This book was so hyped and I was really looking forward to it. I couldn’t get into it though. I realized shortly after that it’s supposed to be reformed Reylo fanfic and that’s not my jam. Needed a bit more work. I will say that the cover and artwork are gorgeous and definitely appeal to readers!

I will say I had no idea this was Star Wars fan fiction going in. And I am NOT a Star Wars fan. I kept reading because I AM a romantasy fan and was hopeful.

This unfortunately missed the mark for me. The wordbuilding felt clunky and not well put together. Emotions were skimmed over. The dragons barely made an appearance.

I think if you like science fiction AND fantasy AND Star Wars, you’ll like this one.

EDIT

I tried again. And I enjoyed it. The first half is slooooow. But the second half is so gloriously good.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the e-arc!
A book based on weather magic with an amazing romance? sign me up! While the story took me a little bit to get into by the end of the book, I was unbelievably immersed in the world and the characters. The world-building was fantastic; it felt detailed without being too overwhelming. I think the magic and the fantasy elements in the story were amazing. I saw some reviews comparing it to Star Wars and mentioning it was based on Reylo but I didn't really see big connections as I'm not really in the Star Wars.
I can definitely see why this book is unbelievably popular. I think it is a really strong fantasy world and I really enjoyed the banter between the two characters.

Thea Guanzon crafts a rich world of war, romance, and politics. The writing is lush and transports you to a magical world that's heavily inspired by Southeast Asia. There's plenty of humor in the dialogue and a slow-burn romance.

"The romantasy baby of RF Kuang and Sarah J. Maas"

I stopped reading after chapter 6 (16%). The prose is incredibly long-winded, resulting in a much slower pace than I'd expect. Three to four stars for the target audience. Be ready for vibes.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for the ARC.

This one sadly was a struggle for me. I was so bored and confused for the first few chapters and then not invested at all in the rest of the story.

Sadly this is a big nope from me. I really couldn't get past the writing. It was beyond too descriptive with sentences running on for a paragraph I think there was the bones of a good world in there though.

I really enjoyed this book! I really like that this is real enemies to lovers. The banter and the inner monologue is fantastic from both characters! I was left wanting more and I really am excited for the next book! Alaric and Talasyn are layered characters and the magic system in this world was really cool! Very Star Wars esque but it makes sense as this was a Reylo fanfic and I’m not mad about it 😂 The slow burn is killing me though 😂

I was super excited to get approved for this book on here, but honestly, I just felt a little bit underwhelmed by this one

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC in advance.
I really wanted to love this book. I saw it on TikTok before it came out and it seemed like I would really enjoy it. However, I just couldn’t get into it. I had to DNF at a little over 50%. I felt like the pacing was off and the romance didn’t make sense to me. I needed the story to develop but it just felt like a disjointed action adventure. Not for me unfortunately!

If you love enemies to lovers (similar to the bridge kingdom by, Danielle Jensen) I would highly recommend the hurricane wars by Thea Guanzon. The book has an intense start with maybe too much info dumping and world building. However it's saved by the great writing of its two main characters that carries the second half of the book. Highly recommend if your craving a romantasy.

I have tried to get through this book for months. I am only 75 pages in but every time I pick it up I feel like I need to reread those 75 pages.

The book started out strong, I liked that it started in the middle of a battle and our MCs met on the field, him (Mr. evil) saving her (our heroine) for reasons that I assumed would come to light later in the book (I never made it far enough to find out).

However, after that climatic start, my journey reading this book went downhill swiftly. There was so much info dumping! Words, names, terms I still don't understand, just one after the other. It was too much for me personally and I just felt confused.

Maybe I will leave it for a bit and come back to it, but I wanted to get my intital thoughts out.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review! I have to preface my review by saying that I desperately wanted to love this book. I truly believe that Guanzon is a masterful writer, and initially, I was captivated by her world-building. I struggled to understand why the FMC would be interested in the MMC, and what his redeeming qualities were. He murdered her friends and comrades, killed innocent bystanders, and wanted to colonize her people; I'm not sure how this character was redeemable in any way. Once I realized that the couple was based on Reylo, certain choices began to make sense. If this book is going to be based on fanfiction, it needs to be a "fix-it" fic and nothing was fixed in my opinion. Will I read other non-Reylo related work from Guanzon, yes, but I think I'm done with this series.

