This book was fantastic! Thoroughly enjoyed my read of the Hurricane Wars!
This felt like such a unique read, and was so rich with in-depth world building, it was easy to lose yourself in this world as if it were a real place. Loved it!

Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Voyager for the eARC!

I mostly only apply for the ARCs I think I will massively enjoy, and this is why I applied for this one, the story sounded cool, I loved the cover, and the hype was spot on. Unfortunately, this book wasn't for me, so if you don't want any spoilers or if you don't want to read a nitpicky negative review, I'd advise you to skip this one. It will also contain some minor spoilers (mostly about tropes that appear).


This is 2.5, but I'm rounding it to 3 stars. Because I feel like it wasn't *that* bad, it just wasn't something I enjoyed.
My dislikes:
- the insta-love/lust/whatever, and characters connecting over nothing
I get that this was fanfic, but without any of the Reylo background, these characters connected over basically nothing. When it's not fanfic you have to create the buildup because we don't know anything about them, and their relationship is non-existent.
Later on, there is some good tension, however, the shift from war/genocide to arranged marriage felt too abrupt. We had a time skip, but even then, this man killed your people, all of your friends, destroyed any kind of happiness you previously had and you're like "omg, he said I was beautiful eeeep". No. Is this a serious political drama with possible romance (which is what I thought it was as I started it), or are we going in a more light, fun, don't question things, "doesn't-matter-that-he-killed-all-of-my-friends" direction? Because I cannot just stomach genocide and then insta-love, without something MAJOR happening.

- slow-paced
It's so freaking slow. And even in all the slow, not a lot of things are happening.

- writing style felt uneven
I feel like the author was trying to write this profound prose, and that it was so poetic in some parts (which I do appreciate and love), but it would be cut abruptly with something sassy, that didn't really fit with the ostentatious descriptions. The only thing I can describe it with is the current popular sound when Ken says "hi, Barbie", and she says "hi, Ken", where Barbie sounds like a monster. I feel like there is just a large disconnect in style.

- dragons
Why are they there? What is their real role? If there was no dragons mentioned, nothing would've changed in the book. I don't even realize what is their real strength. Because in the beginning you have these talks in a war camp, and they are saying with just one dragon they could win the war. And then Alaric comes in Nenavare and they are all scared he can conquer them in a second... but they have a bunch of dragons. So which is it, are the dragons really powerful or not so much? On top of that, I just really didn't see them fitting in this very technological world.

- very tropey (and I like tropes, but these were too cliche)
We have a hidden identity, a lost princess (reveal without any buildup, felt so abrupt!), who grew up in an orphanage; FMC with the great power that she never learned to use or control; enemies to lovers that actually have insta-something; arranged prince and princess marriage, light and dark have to work together to save everything...

All in all... I wished I loved this, but I just didn't. :(

*thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*


Well.where do I even start. This was pretty amazing. It was one of my most anticipated reads this year and I am so grateful to get an early copy .Thank you. I’ll be honest I had a little trouble at the start following the plot and the writing had me scratching my head for a bit . the verbiage is a bit heavy and some of the parts I had trouble understanding.Maybe the language barrier not sure but lots of adjectives were used which I personally think could’ve done without. in saying that once I got into the story I was totally engrossed in it and hooked . The characters and their development had me glued to my screen and I finished it in one sitting .my biggest issue is that it ended on a cliffhanger . Not a fan of those . :) I can see this book becoming a hit, def recommend!

I am going to be screaming about this book in the foreseeable 😂

Thank you so much to the author for writing one of my new favourite books of all time. And to netaglley and the publishers for approving my request to read and review an early copy of this. This has skyrocketed to my top fav 10 books of ALL TIME 💓

Where do I even START

The Hurricane Wars is a unique and fresh fantasy following two rivals, Talasyn and Alaric, whose kingdoms are at war. Alaric of the Shadowforged Legion is a terrifying but god almightily sexy villain that I knew I needed more of from the second he rocked up. Talasyn is an absolute badass, and unlike so many fantasy books I did not once feel the “main character syndrome” issue with her.

