Is it really enemies to lovers if they don’t try to kill one another at least once? This is a rhetorical question, because the answer is clearly ‘wdym? attempted murder is a superb courting technique. comes with glowing recommendations 😌’. Wanting to inflict bodily harm on a person one is reluctantly, begrudgingly, magnetically drawn to, is a prerequisite. After all, a kiss with a fist is better than none…

Alaric Ossinast is a touch starved, brooding war criminal with sad eyes and a lot of yearning in his swole, rotund breast—I mean, traitorous heart; and Talasyn is a feral little gremlin babygirl with a fierce streak almost as wide as the ocean of loneliness in her. They are just the way I like my leads—traumatised and unhinged; bonded together by an immediate, intimate connection of interest and kinship, and instinctual reaction of ‘oh, no, he/she is hot’ to one another. *chef’s kiss* 🤌

Alaric and Talasyn (Alasyn? Talaric? What is their ship name???) are deliciously conflicted, combative, complicated, connected, sympathetic star-crossed lovers. Foes to hoes of the highest calibre. 🗡️→👀→💋 Throw in a dash of arranged marriage, forced proximity, reluctant allies with unquenched thirst, and you’ve got a scrumptious, igniting romance. They are somehow Reylo, Zutara, and Darklina all rolled into one, cherry picked with the best parts of these ships and a heavy dose of fresh, new flavour that makes Alaric and Talasyn uniquely them. Someone cooked here—and that someone is Thea.

The Hurricane Wars is a Southeast Asian-inspired high fantasy with an addictive plot: the Night Empire is a colonising machine and everyone who are not with it, are in its way—fodder to be crushed and annexed by the empire. What does that Supreme Shadow Pater say? “All around us are enemies. They shall tremble in the Shadow that we cast.” Clearly, Gaheris Ossinast is a ruler of sensible politics and humane policies. A real man of the people, so to say. (I am being very serious. I never joke about autocrats, obviously.) On the opposing side of the decade-long conflict that is the Hurricane Wars (title drop) is the Sardovian Allfold, which after years of fighting has been reduced to a plucky little underdog with few allies, but a lot of righteous rebellious spirit.

Alaric and Tala are figurative representations of their respective fractions—both wielding great power and carrying on under a heavy shroud of duty. They are supposed to kill each other, yet after several harrowing encounters, failed to do so. Which is a boon in disguise because there’s actually a cataclysmic magical event happening off to the side, and only their combined magical power is capable of saving everybody. 🌞🌚

I struggled with the beginning a bit, finding the pace sluggish and worldbuilding started off pretty dense, but after I passed the first 50 or so pages, the plot picked up and it was smooth sailing from there. (Well, as smooth as it could be when every few chapters I am biting my fist and bashing my head against a table when certain someones are backtracking in their relationship due to such negligible factors like duty and allegiance and irreconcilable differences in ideological beliefs. 😕 I asked for smooches and cuddles, but got struggles for my troubles.) I enjoyed the wartime backdrop and political machinations the most, even more than the fantasy and romance, so lmao, that says something about me, I guess. 😆

Thea’s prose is gorgeous. She paints a very vivid, exciting world with lush descriptions—of landscapes, culture and lifestyles, clothes and food, and magic. The writing is very enjoyable and immersive.

There’s a very anticipatory sense throughout the entire book. Everything is being set up for more; events are aligning and characters are getting ready—the second book is going to involve a lot of dramatic changes and shifts in political landscape, allegiances, and relationships, and I can’t wait to see it all unravel. Thus… SEQUEL, WHEN???!!!! [insert Paul Rudd ‘give me it’ gif]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-ARC copy of this book, in exchange for this honest review.

Firstly, my thanks to Thea Guanzon, Harper Collins, and Netgalley for the ARC. in exchange for my honest review.

Sadly, this didn't hit the mark for me at all. At first, I thought it was because I just struggled with world building and the pacing, but after having been on goodreads, I've since found out the book was originally a piece of Star Wars fanfiction. This makes a lot of sense, as you're thrown right into the deep end of the world from the get go, and it feels like you're expected to know what is going on. With fanfiction, it works becuase people reading it understand the world already, but for a new world, it's hard to get your head around.

I wanted to enjoy it, because the premise sounded great, but there just wasn't enough in here for me to keep me gripped.

