What are good book club discussion questions for Tempest?

Spoiler-free questions to get the conversation going: Where did you do most of your reading of this one, and did you ever find yourself wishing you were somewhere with an ocean view (or at least a breeze)?; When Cat and Valerian first share a scene, what did your gut do? Grin, wince, brace for impact? Tell us your honest first reaction before you knew anything else; Cat has lost the station she was born into. Have you ever had to rebuild yourself after losing something that felt like part of your identity, and did reading her version of that feel comforting or tender in a sore spot?; Ships in this book are homes as much as vessels. What place in your own life has felt like a ship you would defend, and what makes it feel that way?; There is a particular ache in loving someone who once knew all your soft parts and is now on the other side. Which moment between Cat and Valerian made your chest tighten most, and did you want them to reach for each other or stay apart?.

What food and drinks should I serve at a Tempest book club?

Food: Big pot of creamy seafood chowder with crusty bread, Warm buttered soft pretzels with grainy mustard and cheddar dip, and Spiced rum-raisin bread pudding with warm cream. Drinks: Hot buttered rum, Mulled cider with orange and star anise, and Salted honey chai toddy (spiked or not).

Cozy night

TempestBook club questions, food & host guide

Victoria Aveyard

#15 New York Times Fiction Bestseller 1 week on the list

A cozy book club night for Tempest by Victoria Aveyard. Includes 8 spoiler-free discussion questions, food and drink pairings, a playlist, and a host guide, ready to print and share.

A club that loves romantic adventure, reads fast, and would rather talk feelings than footnotes

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A fallen noblewoman and the pirate captain who once loved her collide on the open sea, in a big-hearted adventure about pride, betrayal, and second chances. It is the kind of sweeping, salt-sprayed story that begs to be unpacked with a mug of something warm in hand.

Why it works for clubs

Enemies-with-history romance gives everyone opinions to share without needing deep analysis
Two ambitious leads chasing the same prize means the loyalty debates write themselves
Seafaring setting and found-family crew dynamics are easy, delightful conversation fuel
Written by a bestselling YA fantasy name, so most groups will have prior Aveyard feelings to compare

Themes & mood

High seas Second-chance romance Rivals Sweeping adventure Comfort escapism

Browse all themes →

Reading level

Easy

Warm-up questions

1 Where did you do most of your reading of this one, and did you ever find yourself wishing you were somewhere with an ocean view (or at least a breeze)?
2 When Cat and Valerian first share a scene, what did your gut do? Grin, wince, brace for impact? Tell us your honest first reaction before you knew anything else.

Digging in

1 Cat has lost the station she was born into. Have you ever had to rebuild yourself after losing something that felt like part of your identity, and did reading her version of that feel comforting or tender in a sore spot?
2 Ships in this book are homes as much as vessels. What place in your own life has felt like a ship you would defend, and what makes it feel that way?
3 There is a particular ache in loving someone who once knew all your soft parts and is now on the other side. Which moment between Cat and Valerian made your chest tighten most, and did you want them to reach for each other or stay apart?
4 The sea in this story is freedom for some and danger for others. Which did it feel like to you while reading, and did that match what open water usually means to you in real life?

Going deep

1 Both leads want control of the same waters and both believe they have earned it. Sitting with the whole book behind you, whose wanting felt more forgivable to you, and did your heart and your head agree?
2 Without saying how things land, what did this book leave you carrying: hope, a soft grief, restlessness, something else? Name the feeling you closed the book with and where you think it came from.

On the table

Big pot of creamy seafood chowder with crusty bread

Harbor-town comfort in a bowl. Make it ahead, ladle it out, let the steam do the hosting.

Warm buttered soft pretzels with grainy mustard and cheddar dip

Dockside tavern food made homey. Bake-and-serve effort, perfect for hands that also want to hold a book.

Spiced rum-raisin bread pudding with warm cream

The indulgent pirate-galley dessert. One pan, deeply cozy, and it makes the whole house smell like a good night.

To sip

Hot buttered rum

The classic sailor's warmer: dark rum, butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, hot water. Mug-in-both-hands energy.

Mulled cider with orange and star anise No alcohol

Simmer it on the stove all evening. Portside spice-trade warmth, low effort, endlessly refillable.

Salted honey chai toddy (spiked or not)

Sea salt and honey nod to the saltwater and the sweetness under all that rivalry. Leave the whiskey on the side so everyone can choose.

You're invited

Come in from the Cold Seas

Bring your copy of Tempest and your comfiest socks. There is chowder on the stove, cider on the burner, and a whole evening to talk about pirates, pride, and the people we cannot quite let go of.

Trivia

1

Who wrote Tempest?

Answer: Victoria Aveyard.
2

Which bestselling YA fantasy series is Victoria Aveyard best known for?

Answer: The Red Queen series.
3

What high fantasy series did Aveyard write after Red Queen, beginning with Realm Breaker?

Answer: The Realm Breaker series.
4

Tempest centers on a conflict over control of what setting?

Answer: The high seas.
5

What is Cat Rose's social background before the events of the book?

Answer: She is a fallen noblewoman.
6

What is Valerian Kane's role, and his prior relationship to Cat?

Answer: He is a pirate captain and her former lover.
7

What romance trope best describes Cat and Valerian's dynamic?

Answer: Enemies to lovers, in its second-chance form.
8

Aveyard studied screenwriting at which university before publishing her first novel?

Answer: The University of Southern California (USC).