#pestilence and sara

[jessread-s]

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

✩🏹❤️‍🔥Review:

Words cannot describe my love for this book!

“Pestilence” follow Sara Burns, a firefighter who sacrifices everything to shoot down one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. Eager to make her suffer, he takes her prisoner, but the longer they’re together, the more uncertain their feelings for each other grow.

What drew me in right away was Thalassa’s unique undertaking of writing a romance novel for each of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. This was not something I had seen done before and I was immediately intrigued by the idea of the four beings abandoning their tasks only for the women that help them find their own humanity. In this book specifically, Thalassa characterizes Pestilence so well, personifying the plague he represents. She also goes to great lengths to demonstrate how unfamiliar he is with mankind’s way of life. Some of the most comedic moments sprung from Pestilence not knowing how to respond to Sara’s basic needs when he holds her captive. 

The dystopian, post-apocalyptic world Thalassa creates after the arrival of the four horsemen was interesting in and of itself. Her world resembles our own, but with the horsemen’s destruction of technology, she cleverly avoids dating her book. Without technology, the population reverts to a more primitive way of life and more often than not resorts to violence when it comes to the existence of the horsemen, giving Thalassa a way to showcase the worst of humanity.

Sara is the only one to convince Pestilence that mankind is worth saving, sparking a romance that set my soul on fire. What I love most about this book is that it actually has the enemies to lovers trope woven into the plot. Sara’s hatred for Pestilence is real. Because he is holding her as his prisoner and his one true goal is to conquer humans, thereby ending the world, he can’t be anything more than her enemy. Yet, the two still manage to fall in love with each other after being forced to spend time together. Their dark, twisted, and forbidden love story is definitely not for the faint of heart, but I loved every page of it! 

Cross-posted to: Instagram | Amazon | Goodreads | StoryGraph

@laurathalassa

[disneyprincessbuffyannesummers]

❝then i saw then the lamb broke one of the seven seals, and i heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, 'come.' i looked and behold, a white horse, and who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.❯

Revelations: 6: 1-2 New American Standard Bible

❮what about pestilence?❜ i ask, 'he was stopped,❯

War By Laura Thalassa

(Note, I paraphrased the conversation between War & Miriam for some reason).

[bluelizard100]

Have y’all ever read The Four Horsemen series by Laura Thalassa?

What if… four horsemen of the apocalypse 141‼️ Also NSFW warning and spoilers for the Four Horsemen Series!

-First we got Pestilence. I went back and forth with this one because I wasn’t sure who would fit best— Soap or Gaz. I couldn’t decide who would be Pestilence and who would be Famine, but I’ve decided that Pestilence goes to Gaz.

Pestilence makes it very clear in his book that he does NOT enjoy what he does. He doesn’t like spreading the plague, watching people suffer as he infects city after city— he only does it because those are his orders.

I feel like for those reasons Pestilence fits Gaz the best. “Where do we draw the line?” And him being so rattled after Price threw that dude with the bomb strapped to his chest over a ledge to save the both of them (idk I never played the games 🫥) falls right in line with Pestilence.

Pestilence holds a grudge against Sara, the FMC, for almost the entire book, but eventually falls for her (duh). He finds intimacy to be sacred and fights himself a lot in the book— there is SO much tension between them. Idk, I feel like that fits Gaz the best

(Also Pestilence is really pretty and so is Gaz LMAO)

I’d like to point out that I don’t really think Pestilence is a good fit for Gaz otherwise. If I’m being honest, I think Ghost fits the Pestilence vibe the best, and that if Pestilence and Death swapped personalities then it would be a better match.

-Now we have War. War obviously goes to Price. When war finds Miriam, he snatches her up onto his horse and takes her back to camp. He calls her wife, leads an army, just commands authority in general but goes back to being gentle (as gentle as you can be when you’re a horseman of the apocalypse) with Miriam.

