“You must want to survive more than the storm does. When you drive your hand into the heart of a storm, it in turn drives into you. It will search out every weakness, every insecurity. If you are afraid to die, it will know.”

Reading a brief synopsis of Roar before I decided to invest the time into it, I almost skipped it altogether, deeming it just another author’s take on a princess fairytale. However – this is not another Disney story. And I was not disappointed.

You can tell Cora Carmack poured her heart into creating the Stormheart universe. If you’re interested in seeing the map of her high-fantasy kingdom you can check that out here.

The story does include some cliches that are beaten to death i.e. beautiful heroine who makes everyone fall in love with her and a misunderstood villain unafraid to take the throne by force if necessary…however – there were consistently new and fascinating plotlines that kept me reading.

Storms in Caelira are earth-shattering. They have the power to destroy entire countries.  The royal line of Pavan are gifted with the power to control nature. Thus, they command the throne. Our main character, Aurora, is heir of the Pavan throne but she does not possess the gifts her family does. As a result, she is to wed a stormling (magic wielder) to hide her inability to protect the realm. Until she meets a group of stormhunters and discovers that you don’t need magic to conquer a storm. She sets out with this group with her new identity, Roar.

Overall, I would say that Aurora’s character is the main issue with the storyline. But, I can’t blame the author for writing a character whose very cliched flaws and traits have worked famously for hundreds of authors before her. People enjoy reading about the idealistic woman overcoming her circumstances and becoming powerful using the strength that was inside of her all along.

This book gets major brownie points from me for the pacing, unique fantastical elements of storm chasing, and deviating from what started out as a very cliched premise.

To whom would I recommend this book? Adventure lovers in need of an innovative high fantasy plotline, anyone in need of a highly addictive reading session, or just those who love YA Fantasy novels.

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Samantha Conklin

Guest Contributor

Linkedin.com/SamanthaConklin

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