***I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review***

Rage was definitely more than worth the wait! I devoured this book in one sitting. I decided to start it one evening and the next thing I knew it was 1 am and I had finished the book. Oops *shrugs*. If that isn’t an indication of how riveting this sequel is then I don’t know what it is. I couldn’t get enough of these characters--especially the scenes between Roar and Kiran. Swoooonnnnnn.

Rage picks right up where Roar left off. And believe me, the action starts fairly quickly. There’s truly never a dull moment! In this book, Aurora--Roar-- still hasn’t come clean to her stormhunter crew yet even though they’ve finally reached the borders of Pavan. Meanwhile, Cassius is still trying to find Roar while he simultaneously saves Pavan from all of the storms that keep arising daily. All the while, the Stormlord is making his way to Pavan and leaving havoc and destruction in his wake.

I have a confession: my heart loves Kiran and Cassius. I love them both for different reasons! I do think that Roar will end up with Kiran, so I guess that means I’ll end up with Cassius ;)
Believe me, I’m okay with that. I’ll gladly volunteer as tribute to be his girlfriend.

Cora creates such amazing characters. I love Roar, Kiran, Cassius, and the rest of the crew. The theme of found family is executed beautifully in this book. The relationships between Roar and the stormhunters feel very organic and authentic.

However, as much as I loved this book, I do have one complaint. I wasn’t a fan of how abruptly the point of view changes. One minute I would be reading from Roar’s point of view and then the next it is Kiran’s point of view. I’m sure it will probably be fixed in the finished copy, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

That being said, I think everyone should read this book! This series is incredibly unique, well-written, and full of amazing characters!

I couldn't have been more excited to return to Pavan after being completely swept away by the tempest otherwise known as Roar. I loved the worldbuilding centering around storms, and the royals with affinities who could defeat them. There were storm hunters and witches and a mysterious Stormlord out for revenge. Of course as the first in a trilogy we left off with a cliffhanger and many unanswered questions. Sometimes with a second in a series it tends to feel like much of it is unnecessary or page filler, but that wasn't the case at all here. I enjoyed this one just as much as the first, if not more. There were quite a bit of surprising revelations, twists, and action to keep me quickly turning the pages. Hold on tight, readers. You're in for an exhilarating ride you won't be ready to get off of.

We take off right where we left off, with Aurora coming to terms with the unexpected effects the skyfire storm left on her mentally and physically. After training with the hunters on the road and searching for an alternative to marrying into the corrupt Locke family, she's coming back to Pavan a changed princess. Once unsure and ashamed, she's now determined to make a difference for her people who are hurting.

With storms causing complete havoc, the need for remnants to find shelter within her kingdom's walls is greater than ever. But the Lockes have been heartlessly breaking up their camps and terrorizing the victims who have lost everything. Instead of showing kindness, they're treated as a plague that needs to be removed.

Injustices have been done and covered up in order to keep the Stormlings in absolute power and everyone else vulnerable to their whims. Not only with the lack of empathy for the homeless, but there is a dark history hidden as well. The witches with affinities towards various magic have been persecuted and almost eradicated. Now they live in hiding, concealing their gifts and unable to live without fear of discovery. In the prologue, we're introduced to Cruze who was rounded up and left to die out in the forest with others of his kind. The cruelty that he and others suffered is unimaginable and it caused hatred to harbor deep within his soul. We learn much more about this character and he really plays a pivotal role in more ways than one.

One thing that I wasn't looking forward to was Aurora finally coming clean about her identity to her new group of friends. Keeping this information put all of their lives in danger, and to be honest I wasn't really down with that. She showed a major lack of trust in those who took her in when she needed them the most and in my eyes that's a betrayal that I knew wouldn't go over well. And of course the ramifications with Locke/Kiran specifically would be earth shattering.

It took him a long time to let down his guard and accept his feelings for her and in return he was about to get a barrage of pain. I felt horrible for him as he had to come to terms with the reality of how this impacted their new relationship. Aurora really did step up in this installment. Not only did she acknowledge that she was wrong, she vowed to do whatever it took to make amends and earn their trust. Understandably, there's a decent amount of angst as Kiran and Aurora navigate their future and what their roles will be in each other's lives.