War also teases a lot, whether it’s about Miriam always finding her way into his little portion of the bed or about how all she’s gotta do is ask and he’ll make her feel good. He won’t actually fuck her until she surrenders to him (surrender meaning accept the fact that she’s his fated wife, but he’ll drive her crazy with his fingers and tongue.

I feel like that’s such a Price thing to do. He’ll def take care of his little wife but he’s not gonna give her what she wants until she gives in, and he’ll wait patiently.

-Famine! Yay! Famine is a sassy little fucker and he really, really does not like people. Now I really thought Gaz would fit Famine because Famine is also really pretty and like, a plant king! But he wants to wipe out humanity and enjoys watching people suffer because of what humans did to him, so I decided Soap can be Famine.

Famine holds a special spot in his immortal heart for Ana because she saved him after he escaped where he was being held prisoner and tortured.

When Ana and Famine meet years after, Famine is an arrogant prick and has an entourage of men do his dirty work for him. He takes the biggest house he can, lets people give him offerings in hopes that they’ll be spared, and then has his men kill them! I feel like Soap matches the spoiled vibes, and he probably enjoys taking out his enemies (which, in the book, all of humanity is Famine’s enemy so it’s okay lol).

He mistakenly has Ana killed when she goes to meet him with her brothel madam cuz he doesn’t recognize her, but Ana magically survives and hunts him down. Famine’s like “well I wouldn’t have killed you if you would’ve said something” and then kinda keeps Ana as his prisoner sorta but he’s kinda nice to her.

He’s also kinda bad at taking care of her which just kinda feels like a Soap thing. Like you can’t tell me that dude didn’t forget about a few childhood pets when he was a kid.

Also I think famine is the freakiest of the horsemen— he grows vines to use as bondage lmao you can’t tell me Soap wouldn’t do that if he also had plant magic.

But in all seriousness, I feel like Soap would be the most likely to drag a woman around with him while he ended all of humanity because he liked her. I mean, he did give her the chance to go on her own way, and she was the one who came to him the second time… that’s gotta mean something, right?

-Last but not least, Death. Now like I said earlier, I feel like Death would fit Ghost the best if he swapped personalities with Pestilence, but since we can’t do that then this is the best I’ve got.

Death literally just rides his horse through cities and everyone just drops dead. Poof, snap, whatever— they’re dead just like that. That’s all Ghost, dude: “If you see him, you’re already dead.”

Everyone except for Lazarus!

When Death realizes she doesn’t die from his magic, he concludes that she’s his fated wife and he does the only logical thing— he snaps her neck! There’s no way that isn’t a Ghost thing to do. Like, his mission is to cleanse the earth of people so She can heal again, and he knows that this woman will only get in the way of doing that, so he just kills her.

Lazarus (again) comes back to life, and then they spend a long ass time hunting each other down and killing each other. So romantic! But eventually Death decides that the next time they meet, he’s taking her with him and she doesn’t have a choice.

Death is also abhorrent at taking care of humans. He doesn’t know how they work. Ghost probably barely takes care of himself, so how would he take care of another person?

Now here’s where things kinda get tricky. I thought that Gaz would fit Death’s personality better because Death cares about Lazarus from the get-go despite killing her all the time. He doesn’t want her to suffer, and with humanity, they don’t suffer either. They just die.

But if you look past the whole scary military operator part of Ghost and look to the Simon (stupid and cliche I know)— the caring thing really does fit.

Once he gets the hang of taking care of a person, Death finds the nicest, biggest house in every city he travels in for Lazarus to stay in, and raises an army of skeletons to cook and take care of them. He pampers the fuck out of his wifey. Now, Death also finds intimacy sacred, which I think also fits Ghost. I don’t think Ghost is realistically the type to have a one night stand with any random person. He’d probably rather be vulnerable with someone he’s familiar with.

