This book is a great mix of starting to get into spicier reads, but also, in my mind has a great story plot.
Enemies to lovers takes on a different meaning when..... well I don't want to spoil it. But it's intense

The new covers are gorgeous!

1.5 Stars rounded to 2

Well at least this was a quick read. I like some of Laura’s other novels but this just did not hit the mark for me.

What I wanted: A dystopian tale of one of the four horsemen. Some blood, gore, and insight into the motivations of a horseman.

What we got: A thin plot that didn’t make much sense with a romance between two characters who had about as much personality as a brick.

Their relationship could have had potential but really one/both/either of them continuously was injured until a switch flipped and suddenly they were in love. If I had to read one more time how angelic his abs were I might’ve puked.

I will give props for the gore. It gave what you would expect from a book called Pestilence and I appreciated that!

I devoured this book in a day!

The superb storytelling drew this reader in and had me spell bound til the last page. I was also so morally convicted that Pestilence is mass murdering North America with the plague. But the slow burn love story had me cheering for them. I felt so awful for rooting for them, as he murders children and old people.

I think this is a portion of the reason many reviewers do not like this story as the plague and its victims are written in graphic detail. So, readers beware.

But I love a good villain smut story. The story is a slow burn, and the relationship feels so genuine.

I can’t wait to get my hand on the second book in this series in a couple of months!

Pestilence by Laura Thalassa follows Sara, a firefighter who has been chosen to fight Pestilence, one of the four horseman of the Apocalypse, in this dystopian fantasy romance. The world is ravaged by plagues and humanity is barely hanging on. After a failed assassination attempt, Sara is stuck with Pestilence as a punishment so she sees first hand his power. As the story goes on, the relationship between the two slowly goes from enemies to maybe something else entirely.

I have been wanting to read this book awhile so when I saw that it was getting a traditional release, it seemed like the perfect time to pick it up. While I enjoyed the experience of reading this as I always enjoy a dystopian novel, I did have a weird disconnect from Sara as a character. I just could not fathom being attracted to someone that is literally killing people all around you. I understand this is an enemies to lovers story so they have to really be enemies to begin with for it to work but this was a lot.

That being said, I did enjoy the rest of the book. I liked Pestilence and his lack of understanding about humans. The side characters we met along the way really helped round out some character development and the writing was really engaging. I saw some reviews that said a lot of parts were repetitive and I can see that to an extent but I think it was more about seeing the main characters in similar situations to show how much they had changed.

I would recommend this to anyone who wants a fantasy romance that is unique and feels high stakes. I can definitely see myself reading more of this series.

I compared the newer 2023 copy with the 2018 original version (almost word for word) to see how the two compare and I am actually pretty impressed. Where the older book was already captivating, this newer script is actually smoother.

Certain words were changed to modernize them while others were cut out altogether. Some capitalized, some italicized, and a couple of sentences and paragraphs were cut out near the end (they were completely unnecessary). While no major changes or new chapters were added, I do admit that the story as a whole reads better than the original.

Pestilence is still just as brutal in the beginning and we do get a true enemies to lovers story that ends up melting your heart in the absolute best way. And I still love Sara - the rough and caring firefighter who knows when to pick her battles, but also isn’t willing to compromise on her core values.

I adored being able to travel the Southern Canadian and Pacific Northwest terrain with them again. Even though I knew what was coming, the rewrites smoothed out some of the blunter transitions and I felt like I was experiencing the book through fresh eyes. Definitely worth it!

Well, shit. Did I I think I would spend my entire weekend reading this book. No. Did I? Yes. I loved it so much, I only put it down because I had to go to my friend’s birthday brunch. I also left early so I could veg out on the couch and finish this book. I loved the long set up to the Pestilence and Sara’s romance. It wasn’t too fast and insta-lovey and it had just the right amount of tension. Also, the wonderful sexy time. The author writes a pretty good steamy scene. She just got herself a new fan. I’m so excited that the rest of the series is available to read. Looks like I won’t be getting anything done this week.

