The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon Series: The Hurricane Wars #1
Published by Harper Voyager on 2023 October 03
Genres: Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 455
Format: E-book
Source: Purchased
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The heart is a battlefield.
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.
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.
Talasyn and Alaric both know this war can only end with them. But a greater threat is coming, and the strange new magic they can create together could be the only way to overcome it. Thrust into an uneasy alliance, they will confront the secrets at the heart of the war and find, in each other, a searing passion--one that could save their world...or destroy it.
An exquisite fantasy brimming with unforgettable characters, sizzling enemies-to-lovers romance, and richly drawn worlds, The Hurricane Wars marks the breathtaking debut of an extraordinary new writer.
I never knew that this book existed until I downloaded the eARC of Monsoon Rising from Edelweiss. My bad for not reading the synopsis properly because if I had, I would have known that Monsoon Rising is already the 2nd book of The Hurricane Wars series. So anyway, off I went and bought a digital copy of this book so I could go into Monsoon Rising knowing what the whole story is all about.
The Hurricane Wars follows the story of two protagonists who are rivals due to the circumstances of their birth: Talasyn and Alaric. On the first page of the book, we immediately dived into a scene of war wherein Alaric was about to kill Talasyn. You see, Alaric is a warrior and the heir of a conqueror who’s laying siege in the different Continents of the world where the story of our book is set in. Meanwhile, our heroine, Talasyn, is one of the helmswomen of the Sardovian army trying to fight the conquering force. As everything seemed hopeless on Talasyn’s side of the war, she found out that she’s one special snowflake and a product of mysterious birthright. And so the plot thickens.
For the fantasy lovers out there, the plot of The Hurricane Wars would prolly frustrate you just like what I felt. I can tolerate a familiar plot as long as beautifully executed but The Hurricane Wars treated me to a long winded and repetitive internal monologue of our characters, over the top description about the dresses of our heroine, how opulent the Nenavar castle is, etc. I was also saddened by the fact that there’s more focus on the cat and dog romance instead of letting us see some action on the battlefield. The author (Thea Guanzon) was, however, very astute in her bio that her books are romance-centered. It’s a 455 pager book and yet, I felt robbed of my hours because there was so little action and more of the dragging fillers that the author could have done away with.
What saved The Hurricane Wars from being DNFed though is that I loved the author’s prose. There’s just so lovely about it that the world of The Hurricane Wars became so alive in my imagination. I also loved how Thea Guanzon tackled the romance between Talasyn and Alaric, slow and simmering without giving the game away too soon. And yes, the two characters certainly had chemistry and I’m excited about the development of their relationship in the second installment of the series. I just hope that Thea Guanzon would temper her tendency to be droning on and on how Talasyn and Alaric hate each other because of repetitive reasons. The constant tug of war between the two is exhausting and not in a good way.
Anyhow, I enjoyed The Hurricane Wars for its romance. But if you are a hardcore fantasy lover, you might want to steer clear of this one because while there’s magic, dragons, war, political machinations etc., these took a backseat to give way to the romance and the verbose descriptions about how gorgeous our heroine looks in her lavish and luxurious dresses.