‘Pestilence,’ the first installment in Laura Thalassa's apocalyptic series, delivers a unique blend of dark fantasy and romance that delves into the depths of human nature and morality. Set against the backdrop of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse descending on Earth, Thalassa crafts a narrative that is both harrowing and enthralling, centered around the characters of Sara and Pestilence.

Sara Burns, a fierce and determined protagonist, embodies the resilience of humanity. Her initial encounter with Pestilence is a desperate, albeit futile, attempt to protect her town. Her subsequent capture and journey with Pestilence evolve from hostility and fear to a complex understanding and emotional depth that are the core of the book. Sara’s character, laced with wit and sarcasm, brings a lightness to the otherwise grim circumstances, making her instantly relatable and likable.

Pestilence, as a character, is a fascinating study in contrasts. Initially portrayed as a merciless harbinger of death, his character development is one of the book's strongest points. As he travels with Sara, his gradual understanding of human emotions, particularly love and empathy, adds layers to his character. His transformation from a seemingly invincible force to a being capable of human emotions is skillfully executed.

The relationship between Sara and Pestilence is the part that snared my heart. Thalassa navigates the morally grey area of their burgeoning romance with a careful balance, avoiding the pitfalls of romanticizing the captor-captive dynamic. Instead, she presents a nuanced exploration of how love can emerge in the unlikeliest of circumstances. The evolution of their relationship, from animosity to something deeper and more tender, is compelling and thought-provoking.

Thalassa's writing style is fluid and immersive, weaving a post-apocalyptic world that is as fascinating as it is terrifying. The narrative is rich in emotional depth, exploring themes of duty, morality, and the essence of humanity.

‘Pestilence’ is a bold and imaginative take on the apocalypse genre, blending romance, fantasy, and philosophical musings into a narrative that is both dark and captivating. Thalassa's ability to create multifaceted characters and a complex, emotion-driven story makes this book a standout in its genre. While it may not appeal to every reader, especially those looking for a more action-driven plot, ‘Pestilence’ offers a unique and intriguing tale that challenges the boundaries of dark romance and fantasy.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a digital ebook for my honest review.

This was a super interesting, sexy retelling(?) of the 4 horsemen myth. There is not much I would praise the book other than it's so addicting I had to finish it? If you don't take the book too seriously, it's a fun, trashy, read with great potential. I think that it's generally lacking in all areas that could make it redeemable - it wasn't smutty enough, writing and pacing was choppy, the plot inconsistent, the character a little annoying, but.... it was fun to read.

This book disgusted me at first because of all the death and disease. But duh, that’s the whole point of the powers of the male main character. We’re supposed to hate him at first! I ended up really liking both of the main characters, and how caring and loving they grew towards each other. This isn’t a smut book. This is a plot filled book with a good amount of spice and steam, which is how I like it. I will say that if you hate the MMC at the beginning of this book and you want to DNF, stick it through. You will love him by the end. He’s just doing his job, after all!

I received this book for free for an honest review from netgalley

I loved this book and the author did the four horseman justice in this sexy first book of the series.

I love all of her books! The characters were amazing and the story was absolute beautiful!! Laura thalassa has very quickly become a favorite author of mine.

No one does paranormal romance better than Laura Thalassa and The Four Horsemen series is her best one yet!

Pestilence is the first in the series and it is a phenomenal introduction to the four horsemen. He’s grumpy but also deep down a sweetheart and you fall for him along with the female lead.

There is spicy moments that in my opinion are well thought out and make sense for the story without being overwhelming. And yet there is also heartwarming moments that you perhaps didn’t expect.

Overall, it’s a romance unlike any other and one of my favorites!

New favorite for sure.

I love how this book starts out so into the action so quickly. We learn a little about how the world is after the horsemen first come and then we get right to Pestilence waking up and riding the earth spreading his plague everywhere he goes.

Sara is such a brave spitfire of a woman and I could truly see her being a firefighter. Her compassion is truly amazing. How she takes care of every single person she can who catches the plague even if they don't deserve it.

The relationship between Sara and Pestilence couldn't be any more forbidding and wrong. He is sent to the world to kill all of humanity with a plague. And she is seen by her own people to have turned her back on her own kind for falling for him. We really see her struggle with her feelings for him and how she truly wants him to stop and see that he has a choice to be different. To stop the plague. To stop the killing. Pestilence is such a cinnamon roll character but he would crawl to the ends of the earth for Sara. Kill for her. His protection and care is so kind it's crazy to think that a horseman of the apocalypse could love anyone. When they kiss for the first time I was screaming like a school girl. I was so excited to see them be something more than just prisoner and keeper.

This book had some parts that made me hate humanity and I'm sure Sara did too. How they tried to make Pestilence die but not only die. They wanted him to suffer horribly. I can't imagine being shot in the face having to be in so much pain from it and then the pain of it regrowing. But we also see the love and hope of humanity with those who open their arms to Pestilence and Sara willingly even though they know they will surely die.

The ending of the book left alot to be talked about. Sara dying and death allowing her to return. How they are walking around children's toys so did that mean they had children? I wish we would have saw if they did them interact with them. Especially Pestilence. We're they human or other beings? We also end knowing that his other brother War is waking up. And it will be his turn to ride the earth.

Laura Thalassa's "Pestilence" combines aspects of romance with the old telling of the four horsemen of the apocalypse to draft a compelling story of enemies to lovers between Sara and Pestilence. Their story represents complex dynamics and while Thalassa does not stray from the darker aspects of their relationship she does show the progression between these two characters as they slowly begin to understand one another.