I liked that we got to learn a little more about some of the storm hunters! Bait and Ransom still didn't play much of a role, but Duke, Jinx, and Sly were much more fleshed out. We got a new story arc with a romance involving Jinx, Sly has shown herself to be much more than the quiet girl with the silent feet, and Duke has a bombshell of a secret that rocks everyone back on their heels. Not only did we have these character progressions, but with Aurora and the rest of the hunters joining the rebellion we're given new and intriguing characters to fill the cast. Zephr is the mysterious leader of the underground resistance. She's powerful and ruthless, and even though she's about as soft as a porcupine, you can't help but like her. I'm excited to read more about her in the next installment.

This book may have been even more action packed than the last. The romance was nicely layered in, there wasn't a moment of boredom, and I'm more invested then ever before as we wait for the conclusion. A lot of times my interest fizzles out with a trilogy but Cora Carmack has delivered the goods with this one. She had some recent health issues and that delayed the book release considerably but let me assure you it's worth the wait. Admittedly, since it's been two years since reading the previous book my memory was murky on the details of where the plot left off, so I went ahead and skimmed through some sections of Roar to clear the cobwebs away. However, I didn't let that affect my rating because that's just me. If you're thinking of starting this series, don't hesitate! If you're a return reader, you're in for another thrilling adventure that will not disappoint.

Rage by Cora Carmack is amazing. Go run to the store right now and pick up a copy. I loved this book so much. It was so hard to put it down at times. We start out the story with Roar being determined to get home and find out what is going on with her mom and kingdom. Of course nothing can be easy.

Eventually Roar does have to tell everyone who she is and I am not going to spoil the aftermath for you. This story definitely has way more action in it than the first book but a big reason for that is because there is a lot less traveling in this book. Most of it is trying to figure out how to take back the kingdom and defeat the stormlord. I felt like this book definitely took it's readers on a roller coaster of a ride. Everything had me on edge.

I loved that Cora was able to wrap up a lot of the conflicts in book one but bring us new conflicts to think about for book three. I am really looking forward to the next installment. I really want to know who the stormlord is. His points of views were really interesting in the book. I want to know a lot more. That ending has me going "What?!" (Queue Minion voice)

Go forth and pick up Rage. If you have read Roar, then you should pick that up as well.

I was provided with an eARC of this book in exchange for a fair review.

I LOVED THIS SO MUCH!!! Roar was such an amazing book and I have been eagerly awaiting Rage since the moment I finished book one. Let me tell you, it lived up to the anticipation! It was so wonderful to be back with Aurora again, especially to see her as her more powerful self!
As always, I adore Locke/Kiran, and really want him to be happy! I also came to like Cassius more and more. Well...dislike him less and less? He's still a little bit nuts, but I sort of hope he has a "come to Jesus" moment and becomes a better person. He seems like he might be on the path towards that.
I also loved the Jinx/Nova storyline, and I ship them so hard.

Overall, this book was amazing and I cannot wait for the next!

I'll be honest, Rage read like a filler novel with some serious second-book syndrome going on.

For starters, I was glad I re-read Roar before diving into this one because 1) I didn't remember as much as I thought from the first book so the refresher was nice, and 2) it lowered my expectations a LOT.

I loved Roar the first time I read it but it's been a couple years and if I'd gone into Rage with such high expectations, I'd have been even more disappointed than I already was. I think the problem is that nothing was really accomplished in Rage. In the first book, Rora grows as a character and comes into her own. There's plenty of action and adventuring leading up to what you'd think would be some big conclusion. Well. That's not how Roar ended so I expected Rage to pick up and raise the stakes even higher. 

Yet it was the same arguments over again, what to do, how to stop the Stormlord, how to save her people, back and forth, and she didn't do anything about it. I read a few hundred pages of Rora acting like a badass then questioning everything constantly. It's like she reverted back to before all the previous events. Then she goes and makes choices without really thinking and the consequences suck, but she doesn't seem to learn from that. Just. . . the whole book I felt like she was reacting more than acting and moving the story forward. And don't get me started on the romance.

Actually, do, because I hated it.

The first time I read Roar, I loved the romance subplot. The second time through, I questioned what past me was thinking. And in Rage, I don't even know what the point of it was. First, there's Locke/Kiran who seems to love Rora more than she loves him (especially because she takes over a quarter of the book to tell him her big secret, like WHAT?!?!). Their relationship seemed very one-sided most of the time. Kiran liked to decide everything but also seemed more involved than Rora. I just. . . I can't ship them and I kind of hope that it's not end game (though these books are like half romance so I doubt I'll get my wish).

