FIVE AMAZING STARS! This book was incredible. The world-building, the characters, the fighting and the romance - incredible. Phew, I’m reeling and I can’t believe I have to wait a whole year to read the sequel.

The Hurricane Wars is rich in texture. It is a dual POV book which switches between Talasyn and Alaric, two enemy soldiers who can wield magic from the aether. As their lives collide, the reader gets to watch as they struggle to balance their responsibilities and allegiances with new feelings they have never felt before. I loved reading each POV as the characters developed and became more and more complex, feeling as though they are betraying their nation and those they care about.

The world is so intricately described and is inspired by the authors upbringing experiencing massive weather phenomenons in The Philippines. My only dislike was that I felt like I had to take notes for the first 20% of the book. A lot of the details about the world are given up front and some of the language is so foreign it felt like gibberish. I plowed through and at about 36% I couldn’t put the book down. I became accustomed to the writing style and the world began to make more sense. This book is well worth the read, so stick with it!

Thank you Harper Voyager and NetGalley for the e-arc! This was one of my top reads for 2023. Fans of Fourth Wing will be glad for another amazing read this year. I know I am!

A powerful and page turning fantasy built on important daily events heartbreak and a fabulous Philippine voice.

Rating: 2.75

This book has left me with some very mixed emotions. On the one hand, I loved the author's prose and style of writing. But on the other hand, I was disinterested in the romance and frequently irritated with both MCs. These factors combined to create a very frustrating reading experience.

I'll first begin with the good.

The author's writing was beautiful. It was flowery in a way that crafted a deeply immersive experience. The descriptions used within the world-building were great. Each line felt artful, and the language managed to be highly expressive while not boring me half to death. The magic system and different cultures were built uniquely, enriching the setting immensely.

Then, unfortunately, the characters soured this beautiful fantasy world. Talasyn, the FMC, is the epitome of feisty. And not in a good way. She was constantly angry, shouting, and insulting everyone for the smallest reasons. There was often no forethought to her behavior. Her actions were almost always impulsive and mind-bogglingly dumb. I can see what the author was going for, but instead of making Talasyn look tough, her anger felt contrived and annoying.

The MMC wasn't better. I struggle to even describe him because his character was so wishy-washy. Talasyn saw him as a stoic, unflinching war captain, but I'm unsure why. When I would read his POV, his character felt insecure, aimless, and not very smart. He acted on emotion constantly, which was confusing considering the fact that both he and Talasyn describe him as a very impassive figure. He blurts things out, constantly regrets his decisions, and disobeys his father (who's supposed to be an oppressive, scary guy) with no thought of the consequences. I genuinely don't know what else to say about him other than his personality seemed to change from line to line.

My final strife was the romance. It was tough. Both Talasyn and Alaric are attracted to each other from pretty much day one. Yet, neither of them admits this, even to themselves. They frequently think or act towards each other in a romantic way but are befuddled by their own behavior. It was beyond infuriating. I'll list just a few of the MANY, MANYYY examples below.


"Why was she nervous? What was the reason for these butterflies rippling in the pit of her stomach?"

"that nervous little flutter coursed through her again. Where was that coming from?"

"What was it about her that reduced him to such nonsensical adjectives?"

"She would never feel the same— The same as what? What did he feel?"

In the end, the character's ridiculousness and juvenile behavior ruined this for me. I'll likely read book two to see if things improve because I do think this has the potential to become a really great series. All it needs is proper execution.

This was a fun and exciting read! The Hurricane Wars is a great novel for lovers of Fourth Wing and fans of enemies to lovers tropes. I really enjoyed the world building and magic system; it wasn't too hard to understand kept my attention throughout.

I cannot wait until this is published so I can recommend it to library customers and friends/family. I have already preordered a copy for my personal collection. I can't wait until book two in the series.

This book is probably going to be a wild success with all the ACOTAR and Fourth Wing girlies. It has spice mixed in with fantasy and dragons.

