Roar by Cora Carmack Pages: 380
Published by Tor Teen on June 13, 2017
Series: Stormheart #1
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy & Magic, Romance
Source: Paperback ARC from Publisher
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.
From New York Times bestselling author Cora Carmack comes her debut young adult fantasy, ROAR! Releasing June 13, 2017, ROAR takes readers on an adventure filled with charismatic characters in an enthralling world sure to keep them turning the pages. Order your copy today!
Roar is the first book in the young adult fantasy series, called the Stormheart series by author Cora Carmack. Roar honestly blew me away. I loved it so much, and what I loved the most about it was that I don’t feel like the story took the most conventional plot path. It continued to surprise me and that was pretty magical. I have read Cora’s new adult novels in the past and I love her Rusk University books, so I was super excited to see that she was venturing into the young adult fantasy realm. YA fantasies are quickly becoming my very favorite type of books to read. (I do still love a good contemporary romance though…but mostly in the new adult age group.) I thought Cora Carmack slayed this genre. She is such a talented author, and with Roar she has quickly climbed the ranks as an auto-read author for me. I loved Roar that much.
Roar is a difficult book for me to explain in a short review because there is so much going on in the Stormheart world. In this world, members of nobility have powers which enable them the ability to fight certain types of storms. The more storms you can defeat, the more powerful you are. They channel their ability through the use of various stormhearts, which are crystals captured from the heart of a storm. Aurora is the princess of one of the biggest countries in the region. Her mother, is a very powerful Stormling, but Aurora doesn’t have any powers at all. Without giving too much away, Rora decides in order to be the princess her kingdom deserves she needs to go out and join a storm hunters crew to gain some stormhearts. I don’t want to tell you any more than that because the progression of this story was really wonderful. It was mysterious and riveting. I loved finding out a little more about the storms and the characters as we went on the journey. I still have tons of questions and lot’s of things I need to know more about in the next book, but Roar was such a satisfying first read for me.
I really loved everything about the book. I loved Rora, or Roar as she calls herself with the hunters. She is brave, fiercely independent, and really really honorable. The whole cast of characters was a lot of fun, and I am dying to know more about all of them…but especially Cassius, Locke and Sly. I think they all have many more layers to peel back. And I can’t wait until we can get to know all of their secrets. The romance in Roar was just as awesome as I was hoping. Cora Carmack writes excellent romances, and I was hoping that would carry over to Roar. And it totally did!
Bottom line: If you love YA fantasies with a fantastic romance throughout, lots of adventure and a brilliantly magical world where storms take on a life of their own, you will LOVE Roar. (It is thundering and lightning behind me as I write this review, and I think it is their storms way of showing it’s approval. Cora, you have the storms on your side!) Roar is a fantasy fantasy debut from Cora, and I am dying to get my hands on the next installment ASAP. 
There is a great event going on to celebrate the release week of Roar, called #7StormyDays
Here is how to participate
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
I’ve read a couple of Cora’s books and loved them so I’m looking forward to reading this one. Thanks for sharing your review 🙂
Oooo looks sooo good. Great review.
sherry @ fundinmental
This book is one of my most anticipated of the summer. I do love fantasies with romance, adventure and magical worlds. It’s cool that the skies were “talking” as you wrote this review.
I wasn’t a fan of Cora Carmack contemporary stories but this one was phenomenal. Great review!