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! All Talasyn has ever known is the Hurricane Wars. Growing up an orphan in a nation under siege by the ruthless Night Emperor, Talasyn has found her family among the soldiers who fight for freedom. But she is hiding a deadly secret: light magic courses through her veins, a blazing power believed to have been wiped out years ago that can cut through the Night Empire's shadows. so i was like “those are her memories of that random ass country she is the long lost heir to, i take it??” I will say though, I absolutely hated how the author used italics so liberally to emphasize certain words. (See what I did there? lolll) It feels very amateur fanfic and I seriously hope she stops doing it in the rest of the series. Like, okay, readers understand what you're trying to say/emphasize because of context clues, duh!!

disclaimer: it’s been almost three months since i read this so take this review and the little details with a grain of salt, because i’m writing this purely based on memory alone (and the few notes i took while reading this). 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. Why should I care about them when I know nothing about them (other than roughly who they're supposed to be)? Someone dies early on, a friend of the mc and I was just like huh okay, moving on...

eBook Details

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. This is by no means a masterpiece, and it has a lot of said tropes, but it also feels original. If this is what we get with Reylo fanfic, please give me more of it. 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

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 Anyway, if you'd like to give BIPOC-authored romantasies a try, The Hurricane Wars is a good place to start. Prince Alaric, the emperor’s only son and heir, has been tasked with obliterating any threats to the Night Empire’s rule with the strength of his armies and mighty shadow magic. He discovers the greatest threat yet in Talasyn: a girl burning brightly on the battlefield with the magic that killed his grandfather, turned his father into a monster, and ignited the Hurricane Wars. He tries to kill her, but in a clash of light and dark, their powers merge and create a force the likes of which has never been seen. 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.P. S. Because this is my 1000th review, I'm feeling nice and I'll round my rating up to 3 stars, but it's somewhere around a 2.5 on the enjoyment scale. 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!

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. 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. TW: child abandonment (past), death of parent (past), parental abuse, violence, there may be more but since I didn't read the whole thing I'm not sure. I probably would not be so hard on the romance if this book was not advertised heavily as THE enemies to lovers book. I think this will please romantasy fans who are used to a certain pace and plot structure (SJM books, A Broken Blade, From Blood and Ash, etc) but is not really suitable for anyone looking for a quality fantasy story OR a well-paced 'Zutara' 'Delena' style E2l romance. I can't believe this is only the first book in a trrilogy, because it feels like so much happened already in Book 1! I can't wait to see where the story goes in the next two sequels, and I hope we get even more angst and badass-ery from Talasyn and Alaric.

I would also like to mention that had I known this was a converted Reylo fanfic, I would not have requested it. When I read The Love Hypothesis and realized how familiar it felt, I remembered that the fanfic was better. I wonder if that is also the case here. What is the plot? ‘Chosen one’ storyline? Ending the war? The romance? After 25% I still didn't know. I even skimmed ahead and to the end to find out what happens and honestly, not much. And 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. 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. Talasyn is your typical stubborn, author self-insert, ~Strong Female Character~ suffering from lots of trauma. Alaric is also your typical broody, shadow daddy suffering from mommy and daddy issues. So, really, there's nothing new here.