PROS:
-there's great tension between the two main characters
-it has great reylo vibes
-the elements that were added from the fanfic are interesting. Especially the magic system that's replacing the Force

CONS:
-the first few chapters are almost unreadable
-there are a ton of references to things specifically with regards to religion that the reader isn't given any context to and it gets really annoying
-there's a distinct lack of plot here. I've read the OG fanfic and I know where this story is going. I wish they had beefed things up for this first one so that it wouldn't have felt so aimless
-the way they tried to still have technology in a fantasy world was reeeeeally clunky

In the end, this book very much reads like a Reylo fanfic that was pulled for publish after a little polish and while I definitely plan to read the second I'm not sure I can hugely recommend it to new readers that don't already love the original fanfic.

Though I believe that The Hurricane Wars will find its audience, I did not enjoy my time with this one. I appreciate how original the world-building was, especially as I know this was originally fanfiction. I could tell that Guanzon put a lot of effort into creating a rich world and magic system. Unfortunately, the immature and repetitive writing really holds The Hurricane Wars back.

The opening of this book is packed with awkward info-dumping about the world. It felt like the author had a lot of ideas and facts that she wanted to share. Though I appreciate the effort to create a rich world, the made-up words and random facts in every other sentence made the first 10-15% of the book tedious to get through. Amidst the onslaught of facts about the world, Guanzon fails to establish the characters. As a result, I had little to no emotional attachment to any of the characters in this book. Talasyn was a bland hero type and Alaric was a brooding and tall. I didn't care about them separately and I was never invested in their relationship.

Though I recognize that the romance is meant to be the main part of this book, the actual plot is painfully underdeveloped. For a book that starts with a battle and takes place during a war, there are almost no action scenes. The attempts at political maneuvering are convoluted and messy. The pacing in this book is distractingly inconsistent. There were often huge time jumps that were either unnecessary or not clearly explained.

I really, really struggled with the writing in The Hurricane Wars. It was often overwritten and flowery, with sentences that I highly doubt were grammatical. At the same time, there would be moments that were stilted and choppy. The same phrases and information were repeated over and over again. The number of times Talasyn or Alaric had a "vague feeling" that they then based major decisions on drove me insane.

As someone who adores both the arranged marriage and enemies-to-lovers tropes, I am devastated that I didn't love The Hurricane Wars. However, for me, the flaws with the writing make it impossible to enjoy the best parts of this book.

The Hurricane Wars #1
By Thea Guanzon
Pub Date: October 3, 2023
Harper Voyager
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
* fantasy Romance
Spellbinding debut in this trilogy set in Southeast Asia. Inspired world ravaged by storms. Perfect for fans of Maas and Kuang
It was a great book! 5 stars

I really wanted to like this, but the language was just too hoity toity for me

~This book was given by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

The Hurricane Wars didn’t quite land the way I’d hoped for myself. And I fully acknowledge this is a me issue. I love the cover and the premise—it’s everything I look for in a book. And I admit, I was so excited about this one and am disappointed I didn’t love it as much as I’d hoped.

I didn’t feel hooked into the book within the first few chapters but, I forged on hoping that the world building and magic system would start making sense to me. That the characters would become rooted in my heart and it just didn’t happen. And you know what? That’s okay, too. Not every book is for every person and I know that a lot of people will love this one! It just unfortunately didn’t work for me.

Thank you HarperCollins Canada for the chance to read early!

The Hurricane Wars is Guanzon's ingenious debut with which she strikes the tone for her upcoming career of epic tales narrated in dazzling prose.

If you’ve seen this stunning cover go around social media and you’re wondering if you should add this to your tbr? I’m here to tell you that you 100% should keep your eyes out for this promising upcoming release. Here’s what you can expect from The Hurricane Wars:

- A Reylo enemies-to-lovers with a very slow burn and high tensions
- Storm magic
- Beautiful prose
- War politics
- Arranged marriage
- A little steamy time?

