Shelf Control is a weekly celebration of the unread books on our shelves created and hosted by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies. Pick a book you own but haven’t read, write a post about it (suggestions: include what it’s about, why you want to read it, and when you got it), and link up! For more info on what Shelf Control is all about, check out Lisa’s introductory post, here.

We Set the Dark On Fire
by Tehlor Kay Mejia

In this daring and romantic fantasy debut perfect for fans of The Handmaid’s Tale and Latinx authors Zoraida Córdova and Anna-Marie McLemore, society wife-in-training Dani has a great awakening after being recruited by rebel spies and falling for her biggest rival.

At the Medio School for Girls, distinguished young women are trained for one of two roles in their polarized society. Depending on her specialization, a graduate will one day run a husband’s household or raise his children. Both paths promise a life of comfort and luxury, far from the frequent political uprisings of the lower class.

Daniela Vargas is the school’s top student, but her pedigree is a lie. She must keep the truth hidden or be sent back to the fringes of society.

And school couldn’t prepare her for the difficult choices she must make after graduation, especially when she is asked to spy for a resistance group desperately fighting to bring equality to Medio.

Will Dani cling to the privilege her parents fought to win for her, or will she give up everything she’s strived for in pursuit of a free Medio—and a chance at a forbidden love?

I mentioned at the beginning of the month that I’d be sharing my unread sci-fi books throughout November in honour of Sci Fi Month, and We Set the Dark On Fire (am I the only one who can’t read that title without humming Billy Joel’s ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire‘?) has very much been marketed as a fantasy novel. For me, though, it’s more along the lines of science fantasy because it’s also a dystopian novel, and dystopian fiction is a subgenre I always associate with sci-fi rather than fantasy.

As it’s also an f/f book and an own voices Latinx book, it’s one I’ve been meaning to get to all year and somehow still haven’t read. I’m hoping I might be able to squeeze it in before the end of the month after Battle Royale whet my appetite for more dystopian fiction!

Are you a fan of novels that blend fantasy and science fiction?

I am taking a slight break from sci-fi this week, though, as it’s currently Buzzwordathon created and hosted by booksandlala! Not only that, but yesterday was also the release date of The Queen of Nothing which I have been eagerly anticipating since I read and loved The Wicked King.

The challenge for this round of Buzzwordathon is to read books with numbers in the title, so I’ll be trying to cram in as many as I can this week!

Before

I binge-read Holly Black’s The Queen of Nothing yesterday – not only because I wanted to make sure I avoid spoilers, but also because all the books in this series are so readable and easy to fly through – and I really enjoyed it! This entire trilogy has been so much fun to read, with just enough of a faerie bite to make you wary. Look out for my review!

Now

I started reading Taylor Jenkins Reid’s The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo on Sunday and took a very reluctant break from it to read The Queen of Nothing, and I’m so glad I get to return to it today because I am loving this book. I saw all the rave reviews, and yet it still took me far too long to finally pick it up. This is already looking like it’s going to be one of the best books I read this year.

Next

My lovely friend Natalie @ A Sea Change and I are planning to buddy read Alix E. Harrow’s The Ten Thousand Doors of January, which is a debut I’ve been very excited about! I love my historical fiction and I love my historical fantasy even more, so I was thrilled when Nat very kindly got me a copy of this book for my birthday. It’s been described as a love letter to books and stories, which sounds amazing, and I loved Harrow’s Hugo Award-winning short story, A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies, so I can’t wait to try her longer fiction.

What are you reading right now?