Then there's Cassius Locke who Rora swears is obsessed with her and, to be fair, it kind of seems like that. He moved into her rooms, he's doing everything in his power to find her all while also trying to save her kingdom from ruin, and the whole thing just struck me as. . . odd. It's clear from the first book that he's not a bad guy and, frankly, I was rooting for him all through Rage. But the whole obsession thing (and the ending??) just felt out of place the way it's portrayed. 

It also stunk of future cliche love triangle grossness which is never a good sign. 

What made this book not terrible were the side characters and the world (not world-BUILDING because that wasn't really a thing, just the general system). First, I loved the storm magic from the last book and loved how that was expanded on with the different witches in this book. I'm fascinated by storms too so that helps a lot. Second, I really like the secondary characters in this series (more so than Rora and Kiran for sure). Jinx is such a delight on the page and I wish she had her own PoV at times, especially when she meets Nova (I ship them, y'all, I really do). I just really love the whole hunter crew and the bonds they've formed. And Cassius is all sorts of complicated but it made me want to know more about him, to really get in his head rather than cast him as this powerful obsessed prince.

So. Basically Rage was a waste of story space and didn't really move the plot forward much. The romance was questionable. The side characters were great. Give me more storm magic! And tension, maybe?

I'm not super eager to read the next book, not like I was waiting for this one. To be fair, Rage wasn't a bad book exactly, but a lot of elements didn't work for me and I ended up mostly annoyed with the book as a whole. Interested to see where Carmack takes the story next.

I won a copy of this book as a member of Cora's street team

I adore this book the first one builds the world and this book blows your mind. The characters are well written and strong with great development and growth from book 1.

Still love the whole storms have hearts and souls and that will stick with me always

I always appreciate when books start out just about where the previous one in the series left off and that’s exactly what this one did. The group of hunters had made it back to Pavan only to find out that Aurora’s kingdom is now in complete disarray. It’s easy to tell that something just isn’t right and Aurora knows she needs to do whatever necessary to get into that castle.

This book, to me, felt quite a bit different than the first. The writing itself was just as amazing, if not more, but the story was split off into four different directions this time. While I get that they were all necessary because all were coming from very different people doing very different things, it kind of broke things up for me a little bit. I still obviously very much enjoyed myself, though.

I loved getting to see Aurora getting more courageous and strong while still making mistakes and making questionable decisions (and actually owning up to them). It was refreshing to see. I also loved that she told Kiran to stuff it more, lol. He was still pretty overprotective but she just kind of was like well, I know you don’t want me to do this but here I am doing it anyway so you can just DEAL, BUDDY. Yassss Queen.

We were introduced to some new, and very interesting characters that I can’t wait to see more of and obviously we got to spend more time with our old favorites too. (BTW I KNEW IT!!!!!) <--You all will understand that when you read the part I’m talking about. I am dying to know more about that particular part/person. Also I’m still super confused about the Stormlord. Like who TF is he. I’m guessing he’s related to someone we know but I honestly have no theories whatsoever.

Also….that ending……very very VERY VERY interested to see where *that* will take us muahahahah. That’s all I’m giving you for now. <-- If you liked the first one, you’re definitely going to want to pick this one out as soon as it’s out!


Huge thanks to Netgalley and Tor Teen for allowing me to read an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Enemies are closing in and Aurora’s lies start to unravel in Rage, the second book in Cora Carmack’s Stormheart trilogy. This second installment is just as thrilling as the first, expanding the world and introducing new characters readers are sure to love.

In a world where storms are sentient, the ability to control them is everything. Unfortunately, Aurora was born without that power – at least, so she always thought. After running away from an arranged marriage with a man she believes is only after her kingdom in Roar, she discovered that her magic works differently than others. Now that the Locke royal family has usurped her throne in her absence, she has returned to her home to fight for what’s hers in Rage. Too bad her newly awakened ability has garnered some unseemly attention.

While Aurora’s character development backslides a little bit in this book (Where does all this uncertainty come from? This girl staged her own kidnapping, for crying out loud!), there is some unbelievable character development in Rage. I was most surprised by the changes in Nova’s story, as she is recaptured after Aurora’s escape attempt goes awry and is now imprisoned with Jinx. Kiran was not quite so over-the-top in this book, as well. The absurd over-protectiveness is a huge turnoff for me, but then Aurora does keep getting into trouble.