The book starts off with these characters battling it out as Alaric’s army are invading Sardovia (the kingdom Talasyn has grown up in) and Talasyns people are revealed to be loosing The Hurricane War and in constant surrender. In a last-ditch attempt to find a way to save her kingdom, she sneaks into a neutral territory to try and harvest power and finds out a mind blowing part of her identity.

Let me tell you, probably 90% of the BEST fantasy romance tropes are in this book. Forced proximity? In this book. Only one bed? In this book. Marriage of conveniance? In this book. Gripping angst? In this book. Sexiest slow burn ever? In this book. Enemies to lovers that are genuinely ENEMIES? In this BOOK 👏

The slow burn in this was so teasing and I felt like I was desperate to the point of frantic nearing the end of the book. These two had me SCREAMING. Also, this book has one of the best written spicy scenes I have genuinely ever read 😍 It was so worth the wait.

I heard on the grapevine that these characters were potentially inspired by Reylo and imagining Alaric as Adam Driver as Kylo absolutely shivered my timbers 😍

Away from the romance, I have to commend the author for her brilliant writing and so many quotable lines. I often paused to read sentences again that I found brilliant. Also, I loved the Storm Ships idea, they sound terrifying and awesome!

This book got me with that cliffhanger and I will be waiting, eye on the prize, till book two comes out 🙌

Thank you to Harper Collins and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have been a fan of Thea's work for years, having followed her through her fanfiction journey, and I was ecstatic to be selected for this ARC.

Thea weaves a tale rich in fantasy, plot and characterisation. Her writing is incredible, and I often found myself flying through the skies with Talasyn, opening the Shadowgate with Alaric, and plotting alongside the Dragon Queen.

At first I found the tale a little difficult to follow, especially as we were thrust deep into the heart of the Hurricane Wars that had already been wreaking chaos and destruction for years. As soon as Talasyn returned to claim her birthright and protect her friends, I was swept along with the political orchestrations, cunning of all factions and the reluctant attraction of two former enemies thrust together to stop the Hurricane Wars.

The Hurricane Wars has been one of the best books I have read this year, and I am eagerly awaiting the next installment in the trilogy.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. This was a fun quick and easy read. Overall had a lot of good points, I enjoyed the characters, the magic system and the world building. Two aspects that let it down slightly for me were the ending, the plot did not build up to a grand finale but rather just finished. The other was that some of dialogue and interactions between characters became slightly repetitive. Still, this is an impressive debut and I look forward to the next instalment. I'd recommend this for romantasy fans, in particular fans of the enemies to lovers troupe.

~thank you netgalley and harper collins for a review copy
~5⭐️
~This book completely destroyed any expectations I had going into it! I thought it would be a normal fantasy book but this was completely different from what I was expecting. I loved the world this book was set in, the different empires were so unique and elevated the whole book.

This book follows Talaysn who has only ever known the hurricane wars fighting for her life against the Night Empire but she has been hiding a secret, she has light magic, a power that the night empire thought they had wiped out years ago. It is only when the Prince of the Night Empire sees her on the battlefield that they are forever connected.

The characters are absolutely amazing. I loved the development Talasyn went through and what she found out about herself. This is a fantastic fantasy book that has become one of my absolute favourite once finishing it!

5 stars does not do this book justice.

The Hurricane Wars introduces us to a refreshing new world of Sardovia, Nenavar and the Night Empire. I was blown away by the depth of world building and characters with opposing powers. I liked the prose and fast-paced setting.

Talasyn and Alaric's story was just the beginning of this unputdownable novel. Despite their differences, the author manages to weave a world unlike any other. Her descriptions of the environment and action scenes left me on the edge of my seat. With warships and the rich, vibrant and sometimes dark setting based on South East Asia, I liked the juxtaposition between the main characters and the many places they lived in throughout the war. There was always a divide between both sides and I liked how the author managed to settle on their differences through traditional means.

The pacing of THW was pulsating and I loved the slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers romance between the main characters. It was fascinating to see how they worked together through their many differences and powers. I liked how they bonded through their many changes and discoveries of each other. I particularly liked the character development of Talasyn who may have grown up an orphan, but discovered her found family as she came into her power.

