Thank you Pan Macmillan Australia for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review.

Synopses:

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.

Review:

This was my favourite read of 2017 hands down! I mean it, I stayed awake until the early hours of the morning dying to find out what happens. This book was fantastic and had all the elements of a book I look for and love!!! For those that know me, know that I am not really a fan of romance. To me romance generally brings down the mood of the book but that’s because I have no soul, but at no point did I hate the hints of romance in this book at all. Praise Carmack! Anyway, let’s talk about how awesome this book is and how you should read nothing else at all until you have read this!!!!

Aurora aka Roar is an insecure princess, forced to marry Cassius as quickly as possible so Roar’s secret remains hidden. But as you probably already guessed, Roar runs away from her responsibilities and joins a wayward band of storm chases (which is beyond cool). Ohh did I mention the storm chases battle against a storm to steal its heart??? I am not going to fill you in on all the details because you really need to be swept away on this fantasy journey by yourself and I don’t need to spoil it for you. Actually scratch that I don’t want to spoil it for you!

What I loved about Roar was the fact she started off as a weak heroine, with a caring heart but you see the progression of her character throughout the book, until she is able to stand her ground and defend her views. Roar isn’t a badass throughout the whole book; she does have weak moments, which is realistic. I find a lot of YA books you never see the character’s progress, they generally go from weak to having all this power and dominating the world, which is unrealistic. Having a strong, struggling and independent female lead is always something I search for

One of the two main male characters in the book is Cassius, who I swoon for! Let’s face who doesn’t love a character with a bit of a dark side, plus his dashing and of noble blood.  I needed Cassius to have more page time, a lot more page time, maybe the whole book from his perspective. Is this asking too much?? A girl can dream right? The beginning of the book where Cassius and Roar meet for the first time is everything. His strong presence, his mystery, his willingness to protect and look out for Roar (or what he indicated he will do anyway) and their overall chemistry left me slightly speechless. Is this another bad ass Rhysand we have all been looking and dying for??? I hope so! Though you get introduced to a dark, conniving side of Cassius where he plans to take the crown, you still believe that there is still so much good in him and he will eventually turn out to be the hero of the book. Or at least I hope so!

The other main character is the overall nice guy that you cannot help but fall for is Locke, who is the complete opposite of Cassius, caring, protective, respects you and all the wonderful characteristics that the lead hero and protector should have, but I feel there is more to him than meets the eyes and with Carmack’s brilliant writing you may never know where this character is going, or where he truly came from?

I will say it again and will probably keep saying it for a while but this book is everything. I have been craving a brilliant, unique story for a while and I was not disappointed. The world, storm chasers and characters that Carmack has built is phenomenal and there is nothing like it. I love what the storms truly are and how they come to be there took my breath away. I read that discovery page a few times in complete awe, but again, I’m not going to tell you anything you have to read this book for yourself. What I also loved is the introduction of a new character that only has a few pages to his name but what? Who? What? When? Where? How? So much mystery! Carmack has left me sitting on the couch begging for more! I cannot describe how excited I am waiting for the sequel to this book, I will probably cry the day that book is my hands. Truly! I know this review doesn’t give a lot away but I just couldn’t take this adventure away from you but I’ll break it down, there was not one thing I could fault about the book. Not one. The characters were realistic with their flaws, dreams and hopes. The setting was beyond magic, I have not been this captivated by a world since Terry Goodkinds ‘Wizard’s First Rule’. Carmack’s writing style, let me just get down on my knees and bow down to the fantasy Queen. I cannot wait to see what the sequel holds and I cannot wait to see what else Cormack can do.

Overall: you need to have this book in your life.

Rating: 5/5

Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia

ISBN: 9780765397058