This was alllmost a 5 star read for me, it would’ve got there had it been a little spicier and not quite such a slow burn. Now that may just be that I went into this with my smuttier expectations than I received but I still loved this book. I’m all about an apocalyptic drama and I’m all about a romance so throw those two genres together and I’m very much here for it.

I loved Sara. She’s the best of humanity in its complicated realness. Pestilence is simultaneously this badass conqueror and like a newborn baby who knows nothing about the world. I loved watching them interact and shape and mold each other into better versions of themselves. Like I said, I wish there had been more spice but the glimpses into the best (the old couple def made me cry) and the worst (that awful gang) of humanity in its descent to destruction (or maybe hope) kept me engaged throughout.

This is def more than just your average romance. This is a commentary on humanity and God in all its forms. It was so much more (and less lol) than I was expecting. Can’t wait to read the rest of the series.

Pestilence is the first book in a quartet by Laura Thalassa. It is a dark romance that follows the first of the four horsemen, Pestilence, who brings with him an infectious and a deadly epidemic. Pestilence has returned to the world to wreak havoc on humanity, and our main character, Sara Burn, wants to stop him. Sara takes one for the team and goes after Pestilence herself, only to find out that he is unkillable. Pissed off and with plenty of time on his hands, Pestilence decides to make Sara suffer for her attempt on his life.
This book is a lot gorier than I thought it would be and is definitely fairly dark. I highly suggest looking up trigger warnings before diving in. As expected, Pestilence brings forth disease and therefore death, but it is front in center on almost every page throughout the book so the book feels quite heavy.
I found the prose to be well done and the writing itself was overall enjoyable, but I unfortunately did not enjoy the story. Other than the main character being attracted to the horseman, I do not understand their romance in the slightest. In their first conversation, he literally says “Oh, how I will make you suffer.” and he really follows through. The torture he puts her through is unforgivable in my eyes, I have no idea how you could ever be intimate with someone who willingly, and gladly, put you through such horrible things. It all screamed Stockholm Syndrome to me.
She slowly becomes concerned for his wellbeing, despite the fact that he is literally unkillable, and stops fearing him, despite him constantly murdering people with his plague, right in front of her eyes. When it came to them getting together, I was also surprised to find out that it is not very smutty. I had the idea in my head that this book what thoroughly smutty, but it was not at all. It was only about 2 chili peppers out of 5.
I also found this book to be extremely repetitive. They seemed to have the same conversations over and over again. Then when they would stay somewhere, it would play out the same each time. And when they were on the move, the same plot point would often happen. It got very tiresome very quickly.
This book is filled with the dichotomy of Sara’s kindness and Pestilence’s wrath. It dives into deeper conversations with humans and dissects what humanity really is. It explores a “forbidden” romance and truly is “enemies to lovers”. If these are things that you like, you don’t mind a lot of gore, and you’re a fan of dark romances, this will absolutely be for you. Unfortunately, it was not at all for me.

This book was really something and I mean that in every way possible.
Let’s start with the things I liked: the relationship between Sara (female main character) and Pestilence (male main character) was really wholesome once they realised their attraction to one another. Additionally Pestilence character development was amazing to read about. The way that he slowly feels human emotions and learns to appreciate them was exceptional.
But there comes the things that confused me/ I was not prepared for: I had no idea that Pestilence would not be human and sent by God, though this may very well be my own fault because I completely forgot the description by the time I read it. English is also not my mother tongue, therefore I did not understand the word „pestilence“ or the meaning of the four horsemen (I googled it later because I was so confused as to why they often mentioned God and the bible). Because I was so unprepared I was really shocked by the beginning of this book and the fact that Sara tried to kill Pestilence a the very beginning.
But all in all I really enjoyed this book, even if I would not have expected this at the beginning!

