I will try to keep it as honest as possible without being harsh, because I just did not vibe with this book in the slightest.

First of all, the world building (what there is of it) is so convoluted and thrown-together that I couldn't make sense of it or keep track of what was what. The sayings were so ridiculous and confusing with no explanation. "May Enlal's griffins feast on his liver until the Unmaking." Who is Enlal? What is the Unmaking? "May his shade find shelter in the willows from Zannah's all-knowing eye." His shade? Who the is Zannah? Are these Gods? Deities? Past rulers? Never explained. The author just threw together anything she thought sounded whimsical and all-powerful and called it fantasy.

Secondly, the way this was written and the fact we were spoon fed what should have been the ending of this book by chapter 10 made it so honestly boring I wanted to stop. Finding out who Talasyn really was should have been what this book built up to, not something that we found out before we were 20% done with the book. There was no big mystery around who the turncoat was for the Sardovian army either. We found that out too right after we found out who Talasyn was. It was just disappointing. What good is a story if you know all of the "important" stuff straight away?

Third of all, I just didn't think this book flowed at all. We went from having pages upon pages of cringe-worth back and forth between Talasyn and Alaric that amounted to absolutely nothing important to the plot, to having actually important things happen in less than a page, without any of it being fleshed out. If a years long war is coming to an end, I don't want to be told it's happened. I want to see the ending. I want to feel the ending. I don't want a throwaway sentence like "all it took was a month" and then see none of it. So much lost potential.

Fourth - this was, very obviously right from the start, a Rylo fanfiction with different names to try and make it look like it wasn't, but I've seen every Star Wars film, and you're not fooling me. That isn't to say Rylo can't be done well. It very much can be done well. It just isn't done well here.

In conclusion, I liked the concept of this book. It was why I requested an ARC, but the execution fell short for me and I was left feeling mentally exhausted and relieved to have finished.

Unfortunately this was just not the book for me. I felt inundated with the info dumping and world-building at the beginning and I really struggled to then get into the main plot and connect with the characters. I feel like maybe if I come back to this in the future I may be in the mindset to enjoy this more, especially as it is a slow burn but at the moment it is not for me. However I do think loads of people will enjoy this romantic fantasy and it will be a big hit.

The Hurricane Wars Review

Okay so where to start. Fans of Fourth Wing and ACOTAR this one's for you.

I absolutely loved this book. I went into it absolutely blind - not knowing that the ideas had come from a fan fiction of Rey/Kylo from Star Wars apparently? But let's put this aside because just wow all the stars!

This book starts off amid the end of a 10 year war, the book then reverts to a politically charged battle of Courts and minds.
The description and world building is excellent and you can picture what the author is bringing across. I can't wait to pick up a physical copy, hopefully it will have a map! Cause we know how much we like those!

What to expect:

Southeast Asian inspired Fantasy
Dragons
Enemies to Lovers
Banter
Magic systems
Emperors, conquerers and lost royalty
Arranged Marriage
Politics
Slow burn
Dual POV

I absolutely adored this book, it got me hooked and I didn't want to put it down. The writing keeps you engaged and wanting more. I'll be eagerly waiting for the next in the series.
For everyone eagerly waiting for Iron Flame in November like me, I really recommend picking this one up in October to tie you over.

Congratulations to the author for a stunning read!

Review is also up on my Instagram feed today @blonde.reads.fiction
And Goodreads.

<i>I would like to thank HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction, HarperVoyager and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.</i>

The Hurricane Wars has a strong beginning for high fantasy lovers and I was extremely excited about it. After that, the romance takes over and the politics assume a less central aspect to the story. Was I disappointed the romance takes such a central role in the story? A bit yes. The premise of the book is intriguing and I hated that it felt more bland, at least against my expectations. Did I still enjoyed the book? Absolutely!

As Romantasies go, this is the best one I’ve read in a while.
The writing is beautiful, the word building incredible, the magic system and politics are interesting and the romance is a believable, (very) slow burn enemies to lovers.
You can understand why they are conflicted and falling in love, you can feel the tension and angst and you end up suffering with them.

Although I would have loved for this book to be more focused on the fantasy side, I really enjoyed reading it and I believe it is a wonderful beginning of a new series.

The Hurricane Wars will be published in October 12th and it should definitely be among Romantasy lovers most anticipated releases

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher Harper Voyager for a copy of this book.

Unfortunately I was unable to finish as I could not get past the overly complicated first few chapters of world building and info dumping and writing style. I know barely anything about the main character! I had absolutely no idea what I was reading and really struggled to get through what I did go through.

Apologies, but thanks again for the copy.

