I absolutely loved this book. I am a fantasy book fan and this one actually piqued my interest as it has something a little bit different. The characters were well drawn, great relationships and excellent story. Everything about it is absolutely great. I cannot wait for the next book.

The Hurricane Wars has rich world building, a brilliant slow burn romance, loads of tension and a great enemies-to-lovers plot. It's one of the best fantasy novels I have read this year and I cannot wait to find out where it goes next.

I had high expectations for this book and the premise promised a lot, but as I read, this enthusiasm deflated.

I felt that the characters didn't quite convince me, that their dialogues were quite basic and I couldn't connect at all. The fact that they go from hate to love so quickly and that little happens between them for this development to happen was something that bothered me the most. Lately I've been looking a lot for good character development and for it to make me want to read it and this didn't happen. There were very promising secondary characters who just fizzled out there, which is a shame, but I suppose they could be developed in the next books.

I read on the internet that this book came from a Reylo fanfic and the truth is that I find it interesting that stories like this can be adapted! And although I didn't read the fanfic, I can say that the characters are quite different from what is seen in the original story of the franchise.

Beyond my opinion, I think certain readers may like it, I don't have the supreme say on fantasy books. It has moments and situations that might be interesting to fantasy readers and that I think they would enjoy. But it wasn't for me.

Thank you HarperCollins UK for the ARC I read via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins for the advanced e-copy of the book!

4.0

Genuinely, an enjoyable read for me! I had a lot of fun with this book, I really couldn’t put it down, I loved the pining and yearning, the enemies to lovers trope, the opposites attract, and both the main characters.

Like most romantasy novels, there is always the greater threat of war in the background that the two main leads will need to fix, and in this novel, they decide to have a marriage of convenience. The Hurricane Wars is an ever-looming threat to the peace of the world and drives the main conflict for the two leads; both struggle with their internal biases as they are on opposing sides of the war, so I was interested on how the political alliance between two leaders would play out.

I will say, this book reads as an introduction to the main story, because it’s 80% world-building and romance and 20% something of a plot brewing. Despite me loving the chemistry of the characters, the world-building was an absolute drag to get through, I still don’t even know what the world is like. It’s described so flimsily that it’s hard to be interested in the world of Lir, so I turned my focus to the characters.

Now, this book does have hints of YA tropes, and I thought it was a Zutara fanfiction turned book and got excited (it’s not a Zutara fanfic but a Reylo one) but was sorely disappointed. I bring this up because it feels like the author and the publisher is hanging on the fact that this already has an audience and people who like those kinds of fanfic will drift to this naturally. I drifted to this because it’s a Filipino author, so I was expecting more and my expectations were a lot higher for Guzon because of this. This overall makes the writing quality for a romantasy dwindle, it’s written the way a fanfiction would be written and not for a highly-anticipated romantasy novel. Romantasy can be done well without the need to appeal to fanfic readers or Reylo shippers, and this knowledge clouded my experience with this book, but not too much because I still really enjoyed it.

The romance was written well, but the world-building needs a LOT of work, and Guzon should get an editor that actually knows how to make a good book and a marketing team who would not lie to her audience. Overall, I’m still going to buy the paperback copy and I can’t wait for the sequel. Just sorely disappointed that this wasn’t a Zutara fanfiction 🥲 ALSO I LOVE THE TAHO MAN REFERENCE ABSOLUTE SLAY

I loved the world and the magic system.

But having said that, I found this book quite boring. The characters were flat, with cringey dialogue and behaviours that didn't match their words. The plot was nowhere to be seen, and I wanted to stop reading multiple times. Even the climax wasn't that great, and the book felt long and dull. There was masses of info-dumping that felt overwheelming and unnecessary.

Overall, I didn't enjoy it and I won't be continuing with the series.

My first thought after the first couple of chapters of The Hurricane Wars was wait - this is giving Star Wars. So I checked, and apparently this started out as a Reylo fanfic? And while I seem to be one of the very few people who don‘t ship Reylo, I‘ve loved every book I read that was inspired by that pairing.

