For me this was a DNF at around 20%. I just couldn't get into this story. The writing was enjoyable, it was just the overall story that did not grab me at all.

This is the best romantasy book of the year!
I was hesitant over it being Reylo fanfic but this was such a good start to a trilogy!
The world building was a bit heavy at first for me, but the enemies to lovers romance was just *chefs kiss*

Probably one of my fave reads of the year, its got a bit of spice, its got enemies to lovers, its got that would die for slow burn romance that I just love! I really enjoyed the world building however it could've been slightly better paced at times but overall was done well. Our MC Talasyn was great, she really came into herself during the tale becoming such a strong and brave young woman. I adored her character and was yearning for her to come out on top.
Overall, this was a great read and I would highly recommend picking it up if you're in the mood for an enthralling new fantasy!

Talasyn is an orphan who has grown up with the Hurricane Wars affecting every part of her life, from the devastating attack that has led to her country being almost destroyed to her present as a soldier, with her friends being killed everyday. A chance encounter on the battlefield though is about to change her life forever. Her clash with a sworn enemy will alter the very war itself...and give way to a new threat that only their powers combined can stop.

I struggled a bit with this one. The world building is a bit blocky in the beginning with a few info dumps and uneven pacing. The start of the novel is fast and furious, whilst seeming slow at the same time. The side characters are barely given any depth and some parts got a bit repetitive.

I did however enjoy the romance, I thought our main characters were developed well and given their own desires and will. There are a lot of tropes that readers will enjoy and this will definitely become a popular one.

Overall it was an enjoyable read. I liked the unique magic system and the slow burn was well written. I'll be interested to see where Guanzon takes the story in the next book!

I struggled to read this book as you are thrown straight into a story with no world building whatsoever and that continues throughout the book! It’s clear this was fanfiction-there’s no backstory necessary in fab five, the audience already knows all the history of the world, which is fine until you then market that book as a standalone novel in a world where nothing makes sense!! Star Wars is fine, but that’s totally not what this book was marketed as which I feel was a serious mistake. I’ve given two stars as I quite liked the writing even if the story was convoluted past belief.

I didn’t immediately love The Hurricane Wars.
If fact, the first hundred or so pages felt long, and a little too slow.
There was a LOT of world building to explain, and that always slows down my reading.
But after I’d got used to the world, and started focusing on the characters?
I loved it.
I think everyone here knows just how much I love banter, and this book was full of it!
The constant back-and-forths, the snarky comments, and the begrudging compliments...it made my little heart happy.
And honestly, I don’t think anyone could not adore both of these adorably oblivious humans.
Talasyn, is fierce, smart, and brave, and I love her for it.
She’s a fighter, a warrior, so obviously whenever she and Alaric clash (be it real or a sparring match) it’s a test of not ability, but cunning.
Alaric, on the other hand, is a character who I just know will become steadily more protective and sweet as this series continues.
Beneath his dark, threatening exterior is a closeted sweetheart who will win the hearts of the reading community.
Those two together?
It’s messy conversations, arguments over everything, and pretending that their hearts are hard as stone.
And yes, I love them. But sometimes I was a little tempted to shake them until they profess their love for each other.
But I guess this is just the pain of a slow burn, and when I say I want more...I know it’s going to be a while before I get it.
Seriously, if the beautiful cover (let’s admit it, the UK one is prettier) didn’t already convince you to pick this up...trust me.
You won’t regret it.

Raised in an orphanage in a world divided by war, Talasyn has found her family among the soldiers defending their country from the tyrannical Night Emperor. During a hopeless battle, she unleashes her secret power of lightweaving, a rare magic believed to be extinct. When her magic crushes with that of Alaric, the Night Emperor’s son, their powers merge, creating something new and unique...