When Death does finally get intimate with Lazarus, he doesn’t wanna stop lmao he enjoys it very much. There’s one scene in the book where they fuck in the air LMAO.

I think Gaz would fit Death because he isn’t really all that gruff like Ghost is, but I still think they both fit. Death has a mission and he does everything in his power to complete it, even with his lady trying her hardest to stop him. Ultimately, when I was just thinking this up, I decided Ghost would be Death cuz the cover art of the novel is a skull lol.

Alright that concludes my rambling, sorry if this didn’t make any sense! I did not edit it! Also feel free to add on if you have any thoughts and if you haven’t read The Four Horsemen series you definitely should, it’s fucking amazing.

[critical-quoter]

This is not lust I feel, dear Sara. And I hope you are half as frightened of it as I am.

Pestilence - Laura Thalassa

[trinigirlreader]

Review of 'Pestilence' by Laura Thalassa

Though this was my second time reading this book, 'Pestilence' was my first introduction to the awesome author that is Laura Thalassa. I promptly went on an expedition to read any and everything I could find by her!

"They came to earth—Pestilence, War, Famine, Death—four horsemen riding their screaming steeds, racing to the corners of the world. Four horsemen with the power to destroy all of humanity. They came to earth, and they came to end us all." This main blurb enlightens people of what is to come - this novel is not one for those faint of heart and with stars in their eyes. A dark read, it begins with us meeting the main heroine, Sara, who has drawn the short straw and now has to commit to a grisly task: killing the horseman dubbed Pestilence. Seeing disease and sickness ravage the world, she does not shy away and thinks she is successful when she seemingly easily dispatches him. Of course, it couldn't be that easy to kill a horseman…right? Sara learns why Pestilence is an entity of the apocalypse. However, their forced proximity soon develops into something they both never saw coming - love. And Sara now has an even more impossible task, getting this harbinger of doom to see why Earth may be worth saving.

I love dark romances; sprinkle in some forced proximity and kidnapping and I will happily dance! This is the main theme of the book, as approximately three-quarters of it focuses almost exclusively on Sara as Pestilence's captive. Some will see this and say, how could this be real? It's obviously called fiction for a reason, people! The relationship between the two protagonists went from hate to love, proving the old adage true - they can change with the flip of a coin.

Upon reading this again, I can see one flaw in the plot - I wish that we had gotten some more backstory at the beginning of the apocalypse. We are dropped into the story years after it has developed and this is not my favorite thing. Fantasy novels need more world-building to fully appeal to me.

All in all, this is a solid 4-star for me. While I do wish there had been a little more world-building, the overall plotline was great and the push and pull between Pestilence and Sara was amazing. This is definitely a great pick if you are into dark reads!

A great many thanks to Netgalley, Laura Thalassa, and Sourcebooks Bloom Books for this ARC. It is important to note that I was under no commitment to provide a positive review, and all opinions are undoubtedly my own.

[labyrinths-library]

Book 90 of 2024

Pestilence by Laura Thalassa

★★★★★

Find the author here. Find the books here.

Pages: 395

Genre: Romance

Spice Level (out of five):

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Review:

I'm going to be so honest. I read this entire series in the span of a Wednesday to a Sunday. I picked up Pestilence a while back because it was part of a Barnes and Noble BOGO 50% off table and I'd seen it floating around the book social medias and thought I'd give it a try. It then proceeded to sit on my shelf for months until I picked it up on a whim.

Best fucking whim I've had this year. I genuinely did not anticipate liking this as much as I did. For one thing, I hadn't read *smut* in a while, and this book really just opened a can of lemonade for me. Pestilence is book one in the four horsemen of the apocalypse series. The entire series is enemies to lovers and mortals teaching celestial beings about love and humanity. This one was a slow burn into a gentle love. Pestilence is probably the gentlest of all the horsemen, and he's just a clueless golden retriever as Sara teaches him about humanity in an effort to get him to give up his purpose of spreading plague and killing off everyone. I really appreciate the back and forth of Sara grappling with her morals and her feelings. It wasn't a "but I can look past it" moment. It was an "I can fix him" moment. I don't know if being a recovering Catholic made me enjoy this more because it tickled my old ties to religion without being super religious, but it was good. Highly recommend this series.