As for Alaric, I liked how the author crafted him to be someone who learned how to care despite his upbringing and unconventional family. This powerful and unpredictable ending is only the beginning of what is to come. I can't wait for Book 2!

A sweeping romantic fantasy from Thea Gunazon! A fantastic debut. Loved the world building, the characters, and the enemies to lovers banter. Things really picked up in the last half or last third of the book and I'm excited to read the next book in the series!

4/5

Light and shadow and two enemies caught on different sides of a devastating war. Thea Guanzon’s debut novel The Hurricane Wars is a study in heated tension between her main couple, Talasyn and Alaric, but also the magical kingdoms in the world she has spun around them.

Personally, one of the first things I notice when reading a fantasy novel, epic or romance, is the worldbuilding and the magic system. Guanzon’s world is intricate and very interesting in its light and shadow duality and where this magic comes from but I did have issues with the extent of the book she dedicated to some aspects of it.

There are shadow wielders like our main man, his Highness Alaric Ossinast, the brooding dark-haired prince of the kingdom of Kesath (aka new shadow daddy), there is a race of light wielders all but extinct except for our feisty and always pissed girl Talasyn who grew up an orphan on the streets of Sardovia, a nation at a 10-year long war with Kesath and there is the Nenavar Dominion which is like Wakanda, always neutral and very advanced in its magical practices compared to the other nations. The political intrigue behind all that and us getting to know the nations and experiencing the hurricane wars take up the first half of the book and even though I loved how the author finally connected everything to each other in the second half of the book, I ended up feeling quite tired with all the explaining and the setting up.

Another really important issue for me is to find connection with the characters. Alaric was delicious, sweet and badass at the same time and together with Talasyn, they always made me feel the sizzling tension and the eagerness to see them give in to the spice. Saying that, I must also say that what had me very frustrated and not in a good way was Talasyn’s constant anger. With herself, the world, Alaric, the war, her life, the air around her… seriously, there were moments when I was wondering if she was ever going to stop snapping at everything and just chill…

So, let me come to the second half of the book plotwise. Once we are done with knowing the basic stuff, and we are familiar with the characters, the plot takes you on a journey of delicious tension between the main characters. There is the marriage of convenience thing and the fact that he trains her so they come really close to each other and eventually the only one bed and I was here for all of it! I enjoyed every second of their witty banter, their unconsciously giving away parts of themselves to each other and being vulnerable. Be warned that the romance in this book is extremely slow burn. There is not a lot of spice but when you find it…worth it. Every word.

Not much to say about villains and secondary characters as they took the back seat in this novel but I have the feeling that the Hurricane Wars is just the prologue of a very interesting and extraordinary story full of angst and pining and deeper meanings and action and magic which will unfold in all its glory in the sequels to come and I can’t wait to find out where Thea Guanzon will take us next.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the free copy of this ebook.

Alaric is the son of the vicious Night Emperor, and Talasyn is the orphaned soldier fighting to defend her homeland from the Night Empire's invasion. However, when the two find themselves matched on the battlefield with powers that are equally strong but totally opposite, they both discover a reluctant attraction forming.

This is a gripping and beautifully written enemies-to-lovers fantasy romance, with stellar world building and a non-stop plot. I devoured the book in a weekend and desperately want more - more of the tension, more of the magic, more of the angst. Its everything I look for in a book and I can't wait for the sequel!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Wonderful! That’s all I can say and I am on my way to pre order all of the editions!!! Read this book! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my eArc of this book.

****3.25 STARS****

Thank you Netgalley, Harper Voyager and the author, Thea Guanzon for providing me with an ARC. All thoughts and views are my own.

I have always been a fanfiction fan and it is when I finished the book did I realize that this was a Reylo fanfiction. So for me who is not a Star War's Fan this story was fresh. Most of the time a fanfiction is all about making your wish of seeing your favorite characters getting together and having a happy ending. But I think I have mixed feelings about the fanfiction of it all.