Because we stay in one place for much of the book (back in Pavan, joining the resistance), it is much more action-packed than the first one. Between the daring palace rescue mission and attempting to sneak out of an enemy-controlled city via giant bubble in the river, you will be on the edge of your seat, particularly in the last 1/4 of the book. This makes the pacing of the book a bit uneven – we lose a lot of time on miscommunication nonsense (my least favorite plot device) – and some things that are extremely important happen a bit abruptly.

I appreciate learning more about this world – the politics of other kingdoms, the different kinds of magic – and am eager to learn even more in the next book. I hope we also delve into the history of this place – why magic became forbidden and things like that. I also like the flashbacks detailing how the Stormlord became the way he is. A villain who is evil for the sake of being evil is boring; by exploring his backstory, Carmack is inviting the opportunity for empathy and understanding. Dude is still evil, but at least you sort of see why.

Rage is a solid sequel and an enjoyable read. It suffers a bit from “middle book” syndrome with a plot that gets a little too convoluted at parts, but in general, it seems to be headed somewhere good, and I am more than willing to come along for the ride.

I finished Roar in one sitting by staying up until 3:30am on a work night (meaning my alarm would go off at 6:30am). That's HOW obsessed I was with the story. The world was fascinating, scary, and exciting! The characters, intriguing and instantly lovable. And the romance between Roar and Locke: completely and utterly - SWOON. [You can checkout my full gushy review for Roar here]

I jumped on the Stormheart bandwagon a year later than most, so my wait for Rage was only an excruciating 8 months. The instant I got the email saying I'd received an ARC of Rage, I pictured my next two days' schedule, and immediately worked to clear it.

Although I didn’t read Rage in one sitting, I finished in less than 24 hours. The action and feels were just as extreme as they were in book one! My favorite parts of Rage were of course any with my darlings: Aurora and Kiran. I also loved the (teeny tiny spoiler) tidbits we learned about the Stormlord's childhood. It really helped us understand his motivations and twisted ways of thinking. The end twist was also unexpected and amazing.

Actual rating: 4.5 stars

I was so excited to dive back into this world! While I absolutely loved Roar, I found Rage to be just a little underwhelming. The writing is beautiful and I enjoyed seeing all the characters together again but the plot is thin. That being said, I still enjoyed the read and I’m looking forward to the next installment.

Some thoughts on a few characters:

Kiran annoyed me for most of the book, which was a bummer because I loved him in Roar. I can totally understand him being shocked and feeling uneasy about his future with Roar when he finds out about her life before they met but come on, he already knew she was keeping big secrets and said that her past wouldn’t matter because he loved her. Then as soon as he finds out, he’s out of there. It just seemed a little out of character IMO.

Loving the new budding relationship between Jinx and Nova. I feel bad for Ransom but dude should have made a move ages ago if he really wanted to be with her.

Cassius sadly felt a little one note to me but I’m looking forward to seeing him develop more in the next book.

Aurora continues to be my favorite character and while I’m scared about her emerging dark side I can’t wait to see her take on the Stormlord and bring some much needed changes to her kingdom.

So way back in mid 2017, I received an eGalley of a book from NetGalley (one of my best friends, electronically) of Roar by Cora Carmack. Carmack is a prolific writer of what appeared to me to be new adult books, so I was a bit skeptical at first, but “Roar” was described as young adult fantasy, and so I took the plunge. Thank you, gods, for showing me the way.

Roar’s story about the complexity and magic of different types of storms and people using magic to protect from the storms and destroy the storms was definitely a new type of story. Sometimes, it can feel like you are reading the same story over and over by different authors. Definitely not this one.

The offical description from Amazon

“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.”

Right, so I hate book reviews. I’m going to tell you what I liked or maybe disliked about the book.

Well, I like everything about it. I felt there was lots of character growth, great world building, and a great story overall. I like Roar, and Locke, and I wanted to punch Cassius and his family in the throat. Yep, throat punch. Come and get it, royal Locke family!

So, in November of 2017, I was able to go to Yallfest in Charleston, SC. I got to meet Cora and for some reason I did not get a picture with her. *Facepalm* I’m an idiot. Anyways, fast forward almost 2 years and I got an eGalley of Rage, the sequel to Roar that will be out in August 2019. So in between, sometimes I was frustrated that Cora was taking FOREVER to write book two, however, after following her on social media, I saw that she had been having some terrible health problems related to an epilepsy diagnosis. Well no wonder. And all my thoughts and support went out to her. And when I got that galley, talk about an amazing day in my life.