This book has been on my TBR for over a year (the indie published version) and I'm so glad I finally got around to it because I enjoyed it so much. This book was so different than what I expected (probably because I refuse to read synopses for absolutely no reason). I thought this would be set in a historical fantasy world where a tavern wench/fair maiden just happens to get kidnapped by a hot shirtless horseman and eventually there's one bed, etc, etc. I did not expect this to be a contemporary fantasy where Pestilence is the Harbinger of the Apocalypse, and Sara (the main character) tries to murder him and gets taken prisoner and etc, etc. Even then, I didn't expect this book to be as emotional, sweet, and contemplative as it was (quite literally gave me an existential crisis at 7 am). Pestilence literally has no social skills whatsoever, so when he tries to start showing his affection it doesn't translate very well to a very confused Sara (this was the best part of the book I love this specific brand of miscommunication). I thought their love story was very well paced, had just the right amount of sad, and had a conflict that made sense and didn't use anything like meaningless miscommunication that could've been easily avoided. It's also worth mentioning that the amount of hurt/comfort scenes in this book very much contributed to the high rating. I wish the epilogue was a little bit more clear on some things (we see a glimpse of their life together 5 years later and allude to having children but never really confirm or deny). The epilogue's only real purpose was to set up the next book, which I always hate in a romance because I want a cute fluffy domestic slice of life, not "war is coming"

This was so good! Based on the 4 horsemen. I ate this book up!!! I can't wait for the next three in the series!!
I just reviewed Pestilence by Laura Thalassa. #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

Love love love! Absolutely big love. I had heard a lot about Pestilence & was so excited when I was able to read this from NetGalley.
Laura has used the perfect balance of detail & casualness which makes this a perfect ‘pick me up, easy read’ for any time!
You’ll be falling in love with the characters in no time. I am so exited to read book 2 in this series ‘War’.

Oooooooo if you the Laura’s other books add these to your ever growing pile of romance books. Just keep the at the top! You’ll want the next book. What I love most about this romance author is they an amazing plot every time and perfectly tease you with the romanced interlaced into the novels!

I was expecting to be reading a high fantasy romance but was nicely surprised when discovering while reading that this is actually a dystopian sci-fi series. Happening in the modern world, the apocalypse is near and Pestilence, the first Horseman, has come to Earth to rid it of humans, who destroyed it. Sara is chosen at random to stay behind and try to kill him. Immortal, he survives her attempt and capture her while raiding the North American West Coast.

I had a very vague idea of the premises of the book so I had an open-mind going in and enjoyed this book a lot. It's written in present tense first POV with Sara as the narrator, which makes it very accessible.
The themes of guilt, shame, questioning your morals and finding your own humanity in the compassion and acts of kindness were beautiful though a little over simplistic at times. I enjoyed Sara's journey through self-doubt, and guilt, but I think Pestilence very gradual character growth was even more interesting. Again, I would have wished for more moral-greyness and less Manichean Good vs Evil debate, especially in the ending of the book. That ending felt too YA and puritan.

Overall, I believe that this book is very entertaining but needs to be read with a critical lens, realising how Christian it is. This entire story is a sermon on how Good will prevail and kindness will save us all from the End of Times. There is also a stance on women's morality and abortion that I disagree with but I respect it might be the author's opinion. I think for the benefit of the story, more nuance would have been great.

This review is for Laura Thalassa's sensation Pestilence being re-released with a new sparklingly cover for mass marketing in stores.

This book is a serious mind blow. The Four Horsemen have ridden and now Pestilence is spreading the messian pandemic. Sara has drawn the live match, a shotgun, and makes short work of discovering you can't kill a Horseman. Hurt them, oh, yes. But you can't kill them. And now Sara is a prisoner. Of the First Horseman of the Apocalypse, Pestilence.

The relationship between Pestilence and Sara is so complicated. He makes her suffer. As a Firefighter, Sara is fit so she can pretty much keep pace as Pestilence makes her run after him and his horse (whom she is tied to). Then she falls and is dragged. In many more ways Sara is tortured. Being made to sit with people, or humans as Pestilence despicably calls the race, suffer and succumb to his disease he is spreading.

In this state of suffering, Sara finds herself attracted physically to Pestilence - an angelic creation meant to doom the earthly population. She sees his utter disregard for human life, killing indiscriminately all while she offers palative care as best she can. As he watches her he becomes more and more curious about his prisoner, learning about her, her life, why she was the last stand in her town.

Their story leads them into the stuff of Old Testament warnings about Angels and humans laying together. God had a say about that.

