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Title: The Hurricane Wars (The Hurricane Wars, #1)
Author: Thea Guanzon
Pages: 480
Publisher: HarperVoyager
Release Date: 12th October 2023
Blurb from Goodreads:
The Night Empire will rule all.
Nothing can stand in the way
of its might and power.
Little by little, year by year, the
Hurricane Wars take more and more from those who resists the empire’s
supremacy.
And yet, there is hope in the darkness.
One lone
light stands against the empire.
Talasyn was left on
the steps of a Sardovian orphanage as a baby. All she has ever known
are the Hurricane Wars, as her people fight for freedom from the
tyranny of the Night Emperor Gaheris. But are they her people?
Talasyn dreams of one day finding where she comes from – her true
place, family, and the source of the Lightweave magic that flows
through her veins like sunlight.
Alaric of House Ossinast,
Master of the Shadowforged Legion and Gaheris’s only son and heir
has been forged into a weapon by his father. Tasked with obliterating
the Sardovian Allford alliance with the strength of his armies and
mighty Shadow magic, all Alaric can see is their goal: extinguish all
threats to the empire.
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. He tries and fails to kill her, his now greatest
enemy slipping through his fingers.
But a greater threat
is coming. One that will overshadow the Hurricane Wars.
Will
these mortal enemies be able to come together to confront it or is
everything that has been fought over for so long about to be
destroyed?
Goodreads | Storygraph | Amazon UK | Amazon US | Bookshop
My Review:
*I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to HarperCollins UK and NetGalley*
- DNF at 25% -
Talasyn fights in the Hurricane Wars, trying to save her homeland from being taken over by the ruthless Night Emperor.
But, Talasyn is hiding secrets - a magic runs through her veins that hasn't been seen in years, and she feels a strange connection to a foreign land that refuses to aid in the war.
Alaric is the son of the Night Emperor and carries out his father's orders, killing and taking land as he wages war.
When Talasyn and Alaric's paths cross on the battlefield, a chain of events unfolds that will change their lives forever.
Having heard good things about this book, I was intrigued to give it a try, but I ended up being disappointed.
Talasyn was a mixed protagonist for me - while I felt sorry for her having been left at an orphanage and not knowing her parents or where she came from, the author tried too hard to make Talasyn witty and funny, which I didn't find her to be particularly. This was especially the case when Talasyn and Alaric bantered/exchanged verbal barbs when fighting. I rolled my eyes at those scenes.
I couldn't help but think of the Grishaverse books when reading this, and comparing Talasyn to Alina, and Alaric to the Darkling. However, this book did have the interesting concept of aether ships and the aether coming from different dimensions.
The plot was enjoyable to begin with, but I soon began to lose interest due to a mix of info dumps, the pacing, the previously mentioned thoughts on Talasyn, and the writing style overall (which I found hard to connect with, and there were some scenes that felt a little like they had come from a fanfiction).
Whilst this had potential, I couldn't bring myself to keep reading and stopped at 25%.
Overall, this was a disappointed read.
