Thursday

Roar by Cora Carmack

TITLE: Roar
AUTHOR: Cora Carmack
RATING: 5 Fantasy-Filled Stars
PAGES: 680
PUBLISHER: Tor Teen
SERIES: Stormheart, #1
SOURCE: purchased via BAM!
In a land ruled and shaped by violent magical storms, power lies with those who control them.

Aurora Pavan comes from one of the oldest Stormling families in existence. Long ago, the ungifted pledged fealty and service to her family in exchange for safe haven, and a kingdom was carved out from the wildlands and sustained by magic capable of repelling the world’s deadliest foes. As the sole heir of Pavan, Aurora’s been groomed to be the perfect queen. She’s intelligent and brave and honorable. But she’s yet to show any trace of the magic she’ll need to protect her people.

To keep her secret and save her crown, Aurora’s mother arranges for her to marry a dark and brooding Stormling prince from another kingdom. At first, the prince seems like the perfect solution to all her problems. He’ll guarantee her spot as the next queen and be the champion her people need to remain safe. But the more secrets Aurora uncovers about him, the more a future with him frightens her. When she dons a disguise and sneaks out of the palace one night to spy on him, she stumbles upon a black market dealing in the very thing she lacks—storm magic. And the people selling it? They’re not Stormlings. They’re storm hunters.

Legend says that her ancestors first gained their magic by facing a storm and stealing part of its essence. And when a handsome young storm hunter reveals he was born without magic, but possesses it now, Aurora realizes there’s a third option for her future besides ruin or marriage.

She might not have magic now, but she can steal it if she’s brave enough.

Challenge a tempest. Survive it. And you become its master.

(synopsis taken from Goodreads)


I went into this book with low expectations and was blown away! I'm not sure why I didn't have faith in Cora Carmack to put out an awesome fantasy book but she sure showed me!

In the beginning I admit I thought our sweet Aurora was well, too-sweet. I wanted to have a sit down chat with her and possibly shake some sense into her when it came to eating up Cassius' words. I almost had to put the book down because I couldn't handle how naive our sweet innocent princess was. Luckily for us readers though Aurora learns from her mistake and experiences some personal growth when she learns that there's often more to people then just their syrupy words.

Around 70 pages in I was hooked and wondering why it had taken me so long to getting around to reading Roar. The world is so fascinating and the idea of storms having a heart, of having human characteristics, is so creative and fresh that I commend Cora Carmack for coming up with such a brilliant fantasy world! The book moves with decent pacing and I now have a new ship that I refuse to believe will ever sink.

The characters that you meet in this book are so easy to grow attached to. The storm-hunters that Aurora meets are such a unique and diverse set of characters with beautiful friendships despite the harshness of their reality. Also I would like to take a moment to remark on just how freaking cool it is that witches are a thing in this world! Cora took the time to allow us to see glimpses of these characters and their stories without loosing pace in the plot of the story.

I'm so glad I gave Roar a chance because it has become one of my top reads of 2017 and I cannot wait to see what else is in store for us in this series (I mean hello cliffy ending!). Bring on book two please!





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