4.5/5

True enemies to lovers and true slow burn romance full of angst and yearning...this is exactly the kind of story I'm been waiting for in the ever growing adult fantasy romance genre.

To be fair, my love for this book is a bit biased since I read and enjoyed this story in it's original fanfic form and, just as I suspected, it works well as an original fantasy world. The similarities are there, obviously, but Thea Guanzon has intricately crafted a world and characters of her own that I can't wait to see more of in future installments.

Something that I sometimes struggle with with fantasy romance is when the story can't strike right balance between romance and fantasy plot. The Hurricane Wars balances them perfectly. There's a great mix between the complicated enemies to lovers dynamic of Talasyn/Alaric and the overarching and layered political intrigue between the different sides of the titular wars (and since Talasyn and Alaric are important players on both sides of the conflict, their romance is intricately linked to the plot and the political maneuverings within).

There is quite a lot of worldbuilding at the beginning of the book which may overwhelm some readers (particularly if they're not used to reading fantasy) but I personally found it interesting and I really enjoy Thea Guanzon's writing style. She's quite descriptive and there's lots of "purple prose" that may not work for some readers but it worked for me in immersing myself into the wonderful Filipino-inspired setting she has created. I will say though, it does slow down the pacing a bit in the beginning. It doesn't feel like the story truly takes off until 1/3 of the way through once you get past the setup.

As mentioned earlier, Talasyn/Alaric's romance is true "want-to-kill-each-other" enemies to lovers and very much a slowburn that will take place over the course of the trilogy. If you love romances with lots of yearning, complicated feelings, and scenes that evoke the same feeling as the "Mr. Darcy hand flex" in Pride and Prejudice (2005), this is the fantasy romance book for you. Their relationship develops in a way that makes sense - mutual hatred that gets complicated when they start to find common ground and realize their growing attraction for each other. Their respective political and familial allegiances cause even more complications and lead to miscommunications that are actually understandable as they each have to withhold certain information and motivations from the other. All of this creates an excellent amount of angst and tension that I can't wait to see further develop throughout the trilogy.

I've read some excellent fantasy romances this year and while Divine Rivals remains my number one favorite, this one is a close second.

The Hurricane Wars is the first novel in a new series of the same name. The cover and genres were enough to entice me to try it; however, I was nervous going into this one as I’ve seen a lot of mixed ratings. I didn’t go through all the actual reviews, but the mixed ratings alone were enough to make me wary. The story takes some elements from Star Wars (a Kylo/Ren romance) and gives it a fanfic twist. This type of fanfic is not new, but I hoped the author would give her own spin on it. This is also a very difficult task to accomplish as, like retellings, readers are aware of the original material, so the author must balance using the source information with their own twists.

The story follows Talasyn, an orphan soldier with Lightweaver powers who fights to keep Sardovia safe from the Kesath Empire. She comes face to face with Prince Alaric of the empire where their worlds become intertwined. Since I know the source material, it was difficult to separate the two in my head at times because they were too similar in characteristics. It did not ruin my enjoyment, but it was a lot of overlap, at least for me. Other readers, whether they know the source material or not, may feel differently. The two characters were decent, but I felt they needed a little more depth. I also felt the plot started working too hard to put the two characters together and it did not feel as organic. I think the romance between them does have potential, but I think the next novel in the series has a lot of work to do to make readers like me connect with it.

The world-building takes some inspiration from Filipino culture, and I loved that the author tried to integrate it. There were plot twists, but I think they needed a bit more subtlety. As-is, they were easy to guess as they were hidden in plain sight. The basic outline of the story was great, but I believe the details are where I got lost. I prefer more exploration with everything from world-building to plot to character development, so this novel was not quite my cup of tea. I still believe there is potential, and the rest of the series could be amazing, but I find myself on the fence on continuing. Overall, I think there are many readers that will love this novel as-is, so I hope all readers try it out for themselves.

**I give a special thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Harper Voyager, for the opportunity to read this enjoyable novel. The opinions expressed are completely my own.**

*Thank you NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of this book.

The Hurricane Wars is a political/war fantasy with a slow burn romance. The world building in this novel is amazing, highly detailed. I loved getting to know the characters and the lives they were living. The pacing of this book is rather slow, however there are faster points (just like in real life). It is immersive and I found the magic system to be familiar yet still set apart from others in this genre. I am certainly looking forward to the rest of the trilogy!

