Roar: A Stormheart Novel

I, like so many, have been over eager to get my hands on this book, I am honestly still in a bit of disbelief that I was given the chance to review it early. Sufficed to say I was not disappointed, Roar was everything I had hoped it would be. Cora's world building is elegant and carefully crafted. This is the type of world that you want to see on the big screen so you can fully take in the grandeur of it. It is a world that while fantasy leans to a dystopian look in my mind. We have the classic fantasy elements of an almost renaissance time period (oh and hey there may be a bit of steampunk thrown in there) but the idea of these storms that ravage the kingdoms, towns, and wild lands must create a bit of a silent deserted feel as well. A reader might look at that and thing it would be overwhelming but Cora blends these elements beautifully so that instead of this disjointed mashup you get a cinematic feel to the world that these characters inhabit. Speaking of the characters, where does one even begin, well with our heroine of course: Aurora/Rora/Roar, she is everyone of those those names rolled into a kick ass heroine who is fighting for her own destiny instead of accepting one that will keep her trapped in a world of secrets, lies, and deceit. Rora has spent her life trying to live up to the expectations of others while her heart and mind have cried for freedom and adventure. To protect her family and kingdom she has resigned herself to continuing that lonely path, hoping that she can find some joy in knowing that she is giving her 'freedom' to protect her home. Having been kept apart from building true relationships with people so that her secrets can remain safe her first encounters with her betrothed Prince Cassius turn sweet and romantic rather quickly and honestly you are going to fall for him too...but don't get too attached, sigh. It isn't long until Rora's fairytale falls apart and she discovers not one shocking truth but many, leading her to know that the only way she will ever be able to be happy, to be free, to be able to protect her home and her family is to go in search of her own power...she must step outside the safety of her kingdom, she must become Roar! I loved how driven Roar is, how she doesn't back down from a fight, and proves to others over and over again that she is worthy of being more than a pampered princess in an ivory tower. She reminded me a lot of Scarlet from A.C. Gaughen's Scarlet series, which is also a series that I LOVED. These are both strong heroines, who refuse to give up, refuse to backdown when it comes to protecting the ones they love and those that rely on them. No doubt Roar (and Scarlet) has her faults, she is more than bit impetuous, overly untrusting, and perhaps a bit starved for attention, but all of these traits as well as her spirit, her drive, her heart build together to make a heroine we can all be proud of and find not only a bit of kinship in but someone who can be looked up to as a female character. Prince Cassius, this was probably my biggest challenge in the book and no it is not because he was more than a bit controlling, no...it was because I grew to like him very quickly and then Cora yelled 'PLOT TWIST' and the nice little plan I had laid out in my head fell to ash at my feet very quickly. I honestly because concerned that we were headed down one of my most dreaded trope paths, the love-triangle but no worries that didn't happen, what did happen is that Prince Cassius kind of just becomes background noise. I wanted and still want so much more from him. I am assuming form the bits and pieces that we see of him through the remainder of the book that he is still going to play a large part in the entire story and I so hope we don't end up back with me worried about a love triangle again but I don't want him to just disappear either. In fact I had a brilliant idea this morning that maybe he and Roar's friend Nova could....well, anyway that gets into a bit of Stockholm Syndrome and I don't know how well that plays out in YA, but really Cora, think on that. Haha Roar's *band of Merry 'Men'* I loved this group of characters, so diverse in personalities and backgrounds. Their bonds are solid and their faith in one another strong. I really hope that we won't see a dissolution of this team anytime soon. I know that there are some among them who's faith may be wavering, but I think that person can be brought around. I love the father figure in Duke, the joker in Bait, the rock that is Ransom, the friendship to be found in Jinx, the quiet watchfulness of Sly, and the strength of Locke. I am more than pleased with the relationships that Roar builds with each of these characters in particular with Jinx and Locke. I love watching the friendship between her and Jinx unfold, love seeing two strong female leads come together with trust (though there are still secrets) and faith in one another instead of petty or cruel behavior which we sadly see in my opinion too often in Y.A.s. Locke, well of course I loved him. He carries the weight of the world on his shoulder such like Roar. He is strong of body, heart, and mind. He is faithful, dependable, giving, caring, a task master but not a brute. He will push each person to find their personal best but he pushes himself twice as hard. He may come across as controlling, but he has the lives of his team, his family, in his hands and he will do anything to protect them and their way of life. He does not give Roar an easy time just because he has romantic feelings toward her, perhaps he actually pushes her harder because he doesn't know what to do with the feelings, but Roar does not back down, they both give as good as they get and I love that about their relationship. I also love that in the hard world of their lives they find the time to break away and find joy in being silly together. They may bond over their initial frustration with each other but they find more together in the moments of quiet and silliness that Cora gives us. It was a pleasure to watch them grow and develop their relationship into what they have at the end of he book. I won't say that there was an insta-love there, definitely insta-attraction, but the final relationship is built over time and through many trials and moments of happiness. I don't think as a reader you will be surprised by several of the occurrences in the plot. Cora leaves a trail of little clues though out, but this book will most definitely keep you on the edge of your seat and turning pages. I finished it in one sitting because I simply couldn't put it down, much to my family's chagrin. The plot in Roar is so layered that everytime you peel one layer back you are hit with another so each time a 'surprise' is revealed it is easy to move through it and straight into the next adventure. You own't be shocked, you will simply just not be ready to ever have the story end. I am so ready for book two, while you aren't left with a cliff hanger that will have you screeching in rage we are left with so much more to come, so many adventures to be had, battles to be fought, secrets to be uncovered, and relationships to be fulfilled. (Ahem, Cassius and Nova, Locke and Roar, Ransom and Jinx, the Queen and Duke....I know I am stretching her but Bait and Sly. *lifts eyebrow and smiles giddily at Cora's picture* If you are a fan of YA, a fan of Fantasy, just a fan of a darn good book get this one in your hands and settle in for an amazing adventure. I am going to go do a re-read now and I never do re-reads, that's how much I loved this book!