[thevalkyriesshadow]

Pestilence

They came to earth-Pestilence, War, Famine, Death-four horsemen riding their screaming steeds, racing to the corners of the world. Four horsemen with the power to destroy all of humanity. They came to earth, and they came to end us all.

When Pestilence comes for Sara Burn's town, one thing is certain: everyone she knows and loves is marked for death. Unless, of course, the angelic-looking horseman is stopped, which is exactly what Sara has in mind when she shoots the unholy beast off his steed.

Too bad no one told her Pestilence can't be killed.

Now the horseman, very much alive and very pissed off, has taken her prisoner, and he's eager to make her suffer. Only, the longer she's with him, the more uncertain she is about his true feelings towards her ... and hers towards him.

And now, well, Sara might still be able to save the world, but in order to do so, she'll have to sacrifice her heart in the process.

Beautiful Villain

Seven years ago, I lost him for good. Now he's back, but is he still the Jay Gatsby I used to know...or is he something more? Something...darker.

Daisy Finnegan is looking forward to the endless golden freedom of summer. No more college, no more pressure, no more worries. But when her cousin goes missing at an exclusive house party, Daisy is all too ready to confront the mysterious host...only to discover the wealthy recluse is Jay Gatsby, her childhood sweetheart—now sinfully hot and impossible to deny.

She could never resist him, and it isn't long before she's entangled in a web of wealth and lies and obsession, culminating in a shocking act of violence that shatters the summer haze and threatens to drown them all.

But it isn't until Gatsby is shot through the heart—and survives—that Daisy discovers the truth of how he clawed his way up in the world: by selling the secret of immortality to the highest bidder. Now with her friends' lives at stake, her own dizzying new powers still volatile, and an unimaginable threat closing in, Daisy will have to face an impossible choice: Side with the man who claimed her body and soul? Or with the monsters who would see him lost to her forever?

An addictive and truly original spicy New Adult retelling of The Great Gatsby with a magical twist.

[slutforthanatos]

𝔖𝔢𝔩𝔣 𝔖𝔥𝔦𝔭 As far as self shipping goes, I have two main loves. The first one is Thanatos, from the book 'Death', and the second one is Victor, from the book 'Pestilence'. Both books are by Laura Thalassa.

However, I love the plot and always want Lazarus and Thanatos to be together. I guess, in a sense, my self ship ideology is that I am his 'other woman'. The same does go for Victor and his canon wife, Sara, but on some levels, I can see parts of me in the way Sara is depicted, so I self ship a little more with Victor. He really swept me off my feet when I found his character, and I'm rather infatuated with him.

I love to write about both of them, and I adore them deeply.

[bibliophilebrii]

End of the year wrap up

(I may or may not continue reading regardless of this)

June

A court of thorns and roses by Sarah J. Maas ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ June 4-16

A court of mist and fury by Sarah J. Maas ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ June 18-27

A court of wings and ruin by Sarah J. Maas ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.✨ June 27-July 18

July

The cruel prince by Holly black ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.✨ july 19-20

The love hypothesis by Ali hazelwood ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ july 20-22

Punk 57 by Penelope Douglas ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.✨ July 22-24

Black sunshine by Karina Halle ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ July 29-31

August

Delilah green doesn’t care by Ashley Blake Herring ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ July 24- August 3

September

Defy the night by Brigid Kemmerer ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ September 1-8

Barbarian alien by Ruby Dixon ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ September 22

King of flesh & bone by Liv Zander ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ September 26

Barbarian lover by Ruby Dixon ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ September 27

Barbarian mine by Ruby Dixon ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ September 28

