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A review by samiism
The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon
5.0
I received an ARC for free from NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
A political fantasy and a love story; an ode to Southeast Asia--what's not to love? This book fills a gap that I've wanted the book industry to fill for ages. Literally me the whole time:
Thea sprinkles in Easter Eggs about tarsiers and tahô, and uses traditional Filipino names for female characters (Urduja, Tala). I cried tears of joy. I felt seen. Being a Filipino living in the US for over a decade, I crave connection with my motherland. This was just what I needed.
So...elephant in the room. I read other reviews, and the main gripe is the jargon. "It's too wordy, too many names, it's Reylo fanfiction, etc etc." And as someone who did read the fic lwaboc AND the Star Wars Legends novel [b:Star Wars: The Courtship of Princess Leia|161540|Star Wars The Courtship of Princess Leia|Dave Wolverton|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1326717007l/161540._SY75_.jpg|806845], which the fic was loosely based on, I can see how someone with fresh eyes might find themselves utterly perplexed. The first few chapters are a lot to process. You have names and terms thrown at you every which way, and you're smack dab in the middle of a war. The prose is elegant; perhaps too much so, which is why a few readers find the book highfalutin. But once you get past the action-packed beginning chapters, you're in for an intriguing political romance. I felt the same way with [b:Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow|58784475|Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow|Gabrielle Zevin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1636978687l/58784475._SY75_.jpg|89167797]--slow start, but picks up speed after a few chapters in, slowly becoming one of my favorite books of all time.
If you want true enemies to lovers, where they are actually ENEMIES WHO WANT TO KILL EACH OTHER, this is the book for you! Talasyn is a formidable main character. Not at all weak or insipid, she challenges Alaric on the battlefield and out of it.
I am vibrating with so much excitement and impatience not just for my hard copy of the book this coming October, but for the second book as well. I am very excited to recommend this book to all my American friends.
A political fantasy and a love story; an ode to Southeast Asia--what's not to love? This book fills a gap that I've wanted the book industry to fill for ages. Literally me the whole time:
Thea sprinkles in Easter Eggs about tarsiers and tahô, and uses traditional Filipino names for female characters (Urduja, Tala). I cried tears of joy. I felt seen. Being a Filipino living in the US for over a decade, I crave connection with my motherland. This was just what I needed.
So...elephant in the room. I read other reviews, and the main gripe is the jargon. "It's too wordy, too many names, it's Reylo fanfiction, etc etc." And as someone who did read the fic lwaboc AND the Star Wars Legends novel [b:Star Wars: The Courtship of Princess Leia|161540|Star Wars The Courtship of Princess Leia|Dave Wolverton|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1326717007l/161540._SY75_.jpg|806845], which the fic was loosely based on, I can see how someone with fresh eyes might find themselves utterly perplexed. The first few chapters are a lot to process. You have names and terms thrown at you every which way, and you're smack dab in the middle of a war. The prose is elegant; perhaps too much so, which is why a few readers find the book highfalutin. But once you get past the action-packed beginning chapters, you're in for an intriguing political romance. I felt the same way with [b:Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow|58784475|Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow|Gabrielle Zevin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1636978687l/58784475._SY75_.jpg|89167797]--slow start, but picks up speed after a few chapters in, slowly becoming one of my favorite books of all time.
If you want true enemies to lovers, where they are actually ENEMIES WHO WANT TO KILL EACH OTHER, this is the book for you! Talasyn is a formidable main character. Not at all weak or insipid, she challenges Alaric on the battlefield and out of it.
I am vibrating with so much excitement and impatience not just for my hard copy of the book this coming October, but for the second book as well. I am very excited to recommend this book to all my American friends.