The Hurricane Wars
Thea Guanzon
I had been so excited for this book so I was over the moon when I was accepted for an arc copy! (Thank you @netgalley)
We start off following Talasyn fighting on the losing side in a war. Talasyn ends up finding herself sparring against the night emperor heir and their magic collides in an unexpected way.
This book was full of all my favourite tropes: enemies to lovers, lost princess, badass MC however I found myself really struggling to want to read it for the first 30/40%. I was enjoying it whilst reading but didn’t feel drawn into the story and I lost the motivation to pick up the book for a couple of weeks. However when I did finally start again, the arranged marriage drew me in and I binged the rest of the book. I think the tension between Talasyn and Alaric was perfect, however I think in this case I might have been more hooked if we didn’t see his feelings in his POV and he was kept more mysterious. I think knowing that both of the characters had a bit of a thing for each other so early on just lost it for me. I also found it hard to accept that Talasyn could so easily fall for someone who had so much responsibility in the war and killed her friends so I think a “he falls first” and a big redemption arc first might have worked better for this book.
Another thing I was very excited about was when I read there were dragons! However, we don’t see/hear much of them in this book and it feels like they were added as an after thought, but I’m hoping this is just because we will see more of them in book two!
I had no idea when starting this that it was originally a Reylo fanfic. I think this is largely in part to how well Talasyn has been written and I saw her as a completely separate character. However, it became apparently obvious that Alaric was based on Kylo Ren and I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing as I love Kylo Ren, but I found it hard to picture him as anyone else once I realised.
Overall this was a very enjoyable read, I really enjoyed the writing style, I just wished I carried on with it a bit sooner. I am rating it 3.5 stars, however I would round this up to 4. I’m really looking forward to seeing where this story goes in the next book and I’ll keep my fingers crossed for more dragons!

I’m obsessed with this book. It is one of those books that had me up until the early hours of the morning because I just needed to know what happened next. Loved it!

From the moment I started reading The Hurricane Wars I was intrigued.
It was a bit of a slow burn as the word building is extensive, but the the chemistry between Talasyn and Alaric was intense! Loved the enemies to lovers plot.
I good piece of escapist fantasy fun.
The writing by Thea Guanzon is incredibly lyrical too!

3.5

This was fun. There were some parts of this story that I really enjoyed as someone who reads a lot of romantasy style books. It is a true enemies to lovers scenario (they actually do try to kill each other) and I enjoyed experiencing their dynamic develop though the book.

While the world building was detailed and the magic system interesting, the influx of information made the book drag. Some descriptions were really unnecessary to the story or the picture the author was showing the reader and for me really slowed the pace of the book.

Also the way the main characters speak to each other was very reminiscent of a younger YA novel, this improves later in the book but I did find I was cringing at some of their back and forths in the earlier chapters. These characters are in their 20s but read very much like teenagers.

I really liked the side characters, I thought they were interesting and funny but wish they were more involved in the book. I enjoyed the scenes more when there were multiple characters but due to the main focus being the romance the book mainly focuses on the interactions of the two main characters.

This book has dual perspectives like most fantasy romance which I like and think works really well. However I did sometimes feel like I had whiplash going between the perspectives what felt like multiple times each within a single chapter.

Overall I found it hard to separate this book as it's own original story away from being a Reylo fanfic. Which isn't going to be to everyone's taste. However I did enjoy this book and will probably continue the series.

I wanted to like this one so much, I was super excited about it seeing as some friends and people I follow have loved it so much. But to be honest I haven't disliked a book so much in a while. I dragged through it for two whole weeks. Barely able to read more than a dozen of pages each time, and finding 100 things to do more important than reading. But it was an arc and I was determined to finish it. Also I had the hope that it would improve. But it didn't, actually for me the second half was even worse than the beginning.
I understand though why so many people love it. But for me it read too much like a fan fiction. I love books that originally came from fanfic but the writing and the story have been worked enough that you would get only the vibes from the original story but it isn't so obvious. Not in this one, everything is so obviously reylo and star wars. The male main character also have the exact description if Adam driver...
The world building is obviously based on star wars and the force, even the main villain is the same emperor figure you don't actually get to see till the ending.
There is so much pinning and denial I couldn't see any growth in the characters from the beginning to the end almost 500 pages of not learning, not accepting and making the same mistakes.
I was also misled as to this book being open door romance with spice. But we'll the door doon need to even be open till 97% of the book in a short scene that leave you pretty much cold...
So yeah not my kind of book. I won't be reading the next ones

My rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐

Shadow magic on one side of a war and light magic on the other, and a different sort of magic system, this is a great start to a series!

