With a Thunderous ROAR

REVIEW OF ROAR (STORM HEARTS #1) BY CORA CORMACK

3.5 Stars. Best enjoyed in a thunderstorm.

Aurora Pavan is princess and heir to the throne of Pavan, Stormling kingdom, in a completely new world, Caelira, where storms move and destroy on instinct and the only way to stop them is by stealing their hearts. Stormling royals are known to be the only people in Caelira who are capable of ripping the hearts from the storms. This makes the the only barrier keeping humans safe from these disastrous and destructive forces.

Raised with grace, dignity, and diplomacy, the highly intelligent princess seems primed to take the throne when it is her time….except that Aurora is strangely void of the very ability to control storms that makes her an asset to Pavan. The Queen and Aurora have kept this secret for as long as they could to avoid risking the loss of their kingdom. However, As the sole heir, they can only keep this weakness hidden for so long.

The Queen arranges a marriage for Aurora to prince Cassius of Locke, a Stormling who is well versed in bringing storms to their knees. At first, it seems like the perfect match, but the mood quickly sours when Aurora finds out that Cassius has ulterior motives. Desperate to find out what he’s up to, she follows Prince Cassius in the dead of night to a hidden black market in the heart if the city. She gets more than she bargained for when she runs into a handsome and enigmatic Storm Hunter name Locke. Because of this encounter, Aurora discovers that Storm Hunters are able to control storms.

People who aren’t born Stormlings.

Aurora disguises herself as a girl named Roar and strikes out on her own, joining Locke’s band of misfit Hunters. She discovers that there is more magic in the world than she knew, and slowly the gilt of her world chips away. She sees the government corruption that has taken over the world outside her ivory tower, the people put in danger by politics, and is all the more determined to gain storm magic so she can take her rightful place as Queen and right the wrongs that have been done to the citizens of not only Pavan but all of Caelira.

Okay, so first things first, the story grabbed me from the beginning and shook me into the story, whispering ALL the promises. The start was amazing, although the characterization of Rora was a little surface-y, but that makes sense given that she was pretty much kept from society with very little consistent human interaction so as to not tip off the people around her that she was without the powers that they expected would keep them safe when she took the throne. However, she gets more and more fleshed out as the story goes on, and her determination to learn and adapt to life in the wilds with the storm hunters makes you really want to root for her. All other characters felt a lot more ‘there’. I could picture Jinx, Bait, Sly, and the rest of the Storm Hunter crew just perfectly–they were all a pretty unique and motley crew. It would have been hilarious if there was a character called Sixx…but alas, no classic rock band references in sight (yet).

It was so interesting seeing how the characters interacted. In all honestly, though, the reason I left one or two stars off was mostly because of the middle of the book. It slowed down to a point where I felt like I was just slogging through and the new plot points were just interesting enough to keep my inner detective curious, like her strong emotional reaction to the storms, and the occasional dip into the mind of an unknown enemy who is hatching a nefarious scheme–and whose soul seems to sense Aurora’s! However, if you just keep reading, it gets so incredibly amazing near the end. I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. There are so many new things that are revealed, but so few pages left that you just know that this was only the beginning.

**Spoiler**The romance with Locke left something to be desired, although it is very clear that they go well together (it didn’t hurt that all I could picture was a longer haired version of Sam Winchester). I think maybe it’s because he never really knows who she is until near the end, and the feelings seem so surface and they purposely bait each other, with Roar getting genuinely mad but not really mad? I don’t know, it doesn’t feel deep enough for me. Cassius is a bit arrogant, but also super cunning, and his trying to play his cards close to his chest. I know this romance option is so problematic from minute one, but he also has some back story that makes me feel that all he really wants is to rule the kingdom with Aurora by his side and also to figure out a way to brush his family off. Even if it’s not love, there’s definitely some delicious lust brewing in there, and I kind of just want him to be okay? Then there’s the third option–the one I’m most curious about, the one we haven’t actually seen yet, and he’s pure evil, but I have a feeling the StormLord is going to the be Yang to Roar’s Yin.

IN conclusion, I’m super excited for the next book. I feel like it’s going to get the true start of the Storm Hearts saga/trilogy and I can’t wait until I get the chance to devour it!