*Quotes are taken from the ARC and are subject to change upon publication*

Overall: 3/5 Stars
Characters: 3/5
Setting: 4/5
Writing: 2.5/5
Plot and Themes: 3/5
Awesomeness Factor: 3/5
Review in a Nutshell: Rage was a good read, but it may not be worthwhile if you didn’t really love Roar.

“I wanted to choose my own life, rather than having it chosen for me.”

[ Related: Roar by Cora Carmack – Fun, but Nothing Special (Review) ]

// Content Warning: Violence, Death, Assault, War Themes, Murder, Kidnapping/Abduction //

“Life happens how it happens, and you can either move with the maelstrom or die wallowing about the change in the winds.”

Release Date: 8/27/2019
Publisher: Tor Teen
Page Count: 460
Premise:

Rage takes place shortly after the ending of Roar. There isn’t really much I can say without spoiling the plot of the first book, but this one deals more with the politics of the world, including a rebellion that has risen up.

Read more for all of my thoughts on Rage!

Writing & Setting

First, the setting. I really love this world that Cora Carmack has created. As I mentioned in my Roar review, the storms are absolutely fascinating to me and are something truly unique to this series. That said, there’s the writing. It isn’t bad, but I did find myself getting a little frustrated at some of the dialogue. It felt really stiff and fake, and about halfway through, I realized why. There were so few contractions. I know I mentioned this in my Roar review, but it was even worse in Rage. Yeah, a character would say “don’t” or “can’t” every once in a while, but for the most part, everything was “I cannot”, “I am”, “do not”. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it, and it becomes really, really annoying. 

Plot

I don’t know what I expected to happen in this book, but it definitely wasn’t this. I feel like Rage suffers from second-book-syndrome. It’s setting up for an epic finale, but because of that, it felt a little… unimpressive. The rebellion kind of came out of nowhere to me, and while I eventually came to enjoy that plotline, it still felt weird. It was like a 2012 dystopian got mixed with a 2019 fantasy. That doesn’t make it bad- just unexpected. There were also some things I was hoping to see that were kinda ignored or brushed aside. That said, the overall plot was still fairly well-paced and interesting, and I’m excited to see where it’ll go in book 3. 

Characters

So, let’s talk about Roar. I have mixed feelings about her. I don’t know- after my reread of Roar, then jumping into Rage, I just wasn’t that happy with her. She made some choices that bothered me, and seemed to lose a bit of the character development she got in the first book. Locke/Kiran wasn’t that much better. There was some drama between them during the book that just felt unnecessary. The one character I was excited to see more of, Casimir, really didn’t have as much page time as I would have liked. However, I think that may change in book 3. And lastly, I do want to mention- there’s some LGBTQ+ rep!!! It made me so happy to see a f/f relationship developing in this book. I did think one of the characters was LGBTQ+ when I read Roar, but I thought she would be forced into a straight relationship. Thank god she wasn’t!!! It seriously made my day.

” Nothing matters more in a crew than trust.”

(Roar: lol oops)

Conclusion

Pros-Unique world, interesting magic system
Cons- Writing is meh, characters can be frustrating 
Overall- 3/5 stars. 
Rage is just fine. It’s not great, but not bad. Instead, it’s a mix of a bunch of things- some good and some not so much- and ends up falling solidly in the middle.

If You Liked Rage, I’d Recommend:

• The Storm Crow (The Storm Crow #1) by Kalyn Josephson – [ Review ]
• The Kiss of Deception (The Remnant Chronicles #1) by Mary E. Pearson
• Ruined (Ruined #1) by Amy Tintera – [ Review ]

Have you read Roar? Are you excited for Rage?

Add To Your Goodreads Shelf
Purchase From: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Indiebound

Follow Me: [Bookstagram] [Twitter] [Tumblr] [Goodreads]