There are two points of view, one is the light magic wielder, and the other is the shadow magic wielder! It was really good to see the same scenes from both points of view!

I found the pacing to be a little slow in places, but I understood it was for plot reasons.

This is a really enjoyable fantasy, with some adventure and some palace intrigue!

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to HarperCollins.

I loved this - the comparisons to ACOTAR and Fourth Wing are justified! A sizzling slow-burn enemies to lovers romance that I couldn’t put down! I look forward to the next book in the series.

[Hate is another kind of passion.]

6 out 5 kriffing stars y’all!!! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Devoured this in 3 days. I have been waiting all my life for more fantasy enemies-to-lovers stories where danger constantly lurks, the sexual tension is high, and there’s an underline brutal violence of war with court intrigue yet a deep yearning for each other paints the couple’s dynamic. This book ABSOLUTELY 100% delivers on this. THE SEXUAL TENSION AND SLOW BURN IS INCREDIBLE I WANTED TO MELT INTO THE FLOOR 🫠 🫠 🫠 because their first kiss in the Belian ruins was intense, passionate and fucking EVERYTHINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!—and if you felt nothing while reading that, are you dead on the inside or? Lol kidding. Or am I 👀

(World-building): Descriptions of the traditions, food, culture, climate, local flora and fauna are gorgeous, giving so much life to South East Asia’s vastness and its spiritual nature. I sobbed when there was a nod to soybean pudding <3 <3 <3 Extremely appreciative of this representation in publishing space!!!

Earlier bits of the book has a mouthful of information to flesh out the rich backdrop, which may be hard to get through if you’re not a seasoned reader. If you've watched Howl's Moving Castle by Studio Ghibli, it'll have a similar vibe from the perspective of magic, fantastical beasts and airships. But imho—from Chapter 5 onwards, the book starts to pick up pace, and it draws you in to get a better sense of the two leads, the intriguing magical system in the realm, and particularly when a political alliance via marriage is required. The quote “History is written by the victors” builds a solid foundation to root for both characters that are fighting on opposite ends of the battle, clinging on to whatever propaganda they’ve been taught their whole life.

Bonus: Women holding high positions in the Night Empire’s army and the matriarchal ruling system of Nenavar Dominion is glorious!!! I ate every bit of it up!!!!

(Characters):
OK let’s get this out of the way. The FMC, Talasyn is 19 years old. So she’s very young and this leaves so much room for character + emotional maturity growth. I’m very excited to see how she will flourish and grow to navigate every arduous task she carries – royal duties, a rebel soldier and a wife!!! I’m legit shook just thinking of it.

Other than that, the characters are the heart of this story for me. The balance of light and dark/shadow is very tangible here and the scenes where Alaric trains Talasyn really blossoms that dynamic and their suppressed passion further. Their shared trauma from war, abandonment, isolation, grief is very visceral and only fuels a development of a strange, unexpected connection between two very lonely people. I ached particularly for Alaric who has very relatable traits of someone with a complicated family past. And he’s obviously grown a deep sense of empathy and longing for Talasyn who has conflicting loyalties—so prepare for the delicious angst and heartbreak when a betrayal might be inevitable 🔥 the push and pull and constant guilt wracking through both characters as they grapple with their attraction to one another is legit perfection 😍

Big shoutout to minor characters Elagbi (who is an absolute cinnamon roll of a man and father!!!!!) and Urduja (the Dragon Queen of my wildest dreams!!!! she has an amazing, extremely cunning & commanding presence even when she doesn’t say much!!!)

—————

The Hurricane Wars has set up so many threads for the rest of the series. THE ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES. So many things have been set in motion and I am SO SO SO STOKED to see where it’s all going to lead! I’m already mourning the fact that I’ve finished this, and now I gotta wait 😭 💔 I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT! whatever the author has got planned, it's going to blow us all away MARK MY WORDS!!!

