Honestly - I just couldn’t get into this. Part of me thinks I will appreciate this at another time and part of me thinks i won’t pick this back up again.

Wow wow wow. The writing in this was phenomenal. I went in blind after falling in love with the cover so I didn’t know what to expect. It took me a second to get used to but I absolutely loved it. I hope there are many more books to come from Guanzon!

Thank you Harper Voyager and Harper Audio for providing me with an ARC and complementary audiobook in exchange for my honest thoughts.

THE HURRICANE WARS is officially my favorite romantasy of 2023! THE HURRICANE WARS incorporates so many story elements that I love and does it so much better compared to other fantasy romances I have read in the past. It has the SLOWEST of slow burns which was agonizing to read but once Talasyn and Alaric finally kissed I was kicking my feet in the air like a little kid.

I appreciate all of the worldbuilding Guanzon did. Sometimes I feel like romantasies put worldbuilding on the backburner but this was not the case. I had a clear sense the world and the politics at play which made me appreciate this story so much more. THE HURRICANE WARS is very, very ReyLo. So if that's your vibe, you're going to love this but I can see why others may not.

The audiobook is narrated by Jeanne Syquia. Her performance was great and easy to listen to. THE HURRICANE WARS is dual-POV so I think this book could have benefitted from dual narration. My enjoyment of the audiobook wasn't impacted by the lack of a male narrator. I just think it could have been a nice touch!

Can't wait for the sequel!
4/5 stars

THE HURRICANE WARS by Thea Guanzon was one of my anticipated reads this year. The first book in this Southeast Asian inspired fantasy trilogy and overall, it was an enjoyable read.

3.5 stars

What I liked:

The prologue completely drawn me into the story

The writing and world building was beautifully done and flowed smoothly, the way Thea’s described specific scenes I was completely drawn in each scene and could imagine every detail happening in my mind as I read

I loved the dual POV’s of Talasyn and Alaric. It allowed me to develop a deep understanding of how they truly were, their vulnerabilities, their fears, and what they desired

I’m fascinated by Alaric's relationship with his mother and the trauma he experienced at a young age. I’m intrigued to see what he went through further discussed more in the next book

I was intrigued by the magic system, especially Talasyn burning light abilities and Alaric dark shadow magic. Especially what their magic could do when intertwined together. I’m hoping the magic system is further explained and expanded in the second book.

I liked the important topics Thea brought forward, she didn’t shy away from the detrimental impacts of war and colonization

I liked the pacing of the story it didn’t feel rushed or slow, it felt just right

What I didn’t like:

I found some phrases characters was repetitive

I wasn’t completely captivated by the enemies to lover’s romance between Talasyn and Alaric. Although I found some of their banter entertaining, it took me a while into the story to be fully invested in their growing relationship. I was hoping for more anguish and passion that I enjoy seeing when it comes to enemies to lover’s trope. However, I feel after the last few chapters when I finally saw a glimpse of passion between them, there is potential for their relationship to flourish in the next book.

I’m intrigued to see what’s going to transpire in the next book

What’s inside the book:
Arranged marriage
Banter
Dragons
Light and Dark magical abilities
Political intrigue

I really enjoyed this book. I hope the author continues to write more books in the future. I can't wait to see what this author releases in the future.

I don’t mind that this is originally a fan fiction even though I have no idea what Reylo is. But this book reads really young and the characters lack any kind of personality. The bigger issue is the colonizer aspect of this. Where she can put aside the killing of her people and fall in love with this guy. It just felt gross.

I feel very in between about this book. Overall an ok read, but I wish the pace would have been more consistent.

The Hurricane Wars is about a character who grew up as an orphan in a war-torn nation and a character who grew up as the emperor's heir. You won't be able to put down this story as their worlds collide and they must make difficult choices. The Hurricane Wars is full of magic and power and secrets. This is perfect for fans of enemies-to-lovers romance and high-stakes fantasy.

What I liked: I absolutely loved the magic system/world building in this. The concept of harnessing the elements of storms and using them for battle was so unique, and I loved learning about all of the different aethermancy disciplines. I also appreciated that this was a Filipino inspired fantasy world.

What I didn’t like: I found the romance to be a bit unbelievable, especially given that Alaric played a huge part in the colonization of Talasyn’s people, including the deaths of many of her friends. Despite this, they were almost instantly drawn to one another. While later their romance developed past finding the other person inexplicably magnetic, I personally couldn’t reconcile the “kindness” of Alaric toward Talasyn with his previous actions. I also think that this book could have been so, so much shorter. There were long stretches where it didn’t really feel like anything happened, especially after lots of action at the beginning of the story. Finally, I often found that while the dialogue was very mature, it really contrasted in tone to a lot of the main characters’ behavior. I agree with many other reviewers that they read a lot more like YA in their actions than adult, and this book probably could have been aged down if the adult content were removed.

