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.

A book that starts off very slowly and didn't hold me right from the start but, more by the end, was impossible to put down! A novel with a fantastic and dystopian touch that, besides making us sigh, makes us think about the path our lives are taking. A gripping writing, dubious characters who end up winning us over and with whom it is easy to identify. The plot, although original and well constructed as a whole, has many repetitive moments, in the end we have a succession of events that always end up being too similar, which makes the story quite predictable. A reading that I enjoyed a lot and that I recommend despite not being a favorite.

Plot | 2⭐
Characters | 4⭐
Ease of Read | 3⭐
Quality of Writing | 4⭐

Overall | 3.25⭐

I have been hearing about this book for a while and I'm kicking myself for waiting so long to read it The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse come to Earth and bring with them destruction and then they left. Then five years later Pestilence came back and he's riding his horse across the world and leave death and disease in his wake. Sara Burns has drawn the short end of the stick and has been chosen to stay in her town and take Pestilence down when he rides through. She soon finds out he can't be killed and he's taking her as a prisoner for a front seat view to the end of the world.

I couldn't put this book down. I loved Sara and how witty she was. I felt bad for Pestilence. This book was great. All the stars from me. Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the ARC.

I loved this one! The pacing I. This fantasy romance had me hooked. While it took me a bit to warm up to the MMC, I did really enjoy this one in the end and will be continuing the series.

I am struggling to compile my thoughts on this book. In one hand, I enjoyed it. But in the other hand, I’m also slightly annoyed by it?
Sara was not an enjoyable character for me. It is such a human fictional thought that you could kill one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse with a shotgun. She literally thought she could kill Pestilence with a shotgun, a being who can quite literally kill a man with a single look? I also thought it was so mundane that Sara also didn’t think that anyone else would have tried to kill Pestilence before her?

I also cannot in good faith give this higher than a 3⭐️, simply because the FMC used the term ‘lady goods’ to describe her own sexual organs.. multiple times!

By no means was this a bad book though. I still found it quite enjoyable for the most part. But I couldn’t help but cringe at so many actions Sara would take, or how she thought (or rather didn’t think) about how other people wouldn’t also have a fight response to someone invading their space and trying to wipe them out with the plague. Despite this, the progression of Pestilence’s and Sara’s relationship was fast, yet endearing at times, and the smut was quite good too.

The epilogue did leave me slightly intrigued to pick up book 2 too, so there’s that?

If you enjoy a fantasy (?) romance with a snarky main character, a grumpy male lead, and would like to read about a developing relationship where the girl tries to humanise the guy - this is the type of book for you!

TL;DR: The smut was good, the story was fast paced - but overall I found the story to be incredibly predicable and strongly disliked Sara, the main character.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the complimentary e-arc in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this review are my own.

3.5⭐️ I definitely enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. I live in BC Canada so knowing it was set in my province hooked me right away. Pestilence was a great character. More than a morally grey main character; he had fantastic development throughout the story. A horseman of the apocalypse who discovers his own humanity.
I’ve read some of Thalassa’s books before this one and this book solidified the following opinion: she writes pretty unlikeable female characters. Sara seems just as immature and fickle as Thalassa’s other FMC. When she named the horse Trixie Skillz, i had to question whether this was actually a 23 year old woman or a 15 year old girl.
Overall I found the story interesting but I’m undecided if I’ll continue with the series.

I was intrigued, a smutty novel with the apocalypse and the horsemen…….
I read this book in one day because I kept waiting for it to pick up and get good. Toward the end is where it got good. I did like the take on the Apocalypse and how it brought out the worst in people. I enjoyed the old couple and their story. I also enjoyed the ending and how it set up for the next book:

Not my favorite book but I’ll give the series’s another shot with WAR.

This was a tab bid back and forth for me. I enjoyed the premises of the book and the character development. It was a little tiresome at some points. He had a job to do, she didn’t like the idea of it and it was a bit repetitive. I get it, he has to keep Sara in check.
Yes, I will be reading the rest of the series because the topic intrigues me.

This is a reread for me, I read this for the first time four years ago and multiple times after that.
I rated it 5 stars back then and would still rate it 5 stars today.

It's one of those books that can pull me out of a reading slump.
I love everything about it including the main characters, the setting, and the storyline.

Also, I love the new cover art.

Damn, where to even start. The beginning of this series was fantastic. Sara is a firefighter who risks her life to take down one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse in hopes of saving her family and friends. She quickly discovers he cannot be killed but slowly comes to enjoy his company...

I loved our main character, Sara, and her quips. I often find writing with modern diction to be over the top, however, I thought the author did a great job. I found myself enjoying the contrast between quoted classic literature and profanity. I also loved how Pestilence's character slowly evolved. He starts off very one-dimensional but soon starts to display unfiltered human emotions and feelings. I felt as conflicted as Sara did when their relationship started to heat up and Pestilence began to care for her. The scenes with the elderly couple were one of my favourites, and a nice break from the hardships they endured. This was a great read and I'm looking forward to the next in the series!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sharing a copy of this book with me.

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.

I first read this book a couple of years ago, and I remember because of the pandemic, I wasn't that into it. I'm glad I reread this because I appreciated the story so much more. The plot is that the four horsemen of the apocalypse have been sent to Earth to destroy it because humans are just not great people (I agree, lol). The first up is Pestilence, and he meets our fmc (Sara) after she shoots him. He then takes her as his prisoner, and she has to ride him while he goes around North America, spreading the plague and destroying the world.

This book is not light, there are some humorous moments, but they are around town, and Sara has to watch people die and care for them. Sara and Pestilence's relationship grows as she teaches him human feelings, emotions, and experiences. I know this is a romance, and the steamy scenes are okay, but what really interested me was this idea of mercy and love that pestilence had to come to terms with. There are some emotional scenes in this, specifically a scene with an older couple that was sad. I could tell that there was more editing in this new version which made it so easy to read I flew through this. This was good, and I'm definitely rereading the next book to see if my thoughts about it have changed as well.
CW: Death, sickness, pestilence, plague,

Thank you, Bloom book and Netgalley, for this arc.

Pestilence is such an interesting book. I liked the concept of the four horsemen coming to earth. Pestilence as a character made complete sense. Sara on the other hand I had difficulty connecting with it even liking. She graphically kills pestilence but then is a gentle and kind person. Her humor and her love of poetry leaves a big disconnect. The book was pretty good overall but at times a little redundant. Loved the character development of Pestilence. I am interested to see how the next book in the series goes. A couple of gaps left open for the other books to fill in. Overall 3.3 ⭐️

Thank you to SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books and the author for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.