Knowing that this originated from a fanfic explained some of the things that bothered me - imperfect worldbuilding, for one, especially lacking a map due to it being a review copy; the insanely drawn-out, not even slow-burn romance (source: I write fanfic - not chronologically, to my readers‘ chagrin - and my characters will still both be in denial about wanting to kiss each other fifteen chapters from now) and a bit of an imbalance in how well the main characters were developed.

The story started off very strongly, throwing the reader into the middle of the action when everything is going downhill already and quickly gets much worse. There was a lot of worldbuilding initially and the setting intrigued me so much, but sadly both took a bit of a backseat as the story progressed, in favour of a so-slow-it‘s-tedious-burn romance that’s basically love-at-first-sight-but-they‘re-the-enemy-but-they’re-so-hot. Throw in a forced marriage and the threat of an imminent world-ending magic catastrophe that they can only avert together, and you have all the forced proximity that you need.

The romance plot was really too overbearing for my liking. It took me longer than anticipated to get through this book, because I just got bored reading about either Talasyn or Alaric pining over each other for fifty pages straight before some actually plot-relevant thing happened. I very much enjoyed the short episodes where we got to see more of Nenavar, and I hope to see more of the continent in the sequel, too.

Although the book was written from both POVs of the main characters, I feel like I got to know Talasyn so much better than Alaric. I know more about her pasts, I know her character better (Alaric is literally just stoic and brooding) and I know more about her emotions beyond not wanting to follow the rules her superiors impose on her and thinking Alaric is hot. I hope that this will be remedied in the sequel and that, when we get to see Alaric at home, his character will be developed more fully as well.

With all the talk of Talasyn‘s missing-maybe-dead friend Khaede, I can’t help but think that maybe she‘s in some far-flung corner of the continent, planning a revolt together with some hidden resistance group (preferably with Alaric‘s mother) that will mess things up in the sequel. But that‘s just a blind guess on my side!

Either way, I‘m excited for the sequel!

4/5 stars.

I’ve heard a lot of amazing reviews about this book and it did not disappoint.
The world building and magic system was fantastic and woven perfectly throughout the book. The first part of the story was a fair bit of information to take in and set the story.
The plot was steady and I enjoyed that there was always something going on.
I really enjoyed the slow burn between Talasyn and Alaric who are both fighting on opposite sides of the war. The dynamic of these two was fantastic. The banter, tension and the slow burn building between the two!
The romance was perfect!
It came across so well in the book and it made me the reader really invested.

I really enjoyed the authors writing style in this book and felt that it flowed really well throughout the book. This is the first book I’ve read from the author and I’ll definitely be looking out for future releases.

I’m really looking forward to the sequel of this book.

Thank you to Netgalley, the Author and the Publisher for an eARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The Hurricane Wars- @theagwrites
4. 5 stars

Wow what a book! This book has everything I love: politics, enemies to lovers, so much world building, an interesting magic system and.... Dragons!

I thought the beginning was a little slow but it picked up after a few chapters and everything fell into place perfectly. I really loved the enemies to lovers relationship in this book with so much banter between the two but also in a "haha I'm going to stab you in your sleep" kinda way.

I think the two different POVs worked so well and I loved seeing both of their reactions to situations, especially romantic ones but I was almost screaming at them "HE/SHE FRIGGING LIKES YOU DUMBASS, CAN'T YOU SEE THAT?!"

I think the world building was beautiful and DEVISTATING at the same time. The devistation of war at Hornbills Head compared to the lushness of the Nenavarian jungle and the dark and shadow of Kesath. It was beautifully described. The jungle was my absolute favorite place in the whole book.
My favorite part was the wedding! Everything was so beautifully detailed and the vows were stunning. It really hit me in the heart!

I think the characters were well developed with back stories and their own trauma, self doubt and family issues. I think that the characters were written so incredibly well and I ended up absolutely loving the two main characters Talasyn and Alaric so much!

So... When can we have book 2...?👀 Asking for a friend 👀

Okay so I loved loved loved the magic and settings in this book. The magic system was so interesting and I would love to explore more of it in the future. The ying yang of the two main characters having opposite magic types and having to work together to combine it, perfect. The settings were fascinating, though I would have liked to know more of the Sardovia and I'm looking forward to seeing more from Alaric's home country in the next book.