I don't think I've ever read a book set in a Southeast Asia-inspired world before. Guanzon's detailed descriptions made this vivid world of colors and flavors come to life around me as if I were right there among the characters. The descriptive writing style might not be everyone's cup of tea. But I think its elevated narration deserves special attention.

The Shadow could only fall when there was no light to banish it.

The book is told from a third-person dual pov of Talasyn and Alaric. Talasyn is an orphaned soldier fighting to try and drive the enemy out of her nation. Alaric is the prince of the enemy empire. The story opens with a gloomy, suffocating sense of doom. We’re catapulted into the middle of a brutal war. Airships are laying ruin to land and man, and storm magic is raging all around. In that first opening part, hope is far to find. It’s dark, brutal, and very war politics-oriented. The initial tone takes a turn later on and becomes brighter and a bit more hopeful as enemies are forced to work together to defeat a bigger evil. It is here that we get more interaction between our main characters and see the tension between them slowly build up.

Alaric had the habit of eclipsing everything else, making her throw caution to the wind for the sake of crossing blades and wits with him on the battlefields they'd fought over.

The dynamic between Alaric and Talasyn is incredibly interesting. It’s a true, deep-rooted enemies-to-lovers. They’re true enemies, on opposite sides of a decade-long war that has shaped both their lives. It would feel unnatural if they were to fall for each other right away. Guanzon executes this perfectly through the slow-burn process and shares their intimate thoughts and inner struggles as they slowly grow feelings for one another. As a reader, you’ll find yourself in a difficult position trying to figure out who is on the right side of the war and who isn’t. It’ll be challenging to figure out who the true villain of the story is and that’s what makes it so interesting. All these characters balance the fine line between right and wrong, good and evil.

Overall a stellar debut with stunning writing, excellent characters, and an ingenious plot. It will set its claws into you and will shake you to your core. Mark your calendars for October 3rd and get your preorder in. This is one you do not want to miss.

The Hurricane Wars is an exciting, action-packed, enemies-to-lovers fantasy. Two soldiers who have fought against each other for over a decade find themselves in a less-than-ideal situation when a "temporary" partnership is offered. In order to save the entire realm, they must work as a team to ensure that their magic can defend against the magic that could take out the entire world.

I did really enjoy The Hurricane Wars; however, there were a few issues. FIrst, the dialogue between Alaric and Talasyn, particularly during battlescenes and early on in the novel, is super forced, unnatural, and uncomfortable. I really hope that before the book is published, some of those dialogues are cleaned up. Second, the pacing at the start is off. I had a hard time wanting to even pick the book back up during the first quarter of the novel. There was a lot of information dumps and descriptions of characters that the reader doesn't really need to care about.

With that said, I actually thoroughly enjoyed the last half of the book. I couldn't put it down. The dialogue was significantly better (thank goodness), and the story was exciting. I loved that the book included a not overly spicy romance scene (here's to the next book having a spicier one!). In the last half of the book, I really fell in love with Alaric as a character. I cannot wait to see what happens next (although, now that he's back in the grasp of his father, things are likely not going to go well.). I sooooo wanted to give this five stars, and with some editing, it definitely deserves five stars. For now, 4 stars, and I'll be recommending the book to all my fantasy lovers.

One of the best books I’ve read this year. Highly recommend it for fans of high fantasies with illustrious word building. I loved the dual pov, and I can’t wait for people to discover this beautiful piece of literature. The only downside of getting to read this ARC is the waiting time for the next installment.

YES. This was full of heart, hate, and everything in between. I became more frantic as I got closer to the end because I realized that this is only the first part of the story. And I need to know what happens next!
I have no doubt that lovers of romantasy and epic storytelling will absolutely devour this book and will be waiting eagerly for the sequel. I know I will.

DNF at 40%

Im so bummed bc I was AMPED to read this one. Dragons are my catnip and enemies to lovers in a new and unique fantasy world had me salivating for this book.

