3.5*

I first picked this book up over a month ago and stopped reading after 1 chapter as it wasn't pulling me in.
I picked it back up a few days ago and I'm glad I did.

The book follows Talasyn and Alaric who have grown up on opposing sides of the Hurricane Wars, one as an orphan on the side of the rebellion and the other the son of the ruthless Night Emperor.
The book is mostly in Talasyns POV but we do get some Alaric Povs thrown in throughout which I loved.

I would say if you're a fan of romantasy,slow burn, enemies to lovers, hidden identity, political intrigue and arranged marriages/marriages of convenience tropes then you might love this book.

There is a decent amount of world building within although I do wish there was a map included as it was sometimes difficult to picture where places are located but other than that it was easy enough to follow.

There's a few twists within the book, some obvious and some unexpected which kept things interesting. I can't wait for book 2 to see more of the characters and hopefully get to find out what happened to a couple of the side characters which I liked and didn't get to see nearly enough of.

Thankyou Netgalley for an E-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

First of all, I would like to say thank you for the review copy, which was provided to me by the publisher. This fact does not in any way affect my personal opinion of this book. This post contains advertising and the rights for the book belong to the publisher.

Of course, is this only my personal opinion of the book and just because I give this rating to the book doesn’t mean, that everyone will have that opinion.

A little side note before we start: I received this book as an ARC, but because of formatting issues, I decided to wait for my final copy to arrive and read that one. This review is about the finished book and not the ARC.

I want to say, I love the cover! The colours are gorgeous, and I think, that this is one of my most beautiful books on my shelf. My Fairyloot edition is also a stunner, but the standard edition is sooo gorgeous.

My main issue with the book was the world-building. I had problems getting into the world the first 100 pages. I didn’t understand certain technical terms, and the history was a bit confusing for me. After a while, I got into the book, but still, in my opinion, it lacked a pacing that kept me hooked.

The writing style, besides that, was good. Overall, this story gave me major Reylo Vibes, and after seeing the fanart, I think I’m not wrong. I liked both characters and that the reader could see them struggle and grow. Sometimes, I rolled my eyes at the FMC, but I enjoyed my reading time.

The tension between them is good, and I can’t wait to read more of them in the second volume. I expected a cliffhanger, but it was way different than I anticipated, and I hope I don’t have to wait too long for book two.

Conclusion
Nice set-up for the second volume!

Just wasn’t for me. It wasn’t bad but I just couldn’t connect with any of the characters DNF’d about 5 chapters in!

Thankyou to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK for a free e-arc in exchange of an honest review.

I was apprehensive at the beginning as im not hugely into war/ politics heavy fantasy. As i moved further into the story i really started to love it!
-Enemies to lovers done well
-Light and dark magic
-Marriage of convenience
-Broody MMC
-Well written
-Id argue that not a whole lot happens and it ends quite abruptly (plot wise) however the amount i enjoyed seeing the two main characters together really made up for that!

5 Stars!

I've found a new obsession ladies and gentlemen. This was right up my street! Such a wonderful collection of all my favourite tropes in one book!

As you might have seen, this book had its beginnings in Reylo fanfiction which is just...say no more! Sign me up!

And please don't let the word fanfiction worry you about the writing quality because it was absolutely excellent.

In case you're currently scrolling Goodreads because you're struggling in the first quarter with the worldbuilding and specifically the names of places and characters, you're not alone! It almost requires a notebook by your side as you read. But honestly, if we can all figure out the names of the dragons in that other book that shall not be named, we can figure this out too. And the payoff is 10000000% WORTH IT!!

Okay, so what can you expect from this book? An amazing slow-burn romance brimming with genuine conflict set in a fantastically original world full of magic, dragons, airships and political intrigue.

And tension. By crikey the tension!

What I loved:

Both the FMC, Talasyn, and the MMC Alaric, were real and fully fleshed-out characters. They just unfortunately are on completely opposite sides of a decade-long war. It was fascinating to watch the slow build of their relationship, complete with emerging feelings that cause guilt and confusion. It was very much one step forward, two steps back which I thought was very realistic. A lot of the time with the enemies-to-lovers trope as soon as they start to fancy each other all previous animosity is forgotten. That's not the case here. There's too much to forgive and they both think their side was the "right" side. I can't wait to read more in this series (a trilogy, if I'm not mistaken) because I do believe one side in particular has been lied to about the justifications for the war and if I'm right that realisation will be...bad.

I also really enjoyed exploring themes of family and wanting to belong. Both the MMC and FMC have childhoods where they've felt alone and unloved. It might have been under different circumstances but the mirroring of their pain was undeniable and it was great to watch them realise the similarities.

As I mentioned up top, the writing in this was fantastic but unlike other books I've read recently it wasn't pretty writing at the expense of a good plot and characterisation. I especially enjoyed the flow from one POV to another. It was so seamless rather than a more choppy chapter-by-chapter format and I thought it was great.

Honestly, this had it all. As you can see from my rating I have no real complaints except how hard the names were to remember. I guess I'll just have to read it a few more times until they sink in. 🤪

The book doesn't end on a cliffhanger but it did leave me wishing I had the next book because I just wasn't ready to leave yet. I can't wait for more to come from this series. Literally SO excited.

Advanced Reader Copy provided in exchange for my honest review.
5 stars ★★★★★

This book is a bit of a mixed bag for me. I really enjoyed the overall premise, however the writing style did come across as fan-fiction at some points. I did really enjoy the last 40% of the book.

