I received this book for free from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
A Monsoon Rising by Thea Guanzon Series: The Hurricane Wars #2
Published by Harper Voyager on 2024 December 10
Genres: Fantasy, Romantasy
Pages: 339
Format: E-Arc
Source: Edelweiss
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Two hearts circle each other in the eye of the storm in this highly-anticipated follow-up to The Hurricane Wars—prepare for more enemies-to-lovers romance, magical adventures, and political schemes in this Southeast Asian-inspired world.
After a lifetime of war, Alaric and Talasyn were thrust into an alliance between their homelands that was supposed to end the fighting; however, being married to their sworn foe feels far from peaceful. Now Talasyn must play the part of Alaric’s willing empress while her allies secretly plot to overthrow his reign. But the longer the couple are forced together, the harder it becomes to deny the feelings crackling like lightning between them. When the time comes to act, can she trust him, or must she ignore her heart for the sake of so many others?
As the master of the Shadowforged Legion, Alaric has trained for battle all his life, but marrying a Lightweaver might be his most dangerous challenge yet. With tensions between nations churning, he needs to focus on the greater threat—the Moonless Dark, a cataclysmic magical event that could devour everything. Only he and Talasyn can stop it, with a powerful merging of light and shadow that they alone can create together. But saving their world from this disaster is a mere preface to his father’s more sinister schemes, and his wife is a burning flame in the darkness, tempting both his loyalties and his desires.
The Hurricane Wars aren’t over. It’s time to choose what—and who—to fight for. The world holds its breath amidst a whirlwind of new magic and old secrets that could change everything.
Monsoon Rising was a 50-50 for me. I’m quite proud that I was able to finish it despite my general boredom reading through pages and pages of the Alaric and Talasyn constant-tug-of-war. I will tell you that I am a sucker for romance but I’d pick up a romance book if I am in the mood to read one. I’d picked Monsoon Rising because I was in the mood to read a YA fantasy book with hints of romance between the characters. I did not expect that this book was 85% romance set in a fantastical world and the main plot was kicked to the side to give way to budding romance between Alaric and Talasyn.
After reading the Hurricane Wars, I had high hopes that Book 2 would see a lot more action and plot development and the romance relegated as a sub-plot. Unfortunately, I was very wrong. While I am in awe at Thea Guanzon’s way with words, it’s not enough to compensate for the minimal plot development this book has. The e-ARC is only 339 pages long and it felt like I have been reading it for ages because nothing really happened until the last 70 pages of the book. There were bits wherein we see Talasyn and Alaric training together but most of the time, it’s all about their irresistible desire for each other and their warring emotions. If not that, it’s the long winded description of the places in Nenavar and Kesath and how elaborate and how rich the ensemble worn by the Nenavarenes. Or yes, there’s the verbose accounting of all the food being eaten and how they are so succulent and everything. I had an appreciation for the foods mentioned in the book at some point because I’m familiar with them given that I’m a Filipino but it can just be too much. I mean, to make all my rant short, there are far more important things than to spend a lot of time poring over the romance, the dresses, and food. Where were the twists and stupefying political machinations? Are the dragons just there for decoration? I was really excited for them to steal the scene instead of just being used as props, you know. There are so many avenues where this book can really shine in the high fantasy genre but it fell prey to its romance-laden plot that it becomes exhausting in the end.
Setting aside my issues for this book, there are things that I like about this book. For one, it’s really Asian-inspired as some of the Nenavarene words are taken from the Filipino language. There are other inspirations from Filipino culture like the folktale of the great dragon, Bakun. It’s actually a Filipino Cebuano folktale about a great serpent, Bakunawa, who swallowed the six moons due to envy. It’s really good that the author is bringing the Philippines and its culture to the international stage. And using the folktale of the great Bakunawa to do that is quite innovative on the author’s part.
With all of the above said, I’m really torn about this book. I enjoyed it at some point but I was also frustrated with the slowness of its plot that didn’t appear until the last chapters of the book. Go and read this if you are an OCD who wants to finish the whole series or a fan of Alaric and Talasyn’s romance. If you are a plot-driven reader, however, go and read something else.