Okay, so there was A LOT of really cool elements and honestly the sequel is set up to be even better than the first, so I'm dreading an entire year of waiting. On the same note, a few cheesy lines and tropes, which is to be expected. All in all though, it was definitely fun and I really enjoyed it! I'll start with Aurora, or 'Roar'. I actually really liked her. She's a weak heroine, and to be honest, she DOES grow but her character development is far from finished, so by the end of the book, she still had her weak elements. I think some will get annoyed at her for it, but I appreciated it. Not every heroine has to be 100% badass 100% of the time. At the beginning, she's a princess who is held in isolation inside her castle by her mother in order to prevent people from finding out she doesn't have storm magic, which is a hereditary thing in the royal family. So yeah, kinda a big deal that she doesn't have it. She's being forced to marry Cassius (more on this lovely chunk of words later) as quickly as possible so she can keep her kingdom before others find out. But as you can tell by the synopsis, Roar runs away, and I won't say much more than that. I love the direction the author took her in because book two should be GREAT as I said above. Anyway, she has a cute little temper but a good heart and wasn't overly spoiled by the whole palace life thing. Now for Cassius, our resident dark and very questionable prince... YES. I am so here for him. He needed MUCH more screen time and I'm hoping he gets it in book two because asldkfja;lsdkjf. The beginning was SO STRONG when he first met Aurora. Like what even, can we please talk about chemistry? But then Roar overhears him and realizes he only plans to use her to get the crown. Whatever guys, I know that is *kinda true* but there's also a lot more about him that we don't understand, and he DEFINITELY has a good side too. I'm labeling him as an antihero and you can't stop me. I have such high hopes for him. He's kinda like... a baby Darkling?? Yes? Anyone?? (Dearest Cora... please please more Cassius...and Cassius and Roar...) I kina have a feeling the author was hinting at something between Cassius an Nova but nooooooo aldskfja;ldkfj I need Cassius and Roar. I'm also super interested in Casimir an the rest of Cassius's family. Once Roar runs away, she ends up with a new gang of storm hunters (which are super cool). Actually, let me stop there for a moment. The whole storm fighting and storm hearts thing was really neat and took this from being a typical fantasy book to a super unique magic system and storyline. As I mentioned above, there are definitely some cliches and cheesy parts that you find in most fantasies (especially in the romance egh) but the A+ world building kept me invested even during those times. That bring me to Locke (resident head storm hunter broody guy). I liked him part of the time, but I didn't fall head over heels with him. I think it was because he was the sole focus for Roar in, and by the end of the book, he kinda felt like a typical overprotective boyfriend who gets angry at anyone who even looks at his girl wrong. I feel like he's already overly possessive. I don't know. I mean, he and Roar did have some chemistry and I didn't mind him, and I did feel for him and his story, but Cassius is just so much more interesting and I liked his dynamic with Roar more. I CAN'T HELP IT. To summarize... The Good: -really cool world -freaking cool magic system -um the storms have personalities? SO COOL -CASSIUS -likeable yet weak heroine -excellent villain development -A+ set up for the sequel The 'eh': -romance got cheesy later on, and Locke's possessiveness -cheesy writing in the whole 'love declaration' blah blah stuff -Cassius didn't get enough book time -not much resolution for things I wanted to see before the sequel (more below) I'll just say definitely give this book a go if you're in for a unique fantasy/world and don't mind romance being the main focus (because it is) - but even if you aren't huge on that part of it, there's for sure hope for the sequel.