I really enjoyed this book. It was very well written, with a lot of intense world building, an intricate plot and wonderfully volatile main characters. This is a solid enemies to lovers book, as advertised. Whilst they do have a clear connection from their first meeting, the underlying hatred due to being on opposing sides continues throughout the book.

A were a few negatives that brought this down to a 4 star read for me. The book was information packed from the first page, introducing a number of characters and the political system in the first few pages which I felt like was quite difficult to follow at times. I also found there wasn’t as much romance as I would personally like and the whiplash from the constant back and forth of the characters was a little frustrating at times.

Overall this was a really good read and I’m looking forward to the next one.

i loved this book. the characters were well fleshed out and i loved that we got both perspectives so could see from both sides. their back stories got more complex and entangled as the story progressed, their conflict and contrast of their feelings politically and romantically, tinged with each of their childhood traumas was so well done. the tension weaved throughout was exquisite. i love the world this author created, so many beautiful sentiments and intriguing concepts in their cultures. i cannot wait for the next book to continue this story!

I really struggled to get into this, considering it's one of the books I'm seeing posted across socials I was expecting to be completely swept away and instead I found it to be a bit of a slog.

I think this was not the book for me
The wold building at the begging was really heavy the book started to get interesting halfway

Was relatively heavy going at first; writing felt too dense for my taste and furnished to an almost redundant detail at times. But overall, this was a very promising read, and I'd watch out for more of the author's works in the future!

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

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, this book takes you on a journey, it starts with action straight away, and it just continues. I loved how the world-building was set up, it wasn't too difficult to follow. The magical system was super interesting too, and I loved how there was both dark and light magic. The characters themselves were really interesting, and the TENSION!!! The tension between the characters was palpable and honestly, I couldn't get enough of it! That being said, the middle of the book was a bit stagnant and I felt the plot kinda suffered. However, that didn't take away from my enjoyment when reading this. I found myself constantly thinking about the characters whenever I wasn't reading. Also, I love a political marriage of convenience. I can't wait to see how this story develops! While the relationship between the two characters is a slow burn, it's definitely one I'm invested in!

Really enjoyed this book, characters believable and well written. Can’t help hoping Talasyn and Alaric find a way to be together and masters of their own destinies. Already looking forward to the next in the series.

I had heard a lot of hype surrounding this book but chose to go into it without knowing much about the plot which I thought worked really well for this particular book.

I was initially a bit worried because there seemed to be a lot of information and names thrown at us. But it didn’t take me too long to figure out the dynamics between the different nations.

I liked how right from the very beginning we were thrown into action, and the book was fairly plot driven, but still with some interesting characters. I also had a vivid image of the world and the different scenes which really felt like I was immersed into the story.

I found I could understand the motivations of one POV much more than the other, so I was taking sides throughout the book, but I enjoyed seeing how everything progressed and will be continuing in the future. I liked seeing the relationship dynamic between the main POV characters, but did think that it moved too quickly.

While the magic system was intriguing, I would have liked a bit more information about how it all worked, so hopefully that will come in the next book.

Overall I really enjoyed the plot of this book and, while it wasn’t a perfect read for me, I did enjoy my time reading it and am looking forward to the next one.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Collins UK for the eARC.

First of all thankyou so so much to harperCollins UK I feel very lucky I got a review copy .

So I had a little idear of what I was reading but to be honest mostly going blind and I love doing that there is no expections.
I can tell you now I totally enjoyed this book I've not read alot of fantasy for a while I feel this book has given me my love for high fantasy back .

The enjoyed the plot to this story very much and oh my gosh I'm a sucker for a slow burn enemies to lovers romance thankyou thankyou thankyou!!! That really had me invested in this story .

I did know that it was based around fanfiction I've not read that but definitely would love to now .

The only thing I would say is it was bit of slow start for me but wow didn't it ramp up the pace quick was like a shot gun in the dark wow .

The charaters I found so intriguing and you wanted to root so much for the main charaters for different reasons .

The writing was brilliant it did flow so well Thea I think is very good at her story telling and would little easter eggs into each chapter which I loved .

I definitely we reread this amazing story agian .

I'm giving the book 5 bursting stars

I really enjoyed The Hurricane Wars and couldn't put it down! It has adventure, battles, royal courts, quests, and slow burn romance, making it easy to get swept into the story. Rich detail in the world building helps to envision the different terrains throughout the book. It's perfect for readers who enjoyed The Darkening by Sunya Mara, Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, The Mirror Visitor by Christelle Dabos and Star Wars The Force Awakens movie. I would highly recommend the Hurricane Wars. I can't wait for book 2!

An exciting debut!

While this took me a bit of time to get into- there are a lot of places and names to remember- I found I very much enjoyed the storyline. Can’t wait to see what’s next!

I was super hesitant to go into this one as I'd heard mixed things but also REYLO!!! But sadly I couldn't actually get into it whatsoever, nothing would grip me and I thought the beginning was too much info, might give it another go someday but right now, I don't think it's for me.

The hurricane wars is absolutely worth the hype I have heard around it! It was wonderful! I also received this book from fairyloot and I was beyond ecstatic after reading it! I will definitely read it again! The characters, world building and story are great and I’m so glad I read this! Thank you so much NetGalley!