The Four Horsemen series by Laura Thalassa
Post-Apocalyptic fantasy romance

Pestilence 3.75 stars
War 3 stars
Famine 4.25 stars
Death 4.25 stars

As you can tell by the name of the series these books feature the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (from the Bible, so there is a smattering of religious talk). For those of you seeing the genre as “fantasy romance“, a bit of clarification: the first three books are more fantasy with a romance subplot, whereas the fourth book focuses more on the romance. And these are only fantasy books in the sense that the titular characters are made-up beings with magical powers; otherwise this takes place in our world, and there are no other magical elements.
A word of warning to you all — I read these back to back, but I don’t think that was the best way to go. Spoiler alert: because these are post apocalyptic, they are dark. There’s a lot of death and destruction. A LOT. This makes for heavy reads full of despair. So maybe sprinkle in some fun reads in between, ok?

Pestilence was a great introduction to the world. The books span around 20 years, so this first one is at the beginning of the apocalypse. He also seemed to be one of the more “human” of the Horsemen (in addition to Death).
War didn’t work as much for me. He seemed almost robotic for most of the book. I also had some issues with some of the dialogue – the FMC is from Jerusalem, and we are almost 10 years into the apocalypse, so some of the slang and terminology she uses didn’t seem realistic.
Famine has a great FMC! She was a sex worker, so doesn’t have too much of a filter on her mouth. She was sassy and brash and lots of fun.
Death is where the romance ramped up, and it was a great finale to the series. Out of all of them he seemed the most sad about his duties. He’s got a job to do but he ain’t happy about it.

Overall I really enjoyed this reading experience, and would definitely recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley & SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books for this advance reader copy. All opinions are my own.

Hahah talk about enemies to lovers! Death and Lazarus have a really entertaining relationship. I really thought Death might be my favorite of the horseman, but I think he comes in second to famine. I found him a little immature at times and since Lazarus is such a strong FMC, I found it just slightly off putting. But I guess, in the end, that’s what makes them work. I would have loved to have seen a little more than the same old stuff in the fourth book, but sadly, it felt repetitive. Overall, I enjoyed the book and the series as a whole. I really don’t think there is another series as well thought out and as unique as this one in this genre.

CONTENT WARNING: death, death of children, grief, violence, blood, gore

I had some high hopes for this book, since it is the last in the series. Maybe I was just expecting the author to pull out all the stops for this book, but I think I set my expectations too high, and probably should have adjusted them down based on the other books in this series.

Lazarus is a bit different from the other women in the series in that she has a touch of the supernatural to her—she can’t be killed. She presents a challenge to Death, but as usual, she wants him to stop killing everyone and he is unwilling to abandon his purpose. I liked that I wasn’t always able to predict what Lazarus was going to do, especially early in the story.

However, Lazarus seems to be a less fully rounded character than her previous counterparts have been. Her entire existence is completely wrapped up in stopping Death, and one other thing I’m not going to mention because it’s a bit of a spoiler. But I think my biggest issue with the story is how repetitive the story was. Initially, there’s a cat-and-mouse style game between Death and Lazarus, but they quickly fall into a pattern of traveling between places.

There’s some good spicy scenes in the story, but they definitely didn’t feel realistic. While in the other books, the horsemen have some prior experience, Death is completely new to any human experiences. For Lazarus to say that Death is the best sex of her life, without her providing any sort of direction or guidance at all? Well, if that isn’t completely made up, I don’t know what is.

Overall, this wasn’t a bad story. But it wasn’t a great one either, especially after reading it so shortly after the other three. I would have preferred some more diversity to the story—maybe one set in Africa or Asia, and even going outside the box and giving us a gay horseman or even a female horseman! For what it is, it’s a solidly average read at the end of a series. Just don’t expect anything spectacular from this one.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Bloom books for my digital advanced readers copy!

I have read and reviewed Pestilence (4 stars), War (4.25 stars), and Famine (4.5 stars) before this. Each book was better and stronger than the last, which gave me a very reasonable fear: Will Thalassa stick the landing with Death?

Absolutely. I can't believe I ever doubted it.

The beginning was a bit slow, but once it got going, it really got going. It was a satisfying story on its own, but also an incredibly satisfying end to the series.

Lazarus was a phenomenal main character, and through her the effects of the apocalypse was felt more acutely than through any of the prior main characters. She was all of the grief of someone born during the end of the world, who persevered, who lost, and who kept going. How awful an existence it would be to be unable to die while everyone around you died too soon?

Death was also a unique horseman in that you knew the whole time that he hated killing. Despite being the most duty-bound of the four, he was the most upset about it all, which made it much easier to cheer for him. Even though he was the hardest to sway.

Solid, solid 4.5 stars for this, with my minor deduction only being because the beginning was slow, and because I wanted a longer epilogue.

I look so forward to physically owning these books.