Going to be honest, I read that book last month. My father was diagnosed with cancer the end of June, and after a very short battle he passed away July 27. I read Rage while I sat at hospice with my father and my family. It was so good to have a great book to help me though a rough time (Also see previous post regarding Fireborne by Rosaria Munda). So here I am, a member of the Rage Street Team. I am supposed to go forth and promote, promote, promote! Well, I have been a really poor street team member so far with everything going on, but Cora and the street team were so awesome about it and never kicked me and were very supportive.

My director was at Book Bonanza and stopped by to say hello to Cora for me. She picked me up an autographed copy of Roar, which I now have two and I love them both very much! I had my boss mention my name and she recognized me from the street team. Coooooool!!!!!!!!!!!!

AND I see Cora is going to be near Chicago the end of September ( a couple weeks after my birthday!) so I am going to try to shoot over for the event and see her again 😀

The struggle with having a five star sequel you wanna gush about to the world but don’t wanna spoil book one (for any unsuspecting reader who doesn’t know there’s another book before this one) and don’t wanna spoil this book because it deserves a prestige no spoilers intake.

So what I will say is

1. The story has a lot more action because we have a lot less travel in this book. The pacing for the action is good and it never feels dry even when we aren’t fighting a storm and instead fighting one another.

2. There is a lot of character growth here, for Roar and her crew, with each other as a made family and as individuals. It was lovely to see.

3. I understood Locke more here though he still isn’t bae

4. Cassius is bae and damn if I don’t love him even more now?!

5. I have SO many theories and new ships and still old ships and there was so much I didn’t see coming!

I would wait another two years for book three if that’s what it took because it was that amazing. I love this world, I love these characters and I can’t wait to see what will happen next.

Thank you for the opportunity to read an advance copy of Rage! I finished Roar in August and LOVED IT and I was able to start Rage and I know that I absolutely will love it too. Unfortunately, my real life job hit the busy season just as several publishers granted me ARCs at the same time and I simply don't know if I will have time to read through them all before they are archived. Be assured, if I requested the title it was from genuine interest and I either have a copy already preordered or will be grabbing the audiobook upon release and will still write a review. I am sorry that I was not able to read this by the publication date.

I have been highly anticipating this book ever since I finished Roar a few years ago and Rage didn’t disappoint! (I also read it during a trans-Atlantic flight and just devoured it). Rage picks up right where Roar left off, and Aurora finds herself in a Locke controlled city that is trying to tamp down a rebellion and desperately trying to ready itself for the inevitable Stormlord attack. This sequel had everything I loved from the first book (except trainings sequences, but you can’t have everything), paid off on revealing the Stormlord‘s identity (if you read the clues), but it wasn’t who I thought he was! Also, Jinx is amazing and gets such great “screen time” in it that I’m in love with her even more. I don’t want to say more and risk spoilers but basically:
romance ✅
secret reveals ✅
dark, hard choices ✅
rebellion ✅
action packed storm magic ✅
Jinx being the absolute best person in the world ✅
Sweet magic stuff that even Avatar didn’t think of ✅
New sides of previously iffy characters ✅
Stormlord backstory ✅✅
Can’t wait for the finale!!

The second installment to this series was excellent and everything I wanted it to be. There was some great action, some plot twists that I did not entirely see coming, and some background on the Stormlord.

The book starts off pretty much from where the first one left off. Roar has arrived back home to find everything in chaos. But I had to admire how well she handled things. She continues to be very strong and level headed in a time of crises, but she also makes some bad decisions and gets herself into trouble because of it. Her confession to Locke\Kiran about who she really was went about as well as I thought it would go. They are both such strong willed people, and I did worry for a bit about their relationship, but after everything they have been through I continue to hope that it will all work out in the end.

The rest of the crew is back and we get to learn a bit more about each of them. We get to see and hear more from Sly in this book. She was not as involved with Roar in the last one, but she really steps up when it was needed. Duke also has a bit more added to his story. I still really like him and enjoyed his character development. Nova and Jinx end up becoming friends, which was awesome as it allowed us to learn more about how their magic works.

I still haven’t decided if Prince Cassius is a good guy or a bad one, he is definitely better than his father and brother, but I think by the end he will prove himself to Roar to be a better person than we think.

The Stormlord, on the other hand is just plain crazy. We get a lot more about his history and how he came to be who he is. So he does get a bit of a sympathy vote from me, but we don’t yet know everything. He had a lot of trauma in his life which shaped his personality, but still, not sure I can hold out for his redemption. Hopefully there will be more about his past in the next book as well.