So why couldn’t I finish it? Mostly the writing style. I read on my kindle at a size 6-7 and I counted at least eight times that one sentence took up the entire screen. This was just so unnecessary and had me confused and desperately wanting to skim.

My other big issue was the pacing/development. There is a major battle in the first 20% of the book. A war is lost, people die and yet I couldn’t have cared less. For a few pages I wasn’t even sure what was happening. But I knew I had zero emotional attachment.

Also, the MMC is pretty evil from the start. Im sure he’d get redeemed eventually but there is no chemistry (yet) and from what I can tell it won’t ever be believable.

Ok I’m really sad writing this so I’m going to move on and never think of it again!

What a fantastic fantasy novel!

The Hurricane Wars follows Talasyn, an orphan and soldier fighting against the Night Empire; and Alaric, the heir to the Night Empire. The two find themselves facing each other on opposing sides of a the battlefield, then later on the same marriage contract, betrothed to one another.

The world building was excellent, and I enjoyed the magic system. I was glad the world building came gradually instead of in information dumps some fantasy novels struggle with avoiding. The characters had well fleshed out back stories and personalities. All the bonus points for the SE Asian elements and inspiration. I loved all of it.

There's a lot of great tension between the characters to support the enemies-to-lovers trope. However, my personal opinion is if they're pulling their punches from the very beginning, the trope falls short. There was absolutely no reason for Alaric to not kill Talasyn the first time they encountered each other and fought. I'm also probably projecting my own biases, but I found the romance to be a bit like a Reylo fanfic. The descriptions of Talasyn and Alaric reminded me of Daisy and Adam. I just couldn't get their faces out of my mind whenever their descriptions came up.

I was very definitively not a fan of their ages. 19f and 27m is not it, and the reason why I knocked off an entire star. The characters could have been aged up 10 years which would've made the age gap inconsequential. Even if they'd both been 5 years older, the gap would've been so much more tolerable.

Thank you to Netgalley, HarperVoyager Uk for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Book : The Hurricane Wars
Author : Thea Guanzon
Pub Date: 03 Oct 2023

Thank you NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager & the author for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The things that exited me and I loved so much about this book :
- Enemies to Lovers
- Marriage of convenience
- Magic
-
I loved everything about this book. Although I did not read the original of this book, that didn’t deter me and I didn’t feel at all like I was missing something or didn’t understand any of it. The world building in this book was perfect, the characters felt realistic and relatable and the plot was 🤌🏻.

I loved watching the relationship and chemistry between the main characters build and the connection the author pulled together for these two was amazing.

This book was absolutely a page turner all the way to the end. I am a huge sucker for fantasy romance and some of my ultimate favorite tropes are in this book!!! I can’t wait to see what this author comes out with next. If you enjoy the things listed above please do not hesitate to add this book to your TBR.

I definety will be purchasing a physical copy of this book!!!

4.5/5 stars

Whenever I see a book super-hyped on social media, I’m hesitant to believe it because I’ve been burned several times by disappointment. The Hurricane Wars is absolutely worth the hype, and is yet another example of the golden age of non-Western epic fantasies we’ve been treated to lately.

The world Guanzon has created is rich, colorful, lush, and completely unlike anything I’ve encountered in other books, with multiple fully-developed cultures full of their own folklore and traditions (based on SE Asia). The aethermancy magic system is really unique, though my one complaint here is that there didn’t seem to be much of a cost or limit (with the exception of the cages) to using magic, so that could make things tricky in later books if there are situations that could easily have been solved by magic but weren’t.

The story moves pretty fast, and she throws you into the action almost immediately while ripping out your heart (no spoilers, but iykyk). I took off half of a star because there were a few scenes with Talasyn and Vela at the beginning that felt a little on the nose (I’m assuming in the interest of moving the plot forward quickly), but it obviously wasn’t enough for me to seriously downgrade the book.