This had everything I love and more! The plot, the magic system, the world building, the banter....ugh I love every second of it!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really did enjoy this, and am looking forward to the sequel! That being said, it wasn't my favorite. I wonder if I would have enjoyed it more if I had read it in a fanfiction/serial format instead of a novel? It made a lot of sense while I was reading this that it started out as a Reylo fanfic.

I love a slow burn romance/fantasy romance, but this felt like SUCH a slow burn, but also like it didn't have the satisfying build-up? They started out as enemies (love that!) but also almost immediately had an inexplicable attraction. I loved the glimpses of burn that we got, but I'm not sure the build-up felt natural, maybe a little forced.

The world itself and the magic are really cool, I loved all of her wonderful descriptions. I also love the characters and the more we learn about Alaric and Talasyn, the more I like and understand them. The ending felt super abrupt, there is a huge build-up to multiple events that have not happened yet, so we know that there will be a lot going on that we haven't seen resolved yet.

I have a feeling the books will only get better as the series progresses, and I'm excited to see how things end up!

This book was an absolute joy and I cannot wait for the second one.

The world building is very cleverly done, with a combination of some high fantasy elements mixed with a bit of Sith action. I was very curious if and when dragons would come, and they didn’t disappoint at all. The descriptions made them so easy for me to see in my mind and made the book even more exciting.

A lot of people may not love how heavy the aspect of war and war times is in the book, but it’s all necessary. None of it is overdone, but is a bit lengthy!

The romance part of this book, the tension, the slow burn, it was frustrating and believable. Talasyn made me as mad as Alaric did. Those two are two peas in a pod, if they could only open their eyes and see it! The spice is light, but it is so worth the wait.

The last thing I want to say is that the scene set, it reminds me a bit of Star Wars and a bit of something I’m unfamiliar with. I absolutely love that you can see the author bringing in her culture, it makes everything tie together so well.

*eARC provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Plot-wise, super slow. Enemies-to-lovers-wise? Full steam ahead.

I'm pretty sure this is a Reylo fanfiction in some part, because our main characters are essentially them. One- tall, dark-haired, and brooding, a prince of the Night Empire with a creepy Palpatine-like father running things behind the scene. The other- small and fierce, a member of the rebellion whose powers are the opposite of her dark prince's.

They are drawn to each other despite being enemies. both filled with such odd contradictory passion and hate that it is sometimes hard to follow. But easy to tell it will not be an easy journey for them.

It was a good read for the romance, but I expected more action, less politics. Let's see what the sequel brings,

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this eARC.

The Hurricane Wars follows Talasyn, an orphan soldier whose secret magic puts her in danger, but also makes her the greatest potential weapon against the Night Empire. When she allies with Prince Alaric, the two work to save their world together.

This book had kind of a slow start, but I quite enjoyed the rhythm it found the further it got. Talasyn was a hero worth rooting for, and though the romance at the core of the book was with a colonizer, it definitely had everything you look for in a solid romantasy (especially one that started out as Reylo fanfiction).

In all, I thought this was a pretty solid romantic fantasy, and while I don't think it will be everyone's favorite, I'm sure plenty of folks will eat it up.

Where to start with this one, I find myself thinking about a lot after reading this book, it showcases how life can be turned upside down time after time, that even when you think you know what's happening in your world everything can be obliterated at a moment's notice.

I'm going to be honest, this wasn't my favorite book, the multiple names of our FMC took a while to get used to, the things that I thought should have detail didn't and there was so much world-building that it almost got to be a bit tedious.

However, I find myself wanting to know what happens next, wondering if a certain dastardly plan will succeed or hopefully fail, and needing to know if certain characters are safe or if the worst has actually happened.

If you'd asked me a few days ago if I would read the second book in this series my answer might have been no, depending on the chapter I was on, after the last few pages I have so many questions and I can tell this is one of those books that's going to be in the back of my head filled with questions that only book two can answer.

