I can't believe it's finally time for ROAR to be put out on the shelves! Check out my review and an excerpt from this amazing book!
Roar (Stormheart #1), by Cora Carmack
Publish Date: June 13, 2017
Publisher: Tor Teen
Format: e-ARC, provided by the author and Inkslinger PR
Genre: young adult fantasy
To Buy: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Rating: 5 STARS
(Synopsis) 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.
It takes a lot these days for a young adult book to wow me. They used to be all I read, but as I've gotten older, my tastes have changed, and now I am much more choosy about the YA books I spend my time with. ROAR was sort of an easy choice. I mean, Cora Carmack wrote it. I've read everything else she's written, and sure - none of it is YA. But, all of it has been incredible. But, I have to say...
NONE of it has been as incredible as Roar.
Cora has knit together this epic, sprawling fantasy about a world ravaged by sentient storms and a race of special people - the Stormlings - who are the only ones that can defeat them. As if that awesome concept wasn't enough, she went ahead and added a knee-weakening, swoon-worthy romance to sweeten the pot.
Storms in this world have hearts in the form of beautiful stones. The storms destroy and kill, so society has elevated Stormlings to royalty and positions of high power since they are the ones to reach inside storms, take their hearts and cause them to dissipate. The stormhearts are their treasure to keep. Aurora Pavan is heir to the throne and is supposed to be a powerful Stormling. But, she's not. She has no power. No magic. And no one can know.
She runs away on the eve of her marriage to a fellow Stormling (Cassius, who is hard to figure out. Is he good? Is he bad? That is still to be determined...), and joins up with a band of storm chasers. This group of misfits is also able to defeat storms, and Aurora is determined to learn from them how to do it. She wouldn't mind private lessons from Locke, a storm chaser who has a soft heart when it comes to her. But, she has to keep her identity a secret.
Aurora's time with the storm chasers is amazing in so many ways. I loved watching her come into her own. She started out so timid and afraid of everything. But, getting to know all the members of her new quasi-family - and especially Locke - gave her perspective she didn't have before as princess.
It's hard to tell which one I loved more - Aurora or Locke. Locke is a swashbuckling roguish guy who is handsome and charming and so smart. He's just what Aurora needs to teach her about herself and about her world. And although they fight and fight their attraction to each other, it eventually spills over, and that's where Cora Carmack's special hand at romance comes into play.
Roar is an amazing beginning to what I'm sure will be an incredibly sweeping story. There are revelations in Roar that will surprise you. Times you will want to cry. Other times you will cheer out loud. And there is the introduction of a villain that sounds like will be a crazy bad guy. I can't wait for everyone to read this book.
“This life is not glamorous,” Duke told her. “We travel constantly. We sleep on the ground most nights. When we’re not in danger from storms, we’re in danger in cities where we are considered criminals. This life is not for the faint of heart.”
“There are things I do not know, things I will have to learn. But I am capable. I am familiar with sacrifice. I know what it is to make hard choices.”
“Tell me you’re not considering this,” Locke said to Duke.
The old man was silent for a long moment, both Locke and Roar looking to him for support. Duke rubbed at his mustache, a habit of his when he was thinking deeply. “Let’s think about this, Locke. She’s smart. And determined.”
“She’s a child.”
Roar’s shoulders hunched in Locke’s peripheral vision, and he swallowed back the guilt. He could apologize later. For now, it was imperative that he won this argument.
“You were a child when I brought you into the fold,” Duke said. “She’s a young woman with a good head on her shoulders. And if this is what she wants, I’m inclined to at least hear her out.”
Just like that, Roar’s shoulders straightened, and Locke turned to watch a devastating smile bloom across her mouth. His weakness when it came to her only made him more cross.
“What skills do you have?” he snapped at Roar.
“Skills?”
“Yes, skills. What can you do? Or do you just plan to tag along for the ride?”
A flush spread over her cheeks, and her voice was tentative when she answered, “I’m good on a horse. Very good.”
Where in the world would she have learned to ride? He quickly hardened his expression. “Horses are fine for travel, but they don’t do well in storms. They, unlike you, have good survival instincts.”
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Locke could have sworn he felt an updraft—the first sign that bad weather could occur—and he knew that this time he had pushed too far.
Roar marched toward him, spearing a finger into his chest and said, “I can read and write. I can speak Taraanese, Finlaghi, and Odilarian. I can read maps. I know enough about grassland vegetation and wildlife to survive without a market to buy food and drink. I’m good with knives and a bow. I learn quickly, and I’m not afraid of hard work. And I’ve spent my entire life reading as much about storms as I could get my hands on.” For a moment, her voice cracked under the weight of her anger, but she took a huffing breath and continued: “I’m good with numbers. It’s been a while, but I think I can probably still draw the constellations from memory, which should make me decent at navigation. I can—“
“Enough.” Locke’s voice came out in a deep rasp. He captured her long, delicate finger in his fist before she could continue poking him. He felt short of breath at the sight of her—livid and lovely. “Enough.”
The old Locke might have kept arguing, and Roar would have met him toe-to-toe. But if becoming a storm hunter had taught him anything, it was that fighting head-on wasn’t always the way to win. Sometimes strategy was required. He met Duke’s eyes over her shoulder, and if he had thought Roar looked smug before, she had nothing on his mentor. The man raised his eyebrows in a challenge and asked, “You?”
He hated the idea of bringing someone into this dangerous life, but if it was going to happen regardless, he sure as hell wouldn’t hand her safety over to anyone else, not even Ransom. And at the very least, it would give him the opportunity to change her mind. He gritted his teeth and nodded his acceptance.
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