I liked this book better than boon 1, Pestilence. I think the redemption here was much more convincing. War changes because we starts grappling with the morality of his actions (whereas Pestilence changes because the love interest left him). I also think this book did better with including real side characters and relationships other than the main one between War and Miriam.

Laura Thalassa writing style makes the story fly by. I stayed up until 2am to finish! I'm going to take a book before starting book 3 because it does feel a little repetitive... I hope Thalassa comes up with something different for the other two horsemen than man takes woman prisoner, they fall in lust, then love, and his heart changes suddenly.

Thank you to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books for an eARC of this book!

Aw man, I think War might be my favorite of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. I feel as conflicted as Miriam. Shouldn't love him, but I do. This book had me smiling except for all of the killing but it's the Apocalypse so you have to expect that stuff, ya know? Another great read. Now I'm on to the next one!

Wowza! I really enjoyed this one. I am so excited to continue on with the series because I just love these characters and this world. If you’re someone who is looking for a good romance but also som entertaining plot that is something more than just your basic contemporary romance, then I suggest giving this one a try!

I thoroughly enjoyed book 1 - Pestilence, but I had a hard time getting behind the characters and their love story for this one.

Let's start with what I did enjoy : the writing. In Laura Thalassa's fashion, the writing is accessible and flows easily. There are a few instances where the inner monologue fet annoying to me, especially with the swearing because it felt anachronic to the story, not because I don't usually enjoy it. Other than that, I think Laura's description of guilt is always on point.

Now, for the characters: where it was easy to love Pestilence because it was very obvious he did not understand any "human" notions and you get to see him discover them little by little, wit War, it felt like he had already lived among humans for a long time and therefore was familiar with customs, he just completely disrespected them. And therefore, disrespected the female main character Miriam. And somehow, she convinced herself it was love?! The utter entitlement of the character and the pushover characterization of Miriam was a bad combo for me to fully appreciate them together. I did not feel any chemistry nor a development of love. It was Stockholm Syndrome at its best but I only enjoy it when it is admitted to be such, not when the FMC falls for an abuser. The small gestures meant to "redeem" War were too small to matter to me and fully buy into this love story.

I also felt very uncomfortable with Miriam being half-jew, half-muslim and that part of her identity not being a focal point nor talked about BUT the impact of the war in Isreal on her life and that of her family is talked about. I feel like it was not necessary to choose to tell the story of this specific ethnicity, religion and political background, especially when it is such a complex one and isn't done well in the book.

Only Laura Thalassa could write a compelling love story about War, a destruction focused creature and a woman just trying to save her people. Miriam was such a great, strong female main character who was so brave and strong standing up for what she believed in even after she has lost all her family. I liked that Miriam didn’t immediately fall for War and the draw they had towards each other but fell slowly over time. War had been a man for a while but did not truly understand what it meant and it was a wonder to watch Miriam teach him what it meant and how to be one with emotions and attachments.
The world building is fantastic, the fact that War was in a different area than Pestilence gave the feeling of the four horse men are each in charge of taking out a different part of the world which made logical sense. Even though they are immortal beings their job is a large one. This dystopian world that is post the four horsemen coming and then Pestilence and now War is broken down and everyone has lost it seems so bleak but at the same time humans are pushing to try to continue on.
It was a hard read at times, I mean you are reading about the world’s destruction and the murder of people, towns and cities I remember in Pestilence’s book having the same feeling.
I can’t wait to read Famine as the last two books were interesting dystopian reads.

* destined lovers
* Enemies to lovers
* Hurt my woman and die

I really wanted to love this series because it's been on my TBR forever and I loved these new covers, but unfortunately it's been incredibly underwhelming and they're all pretty much rinse and repeats of each other but with just a new horseman.

yeah so this book has me kicking my feet and giggling hehehehhehehehhehehhe i love war ❤️

this book was basically a copy paste of pestilence but better and more dramatic and war was hotter

I enjoyed this just as much as the first book in the series! War is a great book boyfriend well after he finds Miriam 👀 I didn’t think wife was a cute pet name until I read this! Some triggers like cheating and rape but overall this was a well written story!

