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mels_reading_log's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This is a romantacy book about two shoulders from waring lands. He has shadow powers and she has light powers, they could each be the other’s downfall. But for some reason they can’t convince themselves to cast the death blow. And then they realize they need each other, but can they truly trust each other.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, War, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Abandonment, Pregnancy, and Child abuse
amy_in_the_city's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I didn't know going into this that it was a Reylo fanfic with the serial numbers filed off, but I figured it out about 50 pages in. There were a few issues I think were caused in part by it originally being a fanfic. First, the characters were underdeveloped in the beginning, and I didn't quite buy that they were really enemies. They were truly enemies because they were on opposite sides of a war, but I would have liked for there to be a more personal element to it. Maybe one or both of them could have personally killed someone the other one loved or he could have been responsible for destroying her village, or something like that. In a fanfiction, we have this backstory already because it's in the source material, but since these are new characters, we don't know what they've done to really cause them to hate each other.
The magic system also wasn't very well developed. The shadow magic and the light magic didn't do anything different from each other. They both just formed weapons that did the same things but in different colors. I chalk this up to this being adapted from Star Wars fanfiction where the characters originally probably used the same source of power (the Force) and the same type of weapon (lightsabers).
The pacing was off. It took almost 200 pages for the main characters to actually have a conversation and interact beyond a few fight scenes. It was so weird to have a romance book where the couple hardly interacts for the first half of the book. Once the romance got started, I did enjoy how it developed. I was put off a bit by the insta-lust. The characters would be in the middle of trying to kill each other and then they'd be thinking about how the other one's eyes are so beautiful. Despite the insta-lust, I'd say the romance itself is a slow burn. They started getting to some good character development towards the end as they began to really explore the differences in their ideologies and the conflict that causes in their relationship.
Overall, I enjoyed this well enough, and it definitely picked up towards the end. I'm not sure if I'll read the next book in the series as I'm not super invested in the plot or characters though.
The magic system also wasn't very well developed. The shadow magic and the light magic didn't do anything different from each other. They both just formed weapons that did the same things but in different colors. I chalk this up to this being adapted from Star Wars fanfiction where the characters originally probably used the same source of power (the Force) and the same type of weapon (lightsabers).
The pacing was off. It took almost 200 pages for the main characters to actually have a conversation and interact beyond a few fight scenes. It was so weird to have a romance book where the couple hardly interacts for the first half of the book. Once the romance got started, I did enjoy how it developed. I was put off a bit by the insta-lust. The characters would be in the middle of trying to kill each other and then they'd be thinking about how the other one's eyes are so beautiful. Despite the insta-lust, I'd say the romance itself is a slow burn. They started getting to some good character development towards the end as they began to really explore the differences in their ideologies and the conflict that causes in their relationship.
Overall, I enjoyed this well enough, and it definitely picked up towards the end. I'm not sure if I'll read the next book in the series as I'm not super invested in the plot or characters though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, War, Abandonment, Death, Violence, and Colonisation
Moderate: Grief, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Sexual content, and Domestic abuse
sfdogmom's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Good! One 🌶️
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Violence, and Colonisation
Moderate: Death
Minor: Sexual content
sleepygym's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, and War
booksthatburn's review against another edition
Lots of infodumping.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Pregnancy, War, Alcohol, Blood, Violence, and Death
Minor: Child abuse
lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I received a copy of this book as part of my FairyLoot subscription.
"The Hurricane Wars follows Talasyn and Alaric. Talasyn is an orphan who has only seen the devastation brought from the Hurricane Wars. She has found a family with her fellow soldiers, but even they do not know her secret: she has a special, old form of magic running through her veins. Alaric is a prince, and the only heir to the emperor. Alaric has worked hard to be the best he can be, and when he sees Talasyn burning with the ancient magic that took his grandfather from him, he knows he has to eradicate the source.
I probably would not have picked up this book on my own, but because I got it in my subscription, I gave it a shot. Overall, this book was fine. It did not do anything that really irked me, I was enjoying it fine throughout, but it feels unmemorable to me after. I do not remember much of what actually happened.
The enemies to lovers trope was done well, and was fine, but I never felt truly invested in Talasyn's and Alaric's relationship.
This book was fine, and I would probably recommend it to someone who REALLY enjoys fantasy and wants a side of romance mixed with the politics of war.
"The Hurricane Wars follows Talasyn and Alaric. Talasyn is an orphan who has only seen the devastation brought from the Hurricane Wars. She has found a family with her fellow soldiers, but even they do not know her secret: she has a special, old form of magic running through her veins. Alaric is a prince, and the only heir to the emperor. Alaric has worked hard to be the best he can be, and when he sees Talasyn burning with the ancient magic that took his grandfather from him, he knows he has to eradicate the source.
I probably would not have picked up this book on my own, but because I got it in my subscription, I gave it a shot. Overall, this book was fine. It did not do anything that really irked me, I was enjoying it fine throughout, but it feels unmemorable to me after. I do not remember much of what actually happened.
The enemies to lovers trope was done well, and was fine, but I never felt truly invested in Talasyn's and Alaric's relationship.
This book was fine, and I would probably recommend it to someone who REALLY enjoys fantasy and wants a side of romance mixed with the politics of war.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, War, and Violence
kriti's review against another edition
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Abandonment, Colonisation, Genocide, Violence, and Pregnancy
sian_a_griff02's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A easy reading fast paced fantasy. The one bit of the book I didn’t love was for the second half of the book the main character has the same argument with herself every 10 pages regarding her feelings towards the male main character and that got slightly tedious towards the end of the book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Sexual content, and Violence
bsafely's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
This was a superb start to the series!! I am excited to see how everything plays out in the next book!!
This book set up the series to have good potential- political intrigue, war, and some romance. The book itself kept me interested with all the vivid descriptions of the world and I hope there is more character development in the next book.
This book set up the series to have good potential- political intrigue, war, and some romance. The book itself kept me interested with all the vivid descriptions of the world and I hope there is more character development in the next book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Grief, Violence, War, and Death
evelynyle_88's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, and War
Moderate: Sexual content, Abandonment, and Child abuse
Minor: Pregnancy, Death of parent, and Animal cruelty