Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review! I have to preface my review by saying that I desperately wanted to love this book. I truly believe that Guanzon is a masterful writer, and initially, I was captivated by her world-building. I struggled to understand why the FMC would be interested in the MMC, and what his redeeming qualities were. He murdered her friends and comrades, killed innocent bystanders, and wanted to colonize her people; I'm not sure how this character was redeemable in any way. Once I realized that the couple was based on Reylo, certain choices began to make sense. If this book is going to be based on fanfiction, it needs to be a "fix-it" fic and nothing was fixed in my opinion. Will I read other non-Reylo related work from Guanzon, yes, but I think I'm done with this series.

Oh, how I wanted to love this book and have it truly become my "next fantasy obsession."

I'd give The Hurricane Wars a solid 3.5 stars. It was exciting and fresh at first - everything felt wholly original even though I knew it was full of popular tropes and was based on a Reylo fanfic. But then I almost DNFed the book because it got confusing, then boring, and then changed into an entirely different book.

The best parts:
- The magic system and world-building, even though they both need more work
- The inspiration and source material from a Filipina writer who wrote something unlike any fantasy I've read before
- Reylo-inspired

The not great parts:
- I love a grumpy FMC, but Talasyn was so immature that it was cringey
- I also love a dark and brooding MMC, but Alaric at times felt one-dimensional even as he was the most interesting character
- The magic system and world need to be built out more
- The romance was...meh. I'm fine with a slow burn, but literally nothing happened until the last couple of chapters. I wasn't looking for mind-blowing spice, but the one steamy scene was painfully awkward.

I am very intrigued to see where these characters and this series go next. It's honestly not bad for a debut novel, but I expected so much more with how much hype this book had - along with a stunning cover.

Wasn't aware going in that this was a revamped Reylo fan fic. Might not have chosen had I known, but it seems revamped a lot from the original version. A talented writer, fantastic premise and setting, and a stunning cover. Congrats on your debut!

The Hurricane Wars was a little sluggish at the beginning. I don’t know if I set my expectations too high, or if it was the worldbuilding that threw me off. I know this was based on a Star Wars fan fiction, so I kept trying to find the similarities between the two universes. But once I got my feet firmly into Guanzon’s world (around the 40/50 percent mark), the plot really picked up and the story became its own thing.

The characters were enjoyable. I loved the banter between our two main characters and how they were still able to find common ground to come together for the greater good. The relationship that Guanzon built between them felt authentic and natural, given their situation.

I’m really looking forward to the next installment in this world!

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager, and Thea Guanzon for an advanced copy of The Hurricane Wars in exchange for an honest review.

I support the influx of reylo fanfic into the romance sphere, even though a lot of this was bar for bar Star Wars disguised as fantasy. Still a fun read, I love a Kylo Ren based hero

If you love Reylo and are looking for a fun take on the ship that pays homage to Star Wars while being steeped in a new fantasy world to explore: then I highly recommend this book!

I loved and had a great time reading it. The characters were very well flushed out and felt like real people. I understood their trust issues but also their inability to leave one another alone. I also thought the politics and countries in this world were really interesting. My favorite part was the magic system, though. And their ships! The ships reminded me of Treasure Planet. I thought the romance progressed at a reasonable pace--especially since this book is so long!

While I had a lovely time, I understand why others wouldn't. The world building is immense and I found myself lost because the arc copy didn't have a map. I switched over to the published copy 80% in because I wanted to be able to picture what was happening more fully. I also understand people disliking the pacing. For me, the pacing felt very much like a Star Wars film--long sections of exposition with little adventures or battles scattered throughout. Also--if the battles didn't further character development, they weren't on page and were talked about after. I liked this because it reminded me of SW, but for those who want more action over politics, this could have been frustrating.

I know this was a fanfiction before it was published and, because of that, it felt very episodic and the ending was abrupt. However, I loved this book and can't wait for book 2!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book! This book was full of great characters, interesting world building, political intrigue and a dash of magic! There were definitely some surprising twists and moments that had me on the edge of my seat! I enjoyed the chemistry between the two main characters, but they gave me whiplash with their back-and-forth liking/hating each other! After that ending, I can’t wait for the sequel!

I really enjoyed this book! This book was full of great characters, interesting world building, political intrigue and a dash of magic! There were definitely some surprising twists and moments that had me on the edge of my seat! I enjoyed the chemistry between the two main characters, but they gave me whiplash with their back-and-forth liking/hating each other! After that ending, I can’t wait for the sequel!

4.5 stars

Holy moly this was amazing! The enemies aspect is *chefs kiss*. The passion of hate and the intrigue and the slow burn of it is all so incredible. I couldn’t put this book down! I don’t really want to give stuff away but there are tropes I had hoped for and was very happy to see happen!