I happened to see an advert for this on Facebook and I was really intrigued by the premise so I downloaded a sample which quickly turned into the full book as I was hooked. It's really well written - you quickly like the protagonist and the idea of storms that come alive is very original. It reminded me a bit of 'Bitterblue' by Kristin Cashore so if you like any of her books, you will like this.

Eine gefühlte Ewigkeit schon hatte ich dieses Buch auf der Wunschliste, obwohl es ja eigentlich noch gar nicht so lange erschienen ist. Aber ich habe es mir nicht so sofort gekauft, weil irgendwie immer andere Büchern wichtiger waren. Jetzt, nachdem ich es gelesen habe, wünschte ich, ich hätte es sofort gekauft und gelesen. Der Einstieg in das Buch fiel mir sehr leicht, ich konnte mich sofort mit Aurora identifizieren. Es beginnt mit den Vorbereitungen auf ihre Hochzeit und damit, wie sie den Prinzen kennenlernt. Man merkt sofort, dass mit ihm etwas nicht stimmt, mir war er vom ersten Moment an unsympathisch. Hilfreich dabei ist natürlich auch, dass es immer wieder Abschnitte aus seiner Sicht gibt und dort des öfteren leichte Anspielungen gemacht werden. Zum Glück merkt auch Aurora bald, dass er nur mit ihr spielt und flieht rechtzeitig. Und ab da wird das Buch richtig spannend. Von den Sturmjägern waren mir sofort alle sympathisch, bis auf Sly, die ich am Ende des Buches immer noch nicht leiden kann. Aber am meisten mochte ich natürlich Locke. Das Geplänkel und die Diskussionen zwischen ihm und Aurora, oder Roar, wie sie sich bei ihnen nennt, hat mir wirklich super gefallen und die Spannung zwischen den beiden war förmlich zu spüren. Aber man hat auch mit ihr gehadert, ob wohl der Moment kommt, an dem die anderen erfahren, wer sie wirklich ist oder ob sie es ihnen sogar freiwillig erzählt. Das hat mich fast wahninnig gemacht und ich habe die ganze Zeit nur auf so einen Moment gewartet. Ob dieser kam, verrate ich aber nicht. Ebenfalls spannend bis zum Schluss war, was genau mit Roar nicht stimmt. Schon dass sie keine Sturmmagie hat, ist ja eigentlich unnormal in ihrer Familie, ist sie doch die Thronfolgerin, doch nun entdeckt sie auch noch, dass sie auf verschiedene Stürme komisch reagiert, von Emotionen überwältigt wird, die nicht ihre eigenen sind. Die Autorin schafft es hier wirklich, Spannung aufzubauen, denn das Geheimnis wird erst sehr spät gelüftet und selbst dann bleiben noch einige Fragen offen. Ich bin begeistert von dem Buch und vor allem von der Idee, die die Autorin hier hatte, denn bei dem Ansturm von Büchern in all den Jahren war noch nie so etwas dabei. Das Thema war neu, interessant und wirklich spannend gestaltet und ich kann es kaum abwarten, Band 2 in den Händen zu halten, was hoffentlich nicht mehr lange dauern wird! Von mir gibt es 5 von 5 Sternen!

I got this on my kindle because it was cheap and I have been hearing so much good things about it. I am so glad I picked it up right away because this book is so good. I love the story so much and I wasn’t even half way through that I just had to pre-order the second book right away. I do highly recommend this one .

I had to read this book in one day. The heroine was strong and witty and I loved the different characters. The world the author built was interesting and refreshing - completely different to anything I've read before. I completely recommend and think it was worth every dollar that I paid.

I loved this story, the world created is something unique and intriguing, the main character is also very likeable, would recommend