Storm Breaker - Nisha J Tuli: Characters, review, spice & triggers
Storm Breaker by Nisha J. Tuli is a YA dystopian romantasy that the publishers are comparing to Divergent and The Hunger Games, and I think those comparisons are pretty fair.
If you ever wished Divergent had more of a romantasy and fantasy element, then Storm Breaker by Nisha J. Tuli might be exactly what you’re looking for. Because it’s more fantastical with the elemental abilities of main characters, Poet Graves and Rook Athira (and a few others), with fantastical cloud storms ranging from purple, to emerald to blood red.
Yet there is also a strong romantic plot that entwines with the YA dystopian fantasy elements: Poet and Rook are really into yearning and making out, you know? Yes, there is some steam and some mild spice, though it’s not explicit. I would say it would best suit an upper YA or even an NA audience.
So there you have it, you can stop reading here if you want.
I jest, I jest. I actually wrote a whole article so keep reading because I’ve written a book review and guide featuring everything you need to know about the characters, houses, spice levels and where to find the one chapter I would consider mildly spicy. And I know everyone wants to know where to find that. So scroll down to the FAQs and spoilers section of this post if that’s what you’re after.
It’s always good to include trigger warnings, tropes and a few other bits and pieces, so you can decide if this is the book for you, so that’s what I’ve done.
Happy reading!
Storm Breaker synopsis.
From the publisher who brought you Fourth Wing comes your next romantasy obsession...
For nineteen-year-old Poet Graves, New Manhattan has always promised safety―if she obeys. Raised within the ruling Houses and betrothed to a powerful heir, she enters Amery Academy knowing her future has already been decided.
But Amery is nothing like she imagined. Its trials are brutal, its loyalties conditional, and its rules designed to expose weakness. As Poet struggles to survive, she must hide the truth that could get her executed: the storms don’t fear her―they answer back.
When a dangerous outsider from beyond the city walls enters the academy, Poet is drawn to him despite everything she’s been taught to believe. He threatens the life she’s been promised. And choosing him could cost her not just her future, but her freedom.
A gripping dystopian romance filled with forbidden power, ruthless challenges, and a heroine who refuses to burn quietly―perfect for fans of Divergent and The Hunger Games.
Storm Breaker characters.
Storm Breaker is narrated from a first person point of view, from Poet Graves’ point of view.
Character art shared by author @nishajtwrites via Instagram. Artist: @allexandracurte.
Main characters.
Poet Graves and Rook Athira, are our two main characters in Storm Breaker. Learn about them, below.
Poet Graves.
Character art shared by author @nishajtwrites via Instagram.
Poet is fierce, secretive, rebellious, and full of rage and power. When we meet her, her status in society is one of the “elites,” and it may be easy to dismiss her as a spoilt rich brat. But there is a lot more to her, she has a conscience for one. She’s hiding a secret that could get her killed. And she’s controlled by two men, one her father, second her fiance, Knox Ardern, who smells like feet. Ew.
Rook Athira.
Rook is a “dangerous” outsider from beyond the city walls who enters Amery Academy. He’s an outcast from the Wastes, known as a “Solitude” and he's mysterious and carries all kinds of secrets. He has red and green flags so let’s just say he’s a beige flag for now shall we?
Character art shared by author @nishajtwrites via Instagram.
Supporting characters.
Here’s a list of all the characters who appear in Storm Breaker apart from our main ones, from majorly supporting roles to minor characters.
Grady Graves: Poet’s father
Sariah Graves: Poet’s mother
Trey Ardern: Knox’s father
Molly Ardern: Knox’s mother
Bethany Fawkes
Cara: the Graves family cook-slash-maid
Chad Robins: Trinity’s father
Paris Robins: Trinity’s mother
Dean Selena Withers
Dr Sellers: biology teacher
Professor McCarthy: history teacher
Dr. Eze
Dr. Perez
Lieutenant Dire
Surreal Beaufort
Mrs. Parsons
Dr. Cummings
Greta
Commander Fisher Sterling
The Shield.