[ARC provided by NetGalley and HarperVoyager. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review The Hurricane Wars

Rating: 3.5/5

I’ve been deliberating on my final rating for The Hurricane Wars for a while. For a large portion of the book I was expecting it to be four stars or higher but in the end, unfortunately this story fell flat for me. It’s currently being pitched as one of the more highly anticipated fantasy books of the year and going in with those high expectations didn’t help with my overall enjoyment. That being said, I think a lot of people will really love this one because there are a lot of fun tropes involved that’ll keep people interested as the plot develops.

Having originated from a Star Wars fanfiction, The Hurricane Wars shows its roots from the very beginning. I hadn’t realised this when I read it but looking back, I can see a lot of similarities with this book and the epic space opera. Now, I’ve read a tonne of amazing fanfics and I’m not against seeing great fics turned into published books, but when the source material shines a little too brightly, I start to question if enough work was done to make this story its own. With fanfiction, we go into them knowing a lot of background information which gives the author more time to spend on the central couple (if there’s a focus on romance), this means you can get away with not including paragraphs of exposition because the reader most likely already knows it all. With The Hurricane Wars, we get some brilliant set up which sets this apart from fanfics, however after that there’s a steady decline in the quality of the story. Characters and elements of the world building begin to fall to the side leaving us with a core romance that is a little bland and a fantasy world that feels underdeveloped.

The book has a really intriguing premise and is a fun spin on the light vs. dark / good vs. evil trope. We have Talasyn, a Sardovian orphan with the ability to wield Lightweave magic, who is in the midst of the Hurricane Wars. She is part of the fight against the tyranny of the Night Emperor Gaheris who seeks to extinguish any threat to his reign. This leads us to Alaric of House Ossinast, Master of the Shadowforged Legion and Gaheris’s only son and heir. Alaric is tasked with obliterating the Sardovian Allford alliance with the strength of his armies and mighty Shadow magic, and when he sees Talasyn and her bright Lightweave magic on the battlefield, he knows he must do all that he can to destroy that same magic that caused the Hurricane Wars ten years ago.

Something I noticed as I made my way through this book was that the pacing never felt quite right. The first 30% involved a lot of laborious worldbuilding but then it started to get really exciting following some interesting plot developments. That’s pretty typical with fantasy books and although it can be boring at times, this can also help get me excited for the rest of the story because a detailed introduction generally pays off in the second half. However, the strong intro leads into a lacklustre main plot and I feel this book would have really benefited from fleshing out some of those initial plot points further. I’d have loved to see more of the secondary characters and also a little more of the world to help tie everything together.

The second issue I had with The Hurricane Wars was with the enemies to lovers relationship that the main duo share. For the most part I was really rooting for them and enjoyed the tension that steadily built between Talaysn and Alaric throughout the book, and taking into consideration their own situations, I could totally understand that they would struggle to accept their own attraction. But when you get to the 75% mark and barely any progress is being made in that department, it starts to get a little tiring. It’s around this point that the FMC starts to feel annoying and the MMC two-dimensional, because there’s also little progress made with their own character development and so it’s pretty much the same inner turmoil over and over again.

I can’t stress enough how much I wanted to love this book and to a certain extent I did find it quite enjoyable. I read it in just over 24 hours so there was clearly something gripping me and although I didn’t love The Hurricane Wars, I’ll definitely check out the second book to see if any of the issues that I found are resolved. If you're looking for an epic fantasy then this might not tick all the boxes for you, but if you love romantasy then there's a good chance you'll enjoy this one.

This book was even better than I expected. I knew it was going to be a true enemies to lovers with a very slow burn and that it would take the whole trilogy for the relationship to develop, and it most certainly delivered on my expectations, but it also definitely surpassed them.

It's a fantasy book with lots of politics and very relevant worldbuilding, but it all serves a purpose on the relationship of the two main characters and has consequences on it. The first 30% of the book establishes the Hurricane Wars, and the hatred Alaric and Talasyn feel for each other and what they represent. While the direction of the plot then changes, the pacing is amazing, letting you catch your breath, while keeping every plot and scene relevant, and you get to see the characters interact in many different ways and moments.

This book is all I wanted: a fresh take on the enemies to lovers trope, not only because they do actually hate each other and also have reason to, but because the relationship is not linear at all. They both have doubts, and they can see a bit of kindness and reason in each other, but their reality keeps making it all confusing and they do actually accept that confusion as characters. I also love that you can feel the magical connection between Alaric and Talasyn, who have to work together to stop a bigger menace than the Hurricane Wars, but their emotional and physical connection takes longer to develop, and even then it doesn't make them forget every terrible thing that's happened between them and their countries. It feels incredibly real to me (a queer woman in the asexual spectrum) and I can't wait to see how it keeps developing on the second book.

I'm going to be recommending this book a lot, but I know I have to tell people that this books has quite a bit of politics, the slow burn is really slow, and while the relationship/romance is amazing, it is not a romantasy with lots of spice, as I think the wrong expectations could have a negative effect on readers who expect something along the lines of ACOTAR or FBAA.