And then there are the characters themselves—Talasyn and Alaric both have rich, well-developed backstories that don’t simply involve secretly simping for one another. Talasyn is spirited, full of rage, and yet still somehow able to yearn for something better because she refuses to accept that she can’t make a difference in her world. Alaric is moody and self-righteous, and completely loveable even though he’s supposed to be a “villain.” Both characters are prickly and extremely slow to trust or see the best in people because they both had extremely rough childhoods (Talasyn “orphaned” and Alaric abused and abandoned).

While this is a “romance” between the two, it is very, very slow burn because of all of the above, and also because there is some very real baggage the two both carry that still keeps them as enemies for the whole book. It was both extremely frustrating (can’t tell you the number of times I wanted to yell at them both to stop being idiots and kiss), and yet I really appreciated that Guanzon didn’t just gloss over their baggage because it absolutely isn’t the kind of thing that should be easily resolved. And while I know chapter 38 will be living “rent free” in a lot of people’s heads (ok, maybe mine too), I think my favorite moment is their parting conversation from Alaric’s point of view (my heart absolutely melted and I really, really hope he follows through). Also, more romances like this showing the guy’s POV too because Alaric’s confusion and reactions to Talasyn were the best and had me cackling.

And speaking of that ending, I am DYING to read the next book because there are a lot of big stakes left open. I have a feeling the sequel will be every bit as engaging as this one was, so I can’t wait!

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon/Harper Voyager for the early copy!

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperVoyager for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I want to start this review by saying that I am not a Star Wars fan, nor have I read the fanfiction this novel originated from. That being said, I don't think it was obvious that this book was initially fanfiction, and the world feels original.

The Hurricane Wars is not a bad book by any means, and I definitely think this book will succeed and find its target audience, but I did not enjoy reading this. I read the first ten percent of this book three times and contemplated DNFing it. Because of all the rave reviews, I decided to push through and continue reading, but this book never stood out to me at all while reading. I don't usually read fantasy romances, but from the ones I have read, this book does not offer anything new or exciting to the genre.

At the beginning of the novel, you are thrown into a world with no introduction to the characters at all. The author assumes you already know/care about the characters, almost like fanfiction with your favorite characters would. I had a difficult time rooting for the characters, and it felt like I hardly knew them at all. For example, Talasyn's friend, Khaede, goes missing early on in the book. Readers see Talasyn struggle with the absence of her missing friend, but it is hard to care that Khaede is gone when they barely interacted with each other. I would have loved to see this novel explore female friendship more in-depth, as Talasyn and Khaede's relationship would have been exciting to read if the author had added more background behind the characters.

As for the relationship between Talasyn and Alaric, I did not like them together (or separately either). Maybe this book is making me realize that I don't like the enemies-to-lovers trope anymore because I found their constant bickering and hatred of each other annoying and childish. I've seen enemies in young adult books acting more mature than them.

Given the title, I thought this book would be more intense and action-packed. The majority of the book focuses on Talasyn and Alaric's arranged marriage, which is formed to establish a political alliance. I expected the issues with their marriage to take up only a small portion of the text, but it took up the entire book, and I found it incredibly boring to read. I kept waiting for something exciting to happen, but nothing did. The plot is almost non-existent, and I did not find the ending satisfying enough to encourage me to continue with the series.

The writing was also overly wordy and descriptive, which made the book something confusing to understand. So many sentences could have been cut out or more concise. This flaw got better as the novel progressed, but it definitely hindered my enjoyment of the book

Overall, I understand why The Hurricane Wars will appeal to others, but this book is not for me . I didn't care for the plot, the characters, or the world, and nothing blew me away.

The fates of two bitter enemies with opposing magical abilities are swept together in The Hurricane Wars, the spellbinding debut in a fantasy romance trilogy set in a Southeast Asia–inspired world ravaged by storms, perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas and R. F. Kuang.

I was looking for more like R.F. Kuang and I found it! This was very well written, the world is well realized, and the characters leapt off the page. Definitely hoping for a sequel.

"The Hurricane Wars" by Thea Guanzon is a gripping dystopian novel with intense action and a thought-provoking exploration of power and survival.