Talasyn’s journey I am loving! I know she is going to keep being feisty and snarky. I loved her. Alaric has many layers and I can’t not wait to see how things play out for him.

This book had me on my seat’s edge and feeling all the feelings.

I’m very excited and anxious for what is to come in the next books!

3/5 stars

This was just an okay read for me. I did enjoy the romance as I'm always a sucker for enemies to lovers. This took me forever to get through. I kept putting it down and picking it back up. I did find out that this was a Reylo fanfic which did put in some negative feelings for me as I'm not really a Star Wars fan. The writing was okay, but I just didn't connect completely with it. Overall this was again, very middle of the road. I would completely recommend this book though as I still had a great time.

Thank you to NetGalley for the early copy! I listened to the audiobook via my local library and it was a great listen!! I highly recommend the audiobook. I also recommend you pay better attention than me. I was really invested in the romance as well as learning about the world and how the story was going to unfold. But I missed key details while listening that left me confused later in the story. Totally my fault! I think this could have been five stars had I listened better but I’m already planning to get a physical copy and reread.

For me, this book was all about trusting the process. It really dives into the story right away. There are a ton of phrases and words that didn’t quite make sense at the beginning but you come to understand when you keep reading.

The story starts in war, as two sides are fighting in a 10 year long war. We meet our main characters - Tasalyn and Alaric. It then moves to the city of Nenavare where the story turns more political.

Tasalyn and Alaric are true enemies to kinda lovers. Their relationship development was a bit frustrating with one step forward and two steps back. I understood the reasoning but do wish there had been a bit more progress.

This book felt like it was a lot of set up for the next book(s) in the series. There was a lot of learning about the world and the characters and the histories.

I am looking forward to what comes next because we’re definitely left with a cliffhanger.

𝐹𝒶𝓃𝓉𝒶𝓈𝓎 𝔹𝕠𝕠𝕜 ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨:

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙃𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙚 𝙒𝙖𝙧𝙨
Book 1 The Hurricane Wars
by Thea Guanzon
480 Pages
Published October 3, 2023

Thank you @netgalley @harpervoyagerus & the author for the opportunity to read in exchange for my honest review.

With an average 4.2 out of 5 star rating on Amazon, I am shocked I do not see more posts about this fantasy/romantasy. If you enjoyed Fourth Wing or Divine Rivals, you will absolutely fall in love with The Hurricane Wars. I read this in late October, early November and it saved me from a reading slump - which I have lapsed into again, on and off. Please pick this book up if you enjoy romantasy.

The heart is a battlefield.

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?
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 4.5/5 stars for me

#romantasy #fantasy #debut #netgalley #bookreview #bookstagram #currentlyreading

DNF at 30%. There was so much information dumping going on that it felt overwhelming. Too much intricacies in the world building, lore, and magic that it was too confusing to keep up with and made the story feel heavy and boring. Not to mention, the Reylo fanfic turned fantasy just didn't do it for me.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book. When I initially saw reviews adding this to the list of reylo fanfic I was a bit skeptical but the enemies to lovers troupe will get me every time. I will say the obvious trope usage and the close proximity to Star Wars almost made me put the book down but I extended grace as this is a debut author, Worth the read.

I feel like this book started out fairly strong, then took a turn once it had grabbed my interest. So this rating is more like a 2.5.

I enjoyed reading about Talasyn as a warrior and later found the political machinations interesting. But I feel like she was later reduced to a shadow of who she started as.

The book also dragged in the middle for me. It took me a lot longer to read this than I anticipated.

I think another cause of this was how I felt about the romance. Not only did this strike me as more enemies-to-lust than enemies-to-lovers, but I couldn't understand why Talasyn would ever be drawn to the man who committed genocide with no remorse at any point during or after. And because he had no remorse, I could never sympathize with Alaric. It made no sense to me that she would be lusting after or feeling sympathy for the man who'd not only killed her people in general, but also people she loved. That's a huge dealbreaker, in my opinion.

I will not be continuing the series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Is this book worth the hype? Yes.
Is this the book I will forever measure the enemies to lover trope by? Absolutely! This squeal-inducing masterpiece gets enemies to lovers right because by the (spoiler free) end, these two still might kill each other despite the heat between them!
Did this book make me hungry as often as it made me want to try on beautiful clothing described in the pages or climb mountains and pick up sword training? 100% This book isn't just good lore and stunning world building on a beautiful landscape, it has all the minor details people tend to skip when crafting their world but with so much opulence you can't skim over those moment! This really does feel like a love letter to the author's culture as well as the fantasy enemies-to-love genre. This will be my top 2023 read hands down.