This novel was challenging for me to rate. I found the world created by the author fascinating, and world-building is, for me, a crucial element of a fantasy book. On the other hand, the pace is uneven. We have some gaps in the plotline, where the action jumps several days or months ahead, and some moments are described with unnecessary detail, including repetitions. Also, apart from the leading couple, the characters seemed barely sketched. We know next to nothing about them, and their decisions are easy to guess. On top of that, I found the romantic theme awkward. Without spoiling too much, the bond between the main characters develops too early, starting when they are first facing each other on a battlefield, which is quite weird. The author uses all the popular themes in this novel, making the action predictable. Nothing surprised me in this book.

This was a great first book and the start of a remarkable series. An exciting storyline with some fascinationg characters and lots of potential for more books. I can't wait!

stunning. absolutely no notes. genuinely so romantic and lush and dramatic. loved the worldbuilding loved the characters

To be completely honest, I probably shouldn't have requested this one because I am not a romantasy reader and I also don't care about star wars. But I got swept up in the hype. Overall though it is a decent book and I can understand why a lot of people will enjoy it.
The worldbuilding and descriptions of place are great. I also really liked the interesteing magic system.
The pacing is a little inconsistent, the first half was pretty slow and then all of a sudden we start running along after around 50%, though that definitely made things more exciting. The characters were okay - I definitely think they could have done with some more development and growth on page. And the romance. Probably the slowest burn to ever smolder haha! People will love it.

I really enjoyed this book! I liked the writing and I thought the world building was fascinating. There were a few places were maybe it could have been edited out a bit and the ending was somewhat predictable, but overall, it was a very solid read.

THE most addictive slow burn you’ll read for a long time. You’ve not read real enemies to lovers until you’ve read The Hurricane Wars!

I flew through this book. The first 20% or so was a little info dumpy while the world build up but once I got past that point I literally could not stop. So good!

Definitely one of my favourite reads of 2023.

⭐⭐⭐.5
0.5🌶️

“And what, pray tell, are you still doing here?” Alaric inquired, like the complete and utter twat that he was.”

I gave this book 3.5 stars only because I found the world-building that occurred for nearly 50% of the book extremely confusing, and it took way too long to get into the actual crux of the story.

Once I got into the story though, I did enjoy the book much more and definitely wanted to keep reading to find out what would happen, and I most definitely want to read the next book in the series.

This book was the epitome of slow-burn - I think this was the slowest-burn I have encountered in a book to date😂 The Enemies-to-lovers enemies-to-lovered, however, I don't even think you can call them lovers at the end of this book and that is what frustrated me. I got annoyed with the fact that Tal went from admitting her feelings to herself in one breath and in the literal next breath shoved them away, I thought by the end she would have come to terms with her feelings, alas she did not.

This book did have a lot of good moments, and I did really enjoy the interactions of Tal and Alaric - who was my overall favourite character. I felt I understood him and where he was coming from more than I did Tal who I found extremely immature.

Overall it was quite an enjoyable book. It had a very interesting magic system and the premise of the story had me hooked, I just wish the beginning wasn't so long.

3.5 rounded up to 4.

Well, firstly, I did enjoy this one, but how it was written confused me a little. I found it quite YA until possibly the last 30% then it seemed to grow up a little and we got spice and the pace really ramps up. I love Romantasy but it was difficult for me to understand the difference and turn of events towards the end, it felt a little like it was sprung on me.

I’ll definitely be picking up the next book, I just hope that there is a little more fluidity in the style.

thank you to the author, publisher and netgalley for this arc.

3 stars (for now, because it would be unfair to rate it less)

i tried over and over again to start reading this book, but i couldn't do it. i couldn't get past the first 10%. not because it wasn't good, because it had barely even started, but i think it might have been a me-issue. just a "wrong time" type of situation.

i will definitely try reading this again in the future, and update this review accordingly!

Loved the world building accomplished so well in this story, it’s a great ‘enemies to lovers’ fantasy tale. Strong female characters are always appreciated by me and the magical elements are just the icing on the cake.

The Hurricane Wars isn’t a book I’ve been aware of for very long. I feel like I saw it randomly one day on social media, and then suddenly it was everywhere. After seeing it a lot in the months building up to release, I decided that it really looked like something I’d love. This is another great addition to the slowly rising Romantasy genre, and I really enjoyed every moment of it. However, if you’re looking for a super spicy romantasy book, this is not it.