The book started off pretty good with the world building and lot of words thrown at you, I mean it was a good base set for the readers who may or may not be familiar with this sci-fi/fantasy world. But slowly few chapters in the story deters from the action packed war sequences and world building or even character build up.
There was grave injustice done to the side characters as they had so much potential but in the end it seems like they were only there to strengthen the protagonist's relationship. The author tried to make some efforts in world building but there were times when things didn't make sense. More like the rules in this world is bent to make it more convenient for our couple to end up together.
I have read a lot of trashy romantasy books to know why this was done but after all the hype I think I was expecting more out of this book (I was honestly expecting pure fiction, but alas!).

Now to why this book gets a 3.25 is because of the fast pace and easy to follow story. The spice was a medium. Kudos to all the 'pining for the one', it worked for me. Though it is presented like a fanfiction but the characters felt original. Also the gorgeous cover would have led me to pick this one off of the bookshelves immediately.

I am moody reader and there was an 80% chance I wouldn't have picked this one up. After reading it though I think I would have made a mistake as this is at least a one time read.

DNF at 31%.

The Hurricane Wars was one of my most anticipated releases of 2023, so the fact that I'm writing a DNF review for it is devastating for me.

Formerly known as Landscape with a Blur of Conquerors on AO3, this book is that very same Reylo fanfic brought through the gates of traditional publishing, with some additional Southeast Asian influences and new names for each corresponding Star Wars character. Unfortunately, that was The Hurricane Wars's downfall.

Reading this, it was evident that the author forgot the rules of fanfiction and novel writing are not the same: in fanfiction, you don't have to spend the time setting the scene or developing the characters and the romances, because readers already know what to expect. They know who they're reading about, and what's going to happen between them.

The worldbuilding in The Hurricane Wars, to start, was too heavy-handed, and too much all at once. It was a bit of an info-dump, to be honest. I can't imagine, had I made it through to the end of this book, that I'd have taken any of it in, simply because of the way it was presented. Going back to my fanfic point: it was like the worldbuilding was awkwardly shoved and jammed into the book, because it wouldn't have been needed in the original version.

The characters and romance's development - or lack thereof - was really what brought me to DNF this book. Essentially, there isn't any. Talaysn, the book's Rey character - was bland and reactive. In the 31% I read, she spent most of her time reacting to situations around her, not moving the plot forward through her own actions. Alaric (Kylo Ren/Ben Solo) was a little more interesting, but again, he had little to no development in what I read, so I can't say too much about him.

The romance between these two was, I'd think, the main selling point of this book for... well, almost everyone who picks it up. As with the characters themselves, the romance (or what I'd read of it) between them was undeveloped and rushed. They'd met probably 2 or 3 times by 31%, and went straight from fighting to having feelings for each other for seemingly no reason at all. There was none of the nuance or development you get with the real Reylo – Talasyn and Alaric were a cheap knockoff. I'd read spoilers for this book about a certain trope being involved later on (arranged marriage), which unfortunately is one of my favourites. It wasn't enough to entice me to keep reading though.

I know I'm in the minority with this book, but - as you can see - I really didn't enjoy it. I tried to move past the clunky worldbuilding, but the lack of development coupled with my lack of connection to either main character meant I couldn't continue reading. The Hurricane Wars had so much potential, and maybe it would have been better off with the author getting more advice/help from her agent in translating the fanfiction to a novel, or maybe another couple rounds of editing.

I guess we'll never know.

Thank you to Harper Voyager for sending me an eARC!

↠ 1 star, DNF at 31%

A brand new high fantasy/romantasy, first in a series.
Talasyn is the last of the lightweavers, fighting on the side of the sardovian army. Alaric is the heir to the Night Empire, intent on conquering the world. Two sides on a war that has been raging for over 10 years. But when the fighting stops, these two find themselves as the key players in a treaty that could end the Hurricane wars for good.

This book has examples of all the tropes that many of us enjoy - slow burn enemies to lovers, marriage of convenience, missing princess, one bed. So with that it certainly ticks all the right boxes.

This book started off really great - there was obviously some background and world-building that is key to the overall story, and this was part of the initial outlay. It did feel like it was a little but of an info-dump at the beginning, and although this seemed like a lot, it was crucial to the understanding of the plot and setting up the overall scene. But, because of this background, it took a little while to get into the nitty-gritty of the story - I didn't feel like the plot really picked up until well into maybe the 8th chapter, where it started to become more interesting.