General Nyxia Sol
Chancellor Tennessee Marks
Chancellor Colt Orsen
Students at Amery Academy.
Trinity Robins: Poet’s best friend
Winter Jenkins
Lacey Turner
Silver Sato
Hazel Chopra
Edward Chu
Knox Ardern: Poet’s fiance
Lieutenant Henry Crawford: level four Breaker and Raine Grave’s ex-boyfriend
Brooklyn Lee
Chandler Pierce
Jackson
Sal
Verity McNichols
Devon Carter: student leader of House Fiama
Stevie Daniels: student leader of House Aria
Oscar Cabrera: student leader of House Asale
Bellamy Macy: student leader of House Tera
Anan Samra: Poet’s cousin
Domino Parsons
Journey
Todd Henly
Brick
Ruby
Axel
Silla
Cece
Melyssa
Jacen
Ritsu
Jared
Calloway
Other names mentioned in Storm Breaker.
Raine Graves: Poet’s brother/cousin
Pierre Lourde: A Keeper who used his ability to channel Spark into building the academy, turning piles of sand into glass and melting down sand and steel at odd angles to suit his brilliant, if unconventional, construction.
Cameron Jenkins: Winter’s father
Connor O’Toole
Storm Breaker: Houses of New Manhattan and their role.
Storm Breaker is set in New Manhattan, a thousand years in the future, post-environmental collapse. New Manhattan is ruled by four elite societies, each tasked with protecting this new world and its people, while ensuring they never make the same mistakes that people made in the past.
Here’s a quick breakdown of the Houses in Storm Breaker and the role each one plays. Think factions… with each serving a role and a purpose.
| House | Role in Society |
|---|---|
| Fiama | Responsible for the safety and security of New Manhattan and manages the city’s internal police force, known simply as the Patrol. |
| Tera | Thanks to careful temperature and humidity control, they provide society with animal products, fruits, and vegetables, once native to places that no longer exist. |
| Asale | The manufacturing sector. Thanks to Asale’s technology in the use of recycled, scavenged items, New Manhattan has medicines, computers, phones, tablets, textiles, furniture, household items and construction materials. |
| Aria | Responsible for the health of the population, both mental and physical. They’re also tasked with ensuring the sustainability of the population since the aftermath of the Warming Age left limited space and resources. Thus they must walk the delicate balance of ensuring everyone has enough to live while also ensuring birth rates don’t surpass what the city can reasonably accommodate. |
Review: Storm Breaker by Nisha J. Tuli.
View my review and follow me on GoodReads here.
Spice level: 🌶
1/5, mild, non-explicit spice.
YA dystopian fantasy + feminine rage but with yearning and butterflies (raging butterflies?) and I was so here for it.
You know that feeling when you read a book that makes you want to eat the rich, burn down the patriarchy and oppressive regimes, while sobbing over the destruction humanity has caused and will continue to cause to our beautiful planet... but it also makes you giggle and kick your feet? This was that.
This has a very clear target audience and I think the publisher’s comparisons to The Hunger Games and Divergent in their blurb are very fair, with the adrenaline-packed deadly trials component and the whole choosing between two factions type of vibe. Although it’s romantasy, so keep that in mind if you like keeping dystopian and romantasy separated, because YA romantasy is entwined here (mild, non-explicit spice and the vibe is more suited to an upper YA or NA audience, potentially).
I also would add that our beautifully brown-skinned, purple-haired FMC Poet Graves’s POV comes from a place of privilege and proximity to power and it’s kind of like we’re in the head of someone from the Capitol, just with more of a conscience. And that’s what I think sets this apart. Because Poet is coming to terms with her complicity in systemic oppression, classism, exploitation and starting to question the systems she’s been raised in, which is an interesting angle.