The first volume of the series was an absolute highlight. I was in the story from the very beginning and it was so captivating. The story started relatively quickly and I was captivated by the apocalyptic horseman from the very beginning. His appearance and his character were very surprising to me. I was all the more impressed by his appearance and admired him. I was very surprised and delighted by his eloquence and how engaging he was.
That in combination with a young woman who is also not a mouthful is very daring and explosive. Their relationship was like that right from the start.
The book was really exciting and I can recommend it to anyone looking for a good fantasy/dystopia with a little bit of romance.

Going into this book I was SO excited about there being this series about the 4 horsemen. And man oh man did this not disappoint! I had an absolute BLAST and absolutely can’t wait for the next books.

I honestly wasn’t quite expecting the emotional impact this book had on me and I think that’s just a testament to Laura’s writing. She totally manipulated my emotions in the best possible way and I totally adored every second of reading this book.

The chemistry between the characters, the tension, and raw emotion that Laura put into her writing made this story as beautiful as it was. I just kept being in awe throughout the book with how much I loved it as I was reading.

The combining of fantasy with romance was just *chef’s kiss* and I absolutely devoured this book and already know I’ll be devouring the rest in the series because I am completely and utterly obsessed!!!

*Thank you Bloom Books and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

Going into this book I was SO excited about there being this series about the 4 horsemen. And man oh man did this not disappoint! I had an absolute BLAST and absolutely can’t wait for the next books.

I honestly wasn’t quite expecting the emotional impact this book had on me and I think that’s just a testament to Laura’s writing. She totally manipulated my emotions in the best possible way and I totally adored every second of reading this book.

The chemistry between the characters, the tension, and raw emotion that Laura put into her writing made this story as beautiful as it was. I just kept being in awe throughout the book with how much I loved it as I was reading.

The combining of fantasy with romance was just *chef’s kiss* and I absolutely devoured this book and already know I’ll be devouring the rest in the series because I am completely and utterly obsessed!!!

*Thank you Bloom Books and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

. I felt as though there was a bit of confusion over what kind of book it was meant to be - snarky, sexy, dark, or deep message romantic. Good fun, though.

Actually really enjoyed reading this one a lot, I think the concept is great and the characters developed really well along the way. I’m a sucker for apocalyptic stories (no idea why. But example, “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy was one of my favorite required reads in HS), and adding romance to it was really great. Hurt-comfort is probably my favorite trope of all time and this one was just overflowing with it, so yea I really loved this! On to book 2!

Loved this intense death day book! Had me hooked from the beginning and I really enjoyed the character development of Pestilence. I finished it within a day or two and would love to explore more of this author.

I'm pretty sure I've read this book a million times on Kindle Unlimited and I'm so happy it's now getting more recognition past that. It's a bit of a wild concept, and sort of silly and weird in some parts but that's part of the charm. The female lead is a lot 0f fun to root for, and Pestilence himself (though horrible and literally TORTURES the female love interest at the beginning) is somehow still redeeming??? I don't understand how Laura Thalassa does it but she nails it everytime.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. This book was a really good experience. The writing and plot were very original and exciting. Definitely recommend.

This was a great start to a series that I am definitely going to continue. Great pacing and development! I thoroughly enjoyed this one!

I really did enjoy this book. I will be reading the rest of the horseman series simply because Laura Thalassa knows how to write one hell of a cliffhanger. I'm going to do my best to keep out spoilers.

This is an apocalypse romance (duh) and Sara is chosen by chance as the person to attempt to stay behind and try to kill the unkillable. What follows is what can only be described as dark. Pestilence intends to make Sara suffer and takes her prisoner for her (not so fucking feeble) attempt on his life. And this is where I had a hard time staying in the book. It got dark. As a survivor of bad things (including s.a.) some of these scenes were hard for me. The kicker? I couldn't stop reading. I was so invested in their tale and her survival. The book was compelling for me.

What I didn't like?

Ok, I know, not everyone needs a spice level at max, but it would have been nicer to have the moments where Pestilence and Sara were intimate with one another be more....intimate. There were several "fade to black scenes" that just needed more.

The graphic violence was compelling, and don't get me wrong there were several scenes that literally made me gasp and cry. BUT it did make it hard for me to stay connected. I will say that I mentally justified the brutality of this book by it being what it is, an apocalypse based romance. It's meant to be raw.

Ok, so what did I like about it?

This book was hard for me to rate. I bounced from 4 to 3 to 4 back to 3, even considering 4.5. Why? Because the writing itself was SO DARN GOOD! I can't even begin to describe to you how many books I DNF during the week and 9/10 the reason is bad writing or even worse, bad to no editing. This book is written very well and carefully crafted. That alone made me want to give it a 4.

The story allowed me to suspend belief. I can't even begin to explain to you how much I've been needing this. I read a lot of fantasy and you automatically go in with a suspense of belief, but this book did the work for me. I rarely felt myself going "oh come tf on," which is a normal response for me in a lot of romance novels lately. ~AW

Another amazing Laura Thalassa romance, but what else did I expect? I absolutely loved the character arcs in this book. The way the story is woven and how we see both characters develop both separately and then together is so well done. I really enjoyed this story from start to finish and I cannot wait for more from Laura’s infinitely talented mind.

Who will be the victor? Pestilence the Conqueror or Sara Burns, the firefighter? Will pestilence creep into every home, killing any who his presence touches? Or will humanity and a certain human woman wake his newly human heart? Well, as they say, love conquers all.