I felt that the magic system was really unique and interesting. It was based on an elemental premise, with magic being weaned from the core elements - earth, air, wind, fire, as well as light and dark. Although this type of magic has been done before in other stories, it felt like it was a completely new take on the idea. I did feel that the magic also took on quite a sci-fi element, especially with the ships, and weapons that the different nations were using, and that felt quite new as well. Without spoilers - Nenavar reminded me a little of Wakanda - a nation that keeps itself hidden from other countries and has heightened technology. I'm not sure if this was deliberate but it was a nice touch.

And now onto the more negative thoughts on this book. Firstly, there was some political intrigue in this story, but only in the first section on the book, and only really to set up the tropes that ended up completely overtaking any other aspect of the story - the marriage of convenience was part of the political allegiance/treaty between the nations and it kind of fell away after that initial set up was past. So for me, I would have liked to have more of a political intrigue element, and not just as a segue into another part of the story.

Throughout the story, there was a clear miscommunication trope between the two main characters. I say that lightly though, because in reality there was no communication whatsoever between them and I found that really frustrating. I understand that this was probably a deliberate choice by the author designed to try and create tension, but really all it did was frustrate me as a reader. I was rolling my eyes so much. It created unnecessary angst rather than tension.

Which leads me onto the enemies to lovers aspect - this would have worked much better if the tension had been better, and if there was more banter between the two characters. The author made a solid attempt at banter between the two characters - moving towards sarcastic clapbacks that unfortunately, for me, fell a little bit flat. There wasn't enough of a level of humour injected into their interactions to make it compelling. It felt to me more like two teenage siblings bickering than sexual tension.

The main element that was missing for me - The Dragons. I was expecting so much more than just a couple of cursory mentions of the creatures. If you have dragons in a story - they need to be front and centre, not relegated to the background. There was only one scene in the entire book where the dragons are relevant, but otherwise they seem like an afterthought. I would hope that they would appear more prominently in subsequent books.

Finally, the ending was completely underwhelming. I was expecting a cliffhanger ending, as I went into it knowing it was the first book in a series, but unfortunately the ending was not sensational enough to warrant any strong emotions. A good cliffhanger should leave the reader shocked and reeling from the final page, not leave them feeling "is that it?" For quite a long book, it felt like it was building to something that the ending just didn't deliver.

In my opinion, there was a lot in this book that was really relevant or required to progress the plot. I feel like it could have realistically been a third of the length and still been good.

Having said all of these points, I did still enjoy the book. I would recommend it to others - those who perhaps enjoyed The Poppy War or SJM books.

I feel that this book was good enough to pass as everything it describes, but is by no means THE book of the year/ THE book for enemies to lovers etc. It's passable and entertaining but it mainly scratches that itch of looking for another romantasy. The writing was a little immature and repetitive in parts, which was frustrating. The characters weren't very deep either and their sudden interest in each other was too soon. Also the book felt like a slog to read at times. The pacing would change so quickly that you were forced to be more excited about the two MCs having interactions because otherwise it was painful war descriptions/ worldbuilding descriptions overload.

Also I felt so bad for Alaric. Talasyn treats Alaric like shit most of the time and what is both a flaw but an endearing one at least for him is that he does seem to be a softie. Whether that's intentional or not, it doesn't matter, but I feel bad for him.

This is probably a 3.5 for me

I went into this book knowing very little to nothing.
I liked the cover, liked the title, the description seemed right up my alley, so I went for it.

I knew that The Hurricane Wars is speculated to be a monthly pick for a book box, so I expected a fantasy book one way or another, but I quickly realized that this book is scifi-ish + fantasy and romance, which, quite frankly, scifi isn’t my cup of tea.
Though I have to admit the way and the scifi amount in this book works juuuuuuuust about fine for me.