So let's get to the enemies to lovers component, which almost never satisfies me in any book. So firstly, they start being attracted to each other pretty quickly, I'd prefer a slower burn on the attraction front. They do the thing about refusing to believe that the other loves them, which just irks me completely. And finally the genocide. Can I really forgive Alaric that? Especially after he's so unapologetic about it. I do think that this will be explored more in the next book. I think there were hints that the empire was lying to him and that he will realise that it's not all as it seems. So I've got a big WE'LL SEE on that point.

Other than the enemies to lovers disappointing me, I really enjoyed the book. I think this is an interesting world and an interesting situation and I'm looking forward to learning more.

A fabulous read. I would definitely recommend it. Thank you to the writer, publisher and NetGalley for letting me review this book

Many thanks to HarperCollins UK and NetGalley for this e-ARC. This review is my honest opinion.

After having to suffer endlessly at the hands of this book, I finally dragged myself over the finish line to free myself of this dreadful read that cost me a pair of glasses, numerous braincells, and three weeks of my life that I will never get back. This review is a rant about my terrible experience with The Hurricane Wars and it might contain mild spoilers, so read at your own risks.

I will start this review by saying that I wasn't aware that this was a Reylo fanfic until the 70% mark (thanks Mai), and while I try to put aside any prejudice I may have about published fanfiction, this may explain for the numerous problems (and calamities) this book has.

Initially, I was captivated by the worldbuilding of the world, until I realized that the author was just dumping a bunch of information over and over again. The politics and powers of Nenevar were described numerous times in the book, from the beginning to the very end chapter the descriptions were the same, just in diffent words. Mind you, this book is 480 pages, it was incredibly laborous to read through the hundreds of descriptions of things over and over again. When put in perspective, the world in this book reads like a transition between the fanfiction and an original work: in fanfictions, the characters and events are portrayed in a world that is already set, by consequence almost no worldbuilding is necessary. It may explain for why the world created by Guanzon is so poorly done.

The same things can be said about the characters. Like in many published fanfictions, the characterization is very lackluster (which is comprehensible because in FFs characters are already built). I cannot tell you more about the FMC other than that she has auburn hair, graceful form, olive skin, and a stubborn face. The MMC is even worse: tall form, black hair, big hands, and nothing else. For fantasy, I don't necessary like books that are character-driven, but unfortunately I don't like those that are driven by characters that are flat as an A4 paper, either, lest it be for 480 pages.

My biggest problem with this book lays in the tropes it has. When I heard that this book contains the arranged marriage trope, I was very excited because I LOVE that trope, so imagine my appallment when I realized that this is a colonizer romance. Yikes. When I say that common sense doesn't exist in this book, I mean it. The FMC, despite agonizing about how the MMC's and his army colonize her people, kill her comrades, massacre innocent people, still feels attraction and sympathy towards him (couldn't be me, Talasyn stay safe though.) Moreover, in my opinion, this book borderline contains an apologism of colonialism, because, no, being a colonizer isn't sexy (despite many internal POV saying how it's necessary), and no, coercing the FMC into a marriage for the sake of being spare from colonization isn't either. I don't know what it is with an increase popularity of colonizer romances, but please, no more.

Overall, this would be your jam if you like Reylo colonizer romance with no substance, otherwise save your braincells and your time.

Sadly I really struggled with this one, I really wanted to love it but sadly it just wasn’t for me.

I’m sure there will be lots of people that absolutely love this book though.

lol. rotfl even. i know the backstory of this book and dear god. it shows. the pacing is just all over the place and the worldbuilding is clumsy. prose was too purple and indulgent. alas.

3.5!
I admit that although I found it to be an absolutely enjoyable book, I was expecting something more!

The story is very predictable (it starts off like a Reylo fanfic) and I felt little involved in intrigues and betrayals which I found really too obvious.
It has some really good scenes and situations that pushed me to devour the pages but the rest is all very immature!