My personal opinion of this book is you take a person prisoner and then break them down and they form an attachment to you - that's called Stockholm Syndrome. However, I don't believe the author intended for this to be the case. I believe she wanted to take these two true Enemies - A Horseman of the Apocalypse and the Last Human Standing in Her Town Tasked with Stopping Said Horseman - and take them to Lovers. It was grisly. Yes, it was tortuous. It was beyond the pale in many instances (no privacy). Sara was an adult. She did make decisions. And it was a very slow burn.

In the end, I believe this story ended up where it needed to go. But I recommend readers pay attention to Trigger Warnings.

I had no clue if I was going to like this. I enjoyed Bewitched, which is a new release in Thalassa's Bargainer universe. I heard overwhelmingly positive things about the Bargainer series (haven't read it yet, but I do intend to!), and some mixed opinions on The Four Horsemen series. So all that being said, I went into this very neutral and I think open-minded (expecting neither trash nor gold).

I was pleasantly surprised. Sara Burns—not sure I can forgive this name for a firefighter, but I digress—as far as FMCs go, is pretty likeable. Relatively relatable, etc... I'm Canadian and so I enjoyed that she was Canadian. I did have to laugh a bit about Whistler being referred to as a "lonely corner of the world", but I guess in the apocalypse it might be. Also, as someone from Winnipeg, I did enjoy the brief shout out to us for trying to gut a Horseman of the Apocalypse. That's exactly what we would do.

No clue either why I expected this to be smuttier, but it wasn't and that was another lovely surprise. I thought the romance had an interesting direction. I enjoyed the fact that it was part of Pestilence slowly being "corrupted" by human pleasures and such. It really sold the whole "otherworldly being" thing, especially whenever he monologued about not being human.

In conjunction with that aspect, I thought there were many interesting little bits of philosophy. Something I wasn't expecting but did enjoy. Immensely. Especially the little bits about Pestilence mentioning how "God is God" and the lens through which humans try to interpret Him is really irrelevant (I say this as an atheist with a fascination with theology).

My only real complaint is the ending. I just thought it was too easy/too simple. But, it's a romance book at the end of the day, so it's going to have an easier ending.

Minor spoilers (I kinda really liked how this book was written so felt the need to put in my two cents. This book definitely showed and didn't just tell me what I needed to know)

The whole beginning was so well done and I was hooked! Laura Thalassa really immersed me into her apocalyptic world that starts off with the emergance of the four horseman. After they disappear, angelic Pestilence is the first to set out and destroy humankind with his plague.

Sara is the embodiment of courage and compassion. She stays behind to kill Pestilence but unfortunately becomes his prisoner, with a front row ticket to his divine punishment. She hurts for the people dying and tries to ease their pain for the inevitable, because inevitably she can't do anything against the unkillable Pestilence. She's not perfect but human's aren't supposed to be perfect and I honestly liked her.

This was definitely a slow burn (totally understandable since she tried to kill him and then he kept her prisoner, tortured her, and almost killed her when she tried to escape). Started off like a dark romance but didn't officially get to the romance until halfway, and then it wasn't so dark.

It was so heartening to see Pestilence learn compassion from Sara and get glimpses of the good in humanity along their harsh journey. I felt that each stop showed Pestilence changing just a little bit more. Sara obviously struggles to draw a line that separates her from Pestilence, the biblical entity, sent by god and created by god. I felt the turmoil she did when, even with all the good in the world, there is still so much cruelty. Pestilence also struggled with the death he caused but, every time he was attacked, he felt more sure he was doing the right thing.

I wished they talked more about the consequences of just stopping the plague, if he had any say and how much say. There were two lines that said
“That I and my brothers have come to conquer this land, and unless humans change, all will be laid waste and your day of judgment will fall swiftly upon you.”
And.
“But there’s a chance we won’t?”Pestilence hesitates. “Yes,”he finally says. “There is a chance. Until Death has ridden across the earth and deemed it unworthy—until God Himself has called us back—there is a chance.”
They might still go into it more in future books so I'm not too mad about it.

That chance is love (duh!). I did worry for, like, a fourth of a second whether there would be a happily ever after. No worries! They have a HEA ending.

Wish I could see more of their life together, but excited to a least have some glimpses in the next book where we meet Pestilence's brother, War. Totally hooked on this new series. Thank you, Laura, for writing such a sweet and heartbreaking story about the consequences of humanity losing their way and how their is hope, compassion, and mercy.

Thank you to NetGalley for sharing with me this advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

First of, thank you to Laura Thalassa and NetGalley for the free ebook in exchange for an honest review!