Oh and she has this cool elemental magic ability where she can get struck by lightning, absorb the shock and survive. A pretty useful skill if you live in an environment plagued with deathly storms on the reg! But oh wait, nope…apparently the government will disappear her if they find out she can do that… just a wee bit of irony there. And there are some obvious metaphors for our current society today here if you would like to spiral. Do we wanna go down that rabbit hole?
Another thing I noticed about this Venice-but-make-it-NY inspired world—(gondolas + canals! because the planet warmed and the glaciers melted and the world flooded and all the polars bears and other animals died, my eyes are leaking)—is the patriarchal society, with almost a subtle Handmaid’s Tale undercurrent. The implication that a woman’s autonomy and agency evaporates after marriage I didn’t find super cute, I’m sorry guys. Very “what in the Gilead is going on here?”. I’m pretty sure we’re all exhausted by the patriarchy, so if you like themes of feminine rage, you will find it here.
The other thing that struck a chord with me was the very on the nose parallels to a certain country with a shrivelled mango apparently in charge. And, once you see who The E-Squad, aka the Extinguishers represent (is it a coincidence they wear red?), you can’t unsee it. (Reading is political, and dystopian fiction especially has always functioned as a reflection of anxieties over power structures, what can I say 💁🏽♀️)
Highly recommend it if you want a similar vibe to the classic YA dystopians of yesteryear, just with a lot more pining and romance. My teenage self would've loved this and my current self also loved it.
Not surprised, but am extremely delighted that this has been optioned for a TV series.
Thanks so much to Entangled Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC!
View my review and follow me on GoodReads here. I chat about books a lot.
Storm Breaker FAQs.
SPOILER ALERT:
Some answers may spoil the book if you haven’t read it already. Proceed with caution.
When is book three coming out?
The second book of Storm Breaker by Nisha J. Tuli will be published on the 1st of September, 2026.
What are the content and trigger warnings?
Blood
Death
Electrocution
Physical and mental abuse
Parental abuse
Addiction
Graphic language
Hand-to-hand combat
Alcohol
Trampling via crowd
Accidental death
Death by falling
Parental abandonment
Sexism
Injury and injury details
Physical violence
Murder
Classism
Grief
Cursing
Sexual situations
What is the age rating for Storm Breaker?
Storm Breaker is classified as young adult (YA), although I personally recommend it to an upper YA audience.
Is Storm Breaker spicy?
Yes Storm Breaker has one specific non-explicit, mild spicy scene, therefore I personally would classify this as appropriate for upper young adult (YA) or new adult (NA).
What is the Storm Breaker spice level?
Spice level: 🌶
1/5, several kissing scenes and one mild, non-explicit implied sexual foreplay scene. If we’re talking bases, like second or third base, but not detailed and borderline innuendo.
What are the Storm Breaker spicy chapters?
This is classified as upper YA, so it’s fairly tame, but I’ve flagged the kissing scenes and where to find the mild non explicit spicy chapter in Storm Breaker via capsicum and chilli emojis. Capsicum = kissing, chilli = bit more than kissing.
Chapter 43: 🫑
Chapter 51: 🫑
Chapter 57: 🫑
Chapter 65: 🌶
What are the tropes?
Here are the tropes you can find in Storm Breaker by Nisha J. Tuli.
An academy setting
Deadly trials
Forbidden love
Enemies to lovers
Dystopian Manhattan vibes but make it Venice (aka travel is primarily through water systems)
Forbidden powers
Touch her and die
Tending to wounds
Enjoyed reading Storm Breaker? You may also enjoy reading:
Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
An Ocean Apart by Jill Tew
Dragon Cursed by Elise Kova
Heir by Sabaa Tahir
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
If you are an adult reader, you may also enjoy the academy/college and/or deadly trials found in these romantasy books (age rating 18+):
We Who Will Die by Stacia Stark
The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent
Arcana Academy by Elise Kova
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
Half City by Kate Golden
