Roar

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.

Where do I even begin? I mean, this book promised storm magic and action and conflict and romance and everything I could possibly want from a YA fantasy and it delivered.

Okay, I totally freaked out about the storm magic on its own because I love storms. So obviously that just covers half my adoration for this book on its own.

This is the first I’ve read of Cora Carmack’s work and it was a winner. The idea alone, coming from someone who reads more fantasy than any other genre, was beautifully rich and unique. I thought the idea of a world essentially controlled by storms and the Stormlings who can protect the people from them gave the book that original edge that you need to stand out in the genre.

And, oh hey, my second most read genre romance made an appearance in the subplot. I will say that I wish that world could have come out a bit more in the story because once the romance was introduced it fell to the wayside just a bit. I can’t say I minded terribly since I’m such a sucker for romance and gotta ship those characters, right?

And these were shippable characters. I think Carmack really brought Rora to life and gave her a strong growth throughout the story. She’s not exactly weak at the beginning, but definitely naive and sheltered, so it was interesting to see those flickering embers you see beneath the surface catch hold and bloom into a bonfire by the end. Rora truly becomes a force to be reckoned with. I was a bit worried about her character because I’ve read so many fantasies with a heroine who goes from 0 to 60 and suddenly becomes amazing at everything…but Rora didn’t. She struggled, a lot, and is still growing as a person which also sets the book up perfectly for a sequel.

She’s paired against the two Lockes, by which I mean Cassius Locke…and, well, Locke. That’s his name. It confused me for a bit at the beginning but clicked pretty quick. Cassius was the bad boy you can’t help but love but also know isn’t good for you. Except he’s not all bad and there’s much more to him than meets the eye (as in, I want more!). Locke is much more down to earth. He wants Rora to be safe above all else. With the band of storm hunters he acts as a sort of captain of, they teach Rora about life outside of Stormling protection. Which was a lovely group dynamic, by the way. I love reading about bands of people from all different backgrounds going on an adventure together and they did exactly that.

There was a lot going on in Roar and I don’t want to say too much without spoiling anything BUT I will say this: prepare yourselves for a magical storm of action and swoony romance sure to be a favorite of all YA fantasy readers. Plus the set-up woven through the story as well as brought into light at the very end has me beyond ready for the sequel because YOU CAN’T JUST LEAVE IT LIKE THAT! Such cliffhanger. Much wow. Need book two!

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Tour Schedule

Check out the rest of the tour! Plenty of posts to read!

June 5^th

As The Book Ends – Review & Excerpt
BookWorm221 – Review & Excerpt
Milky Way of Books – Review & Excerpt
Omg Books and More Books – Review & Excerpt
Reads All the Books – Review & Excerpt
Taylor Fenner’s Bookish World – Review & Excerpt

June 6^th

AC Suqared Book Blog – Excerpt
Happily Ever After Book Reviews – Review
Letshaveakya – Review
Movies, Shows, & Books – Excerpt
Read more sleep less – Review
Smart & Savvy with Stephanie – Review & Excerpt

June 7^th

Ali’s Reviews and More – Review & Excerpt
Becky on Books – Review & Excerpt
Books, Dreams, Life – Excerpt
Dazzled by Books – Review & Excerpt
Miss Nicole The Librarian – Review
Quite the Novel Idea – Review & Excerpt

June 8^th

Adventures in Writing – Excerpt
BookCrushin – Review
Crazii Bitches Book Blog – Review & Excerpt
NovelKnight – Review
The Rest Is Still Unwritten – Review
What Is That Book About – Excerpt

June 9^th

Books Books Books – Review & Excerpt
Bookshelf Adventures – Review
Crystal’s Chaotic Confessions – Excerpt
Feeling Fictional – Review & Excerpt
Grownup Fangirl – Review
The Rest Is Still Unwritten – Excerpt

June 10^th

Ceres Books World – Review & Excerpt
My Fangirl Chronicles – Review & Excerpt
Red Hot + Blue Reads – Review & Excerpt
Tales of the Ravenous Reader – Review & Excerpt
Zili in the Sky – Review & Excerpt

June 11^th

Book Briefs – Review
PBC – Excerpt
Ramblings From This Chick – Review
Vi3tbabe – Review & Excerpt
With Love for Books – Review

June 12^th

Feed Your Fiction Addiction – Review & Excerpt
MrsLeif’s Two Fangs About It Book Reviews – Review & Excerpt
Reads & Reviews – Review & Excerpt
Swoony Boys Podcast – Review & Excerpt
Take Me Away To A Great Read – Review & Excerpt
Whatever You Can Still Betray – Excerpt

June 13^th

Beneath The Covers Blog – Review & Excerpt
Chapter Break – Review & Excerpt
I’m A Book Shark – Excerpt
Moonlight Rendezvous – Review & Excerpt
Resch Reads and Reviews – Review
Two Chicks on Books – Review & Excerpt

June 14^th

Boundless Book Reviews – Review
Kindle and Me – Review & Excerpt
Lovely Reads Publishing – Excerpt
My Book Filled Life – Review & Excerpt
Stuck In Books – Excerpt
The Cover Contessa – Review & Excerpt
Bibliobibuli YA – Review & Excerpt

June 15^th

A Hopeless Romantic’s Booklandia – Review & Excerpt
Books Need TLC – Review & Excerpt
Lit This & That – Review & Excerpt
Seeing Double In Neverland – Review
The Book Hookup – Review & Excerpt
This Jabberwocky Eats Books – Review & Excerpt
Shelf Life-Review

June 16^th

Bookish Things & More – Review
Closet Geeks and Slow Mo – Review & Excerpt
Fishing for Books – Review
Library of a Book Witch – Review & Excerpt
The Book Maven – Review & Excerpt
Under the Covers Book Blog – Review & Excerpt

June 17^th

Book Lovers Hangout – Review & Excerpt
G & T’s Indie Café – Excerpt
Little Red’s Reviews – Excerpt
Smokin’ Hot Reads Book Blog – Review & Excerpt
The Ordinary Housewife Book Blog – Review & Excerpt
YA Insider – Review