Rating: 4/5 Stars

This was such a great read! My favorite trope of all time is definitely enemies to lovers, and Laura really wrote it beautifully. I enjoyed so much!

Pestilence by Laura Thalassa is book 1 the The Four Horsemen series.

The whole book was addictive and entertaining I couldn’t stop reading.
The author's incredible storytelling sucked me in immediately.
These characters were so realistic and enchanting. They jumped right off the page and came to life in my mind. I loved the amazing character development for these characters.
I can’t wait to start book two War.

“I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

Thank You NetGalley and Bloom Books for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

WOW. I am in love with this and I'm desperate to check out the rest of the series. This was just amazing, a great storyline, really intriguing and unique, I love this take on the four horseman and I can't wait to see how the other three are portrayed. The characters are also so well written, I also fell in love with Pestilence (I mean who wouldn't) it was really interesting seeing his character arc and how he changes throughout the book as he learns more about humanity but so does Sara as she also has her eyes opened about the worst of humanity too. Sara was amazing, a great strong female lead who is super funny and smart. This was a great slow-burn romance with a really interesting dystopian premise I can't wait to read more about. I can't recommend this enough.

I've been wanting to read this forever and I just kept putting it off thank you so much for the earc I loved it so much! Running to go purchase the old covers and new ones as well

What to do when everyone on Earth is going to die?! Try to convince one of the unkillable, God-made Horseman of the Apocolypse that humanity is worth saving, of course. Pestilence by Laura Thalassa is the first of a 4-book series each focusing on a different woman entangling herself with one of the Horsemen of the Apocolypse.

When Pestilence, the first of the horsemen, comes for Sara Burns' 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. Pestilence cannot be killed so he kidnaps Sara and drags her along, literally behind his horse, while he goes from town to town spreading his plague.

On this journey across Western Canada and Washington, they encounter different types of people- good, bad, and ugly- and we see how different types of people would react in the face of apocalypse. Pestilence pretty much forces anyone who still occupies their home to let them in and make use of their hospitality whether coerced or not. And Sara watches as everyone they come into contact with dies, trying to provide comfort to them as they go. Ultimately on this journey, they learn about humanity, themselves, and each other. Hopefully changing for the better.

Initially, I found Sara Burns to be funny, snarky, and relatable. In the first chapter, she says "I may be doomed to die, but I'm taking that infernal fucker down with me." It made me chuckle and immediately I was drawn to her and that sort of pissed-off resignation of a fighter who knows death is imminent. The issue that developed over the course of the book, for me, was that she seemed to be a contradiction. She loved Shakespeare and Byron, and could quote Edgar Allen Poe verbatim. And yet, she names his horse Trixie Skillz, mentions listening to Pestilence tell her about his "feels" and references her genitals as "lady goods", all of which lead her to appear juvenile and sometimes cringey. Humans are, of course, imperfect creatures but I felt like this choice the author made was not in line with the character she initially presented.

Pestilence, for all his beautiful blonde hair, golden skin, and perfect body, is initially uncaring, judgemental, and unwavering in his attitude and task. Spending time with Sara allows him to see another side of humanity, one with compassion, he has not encountered before. This makes sense.
My issue with this character is that according to the story he is older than humans, been around for eternity, and yet he's never seen breasts, ever? I get this unearthly being, appearing human for our benefit and understanding, not ever having sex before. But never, ever, seeing breasts I just can't get over. Lastly, there are a little too many juvenile qualities to both Pestilence and Sara which makes the romance a little uncomfortable, personally.

I loved. loved, loved the supporting characters of Ruth and Rob, and just like in real life, I wish I had more time with them. Overall, I actually enjoyed the book. I found the people, the emotion, and the struggles to be realistic and believable. The end was a bit predictable, but it had to be this way in order to give the characters a HEA so I don't mind that.

I give this book an overall 3.5 stars. It was mostly an enjoyable read, definitely a quick read for me (less than 24hrs total). This book is a good read for people who like dystopian, slow-burn, forced proximity romances.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Bloom Books for the opportunity to read this ARC for an honest review!

I wasn't a big fan of this book, the plot did nothing to hold my attention and ended up dragging on and bored me very much. The enemies to lovers trope was not done well either and both main characters were quite insufferable, It's not enemies to lovers when its literally stockholm syndromed into her. Furthermore, the characters showed little to no character development, every interaction between them was unrealistic and oddly misogynistic and the writing was cringy.