I could not get through 2 chapters of this book. The writing is just so so hard to get through and connect to 😭
DNF

Thank you to @netgalley for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Pub Date: Aug 15th, 2023

This series has me in a chokehold like I wish a horseman would.

I love the variety between the books. Each one takes place in a different part of the world. Each horseman has their own unique abilities and motivations. The stories and characters are new and fresh. They read like fantastic standalones, while also connecting seamlessly to the larger plot as a whole. I like how the other brothers are mentioned in each book. I love how each book has a different angelic concept at its core. Each female lead comes from different backgrounds, has different experiences, and is unique in their personality. Miriam’s innocence was so endearing. Everything about this series is real and raw. There was a shocking surprise in this one that I wasn’t expecting and I absolutely loved. Although I didn’t love War quite as much as Pestilence (or Famine), this was still amazing. Highly recommend and so deserving of all the hype!

TW: Blood, gore, violence, war situations, attempted rape, childhood trauma, and death of a parent mentioned

War is the second installment of the Four Horsemen series by Laura Thalassa. Pestilence has fallen in love and with that, War is next in line to be the judge and juror of humanity. Only when he and his riders are destroying Jerusalem, he comes across Miriam. She is brave and fierce and she is his wife, or so he thinks!

Miriam was such a bad ass (would Laura write any other kind of FMC??) she was on her own, making weapons, attempting to kill War, fighting him every step of the way in their relationship. Just an honest to goodness bad ass! War is portrayed as this brutal hulk of a man. He appears to not show any mercy when him and his horde ride into towns but little by little we see how he softens into the sweet little fluffy marshmallow he is, especially when it comes to Miriam. Honestly I felt so much relief at this book, the MMC doesn’t brutalize the FMC like in the first book, which was so hard to get over! Instead we get a MMC who is so gone for the FMC he will do anything for her, anything to keep her alive, and anything to make her love him, even when she attempts to run away and even murder him so many times. I love that type of adoration LOL!

I thought the pacing was great through out, I was able to read it in one sitting and did not want to put it down. And even though it was my second time reading it I found it just as entertaining as the first time around. Beware there are scenes where you just want to cry and you feel so hopeless…it’s war and it’s traumatic.

I will definitely continue the series as it’s one of my favorites of Laura’s. Thank you so much to Bloom Books for providing me with an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

Triggers: sexual assault (not by the main love interest), zombies, gore, detailed scenes of battle, near death experiences
Themes: Enemies to lovers, insta-love that is one sided, R rated romance, happily ever after

Book two of the series takes on more of an insta-love dynamic between the heroine, Miriam, and the antagonist/male lead, War. With unique abilities that allow him to seige entire cities in the matter of hours, War has made it a habit of decimating cities to fulfill his unique mission.

War continues his mission, even after finding Miriam, who is uniquely branded with an intriguing mark that proved to be her curious salvation. Mirium has lost everything at the expense of the Four Horsemen, and even still, War continues to ask for her surrender.

Laura Thalassa's second addition is jarring at times, and was in many ways just as good as the first novel in the series. Out of preference, I found the heroine in this story to be a bit taxing. She makes short sighted mistakes that you may expect out of a 15 year old character, while at other times she appropriately reads as 22 years old. Other than that, I enjoyed the plot development. We get to see a glimpse of what followed in Sara and Pestilence's story, and get a brief glimpse into Death, who seems the least forgiving of all the brothers. I would recommend this story to those who enjoy fantasy, and don't mind one sided insta-love stories.

War by Laura Thalassa
This is the 2nd time I've read this book. I received an ARC from NetGalley for the rerelease.

I thoroughly enjoy this series. This is the story of the second horseman of the apocalypse, War.There is so much in this story that hits so close to home.
Living during a mass extinction event - that hits closer now than when I first read this series.
Humans may be God's favorite children, but they aren't his only children - what we are doing to the Earth is Not OK.

There are many good quotes, but this one stays with me: "No one and no religion was spared. That was my first lesson in war: everyone loses, even the victors."

