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pocketspine 's review for:
The Hurricane Wars
by Thea Guanzon
1.75-2/5 stars
I think the book was decent. It started out pretty good, but as it shifted focus from the titular hurricane wars to the other aspects of the story, it lost my interest and (in my opinion) got worse. I will acknowledge that some of my thoughts and disinterest do lie in the fact that I want more from fantasy and romance stories than what this book gives, so some readers may enjoy or at least forgive some aspects of the book that I could not. However, I do think the book does also have some big flaws.
To start with aspects of the book I enjoyed, I thought the magic was well done and I enjoyed the chapters of the book that focused on the wars and Talasyn's thoughts, experiences, and whatnot within them. I also enjoyed the inclusion of new words and mythology that fleshed out some of the world and the countries present in the book. Reading this over audio was also definitely a positive. The audio book narrator did a great job and it's very possible that the narrator's performance made me think higher of the book than I otherwise would have.
To move on to the book's flaws, a complaint I've seen in multiple other reviews is that the characters felt shallow. I have to say that I agree, especially for Alaric. I found Talasyn to be a decently written character, but Alaric felt like barely a character at all. He was not fleshed out and rarely felt like much more than a cardboard cutout.
I also felt that the book had some issues with pacing and tone. A large portion of the beginning of the book focused on the wars, but then it shifted the plot to instead focus on. The topic and tonal shift felt too great. I had gotten invested in the wars, making the shift in focus very disappointing to me. I wouldn't have minded as much if the shift had been to something else with a similar tone such as , but unfortunately, that is not what we got. Instead, and I did not enjoy that. I think the book would have been better paced and more tonally consistent if the wedding was only a stepping stone within a greater plot about the wars.
Finally, I think this book falls into the problem where, as a romantasy, it tried to include a good amount of both romance and fantasy, but in the process not enough time was taken to make sure either aspect was done well and given enough time to breathe on the page. Of the two elements, the fantasy aspects of the book were definitely done better; the romance, however, needed more time and development for me to enjoy it.
Overall, I give it a rating of 1.75-2 stars out of 5. It's not the worst and had some interesting aspects to it, but I think it could've definitely been better.
I think the book was decent. It started out pretty good, but as it shifted focus from the titular hurricane wars to the other aspects of the story, it lost my interest and (in my opinion) got worse. I will acknowledge that some of my thoughts and disinterest do lie in the fact that I want more from fantasy and romance stories than what this book gives, so some readers may enjoy or at least forgive some aspects of the book that I could not. However, I do think the book does also have some big flaws.
To start with aspects of the book I enjoyed, I thought the magic was well done and I enjoyed the chapters of the book that focused on the wars and Talasyn's thoughts, experiences, and whatnot within them. I also enjoyed the inclusion of new words and mythology that fleshed out some of the world and the countries present in the book. Reading this over audio was also definitely a positive. The audio book narrator did a great job and it's very possible that the narrator's performance made me think higher of the book than I otherwise would have.
To move on to the book's flaws, a complaint I've seen in multiple other reviews is that the characters felt shallow. I have to say that I agree, especially for Alaric. I found Talasyn to be a decently written character, but Alaric felt like barely a character at all. He was not fleshed out and rarely felt like much more than a cardboard cutout.
I also felt that the book had some issues with pacing and tone. A large portion of the beginning of the book focused on the wars, but then it shifted the plot to instead focus on
Spoiler
Talasyn, Alaric, and their political weddingSpoiler
them dealing with the Moonless Dark, as it seems they will in the sequelSpoiler
the wedding and their relationship became not only the focus, but it and the following sex scene were the climax of the bookFinally, I think this book falls into the problem where, as a romantasy, it tried to include a good amount of both romance and fantasy, but in the process not enough time was taken to make sure either aspect was done well and given enough time to breathe on the page. Of the two elements, the fantasy aspects of the book were definitely done better; the romance, however, needed more time and development for me to enjoy it.
Overall, I give it a rating of 1.75-2 stars out of 5. It's not the worst and had some interesting aspects to it, but I think it could've definitely been better.