Oh, how I wanted to love this book and have it truly become my "next fantasy obsession."

I'd give The Hurricane Wars a solid 3.5 stars. It was exciting and fresh at first - everything felt wholly original even though I knew it was full of popular tropes and was based on a Reylo fanfic. But then I almost DNFed the book because it got confusing, then boring, and then changed into an entirely different book.

The best parts:
- The magic system and world-building, even though they both need more work
- The inspiration and source material from a Filipina writer who wrote something unlike any fantasy I've read before
- Reylo-inspired

The not great parts:
- I love a grumpy FMC, but Talasyn was so immature that it was cringey
- I also love a dark and brooding MMC, but Alaric at times felt one-dimensional even as he was the most interesting character
- The magic system and world need to be built out more
- The romance was...meh. I'm fine with a slow burn, but literally nothing happened until the last couple of chapters. I wasn't looking for mind-blowing spice, but the one steamy scene was painfully awkward.

I am very intrigued to see where these characters and this series go next. It's honestly not bad for a debut novel, but I expected so much more with how much hype this book had - along with a stunning cover.

Wasn't aware going in that this was a revamped Reylo fan fic. Might not have chosen had I known, but it seems revamped a lot from the original version. A talented writer, fantastic premise and setting, and a stunning cover. Congrats on your debut!

The Hurricane Wars was a little sluggish at the beginning. I don’t know if I set my expectations too high, or if it was the worldbuilding that threw me off. I know this was based on a Star Wars fan fiction, so I kept trying to find the similarities between the two universes. But once I got my feet firmly into Guanzon’s world (around the 40/50 percent mark), the plot really picked up and the story became its own thing.

The characters were enjoyable. I loved the banter between our two main characters and how they were still able to find common ground to come together for the greater good. The relationship that Guanzon built between them felt authentic and natural, given their situation.

I’m really looking forward to the next installment in this world!

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager, and Thea Guanzon for an advanced copy of The Hurricane Wars in exchange for an honest review.

I support the influx of reylo fanfic into the romance sphere, even though a lot of this was bar for bar Star Wars disguised as fantasy. Still a fun read, I love a Kylo Ren based hero

If you love Reylo and are looking for a fun take on the ship that pays homage to Star Wars while being steeped in a new fantasy world to explore: then I highly recommend this book!

I loved and had a great time reading it. The characters were very well flushed out and felt like real people. I understood their trust issues but also their inability to leave one another alone. I also thought the politics and countries in this world were really interesting. My favorite part was the magic system, though. And their ships! The ships reminded me of Treasure Planet. I thought the romance progressed at a reasonable pace--especially since this book is so long!

While I had a lovely time, I understand why others wouldn't. The world building is immense and I found myself lost because the arc copy didn't have a map. I switched over to the published copy 80% in because I wanted to be able to picture what was happening more fully. I also understand people disliking the pacing. For me, the pacing felt very much like a Star Wars film--long sections of exposition with little adventures or battles scattered throughout. Also--if the battles didn't further character development, they weren't on page and were talked about after. I liked this because it reminded me of SW, but for those who want more action over politics, this could have been frustrating.

I know this was a fanfiction before it was published and, because of that, it felt very episodic and the ending was abrupt. However, I loved this book and can't wait for book 2!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book! This book was full of great characters, interesting world building, political intrigue and a dash of magic! There were definitely some surprising twists and moments that had me on the edge of my seat! I enjoyed the chemistry between the two main characters, but they gave me whiplash with their back-and-forth liking/hating each other! After that ending, I can’t wait for the sequel!

I really enjoyed this book! This book was full of great characters, interesting world building, political intrigue and a dash of magic! There were definitely some surprising twists and moments that had me on the edge of my seat! I enjoyed the chemistry between the two main characters, but they gave me whiplash with their back-and-forth liking/hating each other! After that ending, I can’t wait for the sequel!