This was another Laura Thalassa book that I really enjoyed. She's done a fantastic job at taking the horsemen of the Apocalypse and making them into people who are damages, broken, and redeemable throughout the plot of their stories.

War was no exception, and I found myself really enjoying this book for the character growth that we saw with War & also with Miriam. The story progressed really beautifully and had me hooked from start to finish. Love this series & will definitely be reading the rest of them!

Thank you NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved War so much. Even though Miriam initially had me hesitant she eventually won me over. The amount of character development War goes through is phenomenal. Another very enjoyable apocalyptic romance from Laura Thalassa. I love these new covers too. Great job.

such a great compelling story. You want to hate war but at the same time root for him. Miriam is so defiant and a perfect match to him in a hellbent world

Just as good as the first, if not better! The character development is, again, phenomenal. A good love story with just enough steam. Miriam got on my nerves quite a bit, but it was manageable. Looking forward to the third installment!

I do have to say I am loving this series and the unique perspective of the Four Horsemen. The take on the characters is absolutely fascinating.

War, as a character, was well developed. This story differed from the last completely with War being the polar opposite of Pestilence. However, War still shows tremendous character development. I also love how his ending differed from Pestilence's. Miriam's character however, was not my cup of tea. She seemed to be more all over the place then Sara had been with her emotions towards the horsemen. I did really enjoy the tie in of the Angelic Language in this novel.

Overall, the book was well written and the plot was there. Though you can tell the a pattern is beginning to take place.

This was a... strange book. Honestly, I enjoyed it, but I don't really know why. The writing was addicting, the plot was fast-paced, and the romance was steamy, but there didn't seem to be much substance to this story. I guess there was character development, but it happened so subtly that it was hard to notice until the very end. The main character wasn't the smartest on earth, yet I liked reading from her perspective and her sassy commentary made the book enjoyable. War (yes, literally the personification of war), was a good love interest, but that's only because I've read other fantasy romances, so I'm used to some pretty strange dynamics. I read this entire book in less than four hours, and it felt like a strange fever dream. An enjoyable fever dream, but an odd one nonetheless.

Beyond the oddness of the story, the novel also focused on restoring faith in humanity, and I appreciated the effort the characters made to see the best in a world that was literally coming to an end. There were so many moments of light despite the darkness of the apocalypse. I never thought a book about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse could make me believe the best in humanity, but here we are. If you enjoyed other Laura Thalassa novels, smutty fantasy romances, and/or have good romance book taste, you'll enjoy War.

I tried to sleep my review of this book because even though War is slightly better than Pestilence in the physical torture of the spectrum he still manages the other tortures fine. Now I try to consider my biases before delivering a review of the book because I think that's the fair thing to do. I should've read the blurb because the plot and the story were already there.

However, I'm VERY VERY lucky I chose reading Pestilence before reading War. He did a good job at shocking me and setting my standard below earth so by the time I started reading this I was like well he didn't make her run on her feet through a highway... GOOD ENOUGH.

As for the relationship, I didn't feel like the characters were actually in love? It felt like they were supposed to be together because War called her war and mid-way through they just accepted it and went along with it. Their first s*xy encounter was explained as a transactional moment and even though I KNOW I'm supposed to understand that they were attracted to each other anyway I just didn't get it. I didn't get their first kiss, it made no sense to me and I just couldn't justify in my head how they ended up together.

I also did not understand his change of heart, I feel like it needed more depth to validate his change.

In conclusion, I WANTED MORE, DEPTH, RELATIONSHIP, ROMANCE, and more from War. This could've been so much better had the author had more pages to discover and encounter more from the characters. I did love the relationships Miriam had with other females and Miriam herself was pretty cool. However, her relationships with the males were lacking and even when it was mentioned she was almost friends with one of the guys from the army... I didn't get how? yes, she exchanged like 2 conversations with him but they didn't seem like all that friendship kind of conversations.

I believe that having more chapters at the end from War's POV when he's experiencing his change of heart would've benefitted me more as a reader and the story overall since even though from Miriam we can read attractions because of her struggle between being human and developing feelings for the being eliminating her entire species seems far reached him loving her and reading his perception of love would've helped. before... what happened because by the time his POV comes, it read like he wanted what was taken from him and that's it...

In conclusion, this is a 3.5 stars book because regardless of my own biases it still had some flaws that had they been addressed the book would've been a solid enjoyable read.

Thanks to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The next installment of the four horsemen. It had all the dark, gore-filled, post-apocalyptic vibes you’d expect from War.

While I did like War and Miriams’ story, it just lacked some of the very best parts of Pestilence. But hey… any hero who gives off ‘touch her and die’ Khal Drogo vibes is an instant page turner.

Will 100% be diving into Famine asap. Thalassa is an auto-buy author.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the chance to read it ☺️

The second book of Laura Thalassa’s Four Horsemen series, War, brings us back to the apocalyptic society set up from the first book, but a few years later & we take a hop skip and a jump over to Jerusalem! War and his band of not-so-merry men are traveling through the Middle-East leaving destruction and death in their wake. Enter Miriam, she is captured by the Not-So-Merry Men and War declares that she is his wife, destined to him by God, themself!

I loved getting to revisit the world of The Four Horseman! Thalassa’s writing is still very accessible and easy to get into, despite this book being a bit choniker than its predecessor. There are some repeated themes from the first book that show up, but I do feel that they are well executed. Religion, of course, plays a major part in the story and (to my knowledge) Thalassa still works hard to remain neutral and not convey any bias towards a particular one.

I feel like this book didn’t have the same emotional depth as Pestilence, but War and his armies definitely give off major Khal Drogo and Khalasar vibes. I enjoyed seeing the moments of conflict War had with himself around caring for Miriam and pleasing her against his purpose of destroying the human race.