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for providing a copy of this e-book, I have voluntarily read and reviewed it and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My original interest in this book came when I heard it was Reylo inspired because I am a Reylo Stan for life but then I read the dedication and was sold. But when I actually picked up the book and it was so much better than I expected, I loved every second of my time reading this book and the characters and their relationships. The only reason I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars was because this book starts pretty much at the end of a major war that has been going on for years. Because of that the author had to give some back story about what the world is like and how we got to where we are at the beginning of the book at at times the world building felt more info dumpy than anything. Overall though that didn’t bother me I’m more of a character driver reader than world driven and the characters are amazing. It’s also enemies to lovers and if you know anything about me you know that is my all time favorite trope and let me tell you this is probably one of the best enemies to lovers plots I’ve read in a while. I strongly recommend this book and can’t wait to read more by this author in the future.

Book Name: The Hurricane Wars
Author: Thea Guanzon

ARC
Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager, Harper Voyager for an ARC of The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon

Stars: 4
Spice: 3

1st book in debut Series
Fast Paced
Plot Centric
Dual POV
Romantasy

- Tropes
- Hidden Identities
- Shadow MMC
- Light FMC
- Enemies to Lovers
- Forced Proximity
- Found Family
- Political Marriage
- One Bed
- Slow Burn
- Miscommunication
- Thoughts.
- Alaric feels like Kylo
- Alaric is in fact Kylo fanfiction (I didn't know that until I finished)
- Quick Read
- Great Story Concept
- It has some Fourth Wing vibes… ish
- Pacing issues galore (slow first 10% long final 20% )
- The lack of communication/miscommunication between FMC and MMC was maddening

Two bitter enemies, one light one dark, are forced into an arranged marriage to bring peace, that is if they don’t kill each other first. Talasyn has only ever known the Hurricane Wars, a ruthless war between the Night Empire and other nations. She was an orphan who was raised to become a soldier to fight for freedom with her found family. Yet she has a secret, she has light magic, forbidden magic that was believed to have been wiped out years ago by the Night Emperor. Prince Alaric is the Night Emperor’s only son and heir, and has been tasked with destroying any threat to the Night Empire’s rule. Talasyn has light magic and Alaric has shadow magic, and when they finally face off, they find that their powers have a strange connection. Talasyn is the greatest threat Alaric has ever encountered. Despite how they view each other as threats, there’s an even greater danger coming and they’ll have to work together to stop it, and that means an arranged marriage between them. Talasyn discovers that she is actually the long lost princess and she is now in an arranged marriage to Alaric as it would help force an alliance between the two waring people. Yet despite how much they are meant to be rivals they can’t stop thinking about each other and the attraction between them. This is the first book in the trilogy, and for a book that is 400+ pages, this unfortunately drags so much. This book is a near copy and paste of the Reylo scenes from the star wars movie, and sadly its lacking any of the tension, chemistry, or stakes that the original material has. This book just felt like Star Wars, but super slow burn and without chemistry. I kept trying to like this book but I just found myself not caring at all about the characters or the plot. I was happy to have just made it to the end of the book. This book just missed the mark for me, and I am a huge fan of Reylo. This book has a ton of world building, but it truly didn’t feel like an actual established and well drawn out world. There is suppose to be tension and romance, but for 500 pages, there really was barely any of either between the two characters. Sadly, I will not be continuing with the series. If you enjoy enemies to lovers. arranged marriages, and star-wars themed type of stories, give this a go, maybe you’ll have a better time with this than I did.

*Thanks Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager, Harper Voyager for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

This book really struggled with pacing. It started strong and i was sucked into the conflict at the end of the first chapter but then it dragged to a halt.. I think the world-building happened too soon and too much at one time and I couldn't settle into the story because I was so busy trying to remember everything. I didn't really understand why Alaric let Talasyn live during their first encounter. Their dynamic was strange and I struggled to understand the romance element for most of the book. The writing itself and the magic were both good. I think this just was not a good fit for me personally. Thank you NetGalley for the arc.

Hurricane Wars
If you like books featuring…
Incredible world building
Fighting as a love language
Elements based magic

Great for fans of…
Sarah J. Maas
Fourth Wing
Avatar: The Last Airbender

A big thanks to NetGalley and Avon for providing both an eARC and an advance book in exchange for an honest review.

Why is it only now (after reading the book) did I find out that this was originally ReyLo fanfiction????