⛈️The Hurricane Wars ⛈️ by @theagwrites

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Wow.

Okay, right off the bat: we all knew I was going to love this. Thea is an exception author who I have had the honour of knowing since 2018. I have followed her writing and loved it for all these years and this is no exception.

But this book. This book really, REALLY has it all:

⛈️Political Intrigue
💍Arranged Marriage
✨ Element based magic (perfect for fans of ATLA and Shadow and Bone)
⚔️Enemies to Lovers (and I’m talking proper enemies, like “we’re on other sides of a war and I genuinely want to stab you” sort of enemies)
🐉DRAGONS
😡Grumpy/Grumpy (and only slightly stabby) dynamic
🌶️Spice
🐉sorry, did I mention that there’s DRAGONS????

We’re following Talasyn, a light weaver and long lost heir to an ancient and mysterious Dominion, on her journey to try and not cause a diplomatic incident as she tries to navigate an arranged marriage with Alaric, the night Emperor and the the man responsible for all her and her friends woes. She’s also trying to come to terms with her powers, how they mix with his oh, and the small matter of hiding her rebel friends from a man who weilds deadly shadows as a weapon, has a manic father obsessed with world domination and is also going to be her husband. No big deal. At least he’s hot 👀

This book is a must read for fans of Darlklina, Zutara, Reylo, all those good ships that just can’t help but occasionally try and kill each-other in between kisses 😌

(This was also a great opportunity to showcase the big purple flowers in my garden, because this cover is STUNNING thank you @afterblossom_art 😍)

This book is so intriguing, I have already sent way too many unhinged voice notes to my friends theorising about where it’s going to go, and I literally cannot stress how proud Thea should be of this debut novel.

If this is not on your TBR, add it NOW.

Thank you so so much to @harpervoyager_uk and Netgalley for sending me an E-arc for review!

I have mixed feelings about this book. I liked to loved it but it is quite a letdown for me. All I've read was the protagonists' repetitive angsty attitude towards the said love interest. The banter of love and hate relationship is over the top hahaha.

And it ended with a sex scene. Yay!

An amazing new fantasy with some of the most original world building I've ever seen. Hurricane wars is a beautifully diverse and rich tale, and one of the best slow burn/enemies to lovers story arcs that readers will be clambering over themselves to see what happens next. The tension between Talasyn and Alaric is front and center but there is also so much tension between Alaric and his father and Talasyn and her leaders. The need to know what’s going to happen next absolutely drives this story. I loved every single minute of this book and cannot wait for the next installment.

This novel was not for me. As someone who loves high fantasy, I thought the concept of the magic system was intriguing but there was just not enough done with it. To me, it felt like the magic and the genre were just incidental, the 'romance' overshadowed it all. This is an enemies-to-lovers but I just didn't find it believable, while the tension between the two characters was good, they too quickly went from one to the other.

Unfortunately not for me. Could not connect with the story or characters. A little bit too much of a romance more than fantasy which I do not prefer, I do think this will appeal to fans who enjoy more romance oriented fantasy.

This book was just a whole lot of dark twisty fantasy goodness from start to finish. While I could tell in parts that it had its origins in fanfiction it certainly wasn’t the worse for it, with a world that felt very fresh and original and great, interesting characters.

Firstly, the world. It’s definitely a dark fantasy world that is created here, with an interesting magic system and mythology. You come into the story near the end of a 10-year-long war, along with all that means, including the death, destruction, and disillusionment.

Our heroine Talasyn has elements of the classic fantasy ‘chosen one’ about her. She’s got a dark and mysterious past, and seems like an underdog, except for the gifts that make her unique, which make her important to the war effort. At times she can come off as a bit single-minded and simplistic, but overall I enjoyed her character development.

Alaric meanwhile is such a good villain/morally grey character. This is a true enemies-to-lovers story. They HATE each other in the beginning, and with good reason! Alaric is heir and head of the army of the Night Empire which is waging war against Talasyn’s homeland. He and his army are responsible for the near extermination of her people. And yet, somehow, this unforgivable character manages to come off as charmingly awkward and even sympathetic! The strange connection between Alaric and Talasyn forms the backbone of this story - I really cannot wait to see how it develops in the next book.

My only real critique - and this may be a consequence of it’s fanfiction roots - is that the story was very narrowed to Alaric and Talasyn. It’s such an interesting world with lots of good secondary characters, I think the book would have benefitted from letting us see more of them. I want more Sevraim, more Khaede and more Elagbi!

This was unexpectedly good. I've not been reading much fantasy romance as I have issues with the sub-genre. However, this book is so 'magical' and I really enjoyed it for that reason. I did quite like the romance too.