Pestilence has come to Earth on a mission to destroy humankind with a plague that is 100% fatal. He detests humans and will show them no mercy. Sara Burns is the only one left in her town. She has orders to kill Pestilence and save humanity. She can’t show mercy even though it goes against her nature.

Overall, this is an enjoyable book. The writing flows easily and the plot moves along smoothly. The plot is engaging although I would have liked more detail on how the plague affected day-to-day life to better envision the setting. The setting was kind of like an apocalypse it not really, perhaps apocalypse light?

The biggest issue I had was with the character of Sara. Not only is Pestilence on a mission to kill everyone on Earth, but he also does some horrible things to Sara and yet she seems to easily overlook at she falls in love with Pestilence. She does struggle a bit with her feeling s towards Pestilence, but it just seems to fast for me.

I would recommend this book, especially to a romance reader who wants to read something a little different. It is an interesting concept and is certainly different from your typical romance.

I really didn’t know what to accept when reading this story, but I enjoyed it. Stockholm syndrome - check. One horse (who is also a badass) - check. Forced proximity enemies to lovers - check and check. I cried in this book, some of the side characters I got really attached to. I loved Sara, Pestilence said a few things that I didn’t love. I can’t wait to continue the series.

I just want to say that the cover to this book is absolutely stunning. That really captured me and really brought me into the story. Overall, I think the story how hold it’s on. I had a good time. There were a bit a predictable parts, but overall it was an exciting.

“This is misery, Sara,” he repeats. “But it is the sweetest misery I have ever felt. I don’t want it to stop.”
....

I LOVE a good enemies to lovers storyline, especially when one of them is hell-bent (heaven-bent?) on killing off humanity. All of humanity except one.

Pestilence has a divine task: spread plague throughout the world until all of humanity has died. And yet after Sara attempts to kill him, he finds himself with a second goal: make her suffer.

Once I started reading, I could not stop. I absolutely LOVED this book. Pestilence was oddly adorable as he learned about humanity and experienced human emotions for the first time, and Sara with her humor and conpassion was the perfect person to show him humanity's better side.

This book had delicious angst, spicy scenes, cute moments, and interesting worldbuilding in this apocalyptic romance from Laura Thalassa. Also, I love the new cover??

Thank you to the author and publisher for providing me with a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review :)

This is one of the best books/series Ive ever read. Honestly, I dont think anyone writes fantasy/dystopian romance like Laura Thalassa. This was also the very first enemies-to-lovers romance I read, years and years ago. And I loved it so much that I found myself having to email the author and thank her for writing this book.

Yes, the hero treats the heroine deplorably at the start, but in my opinion, he had his reasons and it made their relationship work even better. Their care for each other came about organically, and set the tone for the entire rest of the series. The way Laura goes about the end of the world was engaging and such a page-turner. The spice is *cheffs kiss.* Ive purchased special editions of this series and will absolutely be re-reading again. The story is phenomenal and the spice is FANTASTIC and the ending just makes you want to immediately move onto the next book in the series.

A solidly okay book.

This book left me with far too many questions, but Sara and Pestilence's relationship dynamic was really well developed. Part of me is holding out hope that my questions are answered in subsequent books but I wish some more details were explained. I want to know more about how bad humanity got for the horsemen to step in and stuff like that.


As I said above, the dynamic between Sara and Pestilence was really well written, it is the thing that kept me reading. Both of them struggled to deny their feelings and that tension was so good. I did not however enjoy the slut shaming bits from Pestilence. He's been around for a long time and seen a lot, surely he would be above something like that.

The plot and worldbuilding were lacking for me. There really wasn't much description of the places they went or how we got to this point. The plot consisted of them somewhat aimlessly travelling with no real timeline/deadline or purpose beyond spreading the plague. Him spreading the plague isn't even explained much beyond he just spreads it as if he is the plague. This all feels lacklustre. There aren't really any stakes here. Yeah, humanity may die at some point once he finally spreads it everywhere. There's no timeline to it or urgency though.

