Stormheart
Young Adult Fiction
Tor Teen
June 13, 2017
Audiobook
384
New York Times bestselling author Cora Carmack's young adult debut: Roar. 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.
WrensReads Review:
This book has THE COOLEST CONCEPT IN THE HISTORY OF ALL CONCEPTS IN THE KNOWN AND UNKNOWN WORLD. Like, holy crap Cora Carmack, how in the world did you just come up with this world? It is totally unique and beauty and I need more than one story in this world and I also need the next book to just appear in my hands.
So let me just gush more about the world here. THESE PEOPLE FIGHT STORMS. Like they literally will go out and fight a tornado. The only way to stop the tornado is to get the gem that is in the middle of the storm that is called the heart. Let me reiterate: THEY STILL THE HEARTS OF STORMS. I don’t know why this whole thing just blows my mind, but it legitimately makes me contemplate what my life is about. Like here I am waiting for Game of Thrones to happen and Aurora and her people are out there fighting fire that comes down from the sky.
Am I the only person who feels this is the coolest thing to happen to the book community since Rowling’s Wizarding World? Probably, and I’m okay with that.
So back to the actual story, Aurora is a princess. The royalty is who has the power to fight a storm, because not everyone has that liberty. It stays within a bloodline usually, but you also have to fight the storms to get their hearts. So if you have a tornado’s heart, it doesn’t mean you can fight a tidal wave as well as someone who has a tidal wave’s heart. The more hearts you have, the stronger you are as a stormfighter.
So when Princess Aurora shows no powers when she comes of age, her queen mother negotiates her marriage to a powerful family of another kingdom to keep this from becoming public knowledge. No one knows that she can’t actually do what she was born to do.
#Protagonist: I love the character growth with Aurora. Because in the beginning of the book, so is naïve and is kind of a quiet personality; she even feel for a game being played on her in the first few chapters. But, she finds something else that might save their reign, and without having to marry herself off for power instead of love. The whole journey of her finding herself was just so pure and enlightening.
Not to mention the people she meets. It was kind of like their own little version of the gang from Six of Crows (which I found a lot of other reviews also saw that comparison). You had the loud mouth girl, the light-on-her-feet girl, the goofy boy, the brooding boy and the strong-silent-type boy. I mean, there’s also like a wise-old-man in the group and then you have our girl Aurora, but I still kept thinking of Six of Crows, even though these books are vastly different.
#CoProtagonist: Locke is a strong character. Things get a little predicable, but I wasn’t made about that when it came to him. He is about to go ballistic in the beginning of book two though because of what he is about to find out. I am looking forward to hearing more about his past because I think there is more to him than just chasing storms with his gang.
#AntiHero: The betrothal, Cassius, needs more time in the lime-light. He is dark, handsome, broody and has his own agenda and I need to know more about him. I have a feeling that in the next book, he is going to be taken over the pages and I am not even mad about it. I wouldn’t be mad if Aurora ended up falling in love with him because I was after like chapter two so.
#Supporter: Nova, the only friend Aurora ever had, also needs more screen time. The crowns of the Stormling Kingdoms have tried to kill out the witches of the world… and have done a poor job of it because one has been under their nose this whole time. She’s about to break everyone’s world wide open and I am pumped.
I’m also not mad about the love triangle that is about to form, possibly a love square if the author allows it. Love triangles are usually overplayed these days, but I am living for the tension this is going to bring with these characters.
I absolutely loved this book and I plan on reading it again at least three times before the next one comes out.
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