The Hurricane Wars

DNF@50% 

I usually don't rate books i DNF'd but I feel the need to after wasting so much of my free time on this (since i barely have time to read this month). 

First of all, this is yet another case of a YA book being published as an adult book. Nothing in the first 50% makes the book stand out from YA titles. It has your typical YA tropes and nothing really makes it any different from other titles in the genre. There is a focus on the politics but it's nothing complex or interesting. Same goes for the magic system which is very typical and underdeveloped. As mentioned though, i only read half of the book so maybe things change but i just was so bored I couldn't make myself continue. It feels like a book I have simply read many times before.

I think what took me out of the story the most is the romance, the obvious Reylo inspo. I didn't think it would bother me at all but as someone who is familiar with the Star Wars movies, it is really hard to disconnect the couple from the characters they were based on. Alaric basically looks identical to Adam Driver. “Waves of disheveled black hair framed pale angular features dotted with beauty marks. He had a long nose, a sharp jawline, the overall harshness alleviated by a pair of full, soft lips”. And, of course, he has very broad shoulders. They both act similar to their counter-parts (especially Alaric). At around 30-35% there was one scene that felt like it was taken out of The Last Jedi, just with a different setting.

Maybe it's just me but, while i dont mind stories inspired by ships/other things, i do not want to read about the same characters in an AU in my books. It's a personal preference though, if you are a fan of Adam, or a Reylo stan, you will probably enjoy that factor.

I wanted to force myself to finish as this was one of my most anticipated reads for this year, but I just don't think anything could make me like this book. Maybe it's about time I finally acknowledge maybe this genre just isn't for me (with a few exceptions!). If you are a big fan of the romantasy genre, don't mind the Reylo inspiration, and are okay with an instant attraction trope, don't let me dissuade you from reading the book, there's a chance you will like it. It however was just not for me.