Rating: 5 out of 5

Genre: YA, Scifi / Fantasy, Romance, 5 Stars

People who should read this: People who love unique fantasies, a strong romance element, a strong female protagonist, and storms.

Sometimes it’s best not to listen to other people. I have mentioned Roar to my book club twice. Twice!... The second time, one person finally looked up. And what did she proceed to do? She looked up reviews. Come on… who does that? She does apparently. 

In looking up the reviews, she said a lot of the comments were about how the two male characters were misogynistic. One of them most definitely is, but is that a reason to not read a book? Not even close. Here’s why… One, it’s very important for the one character to be misogynistic. It’s the catalyst for Aurora to proceed on her journey, essential to the story and the attitude fits him perfectly. Second, murder is a horrendous thing but does that mean we stop writing about it? We aren’t condoning it just because we are reading about it. So are we going to throw away a book when the character acts like that? No! Especially when it’s dealt with well. 

Also… there is a difference between misogynistic and overly protective and people need to learn that. The second male character is never misogynistic. His protectiveness is well explained and he pushes Aurora to be the best that she can, something that a misogynistic man would never do.

*packs up the soap box she’s subtly pulled out*

Roar is a beautiful book that gave me all the Stardust vibes. There’s the traveling caravan of storm hunters and the beautiful jars full of storms. To top it off, each storm has a heart, a heart that turns into a crystal if it’s captured. I was very happy that the print was small and the book was big because I didn’t want it to ever end. And to be honest, I wasn’t even sure how it was going to end. There was never that huge climatic moment that normally comes. It was a quiet ramp up and discovery with a reveal that has me itching for the next book.

And let me tell you… Finding the first book in hardback is difficult. I’ve taken to Ebay to get what I want. 

I’ve saved the best point for last. Have you noticed that this very lovely book is actually written by a romance author. Ya.. right there… Cora Carmack. Yup. She’s a romance author. What this means is that everything you love about romance books - 1. Romance duh, 2. Character development, 3. Love - is in this book and all tied with a bright, red fantasy ribbon. Here’s the great part, if you’re not really a romance book type of person, you’ll still love the story. Carmack’s fantasy and plot is top notch. It’s beautifully crafted like the greats. Okay… fine… I get that the ending isn’t as wow worthy as most books, but it’s still really good. Maybe she could use a little pricatice there. 

I’m really happy I didn’t find this series when I had to wait with everyone else. The third book comes out in August. August! That’s a whole lot of time away.

Carmack is also unique in her switching of POVs. Writing in the third person, she’ll switch in the middle of a chapter, even in the middle of a scene. Her choice of POV for each part was perfect, and though you’d think it would be jarring to change mid scene, I was never lost or confused. Carmack made her voices clear so I was always aware of who was running the scene. 

What else is there to say….

How about I leave you with a “read it”!

I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. 

Happy Reading

Love Kait

Reading Challenge: 23/175