#Review || Roar by Cora Carmack

Roar by Cora Carmack
Goodreads || Amazon
June 13, 2017
Copy provided via TorTeen. 
This did not influence my opinion
in any way.

In a land ruled and shaped by violent magical storms, power lies with those who control them.

Aurora Pavan comes from one of the oldest Stormling families in existence. Long ago, the ungifted pledged fealty and service to her family in exchange for safe haven, and a kingdom was carved out from the wildlands and sustained by magic capable of repelling the world’s deadliest foes. As the sole heir of Pavan, Aurora’s been groomed to be the perfect queen. She’s intelligent and brave and honorable. But she’s yet to show any trace of the magic she’ll need to protect her people.


To keep her secret and save her crown, Aurora’s mother arranges for her to marry a dark and brooding Stormling prince from another kingdom. At first, the prince seems like the perfect solution to all her problems. He’ll guarantee her spot as the next queen and be the champion her people need to remain safe. But the more secrets Aurora uncovers about him, the more a future with him frightens her. When she dons a disguise and sneaks out of the palace one night to spy on him, she stumbles upon a black market dealing in the very thing she lacks—storm magic. And the people selling it? They’re not Stormlings. They’re storm hunters.

Legend says that her ancestors first gained their magic by facing a storm and stealing part of its essence. And when a handsome young storm hunter reveals he was born without magic, but possesses it now, Aurora realizes there’s a third option for her future besides ruin or marriage.

She might not have magic now, but she can steal it if she’s brave enough.

Challenge a tempest. Survive it. And you become its master.

I’ve heard many things about this book before beginning it. I got it when the hype was pretty non-existent. Then it began to build. When I got past the five-star raves about how amazing ROAR is, I saw this review from Read at Midnight. I think before delving further into my thoughts, you should also consider taking a look at her post about the toxic masculinity in this book.

While I did genuinely enjoy reading ROAD, there are problematic points to the plot and the characters that I can’t ignore. Nor should they be ignored. First, let’s talk about what this book is all about.

Once upon a time, in a kingdom where storms are godly and those who have the power to take them down are revered as royalty, one heir to the throne finds herself without the power her blood should possess. To solve this problem, she is to be married to a man who has the power to protect the kingdom from the storm’s furies. When secrets start to unravel, Aurora leaves to chase something other than her mother’s hopes and dreams. She leaves to chase herself.

Sounds fantastic, right? Right. And this book is SUPER entertaining. I loved seeing Roar figure out her true power, and sort of figure out her own worth. She loses the veil that people are there to kind of help her on her way. After hiding for so long, she’s a bit lax on things like personal relationships. Seeing friendship bloom was something I like to see. Unfortunately, the token person of color, Nova, was treated as such: a token side character to lend the plot diversity.

That’s WISH ONE: I would appreciate that a girl who risked her own safety for that of the freedom of her friend and the security of the kingdom be treated like she was valuable. Going back to her point of view when it was convenient did nothing but act as a plot advancement device. Which, frankly, is kind of offensive.

I also think the way that masculinity and religion were promoted in ROAR were potentially harmful. Regarding masculinity, I really can’t lay it out any better than Aentee did. I will say this: when you think there is a potential for the person you’re pursuing to fight back, back off. Seriously: don’t kiss them, not non-consensually touch them. Back off. There’s a difference between being protective and being possessive. Out main love interests were possessive. That’s demeaning and dangerous. It potentially promotes rape culture. How about we not? So WISH TWO is you read that review.

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WISH THREE is to not promote religion in a way that makes people seem off their rocker. The ‘old ways’ that are so commonly referred to in this book are portrayed as practiced only by those who are outside the government and are radicals. Yikes. With all that’s occurring in the US…and like, all over the world, this rhetoric seems like it could be harmful. Not super here for it.

My feelings for the book? Well, they're pretty mixed.