The wicked king by Holly Black ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.✨ September 29

A court of frost and starlight by Sarah J. Maas ⭐️⭐️⭐️.✨ September 29

Season of the bruja by Aaron Duran & Sara soler ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ September 30

October

Sinister desires by Faedra rose ⭐️⭐️⭐️ October 2

The queen of nothing by Holly Black ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.✨ October 4

Layla by Colleen Hoover ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ October 6-8

From blood & ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.✨ October 9-21

Love in the time of serial killers by Alicia Thompson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ October 22-23

Hooked by Emily mcintire ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ October 23-27

Scream for us by Molly Doyle ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (Audiobook bumped it up*) October 31

November

Broken bonds by J. Bree ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ November 4

Savage bonds by J. Bree ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ November 5

Blood bonds by J. Bree ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ November 6

It happened one Christmas by Jenn McKinley ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ November 17

Radiance Grace draven ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ November 19

Kingdom of the wicked by Kerri maniscalco ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ November 18-19

Trickery by Jaymin Eve & Jane Washington ⭐️⭐️⭐️.✨ November 20

The bridge kingdom by Danielle L. Jensen ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ November 21-22

A deal with the elf king by Elise Kova ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.✨ November 22-23

Pestilence by Laura thalassa ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️November 28-29

War by Laura thalassa ⭐️⭐️⭐️.✨November 30- December 2

December

Famine by Laura thalassa ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ December 3 -4

Death by Laura thalassa ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ December 5-6

It happened one summer by Tessa Bailey ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ December 8

Love on the brain by Ali hazelwood ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.✨ December 7-8

The fine print by Lauren Asher ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ December 10-13

The hating game by Sally Thorne ⭐️⭐️⭐️.✨ December 14

Twice in a lifetime by Melissa Baron ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ( bumped up cause of audiobook) December 13

Electric idol by Katee Robert ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ December 15-16

Wicked beauty by Katee Robert ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ December 17

The dragons bride by Katee Robert ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.✨December 18

A dance with the fae prince by Elise Kova ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ December 19-20

Marriage for one by Ella Maise ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.✨ December 21

King of battle & blood by Scarlett st. Clair ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ December 21 (Reread in anticipation of book 2)

[my-romance-library]

'Pestilence' (The Four Horsemen #1) - Laura Thalassa

They came to earth—Pestilence, War, Famine, Death—four horsemen riding their screaming steeds, racing to the corners of the world. Four horsemen with the power to destroy all of humanity. They came to earth, and they came to end us all.

When Pestilence comes for Sara Burn’s town, one thing is certain: everyone she knows and loves is marked for death. Unless, of course, the angelic-looking horseman is stopped, which is exactly what Sara has in mind when she shoots the unholy beast off his steed.

Too bad no one told her Pestilence can’t be killed.

Now the horseman, very much alive and very pissed off, has taken her prisoner, and he’s eager to make her suffer. Only, the longer she’s with him, the more uncertain she is about his true feelings towards her… and hers towards him.

And now, well, Sara might still be able to save the world, but in order to do so, she'll have to sacrifice her heart in the process.

“Last night I could not decide which you were—a tonic or a toxin,” he says. “Today I’ve discovered you’re both.”

I wince a little at his words. “You have woken in me things I did not know slumbered,” he continues. “Now that I am aware of them, I cannot ignore their existence. I fear I am becoming … like you. Human and full of want. I need this longing to go away.”

“Longing?” I almost choke the word out.

“Don’t tell me I am mistaken in this too,” he says bitterly. “Love, lust, longing—you cannot refashion my feelings. I know my heart, Sara, even if it’s alien to you.”