Before picking up this book, I had no idea that The Hurricane Wars started as ReyLo fanfic, but you can definitely see those influences right from the start. I buddy read this book with a friend, who was re-reading it and I remember sending them a message enquiring whether this was supposed to be a Fantasy book or Sci-fi. It is fantasy through and through but you can really see the Star Wars kind of influences with the airships that the world has. As a Star Wars fan myself, I actually really enjoyed this, and I do feel like once you get into it, this world and the characters do stand on their own as well.

One thing I really enjoyed about The Hurricane Wars was that it’s a book of two halves. You have the first half focusing on the exact wars mentioned in the title, and at the start of this book I was certain the hurricane wars was going to be the entire focus of the book, if not the series. But as you get further into the book you see the aftermath of the wars after they have ended… or maybe come to a pause (it’s a series, so who knows if they’re truly done). I actually loved this as I find with fantasy books that have wars in them, the wars never finish until the end of the series and you never see that journey of how the worlds and characters recover, so I loved that half way through the first book we start seeing this element. It was a really unique and fresh take for me.

The romance between the characters is slow burn throughout the entire book. It is a romantasy book but if you’re wanting the characters to admit their love for each other fast… you’re not going to find that here. I really enjoyed the slow burn. As a plot focused reader, I really like when the romance is a slight hint but not overpowering the plot. That’s what I found here. The romance is a strong focus but it’s interweaved with the plot so perfectly that there is no overpowering going on here which was fantastic. Plot and romance is very well balanced in this one.

My one gripe with this book was the characters. I loved both of the main characters, I loved the light and dark element of their powers and how they complimented each other. But considering this is an adult book, the characters felt very YA. Not that that’s a bad thing, I love YA books, but I just felt like their personalities, their behaviours was just way younger than their supposed ages, which felt a little bit disjointed to me for an adult book. Especially considering they were both soldiers in a way… their attitudes were just super immature at times. The miscommunication between them drove me insane. I have come to the conclusion that both of them are just stupid, and I wanted to reach into the book and bang their heads together. I ended up getting so frustrated at them throughout the book. Miscommunication tropes are one of my least favourite tropes and they just ended up annoying me a little bit.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and it has great potential to be an amazing series. There was quite a bit of worldbuilding, so my advice is have the map in the front of the book on hand for the first few chapters. I am really looking forward to the second book and seeing where this story goes. It was a strong first book of a series and I will definitely be keeping an eye on Thea Guanzon as a potential rising author for me.

What a fantastic book! I immediately need the next one!
I loved the world building and magic system in this one, it was really cool. I loved that it was a genuine enemies to lovers and that the main characters each had their own motivations and agendas. Talasyn was an absolute fire cracker and always gave as good as she got. She was unpractised, though, at taking compliments, and she often read situations incorrectly, landing her in hot water frequently. She was orphaned and fighting in a war she couldn't see the end of. Constantly trying to keep one step ahead of the Night Empire, to keep her people safe.
Prince of the Night Empire, Alaric was his father's stoic heir, unflappable. Until he came across Talasyn and discovers that she has the magic that began the Hurricane Wars in the first place. He should kill her, right? I loved Alaric's quiet assuredness, and his dry wit. He gets under Talasyn's skin so easily, which always yields amusing results.
This book would be excellent for fans of Iron Flame, Throne of Glass, and The Prison Healer.

I enjoyed this book, it took a while to get into but it had lots of tropes I like
Enemies to lovers
Marriage of convenience
Light and dark magic system
Broody MMC
thankyou NetGalley for giving me an arc I would recommend it

While there were elements of the world building and relationships I really enjoyed, overall this book didn't work for me. My main issue was the pacing, the story felt like it dragged a lot of the time which impacted my ability to really immerse myself in the story. I definitely think there is an audience for this, so I encourage you to pick it up.