The book is divided into two parts, with the first part the first 160 pages. I must honestly say, during that first part, anything that has to do with worldbuilding, this book somehow lost me. Everytime a name was dropped, I had to take a second to think if this is a term for something, a person or a place. And even the names and terms that have been dropped up until this point, I also had to take a second to search my brain where to sort this into (Is this good? Is this the enemy? What are they talking about? ???).
It felt chaotic and I can’t really say if it’s a me-thing or a book-thing. A map would have been great here, though I know the final version will have one.
Everytime the ships were described, my brain painted the picture of ships like in the Disney movie “Treasure Island”.
I would say the only parts I enjoyed thus far were the conversations between certain characters.
Bottom line is: After 160 pages I remained confused and just as knowledgeable as I was when I started this book, so I understand when this is the moment people would decide to DNF.

Thank the lords it actually got better in the second part, which over all seemed more romance and court politics heavy. I was hooked and invested.
There’s a lot more interaction between the characters, which I really liked. The writing overall seemed more cohesive and I am less confused.
Some of the writing though reminded me a lot of Laini Taylor’s in Daughter of Smoke & Bone, which was really really nice.

I liked Talasyn and Alaric as main characters. Both scarred (not literally) in their own ways because of their past and growing up and fighting during the Hurricane Wars, sworn enemies and understandably not very willing to spend more time with each other than necessary, ended up having great chemistry.
I did like that Talasyn was quite feisty during basically every encounter with Alaric, however, even though I mentioned that the writing seemed more cohesive, the way Talasyn sometimes spoke to Alaric didn’t always seem to match the general writing style, which had a very odd feel to it. This might be because of either their age difference or because of how they grew up? Talasyn, an orphan and a trained soldier, while Alaric grew up as a royal. Not sure.
The last thing I expected was some of the dialogues to be funny, showing even more so of their great chemistry!

The dual pov, which started very loosely and got more and more frequent during the course of the book, was great for understanding the characters and at the same time showed very well that they don’t seem to understand each other at all.
I do hope though that the final version will have something to indicate a pov-change!!

Something to note is that the pacing was..a choice I guess? It was a back and forth for me between “ok this makes sense” and “I’m pretty sure several days and weeks have passed at this point, but it’s like the characters haven’t moved on? How are we still stuck in “this thing that’s supposed to happen in 5 months””. Unless the second part and those 300 pages were to cover about roughly 2 weeks ?

All in all: I enjoyed it. I might do a reread once the book is out for discussion purposes. I’m excited for the sequel as well as for any fan art, which I think this book actually provides a great foundation for.

That feeling when you finish a book that's so good, you don't want to read anything else afterwards. The urge to turn back to the start and read it all over again just to spend some more time with the characters, in this amazing world. This book gave me that so intensely. It's so so good.

The worldbuilding is incredible, it's intense to start with, there's a lot of information because the world is so rich with detail, but I was just so immersed in it. I got lost for hours and would look up to find I'd read 30% of the book without noticing. I'm so intrigued to learn more about the magic system and the world itself. And honestly I'd read the next book if nothing at all happened, just to get to spend more time in this world, with these characters.

I love Talasyn, her rage and her vulnerability, her bravery and reckless courage, her fierce determination to fight for what is right and for those she loves. I really loved how with both Talasyn and Alaric, we really got insight into the events that shaped them into the people they were. The trauma of their childhoods and of coming of age in a brutal war, the ways their flaws made sense, made them something to love about them.

And Alaric is my new favourite hero, so brooding, such pining. All his vulnerability shut down and locked up tight, only to burst out when he's with her. They're perfect together and I'm desperate for more.

One of my favourite things in a fantasy world, especially one where there's war, is when it's hard to tell who's really in the right. Or at least when the story doesn't shy away from both sides having flaws, or from the notion that it's easy to feel righteous when you're sure you're right, when your worldview is shaped by the stories you've been told. I can't wait to see how Talasyn and Alaric continue to find their way through their relationship when they're both so deeply entrenched in their opposing views.

This is honestly the best start to a fantasy series that I've read in years and I'm so thrilled to have read it.