BIG THANK YOU to Netgalley, Harper Collins UK, and Thea Guanzon for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have to be totally honest and say when I first picked this book up I was really struggling to get into, I had to keep reading over the first couple of chapters. Some pages I felt like nothing I read actually sunk in. I decided to keep going, the only thing that kept me interested was wanting to see what happened between Talasyn and Alaric. The rest of the book was than based on them and it was a slow burn. I was constantly waiting for some action scenes and then if there was one it wasn't huge. My favourite character was Alaric. There is another book after this one, so hoping that will bring the action!

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC of The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon!

I was very excited to receive an ARC for this highly anticipated book and it did not disappoint! Talasyn and Alaric had a great enemies to lovers, their chemistry was laid out exceptionally.

I really enjoyed the dual POVs as you get to see each character fleshed out and develop throughout the book.

I was really hooked from the beginning and loved all of the tropes. I cannot wait to see more of this world and characters.

I would recommend this to any sci-fi and fantasy lover!

It took me a month and a half to read the first 30% of this book, but only two days to read the next 70%, which I think is a testament to the power of The Hurricane Wars. After a confusing beginning, the book truly found its footing in the second quarter, which carried me to the end. The Hurricane Wars is going to take the romantasy market by storm, mark my words.


That all being said, I do have one qualm with this book and that's the aforementioned first 30%. In my mind, that itself could've been a whole novel. This book felt like the second in a trilogy, the character building book after the world building first. The first 30 felt clunkly and I wish that the world building was stronger because the story struggled on it.


Otherwise, it was a pretty perfect book. All my favourite tropes (marriage of convenience, we bond over food, light vs. dark, fated lovers, I could go on...) and I can't wait to see I can't wait to see the continuation of Talasyn and Alaric's story.

Talaysn and Alaric are on opposite sides of the war between their nations. He wields shadow and she light. When they first meet, they try to kill each other but also make a connection. Talasyn then discovers that she is the heir to another kingdom entirely and one that is at threat from a totally different source which only Talasyn and Alaric working together can stop. The story definitely followed some very standard fantasy lines but was enjoyable. I felt that it was unnecessarily long and could have been edited better. It is not a stand alone book and nothing is resolved at the end of this first episode,

Huge thanks to the author and publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC, in exchange for an honest review. I absolutely adore this book, it’s atmospheric, dramatic, action packed. The chemistry between the two leads is incredible. I cannot wait for the sequel.

— 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 —

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: The Hurricane Wars
𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬: Book 1 of The Hurricane Wars
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫(𝐬): Thea Guanzon
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Fantasy/Sci-fi/Romance
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝: 12th October 2023
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝: 8th September 2023
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ★★★ ¼

“I would just like to state, for the record, that it was all Alaric Ossinast’s fault,” Talasyn said with as much dignity as she could manage.

To be honest, this quote sums up the entire book.

There were a number of things I liked and disliked about The Hurricane Wars and I am a little bit disappointed by what was one of my most anticipated reads of the year.

The Hurricane Wars is inspired by two things: Filipino culture and Star Wars. I’d love to be able to expand on what glorious Filipino cultural aspects found their way into this novel but, honestly, perhaps it’s my ignorance, but I cannot point it out. The descriptions of the food were vivid and mouthwatering so I hope that is reminiscent of Filipino culture (if so, I absolutely need to visit), and the setting of islands and rainforests were congruent too, but I’m uncertain of what else. There were many pretty traditions mentioned, and I do wonder if they are derived from Filipino culture.

In fact, for a book named The Hurricane Wars, inspired by the Philippines that are unfortunately plagued by hurricanes, I genuinely expected hurricanes to be more prominent. Other than the war itself being named Hurricane Wars, there was no background explaining why they’re named that way or what the hurricanes did. I even searched ‘Hurricane’ in my digital copy and out of the forty mentions, which were mainly alluding to the ‘Hurricane Wars’ actual hurricanes were mentioned four times with no context. I need much more of a backstory than that.

Also, I expected more dragons, I feel like it’s absolutely pointless and underwhelming putting dragons in a story and then not really using them. I do wonder if it’s because dragons are popular at the moment.

As this novel is based on Star Wars fan fiction, there are a lot of airships interwoven with magic, providing a blend of Sci-fi and fantasy elements. I didn’t actually find out this was based on fan fiction until after I’d finished the book, but it made much more sense to the development of the story which was designed to force the two main characters together rather than allow for character development and growth.

