What a gorgeous freaking book! I loved pretty much everything about it from cover to cover and here’s why you will too:
There is STORM MAGIC. Storm magic people. Like, there are people who can channel the energy and power of storms. And even better, they use that power to BATTLE STORMS. Imagine being powerful enough to reach into a tornado and “capture its heart” – you know you wish you could do that. Heck, I wish I could have just a little storm magic; like, one storm heart would be plenty, thanks. I’m not greedy.
Roar is a feisty little magpie of awesome. I seriously was so into Roar – she is determined to find a way to control storms so that she can keep her kingdom safe. It’s a dangerous business, storm catching, but that doesn’t deter Roar. Despite having lived her whole life in a sheltered palace existence, she’s willing to risk her life in order to develop the skills she feels she needs to take her rightful place on the throne. I really admired that determination. Roar spends most of this book trying to discover herself, and I’m really excited to see where the sequel takes her.
Not one but TWO super sexy guys to SHIP with Roar? I love that this book starts off with one pretty hot love interest and then turns everything on its head like, “Yeah… Nope” and brings in an entirely different hot love interest for Roar to oogle and argue with and inevitably fall head over heels for. I have to admit that this is a book where you will be able to choose a ship, and it might not be the ship Cora Carmack is going for. Personally, I really did like Cassius. There were some sinister undertones going on with him, but I thought he was way hot and that he seemed like a very gray-area kind of villain (if, in fact, he truly is a villain). He’s definitely got some plotting going on and there is something happening in his country that I can’t safely talk about without spoilers that looks rather suspicious, but at the same time I still liked him… He’s just a very compelling character (very Darkling-esque). I have a soft spot for grey characters. But I also like Locke and think he’s a good match for Roar. He can match her fiery temper with his own, but he’s definitely got a heart of gold as well. I thought their friendship and romance developed pretty naturally out of their nonstop argument relationship in the beginning.
Watch out for that wildcard… villain, that is. There is a villain in Roar that came out of the ether and is truly terrifying. We don’t get much of his backstory in this book (which is one of the many reasons I neeeeeed the sequel in my hands NOW) but he is truly sinister in every way. Like, this villain gave me the heebie-jeebies. He calls himself the stormlord and even Cassius and his conniving family are afraid of him.
Oh, and that TWIST at the end. I won’t say much on this point because SPOILERS, but The Stormlord and Roar might just have something in common that sets them apart from other stormlings. It’s kind of a huge deal and it is definitely going to come into play a lot in the next book. I can’t wait to see how that plot twist develops!
If you’re looking for a new fantasy series to fall in love with, Roar is definitely the book you NEED to pick up this summer!
Rating: 4.5/5 stars