Review: The Hurricane Wars

The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In recent weeks, Reylo fandom (of which I used to be a minor member thanks to a couple of my friends being really into it) has become something of a headline and punchline with the revelation that upcoming debut novelist and Reylo shipper Cait Corrain had review bombed several of her fellow 2024 debut novelists with sock puppet accounts, targeting a lot of authors of color in particular. Not a good look, and a shameful stain on the LGBTQ+ and neurodivergent communities of which Corrain was part (as am I.) Unfortunately not the first time that a Reylo shipper who made it big (well, Corrain's made it big in infamy, with her entire career all but canceled at this point) was exposed for terrible online behavior - Emily Duncan at least got to publish an entire trilogy, with a lot of Reylo and Grishaverse influences, before being exposed for slinging racist abuse at Asian and Middle Eastern authors, not to mention openly admitting that she built her trilogy on some of the oldest antisemitic tropes in the book.

But Reylo fans may instead find solace in an author who does their community right - Thea Guanzon of Metro Manila, with this Southeast Asian inspired dark fantasy, apparently extrapolated from her post-The Force Awakens fanfic where Rey and Kylo end up stuck in an arranged marriage at the orders of Snoke.

(After reading this book, I learned that apparently Guanzon was one of the many authors whom Corrain targeted with her sock puppet review bombing, and I'm unfortunately not surprised.)

Naturally, the names are all changed to protect the innocent, but while the Reylo bones are still pretty clear (as are the Grishaverse bones, since Alina and the Darkling do still represent a light-dark dyad of their own), Guanzon does a great job of making this book shine like something new and fresh and unexpected. If not for the fact that it took me this long to read it, this book would probably have won my vote for Best Romantasy in the Goodreads Choice Awards. As it was, even though Fourth Wing winning was a foregone conclusion, this book would have gotten my vote for the same reason that The Jasad Heir did - because it actually made me want to ship enemies to lovers when I normally reject that trope, especially nowadays when it's so trendy.

But also because Guanzon is pretty skilled at making the most of this story's structure. Though it's clearly the first of a planned series, the book does take its time building ever increasing tension with our leads Talasyn and Alaric. It's not until almost the end of the book that that tension finally reaches its tipping point, and yet, it still races headlong into some weapons-grade cliffhangers of fantasy politicking and a romance that shouldn't be shipped, and yet, makes a strong case for itself at every turn.

Well played, Guanzon.

Well played.

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