The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon is a fantasy novel set in a world torn by war. All Talasyn has ever known is the Hurricane Wars. Growing up an orphan in a nation under siege by the ruthless Night Emperor, she found her family among the soldiers who fight for freedom. But she is hiding a deadly secret: light magic courses through her veins, a blazing power believed to have been wiped out years ago that can cut through the Night Empire’s shadows. Prince Alaric, the emperor’s only son and heir, has been tasked with obliterating any threats to the Night Empire’s rule with the strength of his armies and mighty shadow magic. He discovers the greatest threat yet in Talasyn: a girl burning brightly on the battlefield with the magic that killed his grandfather, turned his father into a monster, and ignited the Hurricane Wars. He tries to kill her, but in a clash of light and dark, their powers merge and create a force the likes of which has never been seen. This war can only end with them. But an even greater danger is coming, and the strange magic they can create together could be the only way to overcome it. Talasyn and Alaric must decide… are they fated to join hands, or destroy each other?

I straight up did not know this was Reylo fanfiction when I requested this book. But now, having read it, I can totally see it. Honestly it wasn't bad. Just wasn't my favorite. Like Fourth Wing. It took the internet by storm for it's pretty cover, but the insides are just meh.

An enemies to lovers fantasy romance that didn't quite hit the mark for me. Talasyn is a warrior fighting for freedom against the Night Empire. She has secrets and a desire to find her long lost family. Prince Alaric is the Night Emperors only son. These two meet fighting on the battle field and fate brings them together in a forced proximity trope. I had high hopes for this novel, and I loved the premise and author's note that explained the where the concept of the book came from. The plot moved a little too quickly and lacked depth. I never quite understood the conflict and I wasn't able to really get emotionally attached to any of the characters. If you're a die hard romantasy lover, it's worth a try, but overall this left me underwhelmed.

Thank you to Harper Voyager & Netgalley for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review!


First off this was an entertaining sci-fi/fantasy. Did I know it was basically REYLO fan fiction to start? No, but that part added to my enjoyment. Overall I really enjoyed the story but there were a few things that I didn't really enjoy.

I found myself really trudging through the first almost 10 chapters of the book. I usually DNF well before then if I am feeling disconnected but I was very interested in the world and where the plot was going to lead after a VERY big event abruptly ends at the beginning.

The dialogue and writing were at times juvenile and I either reacted with a cringe or a giggle. As I finished it obviously I found it more charming than annoying.

I got extremely frustrated with the two main characters at times but maybe it's because I don't read a *whole lot* of slow burn. Some of their choices didn't make sense...even from an enemies to lovers point of view.

But all that being said I will be reading the next installment! I am curious to see where the story goes and how the enemies continue to become "lovers."

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager, Harper Voyager for an eARC of The Hurricane Wars!

Enemies to lovers, epic romantasy inspired by the authors Philippine heritage! Kind of a slow burn with lots of tension. I absolutely DEVOURED this book and can’t wait for everyone to read it so I can talk about it incessantly. From the world building to the well written use of tropes, you’re going to seriously enjoy this debut novel. It’s the first in the series! So be prepared for an ending that will leave you wanting more!

Thank you netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

If you're a lover of enemies to lovers, and are a fan with boys that have reylo vibes, then this book is FOR YOU! Was it perfect? No. I found some parts slower than I'd like, but I enjoyed the ride.

Read if you like:
- Reylo (this was literally based on a fic)
- Enemies to lovers
- Marriage or convenience
- Romantasy in general
- Some spicy

4/5 ⭐
1.5/5 🌶️

This was THE most anticipated book for me in 2023, and it did not disappoint.

Having read many of Thea Guanzon's fanfiction works, I knew she was supremely talented, but in The Hurricane Wars she's created an entire complex world of magic, cultures, and characters that feel incredibly organic. It's so well fleshed out while still being easy consumable for fantasy-lite or non-fantasy readers.

The beginning is a little slow, as the reader is dropped in the middle of a war with lots of information to absorb, but the plot picks up quickly and then is impossible to put down. Thea's writing is gorgeous and poetic, and

The main characters Talasyn and Alaric have amazing chemistry, both as enemies and as almost-lovers (although it's clear that they will eventually have a romance, it's a very slow burn and I fully anticipate the happily ever after not arriving until the end of the 3rd book because ANGST). They are forced into a political arranged marriage but are still very much enemies in the sense that they stand for completely opposite ideals and they have so much working against them. But the tension between them is delicious and they are very clearly perfect for each other. I can't wait to see how Thea gives them their happily ever after.