Overall the was a good fantasy romance, with an interesting magic system and intriguing characters. I’m really enjoying all these new fantasies with a little bit of spice, my favourite to read! I did struggle a little bit with the FMC as I found her to have about 3 emotions and felt a little bit sorry for the MMC during the last 10%, he deserves better. I am looking forward to the sequel.

This is by far, one of the most magical books I have read in my entire life. Everything about it was spot on: the worldbuilding, the romance, the politics, the side characters, the dual POV; all incredible.

I am a self proclaimed skim reading fiend, known for glossing over when it comes to most of the non plot related parts of a book, but not with this one. I found myself desperately hanging on to every single word, wanting to immerse myself fully into the incredibly beautiful universe that the author builds throughout The Hurricane Wars. I genuinely don't think I've read worldbuilding this good since Tolkien.

Add to that an agonisingly slow burn, enemies to lovers, forced proximity romance that had me wanting to climb into the book and scream at the MMC and FMC and bang their heads together. The will they won't they in this book is so well done I almost forgot it wasn't real and the PASSION between the characters, well. As Niamha says "Hate is a kind of passion..." 😏

Aside from the romance, each character had a beautifully detailed past that was explored in glimpses throughout the book, leading to a genuine love for the characters and an in depth understanding of how they came to be who they are when we meet them.

I cannot find a single thing I didn't like about this book, and I feel as though there is now a hole in my soul because I truly did not want it to end.

I will devour anything that Thea Guanzon writes from this moment forward because THIS. WAS. INCREDIBLE.

5/5 stars! The stunning cover of this book drew me in and I'm so grateful it did. This is a stunning fantasy romance with epic elements. The world-building was a bit hard to follow in the beginning, but the pacing picked up and I was swept away with the magic of it all.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC of 'The Hurricane Wars' by Thea Guanzon.

'The Hurricane Wars' is mindblowingly beautiful and I must say it is a perfect debut novel for Thea Guanzon. The words Guanzon writes just flows effortlessly and I was fascinated and quite addicted to the story. The characters, the plot, the romance? Well needed in fantasy at the moment. Perfection. Best part is that this is only book 1. There's 2 more to go.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This was SO GOOD. I just want to put it out there that I went into this read pretty blind - I hadn't even read the full blurb, I just thought the cover looked super pretty on the publisher's instagram and I looked it up on NetGalley.... I am so glad I did that, because I'm now obsessed with it, deeply.

The Hurricane Wars is every bit as epic as Game of Thrones, with a steampunk twist. The combination of magic and science creates these incredible airships and deadly weapons, all of them used in the seemingly never-ending war that ravages the Sardovian Allfold, crushed under the boot of the Night Empire. Talasyn is a soldier with a lost past and a secret magic. Alaric is the heir to the Night Empire and a shadowforger. They are two enemies on opposing sides of a brutal conflict, and yet something draws them to each other on the battlefield.

There's political scheming, courtly intrigue, a hidden past, a secluded island nation, a sizzling slow-burn actualenemies-to-lovers, all set against a lush southeast Asian inspired backdrop just dripping in magic.

I'm already pre-ordering a physical copy because I loved it so much and need it for my trophy shelf as soon as it's released. You should all do the same!

I can consider myself truly privileged to have read this masterpiece 6 months before its release date! I immediately thank Netgalley, HarperVoyager Uk and Thea Guanzon for allowing me to read this ARC!

The Hurricane Wars is a book that has had my attention for quite some time, and when I saw the cover reveal of the US and UK covers (both masterpieces) I wanted to read this book as soon as possible, and so when I received the ARC I started it without hesitation and it was a fantastic read!

The Hurricane Wars is one of the fantasy that contains one of the most beautiful and best written enemies to lovers romance of all time... plus it is also a perfect slow burn, full of tension, political intrigue and another trope that I love: the arranged marriage!

The two main characters are perfect, they are well built, very vivid, real and full of feelings! The double POV allows us to enter the mind of each of them and allows us to understand and appreciate them even more.
Talasyn and Alaric have phenomenal chemistry! Both come from difficult childhoods and both fight in the Hurrican Wars for different reasons and when their worlds collide everything starts to fall into place!

Another very important element of this book is the Worldbuilding: The Hurricane Wars is a Filipino-inspired fantasy and the world created by the author is perfect! Nature, technology and magic coexist creating an extraordinary environment and Thea's writing makes everything magical and extremely smooth!
The plot is never boring or obvious and all this is combined perfectly with the romance which is one of the best I've ever read in a fantasy novel! These two little idiots will make you fall in love and... wait until you read chapter 38 *sneaky eyes

I can't wait to read the next book to return to the fantastic world created by Thea Guanzon and find my two beloved idiots!
The Hurricane Wars is out everywhere on October 3, 2023! Don't miss it!