I found the Enemies to Lovers trope intriguing but I admit I could barely stand the protagonist, who was at times silly and childish.

It's a smooth, pleasant and very captivating read, especially in the second half, so I think I'll continue the saga because it's quite intriguing and I'm curious to see how it ends but I hope there aren't all the tropes of the genre like in this volume!

Thank you very much to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-Arc!

3.5⭐️
The Hurricane Wars was one of my most anticipated reads for the year and I think many others thought the same. In the lead up to its release, popularity for the book exploded all over social media and hasn’t slowed down since.
The book focuses on Talasyn, a soldier with magic, known as a Lightweaver and is assumed to be one of the last ones after they were killed off by the Night Empire.
The Heir to the Night Empire is Alaric Ossinast who is extremely powerful in Shadow magic. He leads the Night Empires army and this is where enemies Talasyn and Alaric meet for the first time.
The book appears to cover a large timeline with a few jumps throughout.
The book opens with Talasyn attending the wedding of two of her fellow soldiers, something that doesn’t happen that often so everyone is appreciating a moment of peace during the tumultuous Hurricane Wars threatening them. Sol and Kaede married but not before war rages once again. Everyone springs to action but eventually have to retreat due to the Night Empire wiping their army out quickly. Talasyn crashes close to the enemies and is forced to reveal her powers and soon catches the attention of Alaric.
The two get into an intense fight not just physically but also magically. Both realise the other is extremely powerful and they go their own way. Although they’re enemies, there’s definitely chemistry and a hint of attraction between them, especially on Alaric’s part where he realises there may be an equal for him in every way.
After heartbreaking casualties and the war becoming harder and more impossible to win, Talasyn is sent to explore ways to make her more powerful and Alaric is chasing after her. Maybe because she’s the enemy but probably more for the fun of it! The two are captured at a Lightweaver shrine and Talasyn ends up being the long lost daughter to the Prince of Nevar, leading to an arranged marriage between kingdoms to reduce the threat of war
I found the book really challenging to get into. It was rather predictable and almost a check list of tropes and points to hit to make the book more popular online. Seeing simple, straight to the point tropes included are more likely to entice new readers, especially the romantasy, enemies to Lovers labels that people are obsessed with in the book community at the minute.
I hadn’t realised the book was a Reylo inspired fan fic and now looking back I can definitely see some resemblance.
At parts it was toe curling greatness but at other points I felt it was so predictable and juvenile at times.
Although it was a tough read, it was entertaining and I’ll probably continue the rest of the trilogy when it’s released. It didn’t live up to my expectations but I think it’s advertising has a lot of responsibility in that sense.
Thank you for the eARC!

4.5⭐️ A hard to put down romantasy set in a beautifully crafted world with a sizzling slow-burn

Thank You you to Netgalley and Harper Voyager for the earc. This is my honest and biased review, all thoughts are my own😊

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and it did not disappoint. The second I finished I wanted the sequel because OMG I NEED MORE!

The Hurricane Wars had everything I want from an enemies to lovers romantasy including:
💜Slow Burn
💛Marriage of Convenience
💜Forbidden Love
💛Courtly Politics
💜Beautiful World Building
💛The Bridge Kingdom Vibes with a hint of Star Wars and GOT
💜Reylo Coded Characters

I thought the world and magic system the author created was so beautiful and detailed, something truly magical that I was easily swept up in. The pacing of the book was good and once I was a few chapters in I couldn’t put it down. There was so much sizzling sexual tension and chemistry between the two MC’s and I loved that the story was told through both of their POVs because it gave a wonderful insight into their conflict. Definitely recommend this for fans of romantasy everywhere! 🥰

I've heard a lot about this book, particularly in terms of it starting off as a fan fiction. I can't speak to that aspect of the novel, as I have not read the content it was based off of, however, overall, I though this was a solid first book. I really enjoyed learning about the history of the world and loved the back and forth between the main characters throughout the book. I will say, I did enjoy the first half more than I did the second, but again, overall, I do think this was a solid start to the series.

