I received this book as an ARC through NetGalley.
I have been waiting for this book since it was announced and the enemies to lovers was so good and I loved the magic and the blend of futuristic and fantastical elements.
However, there were some points where the prose rambled on for a little too long and I found myself skimming passages. Also, since we have both Talasyn and Alaric’s POV it makes Talasyn a little less sympathetic in her actions towards Alaric since we know Alaric’s thoughts concerning the matter.
I still loved it, and am eagerly awaiting book 2!

THW is my kind of adult fantasy. We've got two extremely touch-starved sexy people on opposite sides of a war, who "reluctantly" enter an ✨arranged marriage✨ to (i) smooth over some political business and (ii) basically save the world from an impending natural disaster. Throw in some opposing light/dark magic and our two main characters incapable of not being at each others throats (in more ways than one 😏) and I am standing at attention 🫡 .

Arranged marriage trope will always get me, and I am not ashamed to admit that. While it does take a little bit for things to pick up, once things start progressing between Alaric and Talasyn I struggle to stop reading and must keep devouring so that I can continue to squeal and kick my feet as I watch this tumultuous alliance turn into everything I could want and more.

I do feel it's my duty to add the disclaimer that I came into reading this book as someone who has read the original story this was inspired by an ungodly amount of times, and could recite the whole thing verbatim if I needed to. It is a god-tier comfort read for me. And I adore Thea. As such, it's fair to acknowledge that I am most definitely coming into this with a personal bias, and with some a priori knowledge that helps me have a better grasp on the world that Thea has set-up. But that doesn't make me any less hooked to know where this new story is going and see how these characters stories continue to be fleshed out.

If I thought about it long enough it's probably between 4-5 stars from me, and to be fair I will list a few of my minuscule gripes.
- Multiple relatively large time jumps where (arguably) a lot of individual character/plot development likely occurred, which I'm generally never a fan of.
- Felt lacking on the background of the Night Empire... which although their Emperor is half of the story, I feel like we only scratched the surface of what is going on in there. But, to be fair, this is the first of a trilogy so I am fine working under the expectation that we'll get more in future instalments.
- I am torn as to whether this would've benefited from the first book being more focused on Talasyn and Alaric's individual stories pre-meeting (in line with those previous two points). While I am a simple person, who just wants my two hot baddies to be at each others throats, I also think it would've help give the characters personal journeys more substance and really propped them up for their behaviour we see when interacting with one another. Particularly for Alaric, while I love my hard-exterior-grown-man-boy, I also think there are times that his actions/thoughts don't align with what you would expect based on his upbringing for the past 26ish years.
- Last one, towards the end we get a lot of the "he/she could never feel the same way I do about them/it's all a ruse" line of thinking for both of them... which is one of my least favourite devices in many "enemies to lovers" romances

ANYWAYS, I love this book and will sing its praises as well as gremlin Talasyn and her Night Daddy Alaric with his gauntlets (which must stay on) from the rooftops for as long as I live.

I appreciate the worldbuilding Guanzon did. Sometimes I feel like romantasies put worldbuilding on the backburner but this was not the case. I had a clear sense the world and the politics at play which made me appreciate this story so much more. THE HURRICANE WARS is very, very ReyLo. So if that's your vibe, you're going to love this but I can see why others may not.

I know a lot of people love this one, but it just wasn't for me. It was very much a Reylo fanfic, but moved a bit slower for my liking.

This was marketed as an enemies to lovers romance in a Filipino inspired fantasy world, which is absolutely correct. But I think it's also important to note that this started as a Reylo fanfiction because that is so much of this story, and to be honest if I had known, I wouldn't have requested it.

Talasyn and Alaric are on opposite sides of a war and end up in an arranged marriage after years of meeting on the battlefield. There is obvious dislike with a slow realization of attraction and various political machinations that prevent them from being together. It's well written but I wish Guanzon had been able to develop this a bit more beyond it's Reylo origins. The world could be really interesting, but we don't get to see enough of it for me to care, and I couldn't read the descriptions of Talasyn or Alaric without picturing Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver and it really took me out of the story. Between that and some of the snarky dialogue, the longer the book went on the more grating I found the relationship.

I think it could be a really interesting series, but unless the sequel gets rave reviews I will be giving it a pass. I could be interested in Guanzon's next series though!

It really, really, really, really, really, really, REALLY needs to marketed as a Reylo fanfic. I didn't know that until I was way too far into it and I can't say that I love it. It doesn't make the book make any more sense, and it didn't help me connect any of the dots.

I really loved reading this book! I thought it was engaging and definitely an ode to Star Wars!

I mean the Rey and Kylo fan fiction was hard at work here and I loved it.

It combined ships, dragons, unique magic, light and dark powers, and more. Which I thought was fantastic!

I’m dying for book two and may I add that I think having the audiobook is SO HELPFUL because I was struggling with pronunciations until grabbing the audiobook!

Absolutely staggered by Thea Guanzon's storytelling, it's intense, immersive and impossible to put down. I've said this before but it's unlike any other Light vs Dark fantasy out there and the worldbuilding is vast without being overwhelming. The Hurricane Wars is perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas and R.F. Kuang but I'll take it a step further say that if you're still hungover from Fourth Wing, then this is the cure for it. It's an epic enemies-to-lovers Romantasy with an intense chemistry between the main characters that will keep you turning the pages until you've devoured the whole book (and yes, there are dragons!).

