The Hurricane Wars is a romantic fantasy with a world inspired by Southeast Asia. Talasyn, a young woman who secretly wields light magic, must marry Alaric, the prince of a shadowy enemy empire, to stop an apocalypse. But as Talasyn navigates complex politics and plots to defeat the empire in the end, a new confounding variable comes into play: she might be falling for her fiancé.

The Hurricane Wars began as Reylo fanfic (Rey and Kylo Ren from Star Wars), but the world in the published book is nothing like Star Wars. The descriptions made me feel like I was visiting Nenavar right along with the characters! The good guys get into a dire position surprisingly early in the story, and I was propelled along by my desire to learn how the hell they’re going to get out of this.

I wasn’t sure at first if I would be on board with Talasyn and Alaric’s romance, but by the end, I enjoyed their banter and grumpy x grumpy dynamic. Of course, the elephant in the room is that Alaric is the ruler of the empire that Talasyn wants to defeat — and while they had some heated conversations about that in The Hurricane Wars, I’m interested to see how the sequels will further tackle their opposing goals. (Worth noting I’m not a Reylo fan myself, but fanfic Reylo is kind of solid, not gonna lie.)

I’m glad I waited to read this until the sequel came out, because after that ending, I was dying to discover what happens next! I’m just starting A Monsoon Rising, and I’m excited to see where this installment takes the characters and the fate of the world.

Spice level: graphic (one scene)

Content warnings: War, imperialism, grief, imprisonment, death (including mentions of parent death), and mentions of genocide.