My initial thought whilst reading this book was that there’s such a large infodump at the beginning of the story. I think it continued until around 20% of the way in and then the writing blossomed and I found my footing in the war torn backdrop of this book. This was initially discouraging to me as I much prefer character driven novels, but for what it’s worth, I did enjoy both the main characters: Talasyn and Alaric, and I’m glad I persevered through the story.

I really enjoyed the arranged marriage element of The Hurricane Wars, struck in a deal of precarious political convenience that could have fell and shattered at any moment. I loved the glimmers of humour that are sparsely injected into the book, I absolutely need more of that, please. And I liked the dual point of view, simply for the mutual pining and because Alaric is pretty irredeemable, so I needed his perspective to ensure he wasn’t pure evil. My favourite moments of this novel actually surrounded Talasyn’s father who I thought was so precious and lush. The thematic exploration of parental love was definitely softened by his approach to Talasyn and his interactions with other characters in the novel. I also liked the refreshing matriarchal hierarchy that the characters in the book naturally defer to, and thought that Queen Urduja made for the most interesting character.

I do think this is marketed quite oddly. It is so much more Sci-fi than I expected and also, it reads very young adult apart from one scene which is a heated moment in the bedroom. The effect is a bit jarring. I’ve also seen it described as “the next book to read after Fourth Wing” but dragons are only mentioned in passing, really, and are not given a pivotal role in the novel.

My expectations were dashed with this one, but hopefully this review will allow readers to face this novel with a more grounded anticipation and will be delighted by what they find.

—Kayleigh🤍

This book had my attention from the moment I heard of its realise, and I can gladly say it did not disappoint!

The enemies to lovers romance was written perfectly throughout this book especially with all the slow burn

The world building was incredible and every time I picked it up, it was hard to try to put it down!

Definitely worth the read if your looking for an action packed fantasy with a slow burn romance

The first half of the book was quite slow - it took me a while to really feel any connection to the book.

I felt like there was a lot of internal thoughts, like A LOT. Maybe too much?

Once we finally see Alaric and Talasyn together we get a more interesting storyline but they're clashing just doesn't end. After multiple moments of them getting along or even when they kiss it immediately goes back to putting guards up and hating each other with the internal monologues of "but I want you". It got really frustrating after 100 pages.

It was very mid, which I'm disappointed about as it has been flagged as a book to look out for.

While The Hurricane Wars didn't work for me, I'm sure it will be a hit among romantasy fans.
Fun fact: The Hurricane Wars started out as Reylo fan fiction. So, terms of the relationship between Talasyn and Prince Alaric we have: an age gap, small girl vs. big boy (which I don't hate on principle, but it gets tiring when constantly mentioned), and of course an enemies to lovers romance. I wasn't really invested in their romance, because I wasn't invested in them as individuals. Which is a shame as I thought the tension between them, and the pining on his part was great. Plus, the spicy scene was well written. I mean, if you enjoy the boy falls first and is obsessed with the mc trope you will love this.

The word building was confusing, I couldn't imagine any of it. My biggest issue was that it felt like everything was centered around the romance. Personally, I love a good romance in my fantasy but I need the world and the plot to be better developed.

The ending of the story didn't pack a punch, it was very meh. While I am somewhat curious to see where the story goes next, I won't be in a rush to pick up the sequel, if I even do.

The Hurricane Wars ⚡️

*no major spoilers*

This was a highly anticipated book that did not disappoint! The main characters, Talasyn and Alaric, are true enemies and fight each other in the Hurricane Wars… and their chemistry is written so well. There are dual POVs, so we were able to understand how each character feels and their relationship is wrought with tension from the outset.

I loved the South East Asian inspired world - at points I really felt like I was there in the jungle with Talasyn and Alaric. The technological aspects gave me Star Wars vibes, and this was perfectly combined with the world building and the magical elements.

The first section of the book was very much about the world building, explaining the magic and how everything interlinks, as well as relevant history. This was quite complex and could be confusing at times - but once you’re passed it, everything kind of clicks into place.

I was hooked from the beginning, I loved the tropes in this book (enemies to lovers, arranged marriage, forced proximity, political intrigue) and the slow burn romance was perfect 👌 100% recommend this one when it’s released next month!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you NetGalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review :)