3.5/5 stars. I can’t rate it any lower bc I did have fun, but even I, who reads with negative braincells engaged, just found myself constantly questioning everything because it was all just a little… off. And I was thrilled to received an ARC, I was so excited for this one. I’m E2L #1 fan but I feel like a lot of the reason people don’t like it as much anymore is because of how it’s written lately! Some spoilers ahead, but I simply don’t think that the attraction should start at the first or second meeting when the other party is actively trying to destroy everything you’ve ever known, but even though it wasn’t /acknowledged/ as attraction, why was our mc fantasizing about his face or whatever after 3 interactions all of which were in the middle of war where her friends were dying. There’s no good reason as to why she wasn’t killed off immediately either, bc he very well could’ve. Alaric hates lightweavers based on what he’s been fed by his father, there’s no reason for him to be intrigued by her to the point of letting her go THREE TIMES. It just seemed like very convenient plot armor and I get that sometimes plot armor is necessary but come on. Also when she goes back to Sardovia the first time and purposefully leaves behind the high tech super useful coracle for her dinky one while Alaric has the brains to take it back and let his enchanters study it but Tala is supposed to be the crafty resourceful one?? Idk! Like I said a lot of it just left me scratching my head wondering why the author made some of the choices that were made. The will they won’t they was also more of a “oh they will but Tala’s going to immediately regret it every time” and that happens at least 4 times like girl either stick to your morals or don’t you’re killing me!

I will say the very best part of the book was her and her long lost father reuniting. Many of their scenes just had me near tears, bc even though he isn’t a perfect father he does love her so fiercely, and while you can tell in those initial scenes he wants to pick up right where they left off he eases off for her own comfort and I’m UPSET that we didn’t get a lot of their initial bonding. There are so many weird time skips that I was willing to overlook for the sake of story progression, but this bit of character building it what I’m most upset we missed out on.

As I said it was a fun read, I had a good time with it, but if it had someone like me stopping every few chapters going ??? then I’m sure anyone else who reads with half a braincell engaged will find more than a few problems.

And with that I leave you with this quote from when her father first meets her again, because it’s the only thing I highlighted in the entire book and it still makes my heart melt:

“Another eighteen years could have passed before we found each other again and my heart would still tell me that you were mine.“

There has been a lot of hype for this book, and I am happy to say that I enjoyed it for the most part. But it was not entirely what I was expecting, and I also think that because the blurb is a bit misleading, some people might end up going in with false expectations and getting disappointed.

So first of all, don't be fooled by the title: there are more ballgowns than battles in this book. All the focus is on the romance. If you don't like a lot of romance in your fantasy books, I would not recommend this. The reylo origins are clear, even to someone like me who hasn't read any reylo fanfic. But the two characters, Talasyn and Alaric, didn't feel like copies of their Star Wars equivalents either.

I thought the romance was pretty good. I was invested in it. It's not insta love, and Talasyn and Alaric start out as actual enemies trying to kill each other, though the turning point in their feelings happens too early and for no reason except physical attraction. Having said that, the author later does a good job of giving the pair real things in common to bond over. The romance is not just based on lust, but on genuine connection. The reason for their being enemies is not just swept aside either - the characters fight frequently over the war and their parts in it, and it remains unresolved by the end. It's a good portrayal of conflicted feelings.

The two main characters are cute. Talasyn is a bit of an idiot - the typical feisty heroine, but somehow I liked her anyway. Maybe because she acknowledges her faults, and makes efforts to try be more politically savvy later in the novel. Unfortunately, the book had the same problem as a lot of romantasy, where all the effort seems to be put into the main couple, and other characters are left to fend for scraps of personality and page time.

I enjoyed the tropical setting of Nenavar, and the descriptions of the food made me hungry, but I would have liked more details about the culture of the setting. The aether hearts and flying ships were cool. I was mildly disappointed with the magic of the main characters, shadowforging and lightweaving. All they do is summon weapons and shields made of light and shadow, respectively. The two types of magic felt too similar too each other (aren't they meant to be opposites?) and also like more interesting things could have been done with shadow and light magic. I am hoping the magic system will be explored more in the next book though.

The writing was decent. Nothing stood out to me as really good, but likewise there was nothing really bad that took me out of the story. There are lots of clothing descriptions.

Despite its faults I did enjoy The Hurricane Wars, and I will definitely be reading the sequel! Thanks to Netgally and Harper Voyager for the ARC.