Roar (Stormheart, #1)

by Cora Carmack

Review originally posted at Simply Adrift.

I picked up Roar because I saw a lot of people were raving about it. I liked the sound of the synopsis, but to be honest, it didn't sell me as much as the reviews did. I mean everyone has been rating it 4 & 5 stars, but the synopsis was really blasé. I definitely had high hopes after checking out the reviews.

The first two chapters confused me a lot. Everyone loved this book, but the first few chapters screamed insta-love, and over description. Honestly, the first chapter is Aurora meeting her betrothed for the first time, and it's all about how handsome he is, literally every detail is told. How attracted to him she is, how surprised she is, how she's feeling about him and already letting her guards down. I thought that if this was how the whole book was going to be, then I wasn't going to finish it. Not a great way to start!

As the book progressed, it got more interesting, and while the insta-love part still annoyed me, I realised the reason it had been so intense in the first chapter and I was glad I pushed through. It still took me a good long while before I got hooked, the next 50% felt like it was setting up a story. Around 60-70% was when I couldn't put it down and I flew through the rest of it. I do have to be honest and say that I felt like not a lot happened story wise, this story was based more on romance. The story progressed but I felt like it had so much more potential. The last 20% had so much happening in it, I really wanted the last 20% to be expanded and through out the last half of the book, I felt like so much happened that it was a missed opportunity. The ending has me wanting to read the next book as soon as possible though. Things started to get really interesting.

The main thing I loved about this story was the magic. Magical storms that are destroying the land? Hell yes. So interesting and such a cool idea! There are people in the world called Stormlings that can control, fight, and curb the storms. They have their own magic, and because of this they are revered. They've been made the kings and queens of the Kingdoms, all of the non-magical humans rallied around these Stormlings centuries ago to keep safe. Aurora (Rora, or Roar) is a princess of Pavan, she's the heir to the throne and is meant to keep the citizens of Pavan safe. Aurora was not born with magic, she cannot keep the storms at bay like her mother, so to combat this she is marrying the second son of another Kingdom that has a lot of power and will protect her Kingdom and citizens. All her life she has been brought up in solitude as to keep other people finding out the truth, she must live with this lie to save many people's lives. I wanted to know more about the history of this world to be honest, I wanted it to be deeply rooted in the history of the land, but it just didn't quite make it there. So must potential lost.

I ended up enjoying this story because of the magic, the trope of a princess not being good enough for her kingdom, and the secrets that are kept. I want to find out how this ends, I want to see what happens when all is revealed, so I will be reading the next book. Do I recommend Roar to you? Lower your expectations, expect a light fantasy with a lot of romance, and you will enjoy it as much as everyone else seems to! I mean I did still enjoy it. I just didn't get the 5 star vibe like the rest the book lovers.

Always,
Jordon



This review was originally posted on Simply Adrift