The romantic scenes were often cringy and I hated the emphasis on their size difference (hence why I avoid Reylo fics turned published books, huge size differences are not my thing, personally), but there were so few of them that I didn't mind them all that much. The world building and the plot weren't bad, I think the author did a decent job with both, even if the latter was predictable from the start. But at least it was interesting enough to get me to finish the book. Was it interesting enough to get me to read the sequel though? Ehhhh, not really. This war can only end with them. But an even greater danger is coming, and the strange magic they can create together could be the only way to overcome it. Talasyn and Alaric must decide… are they fated to join hands, or destroy each other? The characters change their opinion of each other as soon as it becomes convenient, but those feelings are far from earned. The Hurricane Wars will be published in October 12th and it should definitely be among Romantasy lovers most anticipated releases.

The world building is impressive, especially for her first published book. It was a little overwhelming at first so I ended up getting the Kindle ebook to follow along with while listening to the audiobook. I have a hard time envisioning characters and the setting unless I know how names of characters and places are spelled, otherwise I get distracted thinking of the different possible spellings when I should be paying attention to the story haha That third point may have affected my experience with The Hurricane Wars. When I requested it, I had no idea it was a Reylo fanfic turned into a book, and if I had known it was, I'm not sure if I would've done so. So take that into consideration.

About this book

BUT I ATE IT ALL UP and now I'm questioning my judgement while my ancestors (who fought off Dutch and British colonizers) frown upon my literary choices. My problem is that it reads painfully juvenile in almost every aspect. The prose is mostly fine, if a little repetitive and rife with genre clichés, but the dialogue between the main leads becomes truly insufferable after a while. I don’t understand what’s the point of writing an adult romance if your protagonists speak and act like immature teenagers. The banter between Alaric and Talasyn reads like something you would find in a young adult book about petty high school drama, not what two heads of state at war with one another would say. 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 The Hurricane Wars is easily the most showstopping Fantasy of the year and it lived up to all of the hype building around it. With its luscious worldbuilding, witty banter, sexual tension that leaves you breathless and characters that you are sad to say goodbye to, I have no doubt this book will be beloved by all. By the second chapter I was ready to demand an on screen adaption. It's slowburn in the best way and it drags you along, begging you for more. And the catalyst... boy was it a catalyst. I will never look at the phrase "My wife" in the same way again.

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

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Then he sees Talasyn, his sworn enemy burning bright across the battlefield. The moment they clash their lives are changed forever. I am so sad about DNFing because this was one of my most anticipated reads of the year. I gave it my best shot but unfortunately, I couldn't force myself to continue the story. And look, I LOVE romantasy, wartime stories, and enemies to lovers. This should have been my cup of tea. But sadly, it fell short in every way possible. Thea Guanzon says: ‘As a lifelong devotee of speculative fiction, I never dreamed that I’d one day have the opportunity to share an epic fantasy of my own with the world—and combine it with my other great love, romance, to boot! When I began envisioning this trilogy, I knew that I wanted to write a story about magic, about two people finding their way to each other against all odds—and I also wanted to write a story about my homeland, about our culture and all that we have overcome and what lies ahead of us still. Prince Alaric, the emperor's only son and heir, has been forged into a weapon by his father. Tasked with obliterating any threats to the Night Empire's rule with the strength of his armies and mighty Shadow magic, Alaric has never been bested. That is until he sees Talasyn burning brightly on the battlefield with the magic that killed his grandfather, turned his father into a monster, and ignited the Hurricane Wars. In a clash of light and dark, their powers merge and create a force the likes of which has never been seen.

You have to learn the rules of the game, and then you have to play better than anyone else." -Albert Einstein For a wartime fantasy story, it felt way too lighthearted. From the dialogue to the overall tone, I didn't feel the gritty, dark wartime vibes I expected. The most impactful thing that happened was Talasyn's friend's death at the beginning but after that, I never felt a single emotion. 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. HarperVoyager is proud to have acquired a new fantasy trilogy, The Hurricane Wars by exciting Filipino debut author, Thea Guanzon. The series will be set in a Southeast Asian-inspired world and features a wartime enemies-to-lovers romance with plenty of magic, airships, strange beasts, and a marriage of political convenience between sworn foes. Natasha Bardon, Publishing Director, HarperVoyager UK and Julia Elliott, Associate Editor, HarperVoyager US, acquired World English rights to The Hurricane Wars, three books by Thea Guanzon, from Thao Le at Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency. I physically could not stop reading! Mark my words: lives will be changed by The Hurricane Wars.” — ALI HAZELWOOD, New York Times bestselling author of The Love HypothesisAnd for those of you who may not know, this story is based on a Reylo fanfic that the author ended up turning into an original story. I want to state that I have not read this fanfic, or any other Reylo fanfics, so I did not go into this with any sort of bias.

read: still ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️, I wish I could read it for the first time all over again but a 2nd read through was just as good in different ways! Nowadays every romantasy seems like fanfiction of S. J. Maas and JLA, we need only to read the titles to know what is coming: bad boy is not bad, the FMC turns out to be an overpowered Mary Sue, the MMCs are some variation of our favorite batboys, vampires and daddy Niktos, . This apparently bothers absolutely no one, unless we change the fanfic to Reylo and StarWars. The beginning was slow. I was ready to two-star this like I did with every other YA romantasy I read this year. Side note, please stop calling romantasy fantasy. It is, at best, fantasy lite.HarperVoyager has shown nothing but the utmost enthusiasm and support for this process and I am incredibly thrilled to be working with such a brilliant, passionate team. I know that my messy protagonists Alaric and Talasyn are in the best of hands. I am so excited to bring The Hurricane Wars to life with HarperVoyager and collaborate with them in making this storm unfold.” An incredible debut full of rich atmosphere, clever world building, opposing magic, and sizzling romance, The Hurricane Wars is my newest obsession."— KERRI MANISCALCO, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Throne of the Fallen I due protagonisti sono perfetti, sono ben costruiti, molto vividi, reali e pieni di sentimenti! Inoltre il doppio POV ci permette di entrare nella mente di ognuno di loro e permette di comprenderli e apprezzarli ancora di più. After the 40% mark, the story turned into a typical romantasy with the marriage of convenience trope up the wazoo. There weren't really any plot twists to throw a wrench into things, which is why this isn't a solid 4 or 4.5 stars for me. I also want to give the author props for making Talasyn and Alaric their own characters. I did not read the original fanfic so she may have already made those changes, but they do not resemble Rey or Ben too much, there was clear effort in separating the two despite them both having some elements of the original characters ingrained in them.