I have really enjoyed this series, however, Death is definitely my favorite. Not just because I enjoy the juxtaposition of life and death as lovers, but readers get to see the characters from the previous books in this installment. We get to see the kindest horseman, Pestilence (aka Victor), again, and I also mentioned in my review of Famine that I felt like the Reaper had so much more potential for character growth, and in Death he gets to see more goodness in humanity, and he learns to love other humans as a whole, not just Ana. Also, the brothers are amazing together. I love how the relationship was showcased in this last book.

Lastly, Thanatos and Lazarus were so sweet. They made me sigh, laugh, and cry (sad tears and happy ones). I think they were my favorite couple of the series. They rank very close with Pestilence and Sara. Pestilence and Thanatos had similar naivety when it comes to humans and their behaviors, which made the two characters endearing.

All four stories came together wonderfully for an epic ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader’s copy of Death! It was so good!

When I started reading this book, I wondered how someone would write a novel about falling in love with Death, mostly with the context that even him breathing kills a whole town and his whole vibe is about the death of people. Me totally forgetting that this is a literal fantasy book and it is not 100% modernized, I forgot that someone can literally be an immortal character. Cause of course a novel about the four horsemen coming down to earth and killing millions of humans was more realistic than a character being immortal in my head lmao. ANYWAYS, This book is crack, overall I love every book in this series (other than War) I practically binged the whole series in a day because it was so good. I loved the whole idea of it being an interconnected standalone, and even though it was just for a moment, I enjoyed the other four horsemen coming all together to team up with Lazarus in hopes of saving humanity, gives me Avengers vibes (not really but the teaming up part) and the way to save humanity is to seduce death, love that premise. I love Laura Thalassa and she definitely knows how to bring in that tension and slow burn to an absolute peak that the moment the smut comes in, it is electric and steamy

This series is officially one of my favorite ones. And this book! Oh boy, this book crushed me. I felt my blood bubble, then I had my heart in my throat, then I laughed with tears [there are very few books where I laughed until it hurt :)))], then, by the end of the book and was screaming at it and then I was crying.

DEATH IS DEATH! HE'S ENDGAME. He is one of the best characters on my list. He's well written, he does not disappoint and he is eternal! Life is death and death is life. I loved every page and the way Laura wrote Death, and now I mean not as an immortal, but as the very essence of death, it was mind-blowing. I agree with many statements from this book about death and I'm happy to see someone else seeing/writing death like this.

I LOVED HAVING ALL 4 HORSEMEN IN ONE BOOK. AND WHAT BETTER BOOK TO HAVE THEM ALL THAN "DEATH", THE LAST STEP IN THE APOCALYPSE! THIS BOOK IS PERFECT! I loved every interaction of the horsemen and I loved every single thing Famine did. :)))) This guy is nuts :))) and I laughed because of him until it hurt. Famine is the same psycho, War is the same bastard hungry for war :)) and Pestilence... I did not expect that and I love him in this book. He is the ONLY ONE who can temper the other three! PERIOD!

Now. DEATH. I can't put into words what he made me feel. He is exactly what I wanted from him and even more. He is endless and knows he is FINAL. He's the END. He knows his task and he doesn't want to fail, he doesn't want to make the same "mistake" his brothers did. And is very hard for him to do that. I think he hungers for life, just a glimpse of feeling alive. And when he finds Lazarus, he can hope and it terrifies him. But you don't see this from the beginning. At some point, you start to see through his eyes, and thank you Laura for giving us his POV too. You can see his struggle and also his determination. Like I said in War's book, war and death do go hand in hand. And here you can see Death's inner conflict, he's at war with himself. He kills and he's giving humanity the best death. They don't feel pain. It's like dying in your sleep. To the other horsemen, you can see an increasing pain in each step of the apocalypse, but the final one comes, when the actual Death comes, humanity gets a peaceful death, a quick one.
If the level of pain in dying is nonexistent, the level of excitement and action in this book is magnificent. You can feel the thrill with every page you read.

Lazarus is a fighter and she is perfect for Death because she is also determined and knows her task and she also is fighting not just with Death, but with herself too. There was a moment when she started to be annoying and then was the moment of realizing that what's dead should stay dead. That particular scene I think was her lesson. You don't play with life and death and I absolutely loved how Laura wrote that scene. I know it was painful for Lazarus and a horrible moment in her life, but that is a very important lesson and Death let her feel everything. He didn't invade her space, but also he let her experience that lesson on her own. No backup, nobody by her side. Her alone.

I recommend this series to everybody. It's absolutely astonishing. Every book has its own charm, and the excitement increases with every page and every book. You don't get to see the same story, you don't get to see a horseman doing what the previous one does. Every horseman is unique and every story it's unique. Laura, Pestilence, Sara, War, Miriam, Famine, Ana, Death, Lazarus, you have taken me into a magnificent story, which I think is a lot closer to the truth than what our leaders and priests are trying to get into our heads. I know that practically these books are fiction, but this is what I feel, and what I believe. Thank you again, Laura, for this exceptional series.

Finally the last book in the horsemen series and wow was this one a good one I loved reading about Death and Lazarus whom cannot be killed by anyone. I love that this book you can read alone and don't need to read it in a series. Good way to end the book series though.