I continue to really enjoy the world that has been created here. The idea that storms have souls and that you can control them with magic is fascinating. And the social structure that developed around this concept is also very interesting. I am very interested in seeing how the different types of magic end up either helping or hurting each other.

This book was certainly worth the wait. I just hope that the next one will be coming out soon.

I'm so glad no one was around when I finished Rage. The look on my face was priceless as I stared at the wall. Their are so many surprises through out this story and I'm still trying to wrap my head around them. This book leaves you with such a book hangover you may be calling in to work the next day.

Building off the events of Roar, Rage takes you back into the characters heads and even adds some more perspectives and pasts into the plot. You start Roars journey right where you left off in the first book and the pace quickly takes off. With the storms becoming more wicked and the Lockes still in the kingdom, this book takes you on an intense ride. It was definitely worth the wait.

I have nothing bad to say about Rage. It's hard to write a review that doesn't give anything away. I liked Roar better at first but by the end Rage became my new favorite book in the series. It is one of my favorite reads of 2019 and I can't wait to see what happens next.

I received an advanced copy through netgalley and the author in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

I'm not going to have a chance to read Rage before the official release and I didn't want it to be archived before I sent feedback because I would like to come back and submit an actual review when I can. Consider this my official placeholder. 😅

***A huge thank you to Tor for granting me this earc after initially being denied. I joined Cora's street team and reached out to Tor and they finally approved me. So, thank you again.***

I've been anxiously waiting to read Rage since Roar first came out and even though it was a long wait, it definitely didn't disappoint! I was a little nervous to see how it could compare to the first book but id say it was probably a little bit better. I don't want to give too much away but I loved the growth for some of the characters and I'm excited to see where things go from here. Highly recommend if you enjoyed the first book or even if you thought it was just ok.

Whoops. The cover for this book was so enticing that I picked it up and started reading without realizing it was a sequel. It's to the author's credit that I could understand what's going on and get into the plot. Thrust into a complex, in-progress story, I relied on context cues and did fine, though I never fully grokked the magic system. In short, people are reincarnated as storms when they die, and magic users can use these storms and some can even bend these storms to their will.

Aurora, born without the storm magic that would cement her as a worthy successor to rule Pavan in her family's name, has returned home. She's now filled with magic, surrounded by allies who think she's someone else, and willing to risk returning home to defend what's hers.

This is a middle book in a series, and it suffers as most middle books do from not having really clear objectives (or too many that aren't going to be resolved). Aurora and her team want to save refugees, defend her city, rescue her mother, overthrow Cassius and his family, and defeat the Stormlord. But of course all of their efforts are stymied at every turn, complicated and diverted by the difficulties of sneaking into the city and Aurora's identity. Nevertheless, the pace flows well, though I did find the interludes with Cruze more distracting than helpful. Without spoilers, the ending does serve as an good jumping off point for the next volume.

Let's talk about the romance angle. There appears to in-progress romantic triangle between Aurora's betrothed Cassius Locke (who is definitely less evil than the rest of his family but it remains to be determined how much) and Kiran Thorne the renegade. I use the word "appears" because it's less of a romance and more obsession. I see from reading reviews of the first novel that numerous folks take issue with the toxic masculinity present. My initial reading was that this played perhaps less of a role in this book (maybe because Cassius and Aurora are separated), but I concede that I was distracted by finding my bearings. Nevertheless, there are definitely some overprotective alpha-male tropes at work that detracted from the romance, particularly the possessive language.

As a huge fan of the Stormheart series, I was so excited to get my hands on an ARC of Rage. It was perfectly timed that I read this book right before getting my newest tattoo, inspired by the first Stormheart book Roar.

Once again, we’re introduced to the fantastical world of Pavan, with characters we know and love. However, this time, we’re introduced to even more characters. Ones that we’ve easily become attached to, or ones that we’ve began to really hate.

The Stormlord was even more prevalent in this novel, but I found his parts in this book to be annoying and unneeded. It really felt like his parts were just filler chapters, and I found myself wanting to skip over them a lot.

In this novel, it becomes necessary for Roar to expose herself to her team. Something that you could really feel from everyone in that moment was the pain and misunderstanding. You could feel the decisions you made within you, but you also had wonders about, “what if they hadn’t done that? What would’ve happened then?”

This book was full of surprises, drama, love, and excitement. It had sadness, pain, and anguish. While I loved this book, I think that the Stormlord’s additions damaged it.

For everything listed, I rate this novel 4 stars.