[allbookedupblogstuff]

Thoughts: Pestilence by Laura Thalassa

Source: NetGalley & Self Published Edition purchased – So thank you to the publisher and myself I reckonTL;DR: I don’t know why I’m going to keep reading this series but I am. This is full of red flags and plot holes but at least it’s fun and readable. Check your content warnings! Plot: The plot feels very much like a fantasy romance – you know what I mean.Characters: I actually liked Sara, our…

[jessread-s]

✩📜🏚️Series Review:

⋆ Enemies to lovers

⋆ Forbidden love

⋆ Different protagonists each book

“The Four Horsemen” quartet ruined me for other books.

I said it before and I’ll say it again. Thalassa’s unique undertaking of writing a romance novel for each of the four horsemen of the apocalypse blew me away! Thalassa characterizes each of the four horsemen so well and successfully makes them distinctive from one another.

Additionally, I really love the leading ladies in this series. All four women are strong in their own way and shaped by their vastly different pasts. I was completely captivated by their respective storylines and the ways in which they were romanced by their horsemen.

I hope that Thalassa will consider returning to this world in the future or writing other post-apocalyptic romance novels because I. NEED. MORE!

Cross-posted to: Instagram | Amazon | Goodreads | StoryGraph

@laurathalassa

[another-fucking-bookworm]

Book: Pestilence

Author: Laura Thalassa

Genre: romance

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ /5

Description:

They came to earth—Pestilence, War, Famine, Death—four horsemen riding their screaming steeds, racing to the corners of the world. Four horsemen with the power to destroy all of humanity.

They came to earth, and they came to end us all.

When Pestilence, the first of the horsemen, comes for Sara Burn's town, one thing is certain: everyone she knows and loves is marked for death. Unless, of course, the angelic-looking horseman is stopped, which is exactly what Sara has in mind when she shoots the unholy beast off his steed.

Too bad no one told her Pestilence can't be killed.

Alive and furious, the horseman takes Sara prisoner, determined to make her suffer for impeding his mission. Despite her pleas, nothing and no one gets in the way of his orders to destroy humankind. Only, the longer Pestilence spends beside Sara's bravery and compassion, the more he seems to understand her, and understand humanity. And the longer Sara travels with Pestilence and his plague, the more uncertain she grows about his true feelings toward her…and hers toward him.

Sara might still be able to save the world, but she'll have to sacrifice her heart in the process.

Review:

Absolutely gorgeous sentence work! The beginning of the book had me hooked. The descriptions are absolutely wonderful.

I am usually not much of a romance reader, but I really liked this one. It took some time for the romance to set in, and for us to get to know both of the characters, and their complexities.

And they are complex. They feel like actual people!

I loved seeing Pestilence start to care for Sarah, and through her humanity as a whole.

I would have liked for it to go more into the friendship area before we started romancing, but that’s just my personal opinion.

I could define see this being a movie.

[queen-of-bright-shiny-things]

hi booklr darlings!

what are your most recent book purchases?

mine are Josh and Gemma make a baby by @sarahreadyauthor and Pestilence by @laurathalassa

last week I also bought A deal with the elf king by @elise.kova from @amazonae which I'm already half way through and loving!

and yes I know I've already read Josh and Gemma make a baby but it's an amazing book and I just had to own a copy!

after reading The Bargainer series and absolutely loving it I had to get my hands on the Four Horsemen series by @laurathalassa I'm quite excited to read it!

also a special thank you to @magrudys for making the order process so much easier although the 3 week wait ended me. the fact that most of my books cannot be found in bookstores here is always shocking so I'm thankful I can always order with their US suppliers and collect from the store.

[ya-book-quotes-est1999]

“‘We only get so many minutes alive,’ I say. “When you find someone worth spending that time with, you don’t want to share those minutes with anyone else.”

-Sarah, Pestilence

[nachsie]

The Four Horsemen series by Laura Thalassa

They came to earth--Pestilence, War, Famine, Death--four horsemen riding their screaming steeds, racing to the corners of the world. Four horsemen with the power to destroy all of humanity. They came to earth, and they came to end us all.