal island nation called Medio, split right down the middle by a massive wall. Picture lush, tropical vibes on one side where the rich live in luxury, and then this harsh desert wasteland on the other side where the poor struggle to survive. The wall isn't just physical—it's a symbol of the messed-up class divide that runs everything. The elite get all the resources, fancy schools, and political power, while the other side fights for scraps. The capital city, where most of the action goes down, is all gleaming white buildings and hidden corruption, like a beautiful mask covering something rotten. The author nailed this oppressive atmosphere where even the ocean feels like a cage. If you dig dystopias with intense socio-political commentary, this setting will hook you hard.

I've spent way too much time analyzing Medio's worldbuilding in 'We Set the Dark on Fire', and it's honestly some of the most layered setting work in YA fiction. Medio is a fictional Latinx-inspired nation, but the cultural details make it feel painfully real. The geography alone tells a story—the wall divides not just land but ideology. The privileged Ciudad Medio has Spanish colonial architecture with modern tech, while the outer territories are all dust storms and rebel hideouts.

The climate plays a huge role too. Scorching days force characters to move strategically, and sudden desert storms become plot devices. What fascinated me was how the government controls water access to maintain power. The elite wives' training school (where our protagonist studies) sits right on the border, so students get front-row seats to the inequality they're meant to uphold. Even the food descriptions highlight the divide—feasts of mangoes and chocolate inside the wall, while outsiders ration cactus water.

The author sneaks in brilliant parallels to real-world border politics without feeling preachy. Medio's 'perfect society' propaganda mirrors how oppressive regimes repackage cruelty as necessity. When rebellion sparks, the setting shifts from gilded cages to guerrilla warfare in canyons, making the environment itself a character. For readers who appreciate settings that drive conflict, this one's a masterclass.

Medio in 'We Set the Dark on Fire' feels like someone took modern border issues and cranked them up to dystopian levels. The rich side's all manicured gardens and marble halls, but look closer and you see the cracks—guards on every corner, surveillance disguised as art. Our protagonist Dani has to navigate this spiderweb of a city where one wrong step means getting devoured.

What stuck with me was how the setting influences relationships. The wives' school trains girls to be trophies or spies, depending on which side of the wall they marry into. Every hallway whisper echoes the larger societal tensions. When the story moves to the desert, the environment becomes an enemy—sand burns, water's poison, and the rebels' hideouts are literally carved into cliffs. The author makes you feel the thirst, the blisters, the terror of open spaces after a lifetime of walls.

For something equally immersive, try 'The City of Brass'—another fantasy setting where politics seep into the streets. Or 'Dread Nation' for historical dystopias that weaponize geography.