As with the other books in this series, War starts out as something unimaginable, something so cruel, so inhuman. And through the story, Love wins. Miriam struggles with loving a horseman of the apocalypse. But are the horsemen here to exterminate humanity, or are we all supposed to be redeemed by love - humanity and the horsemen? I like to think that Love will always win.

I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I am absolutely in love with this series and I want to give a big thanks to NetGalley and Bloom Books Publishing for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. Firstly I read Pestilence which was amazing and I couldn't wait to read War so when I saw I was accepted to review this I was so excited and this did not disappoint. I could not put this down, enemies to lovers with two incredibly strong leads. I loved Miriam, she is a great FMC and I loved that there is a lot of reality to her traumatic past. I would warn people that there is a lot of violence and graphic scenes but don't let this dissuade you from this amazing book full of beautiful messages, unique characters and a lot of spice. I can not wait to read the next instalment and find out what happens next.

Thank you NetGalley! I was so excited going into War after reading Pestilence and I can say I was not disappointed! War met his match when he seen Miriam and takes her fore his wife. I wasn't expecting one of the big events and then the event at the end had me in tears! I can not wait to read Famine.

Rereading so I’m actually writing a review this time! 🤣🤣

Laura Thalassa’s War is the second book in her Four Horsemen series and it’s just as good if not better than the first. We follow Miriam in this one, and War with his hoard of, well, warriors!

If you know anything about the four horsemen of the apocalypse, then you know how dark this series is. But it’s also so epic. The romance and spice? Top notch. Laura makes you experience literally all the different ranges of emotions in this book.

I loved seeing the character growth too of these horsemen. War was no different. Watching them learn about humanity, and even becoming more human in their emotions? UGH. Chef kiss. I love this series.

After really enjoying the first book in this series, Pestilence, I looked forward to the next book as we continued to move through the apocalypse with a different one of the four horsemen. Yet this book was long, repetitive, and felt too similar to the first book. I've since finished the series and this is my least favorite book (unfortunately). I did not get invested in their romance and I still don't understand why it had to go on for quite so long. I am still disappointed I did not love this book and do think the rest of the series is worth picking up if you loved book one!

LOVED THIS. The way this story is told was pure brilliance. I thought Pestilence was good but it was nothing compared to War. This is a love story but also a story of the fall of humanity. The biblical references are there but in no way take over the stores being told. Miriam is smart, strong, sassy and had me laughing. War was cruel and violent yet protective and caring. It’s brutal and heartbreaking and the author does the most amazing job at making you love characters you think you shouldn’t. I will
read this again and again.

I gave Pestilence 5 stars so it should come as no surprise that I'm giving this one 5 stars too.

I loved all the same things in this book as the first. But in War, we start with the horseman thinking Miriam is his wife for some reason. I liked this plot device(?) better than the weak excuse for Pestilence keeping Sara around. War is deluded into keeping Miriam with him and constantly saving her from danger. This book was even less miscommunication conflict-y which was great. I was scared for a minute that Miriam was going to keep the pregnancy a secret and that would've immediately knocked off a star, so I'm glad that wasn't the case.

One thing I will complain about these books is how young the fmc's are. I can't take them seriously when they're that young. They do not have to be in their early 20s for these stories to make sense. In fact, I think an older, trauma-hardened, apocalypse survivor might make a better woman for these stories. I had to will myself to have amnesia when I read their ages and gaslit myself into pretending they were in their 30s instead to make the story more enjoyable for me.

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

I really loved the first book in the series - Pestilence - and was excited to read about War next. War's story starts up a few years after Pestilence. He is relentless in his goal to destroy every city he enters. When he stumbles upon Miriam in Jerusalem he is immediately drawn to her and decides she is his "wife."

Miriam doesn't know War and isn't quite sure why he keeps assuming that she is his wife. But she also isn't timid or week and this pleases War. They enter a courtship of sorts where Miriam keeps trying to get War to stop killing and in exchange she will allow them to have a physical relationship.

I'll be honest - I wasn't drawn to this book as much as I was with Pestilence, but I still enjoyed War and Miriam. Laura Thalassa knows how to write spicy scenes with plenty of tension and she didn't disappoint in War.

I am really enjoying this series and look forward to the next book!