The Hurricane Wars was one of my most anticipated 2023 reads, it’s been very hyped & I kept seeing it everywhere along with rave reviews, when I come across books like this I always go in with a fair amount of caution & in this instance, that’s served me well.

THW is very obviously a Reylo fic turned book, I am not really much of a Star Wars person but I have enjoyed published Reylo fic’s in the past, but this one just didn’t quite cut it. The influences are very Star Wars based, which in itself is not a problem, but there’s also almost seems to be an assumption that the reader had this base knowledge before going into the book. Because of this a lot of the world building is glazed over or simplified at best. I found myself very confused about why the hurricane war was even happening, why it escalated & its sudden end plus why it was even called the hurricane war in the first place, there was an oversimplification & lack of nuance in the opposing sides where it didn’t go past surface level “our side good, your side bad”. Considering the rich lore this book is essentially drawing inspiration from, I found this pretty disappointing. The same can also be said for the political intrigues of Nanavar court, we are told this is a matriarchal society where the political landscape requires delicate manoeuvring to get to best outcome, but the issues are surface level bickering at best.

Leading on from that, the physical world building was pretty lacklustre too, apart from some fairly basic descriptions during specific scenes you don’t really get a feel for the world they’re in & how it works, like there’s 7 moons & at no point has how this would affect a world or it’s relevance been mentioned? There’s also dragons & you can’t just tell me about them then only mention them in passing like twice?? How do their ships work & what do they look like? Their magic was quite interesting but again, the details are really glazed over & it’s very unclear how it actually works, what the nexus’s do & how it affects them & just generally the limitations & what is/isn’t feasible.

Onto the characters, so individually, I didn’t hate either Talasyn or Alaric, they were fairly basic & didn’t really seem to have much below the surface either. But together, I just didn’t understand them? There was no chemistry between them, I was waiting for these moments of pure tension that you get in an enemies to lovers trope, but it just never really happened? Again, because of what this is based of, it seems to be implied that you know the back story of why they hate each other, but in THW, they literally meet like twice before suddenly all they can think about it the other one? It seemed really strange & very forced, like very early on it was decided they had to have an e2l plot line & so everything else was shoehorned into that plot line. Their relationship didn’t progress much over the course of the book, if anything they go backwards? Also includes potentially one of the most cringe “intimate” scenes I’ve ever read, maybe because I wasn’t feeling them together, who knows!

Finally, overall the pacing of the book felt really slow, I struggled to get into it & keep myself interested in it. There wasn’t really any cohesive plot thread, the book flitted from trope to trope which seemed to prevent it from gathering any momentum plot wise, if 1 or even 2 tropes had been picked & stuck to I think it would have been a stronger book overall, rather than bumbling around trying to be too many things at once. Also, we learn so much (compared to literally anything else of significance in this book) about Khaede & then nothing happens?

I dunno, I mean I finished it, but it felt like a first draft not the finished product tbh. I think all the elements individually are great & in theory should make up a story I really like, but put together it just missed the mark for me unfortunately.

Thank you to Harper Voyager and Netgalley for the opportunity to review this ARC.

This book took me a while to get into, I was frustrated with how slow it started and the constant repetition of information. I did not need to be told about the moons every 10 sentences. However, I continued as I had been told by others it was worth it. Once all the action kicked off, it was hard to put down. I loved Talasyn and her attitude and just her, but it took me a long while to get fully immersed in the story. This book had so much promise and the whole story line was interesting, it just felt like it was missing something.

I am intrigued to see where this one will go in the next book, I really hope there is less info dumping and we just learn things organically as we need to. I really wanted to love this one, it was so hyped and that might be part of the problem.

*Thank you to HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction, HarperVoyager and NetGalley for providing me this book in exchange for an honest review*

I was afraid to pick up The Hurricane Wars after the mixed reviews but honestly if I wasn't afraid, I would have pick it sooner. Thank God, I did pick it up because this book may be the best book I've read in 2023. The plot was AMAZING, the characters developed great and although I love enemies to lovers but hate arranged marriage this was by far a great book. I implore you to read this book. You seriously don't know what you're missing.