I honestly got bored reading this and only stuck through the entire book to see their relationship slowly develop. The development felt natural but there was really no plot beyond that.

I would recommend this to anyone wanting a simple romance book about a godlike person and a human. This is more of a dystopian paranormal romance. I would not call this a fantasy, adventure or sci-fi book though. It is strictly a romance book with a minimal plot beyond that.



Thank you to NetGalley and Bloom Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I read Pestilence after an intense Rom-Com binge, so it took me a bit to make the switch from laugh-out-loud funny to apocalyptic misery. Once I did, though, I was able to jump right into the flow of the story.

Sara is a strange character. I liked her, but the way she spoke sometimes seemed off. She's a brave, courageous woman who draws the short straw to stay behind in her village to try to kill Pestilence, the first horseman of the apocalypse. And she would have succeeded had it not been for that whole pesky immortality bit.

Pestilence is of course not pleased with being shot and burned alive. Rather than kill Sara (and yes, we find out why later), he keeps her as his prisoner. As they travel, the line between captor and captive blurs, and a strangely sweet dark romance blooms.

Pestilence will test your views on mankind. It showcases both the best and worst attributes of our species, especially in a high-stakes situation like the apocalypse. It also shows how love can be a huge driving force in change.

I'm not gonna lie - I questioned whether this book would be a romance for over 50% of it. Pestilence and Sara do some terrible things to each other and they witness some terrible things in their travels. The switch from apocalyptic journey to romance happens suddenly but smoothly. It's breadcrumbed here and there, and watching a being who's only wearing the skin of mankind learn to feel love and lust was my favorite part of the story. His love is a pure love, and watching him tie himself so completely to Sara will tug at your heart strings.

Favorite quotes:

"I cannot decide if you are a toxin or a tonic," he says, lifting a hand to my cheek. "Only that you plague my thoughts and fill my veins."

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

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This is so different to anything I've read before and I felt like I was slightly out of my comfort zone. It is quite dark and not a fluffy love story by any means. That's not to say I didn't enjoy it - it intrigued me and I most definitely want to go on and read the next book in the series.

I love paranormal reads, so I had hope that this would be a good read for me. This book exceeded all my expectations because I loved it! I enjoyed everything about this story even though there were times where I had hoped that Pestilence would reconsider the decisions he had to make. I loved Sara's character from beginning to end. There were times that I wanted to grab and shake her, but I enjoyed her character. This story made me smile, laugh and cry. There were parts that were devastating and heartbreaking. It definitely played with my heart strings especially, when it came to the older sweet couple, my heart broke for them. Pestilence and Sara both had to learn things along the way but what mattered most was each other. I loved the ending of the book and that cliffhanger ending just left me wanting more. I'm excited to read the next book to see how things turn play out. I'm just hoping that the next book is just as good, if not better than this one.

This book started out really strong and I was immediately pulled in. The story was unique and the characters were entrancing. I wanted to know more about the world and the story that was being crafted, this book definitely has the appeal of a fresh romance.

As I said, immediately hooked. However, after about the third time of them being attacked by people in the cities I started to feel less than enthused by the plot. It became repetitive in that regard and I found myself losing some of my steam (but I finished this in less than two days so it’s safe to say I was very must still invested). And I felt like they were having the same conversations in different ways over and over again.

I just wanted to shake Pestilence and make him realize that he needed to drop her off on the outskirts, go about his business, then circle back and pick her up after the coast was clear. I feel like he was just being negligent after so many attacks on Sara’s life. Of course her being injured spurred the plot along eventually.

This is definitely one of the more unique romances I have read in a while and for that I am thankful. I love a strong female and I love a morally gray man and this book delivers on both of those fronts. I loved the development of Sara, although, I would have been interested to see some chapters from Pestilences perspective to get a little more involved in his thought processes.

This is absolutely a series I will continue to read and I’m very curious to see where this is going to go next. War. Death. Famine.