Overall: While I enjoyed the world building, the romance and pacing made this book difficult for me to finish.

Content warnings: genocide, murder, death of a parent, abusive parent

Intended audience: adult

The love interest of this book is the prince of the opposing army that colonizes the main character's people who will "spend the rest of their lives bound by the chains of shadow and empire". And that's supposed to be enemies to lovers romance fantasy? No thanks, it's hard to think of a less attractive man than someone supporting the murder of defenseless people.

This book had a little bit of a slow start but once it got going I loved it! I love, love the romance and enjoyed the magic in this world. Highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys light fantasy. But also I would be remiss if I did not mention how very much the town name of Plumfrost BOTHERED me. Every time I read it I cringed and it took me out of the book. This was not a fun Christmas story this was a fantasy.

This book had a lot of hype but unfortunately it did not live up to that hype. I really liked the premise but I felt like nothing happened all book. I was looking for enemies to lovers but we never got to the lovers part. It was a lot of words for minimal action. I think we had more questions created with no real answers provided. Definitely disappointed.

this book was enthralling and amazing!! i love the reylo vibes that came out of this. it was all i could want out of a fantasy book. This book gives off extremely high fantasy vibes and I am here for it! The dual POV was really well done in this book, it gave me all of the pinning and angst a person could ask for. i really love world building, lore heavy books and this was one of them, from the battle scenes, to the magic systems, to the romance i was hooked and couldn't put it down. I think Thea is an incredibly talented author and i am looking forward to reading book 2!

The book was beautiful. Loved the world building and unique premise. Although I thought the enemies to lovers trope progressed a little too fast without enough drama and angst, I was rooting for them. Will be reading book 2!

I wanted to like this more but I had a hard time separating the story from the Star Wars inspiration. I liked the characters and dialogue, but some scenes seemed straight from the movie it’s characters are based off of and I struggled with the lack of originality. The setting and twists were good, so I’m eager to see how book two goes.

I’m going to give this book at 3.5 stars. It read kind of like a fanfic, I do understand it was a Reylo fanfic. It is YA I don’t think there is necessarily anything wrong with the story just not my cup of tea.

I knew going into reading this book that it was going to be Reylo fanfiction. I knew that and I almost didn't read it because of that. But I decided to give it a shot, and I hoped the similarities wouldn't be too heavy-handed.

They really are though.

The Hurricane Wars really is just Reylo fanfic dressed up in other clothing. For some people, that might be great! But I'm not a fan of the ship, and the constant reminders and total lack of subtlety (there's even airship combat, come on) were just... a lot.

It's kind of a shame, because this book is well written and frequently engaging, at least when I could forget that I was reading fanfiction. There's a lot lovely descriptions and a deft use of real-life cultural touchstones. I struggled a little bit with the romance, though, even for non-Reylo reasons. It's tough to get behind a romance between a literal war criminal (even if he's being manipulated by his father) when the war crimes are perpetrated against the heroine's people. Maybe the heart doesn't know logic, but girl... come on.

In the end, I found myself wanting to get to the end of this book so that I could see what happened, yes, but mostly so I could be done with it. The pacing was strange - huge blocks of time skipped, no real climactic moment - which just added to the feeling of it being a bit of a slog. I walked away feeling like there was a nugget of potential in this book, but that it ultimately never lived up to what it could have been.

3.25/5

I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to review this one before the publication date because it was a banger! Adapted from a popular Reylo epic but goes far beyond filing off the serial numbers with exuberantly detailed worldbuilding (never mind Guy Gavriel Kay's two moons, or, and I am probably the only person under 45 who would use this comparison, Marion Zimmer Bradley's four--this world has SEVEN) and a trope-y enemies-to-lovers romance, not to mention that stunning cover. The only flaw is that the pacing feels a bit drawn out, although again so much better than the fanfiction version. I'm excited for the next book in the series now.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!!

Oh my goodness I loved this one! I figured I would end up liking it because it was originally a Reylo fanfic and it didn’t end up disappointing me!

I was so excited about this book and truly felt it had potential. That said, I ended up DNFing it. 😢 I just wasn't drawn into the story or the characters. I've heard the last 40% or so is really good, so I may be it back up, but for now I've had to move on.

Thank you so much to Avon and Harper Voyager for the eARC. I really do appreciate it! ❤️