As an orphan in the middle of the Hurricane Wars, all Talasyn has grown up in a nation constantly under threat, fighting off the attacks by the Night Emperor who seeks to colonize them. But she has a secret weapon – the ability to wield light magic, thought to be wiped out by the enemy armies – and it could be the power that turns the tables in this war. The Emperor’s only son, Prince Alaric, is a master in shadow magic and charged with wiping out any resistance to their rule. When he encounters Talasyn on the battlefield wielding light magic they clash, and their powers merging causes an odd phenomenon like never seen before. When some unexpected revelations follow, and they are informed of a greater threat to the land, Talasyn and Alaric know that this odd magic, whatever it is, is the only way to overcome this threat and end the war, and so they are forced to form an uneasy alliance and work together even as they keep dangerous secrets from each other.

Fantasy is my favorite genre to read, and I’ve had this on my TBR since sometime last year. So this is a very long overdue review, it should have been up last week, but I needed a break after reading this book to get my thoughts in order. I got this eARC several months go, but typical me, I left it to literally the last minute – this book is out tomorrow.

The author’s note at the beginning describing the inspiration behind the story was a very interesting read and I would suggest taking a moment to go through it.

The world building and magic system were fascinating, but the problem was the way it was presented. The author just threw everything at the reader with no time to process any of it, not to mention the lack of a map or glossary of any kind. In most fantasy novels, a map is kind of a bonus that adds to the world building, but here it was almost essential to have a map since the locations of these kingdoms and the magical sources, and the rather complicated geopolitics were all key to the plot.

A glossary or dramatis personae would have also helped greatly. I’m all for creative world building and lore, but it did get more than a little annoying when all the various concepts, the characters, and their complicated names and titles became hard to keep straight, much less remember – even worse when none of it was spaced out and instead info dumped in what was probably two chapters. Hopefully, the final version of the book includes one or both of these.

Things improved a lot plot wise in the second half, where court politics took center stage along with magical training and this was when I started to get properly invested in the story.

I found that patience is key when it comes to this book. The pacing is painfully slow at first and while it improves later on, it’s not by much. It opened with a battle scene, but after that it took forever to move from one plot point to the next. The timeline within the story also didn’t unfold consistently. I feel like there was just so much wasted page space and this book could have been significantly shorter.

The writing was pretty decent, though there were times when certain turns of phrase or plot points made me feel like I was reading fanfiction. It was very tropey – not necessarily a bad thing – but it did cause the story to drag at times.

Talasyn and Alaric were both very typical fantasy characters to the point that you could go down a checklist for each of them – strong female character, stubborn, orphan, miraculously turns out to be the lost princess of a kingdom, and the broody, tortured male character who turns out to be not so evil. They were likeable enough, but nothing about them really stood out to me at all, so on the whole, I was much more invested in the plot over the characters with this book.

The romance was a slow burn enemies to lovers (though there’s still a long way to go in that arc) which is one of my favorite tropes so I enjoyed the back and forth there and it should be interesting to see how this plays out.

This book did not end on the cliffhanger note that I expected. It was tense, certainly, but it was kind of abrupt and I thought Talasyn’s secret would atleast be revealed to wrap up this book. Still, while it did leave a lot unresolved, it ended on a promising note and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next.

Overall, while The Hurricane Wars had a weak start, it managed to mostly bounce back and turned into an entertaining read. Despite all the complaining, I’m not quite sure why, but this book really worked for me and I will be picking up the sequel whenever it’s out. I would definitely recommend this book for fantasy fans.

2.5 Stars

I enjoyed the plot and the fantasy world (great detail, exciting potential story lines); however, I found both Talasyn and Alaric underdeveloped and two-dimensional. Both needed more fleshing out in order to not be so flat and boring. They also felt a long younger than their actual ages.

I received an advanced copy through Netgalley in return for an honest review.

This was an interesting book. I loved the world building and prose itself. That really carried the books. I thought the politics was well thought out and there was some compelling commentary. The magic system was AWESOME and one of the best parts of the book! even though the prose was very repetitive at times and the world building put too many unnecessary details, it was still GOOD and the better parts of the book.

However, after the 20% mark, the book really fell off for me. I almost dnfed at 60%. the dialogue and romance was so cringe and so forced, especially the "banter". It was like our MC switched to a different person in a bad way--the most stereotypical YA teen cringe cookie cutter protagonist when alaric comes onto page. and he was honestly pathetic and weird in his extremely colonial colonizer mindset. there was so much repetitive filler with them I was getting very frustrated. this started as fan fiction but remained as fan fiction in style in a bad way.
however after the 60% mark, things improved and something in my mind switched where I accepted this as fan fiction. i do wish the author would make alaric original in his description and stop describing him as adam driver which is so cringe and weird. and stop white washing talaysn in her physical description as reylo and keep her original.
the ending of the book was good and compelling and improved the rest of the book. the character arcs started to get interesting and im always good for angry sex scenes. this was entertaining enough for me to give 3.5 stars.