The 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse have come to Earth to punish humanity. Pestilence, the first horseman, brings plague everywhere he goes. Sara Burns attempts to end the suffering by killing Pestilence, but things do not go according to plan, and he takes her as prisoner. They travel the country getting to know each other; with Sara hoping she can change his mind and make the death end.

I didn't think I could care about literal Pestilence, but Thalassa got me again! There were many interesting twists and turns as Sara and Pestilence got to know each other, and their relationship changed. The story and thoughts about humanity were much deeper than I anticipated.

Next, on to War!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book for an honest review.

Fantasy Romance! My first paranormal type of read and I feel like it was so well written I was hooked from start to finish with it all. Overall I really enjoyed the book and recommend anyone to read this one =D

Thank you to Bloom for the eArc.

I was intrigued about how the romance would go in this book and how I would feel about it. After finishing it I can say it was a really interesting story that dealt a lot with morality and the romance was one I was rooting for and against at the same time which was kind of fun. By the end I was all onboard and am excited to pick up the next books in the series.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for an interesting fantasy romance with unique circumstances.

The first of the Four Horsemen series! If you like brooding men who who believe in one goal and one goal only… to end the world…. but then a woman comes into play…. you have found the book. Filled with adventure, uncertainty, and stubbornness. Loved this book!

This copy was kindly given to me by Netgalley and the publisher for review. All opinions are my own.

I love this whole series and am excited to see the new covers as they are being republished. Pestilence might have been my favorite horseman from the series so far (I haven't finished Death yet). I enjoyed the journal aspect, the growth of both characters as they spend more time with each other.
And Trixie the loyal steed was my fav animal side kick.

I received a revised copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you NetGalley!

Pestilence is a book that intrigued me for a while. The premise of a romance between a human and one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse is certainly original and daring. I was curious to see how the author would handle such a difficult subject, especially since the romance involves Stockholm syndrome and a lot of violence and suffering.

I have to admit that I was not disappointed by Laura Thalassa's writing. She has a way of creating complex and compelling male characters that make you feel conflicted and fascinated by them. Pestilence is no exception. He is ruthless, cruel, and merciless, but also loyal, honorable, and capable of change. His transformation throughout the book is gradual and believable, and his chemistry with Sara is undeniable.

Sara, on the other hand, was not my favorite heroine. I found her to be inconsistent and annoying at times. She oscillates between hating and loving Pestilence, between fighting and surrendering to him, between being brave and being foolish. I understand that she is in a very difficult situation, but I wish she had more depth and personality.

The plot of the book is also a bit repetitive and long. The story follows Sara and Pestilence as they travel across the country, encountering different obstacles and challenges along the way. Some of these scenes are exciting and emotional, but others are boring and unnecessary. I think the book could have been shorter and more focused.

However, despite these flaws, I still enjoyed reading Pestilence. I am a sucker for stories where love conquers all, even in the most hopeless and dark circumstances. And this book delivers that message in a powerful and satisfying way. The ending left me wanting more, and I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

If you are looking for a unique and dark romance with a touch of fantasy and dystopia, you might want to give Pestilence a try. Just be warned that it is not for the faint of heart or the easily offended.

Pestilence by Laura Thalassa is a dark and twisted paranormal story that will leave you questioning morality, humanity, life, and death. The book follows Pestilence, the first horseman who comes back after their arrival on Earth, as he rides through the world, spreading plague. Every city he sets foot in gets infected. The story is equally action-packed and character-driven, with both Sara and Pestilence growing quite a bit as characters. The interactions between them were enjoyable, and the book swept me into the story, making me not want to put it down. There was one particularly moving scene where they came upon an older couple who took them in, knowing who Pestilence was, and knowing what the outcome would be. It was the first moment where you see the beginnings of Pestilence's understanding of humanity. Overall, Pestilence is a great read, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys dark paranormal stories. My rating for this book is 5 stars.