I’m all ready for dystopian books to have a resurgence. I didn’t have access to the latest and greatest of books back when YA dystopians (or any of the big 2010s titles) were all that so most of those books I only read way later (also a reason why my TBR is so high lol). But now the new dystopian books are more diverse and now we market with tropes, which is nice. Plus I also feel that the characters aren’t so “samesy anymore”? Yes, there’s still the same broody male love interest across like 3 books but… the personalities and backstories are all totally different.

Tuli could write 20 dystopians and have them all be totally different because that’s how good of a writer she is! I loved getting to know Poet and Rook. The instant I finished book 1 I immediately wanted to open book 2 and was so sad I couldn’t! Much like all of Tuli’s other books I was instantly drawn to Poet Graves, our main female character. Nisha has such a way of writing them (her MFCs) with such spunk and full of character. I wanted to be friends with Poet but also get out of her way. Seeing Poet start using her powers was so good — Tuli’s also great at writing magical characters and letting us watch them grow in their powers. Reading how Poet stood her ground and stood up to people was so good so I’m excited to see her carry on with that. Rook was a total broody character, so much so that I wondered if I would like him (and then I saw Poet’s sort of other love interest and immediately signed up for Team Rook). Then he kept growing on me so I can’t wait to see what’s in store for him in Storm Caller! To learn more about him and his backstory, his powers; it’s all going to be so interesting.

Another thing that Tuli does splendidly is magic and the magic system! I like the trope of the main character having the power that barely anyone else has because it makes them stand out (but also be a target). It’s easy to let the character then become too powerful which leads to them being untouchable, having no flaws; which becomes boring easily. I liked the type of magic we got here — that it’s connected to emotions and probably mostly unknown (which is also really fun). I’d love to know if there are any other types of elemental magic but I guess that’s a question for the second book.

The plot was fast-moving and Tuli managed to weave in a budding romance that ended on a cliffhanger that made me upset that I again! didn’t immediately have the sequel to. It’s not just enough that Poet has to juggle a new school and deadly trials and people out to get her but she also has to deal with keeping her powers hidden and two guys — it’s a lot for anyone! Getting Poet’s family life was really interesting as it showed her motivation for staying in the academy and why she wants to be excellent. We learnt a bit about Rook’s family which makes him even more mysterious and intriguing. Nisha + plot + magic system always = a great read.