-Jerusalem/Middle Eastern Setting.
-Enemies-to-Lovers
-Marriage of Convenience (kinda/sorta)
-Forced Proximity
-Slowish Burn
-Pregnancy

CW/TW: Sexual Content, High Death Count, Graphic Violence, Blood/Gore, Attempted S.A.

ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are honest and my own

Easily the best Horsemen, giving the classic Khal Drogo vibes with blood riders and the representation of middle eastern women in the FMC only made me love it more.

Slowly but surely making my way down Laura Thalassa's backlist. I read War awhile back when it was a bookclub pick. I like her stories because they are all unique and completely different. I never know what i'm going to get!

I read war with a friend of mine and I will say that it is a good book. I liked how this had great descriptive scenes and how it was apocalypse background. My friend liked the enemies to lovers it gives to the readers. It was enjoyed and made a great buddy read.

Please, I loved this book 😭 I very much loved War and Miriam's banter and very (very) slow-burn relationship, and I especially loved the last 30% where War changes and redeems himself. Also, the third act conflict? My heart was in my mouth the entire time, it was emotijal genius 🥲 I love loved the epilogue, it was the perfect-est hea (plus a v mild telepathic glimpse at Pestilence and Famine!!)

TWs - death, gore, violence, blood, gun violence, bombs, literal war, sexual assault

-- ty to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy!

I enjoyed diving back into the Four Horsemen series with this second instalment and seeing a different atrocity striking the world, this time across Western Asia into Africa. Miriam is brave and determined, and very much not interested in being held prisoner by the formidable horseman that calls her his wife. Her relationship with War is turbulent and full of guilt, anger, fear and good heap of lust. She sees a lot of terrible things on raids spreading far and wide, and does her best to help those who need it and to sabotage War’s attempts to wipe people from the planet. His role as destroyer contradicts the care he takes with her, and his attempts to better understand what it means to be a husband. A lot of themes were repeated from the first book in the series but it was still very well written. However, I would have liked to have seen Miriam’s emotions explored. It seemed very much like the focus was on her emotions surrounding War but she experienced a lot of trauma first and second hand in this book, and witnessed some terrible things, and whilst there’s brief mentions of her reactions to this it seems to move on very quickly, lacking an emotional depth to the story beyond the romance that could have really pulled me in.

I received a free copy of this book. All views are my own.

I guess she's just re-releasing these books under a publisher this time. I couldn't finish this book. It was very cringeworthy but I wish her success with her re-releases.

Perhaps it's just because I knew what to expect more this time, but I liked War a little more than the first book, Pestilence. Miriam was an engaging character I was happy to get behind, and I enjoyed her interactions with War throughout. The story moved at a good pace, making the book a quick and easy read, and I liked the subtle tie-in with events from the first volume, as it helped hold together what might otherwise have felt like four separate stories. While you could pick up this volume and following it without knowing book one, I feel it would still be best to read in order for the best experience. I am giving this book four stars.

War, the Second Horseman of the Apocalypse, has been making his way westward, exterminating entire cities in his progress. He leaves no witnesses. Until he encounters Miriam Elmahdy, a dark haired twenty-two year old, in Jerusalem. He starts speaking in tongues, but somehow Miriam understands him, and his words indicate that he believes his has found his "wife."

The Horseman has been sent to fulfill a higher purpose, to rid the earth of its sinful human population. There is so much violence, terror, and brutality in his actions. As a divine creature, War has no empathy. But as a newly risen physical being, War begins to understand human sensations. He questions his human feelings. He starts to make concessions for Miriam's wellbeing and her wishes. For her part, Miriam isn't convinced that she is War's wife. Far from it. Naturally, she seeks to thwart him wherever she can. Little by little, things change.

Of course, Miriam can't deny that War is a feast on the eyes, with his sharp handsome features and monstrous muscled body built for, well ... war. Between hating him for destroying humanity and melting a little every time he shows his softer, compassionate side, Miriam and War gradually fall into an fairly typical matrimony, complete with tenderness and pain, torrid sex and epic fights. And when War fights, he fights dirty, much to Miriam's dismay.

I adore this fantasy that humanity's Apocalypse can be diverted and that redemption is found both metaphorically and physically via the experience of Love through the eyes of each Horseman. I loved Miriam's wit and sensuality with War, her tenacity when despair surrounded her, and her eventual sacrifice and surrender. This may be my favourite of the series!

My thanks to the author and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this re-release ARC.

2 stars

I like villainy characters, and Ares (the God of war) is one of my favorite mythological beings, so I'm used to aggressive "heroes," BUT I couldn't get on board with war. Even Pestilence had some redeemable qualities, but War... nah, he was just despicable. So if I don't like him and the romance is lacking because I can't see why the heroine would be with the hero, then I'm not going to enjoy the book which is a shame because I really liked book one.
Still, I'm going to finish the series because I'm intrigued (especially by Death)

Overall, I enjoyed reading War. Personally illness in general is a bit triggering for me, so I found the first book (Pestilence) a bit hard to read. I’ve heard that the books are similar, and while I will agree with that after reading War, they do stand out in their own ways. I liked Miriam, but I did feel she was bit all over the place. But this was similar in there is a lot of traveling. What exactly War does though, I found more interesting to read. I will continue with the next book.

War takes place a few years after Pestilence’s epilogue. It focuses on the second horseman, War, and the main POV character Miriam. War immediately believes that Miriam is his wife and she provides a lot of pushback and at first wants nothing to do with War. The relationship starts to grow due to Miriam working to try and bargain for humanity.

This book gets a little darker than Pestilence’s was but it’s a good read. Given 4 stars cause I did feel like some part of it dragged.

Thank you the Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.