The Hurricane Wars is a Southeast Asian inspired enemies-to-reluctant allies-to-lovers (like for real enemies cause they're on the opposite sides of a war) Romantic Fantasy series starter that's rich in lore, politics, worldbuilding, culture, tension, magic and steam. I dare you not to fall in love with Talasyn (our scrappy survivor of a heroine), Alaric (the softest, most down bad manwife) and their turbulent journeys with a banger of an ending that left me sobbing and staring at the ceiling for days.

This book started off slow for me but it did pick up as it went on. I really enjoyed the world building and the descriptions of the world. I cannot wait for more!

I DNF'd this book at 40%. This book has 0 world building. I was 11% of the way in the book and had no idea what was going on because none of the terms were explained. I started kind of figuring out things for myself but I was really just grasping at straws and making up what I thought was right. The story line has a lot of potential, but the writing, in my opinion, was not good. It felt like the story was jumping around and there was no transition from one part to another. The fact that the book even have parts that are like "4 months later" did not set well with me. Like what the heck were the characters doing during that time. I just could not finish this. I did not review this on any other platform because I do not post dnfs has reviews.

The Hurricane Wars was neither here nor there. I enjoyed it, but I didn't particularly love it. There were more parts that bored me than engaged me.

Dnf’d at 44% in

I feel like was just waiting for more than meh world building. Once the romance started up I was still just kind of glazed over from the world building.

This suffers I think because it didn’t have enough laying out the world and relied on you knowing it was fic. I think if we had trimmed up the opening to get to the romance faster it would have been great.

I enjoyed this book, but didn’t connect with the romance as much as I wanted to. I will DEFINITELY be reading book 2. My book club overall loved this book. The story is unique and I loved the cultural influences. I love how swoony Alaric is, and how intelligent Talasyn is. This is definitely a book I’ll recommend to my followers!

This….was definitely interesting. Again, another issue I have with these romantasies, even though I love them is that I would really appreciate a bit more on the world building side but also I felt that the romance was just compelling either.

This world is SO ELABORATE! It’s so expansive and beautiful and I felt very immersed in it. It felt a little slow to me at first with trying to learn the terminology and everything but it does pick up thankfully. The enemies to lovers/slow burn is so well done and enjoyed watching Alaric and Talasyn’s relationship unfold. I’m very excited to read the sequel! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

As someone who has been following and reading Thea’s work online for years this release was a major treat! I am so thrilled for the whole world to fall in love with Thea’s writing like I have. This book like everything else she has written was phenomenal. I’m crying just thinking about it.

Initial reviews had me moving The Hurricane Wars down my TBR, but now that I’ve finished it, I’m kicking myself for not starting it sooner. The plot drew me right in and wouldn’t let go. I am OBSESSED with Talasyn and Alaric and the chemistry between them. I had completely forgotten that this story originated as Reylo fanfiction, but would have picked up on it even if I had gone in blind. This book perfectly encapsulated those vibes and the characters were portrayed with such vivid imagery, it was almost as if I was walking among them. This was one of the easiest 5⭐️ ratings that I’ve given all year and I can’t express how excited I am for the sequel and another jaunt into Nenavar. The only thing that could have made this story any better was a bit more of a climactic ending. I definitely don’t hate the current one, but a cliffhanger to leave me breathless definitely would have set it apart.

This is going to be one of the biggest fantasy books of 2023 and I can’t wait for everyone else to read this. If you are a longtime fantasy reader you’re going to love the exquisite plot line and lovable characters that bring the story forward.

This was one of the most hyped books of 2023 but sadly I didn't love it as much as the others did perhaps because I went in with a lot of expectations. I was expecting an Asian inspired fantasy because of the marketing but this one was mainly a Reylo fanfic of sorts(not that they're bad lmao, I've loved many of them 😂) with a magic system and world building that resembled a western fantasy. It does have an enemies to lovers vibe but I never really got the feeling that they hated each other? Alaric's family and armies have killed so many of Talasyn's friends but I never felt like she hated him🤷🏻‍♀️ They kept going back and forth for no reason and then we have an arranged marriage plot thrown in. I thought we'd get some political intrigue but there wasn't much of that, just Talasyn bickering with Alaric despite knowing that her newfound family could be in danger. We don't get to see Talasyn fully utilize her powers or develop them either. So it just felt like wasted potential. Honestly this could have been so much more better but a mix of things kept me from loving this one completely. But others might enjoy this romantasy story!

This is a book where I think the story bit off a little more than it could chew. As a debut novel, I suppose it's not too terrible. It's definitely a start. But I think it's simply a matter of the synopsis confidently promising more that it could realistically provide.

I do like the concept. It's not exactly unique, but it is entertaining enough. I think the lack of cohesion between Parts I and II really do a disservice to the story. I found Part II more interesting and more developed in comparison, but I think Part I really could have set up a completely different (and more engaging) story if it had been utilized more effectively.

And while I never disliked the characters, there also wasn't really anything compelling me to like them either. They do get some more complex characterization as the novel progresses, which helped me get more into their story, but some readers may say it comes a bit too late.

But all in all, even with some hiccups, I am walking away from this with a general positive feeling. And although I don't think I will continue the series, I don't regret picking this up.