Ever since I started Pestilence, I’ve been waiting with baited breath to get to the final book. The last installment always bears the weight of heavy expectation, and it can make or break the whole series. No matter how much I enjoyed the other books, Death would ultimately determine how I felt about these novels as a whole.

In a way, Death falls back on all the best elements of the other three books. He was as new to humanity as Pestilence, as gentle as War, and as intimidating as Famine. There are so many moments I wish I could talk about in detail, but in the name of keeping this spoiler-free, I won’t give away too much. If you enjoyed reading about how Sara taught Pestilence a few tricks, you’ll definitely enjoy Death learning the same. If you loved how War claimed Miriam and gave into their love before she did, then Death’s devotion to Laz will make your heart flutter. And if you particularly liked how Famine was cold to everyone but Ana—well, you get the picture.

This book also answers a lot of questions we’ve had since Pestilence, providing more information about God and what it means that the Four Horsemen have walked away from their duties. Death’s discussions with Lazarus are fascinating, and it provides a lot of insight into all of the brothers.

Ultimately, Death was a satisfying read on its own, and a great ending to this series that picked me up, threw me over its shoulder, and refused to set me down until I read through each and every book. The final installment didn’t answer all of my questions, but it answered the most important ones, and it left off on a hopeful note. Laura Thalassa knew there would be a lot of heavy lifting to get Death to where he needed to be in the end, but she made it a fascinating (and sexy) journey along the way.

This series was a lot of fun, and it’s great for someone who wants to dip their toes into romantasy and dark romance. The fantasy element is light enough because the only magical element is the Four Horsemen themselves, so if you don’t normally read that genre, it’s easy to sink into this world without being overloaded with detail. In terms of dark romance, Famine was by far the cruelest and most morally gray character, but his motivations always made sense to me. This subgenre isn’t one I gravitate toward, and though Famine was my least favorite of the four books, I still enjoyed it immensely.

All in all, I’d highly recommend the Four Horsemen series by Laura Thalassa, and I’m definitely going to check out some of her other books. Bewitched, her new paranormal romance, came out earlier this year, and I can’t wait to dive into it!

The finale to Thalassa's 4 Horseman of the Apocalypse series of course ends with Death. Originally published in 2021 as an e-book. This one was extremely interesting in that Death's love interest, Lazarus Gaumond, cannot be killed. Death literally can't take her soul. And Lazarus also crosses paths with the other Horseman and makes a seductive deal regarding their ancient brother. This is the way to end a series!

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for this e-arc.*

This had to be my favorite horseman.

Death, well, doing what the horsemen are supposed to do meets his match. Lazarus, the one person he was not able to kill when he ravaged her town. She then gifts herself with the task of trying to stop him in the best way — seducing him. Which by all means may be a fruitless endeavor.

The slow burn romance showcases their efforts to ignore each other waning especially being written in a duel pov. I loved their will to stay on track to accomplish their tasks at hands only to falter, abandon and come together explosively.

I absolutely loved the extra lore and story Laura added to Death by explaining Lazarus’ extraordinary ability as well as the extent of it. Lazarus’ pivotal moment where the lesson of ‘what’s dead should stay so’ was written amazingly well and I swear this book in particular is the one that had me all up in my feelings in a monumental way.

The horsemen got the ending they truly deserved and I don’t think I would change a single thing about it. Period.

3.5-3.75 range.

This is like a guilty pleasure series for me. Not one I’d recommend to just anyone, but for the right person it could be enjoyable.

This one had some of the repetitive plot points that occur throughout the series, but with a fresh take on it. Just wish the writing style/quality was a bit more elevated in order to give it a higher rating. But also, can’t in good conscience be like, “Yeah, let’s give the mass murderers of the apocalypse happily ever after, and justify the women who are victims of their divine killing spree falling in love with them.” If you don’t like reading about lots of death or if you have death anxiety then don’t read these books.

I enjoyed Death and Lazarus’ relationship. I enjoyed the minor roles the previous horsemen played and seeing how their lives have turned out. The ending was satisfying and appropriate for the themes of the books.

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for sending me an arc of this book for the new cover !
It was at this point, that my favourite horseman was Death.
Though you can read the others in any order, this one needs to be the end . The FMC (Lazarus) is such an amazing and developed character. She is driven and firm on her morals and what she cares for.
Death, though mysterious, we find out a lot about him. As brutal as the others, if not more, Death is cold and thrilling.

The way they interact, in my opinion, is very natural and I enjoy their bickering and vengefulness. Their relationship grows as the story does. And THAT ENDING!!! No spoilers but I was in tears.

Enjoy

I received this E-arc from Netgalley in return for my honest opinion.

I keep thinking about this series. I really enjoyed the series in general. This was not my favorite from the series, but I really enjoyed seeing all the characters from the previous books.

Death is one of my favorite 'myths' to call it that way. I enjoyed seeing him as a character and him caring for Lazarus. Her banter with Death trough the book and them hunting and trying to kill each other was *chefs kiss*. Also, her taking care of Ben and doing everything for him was also a nice surprise. Truly an enjoyable end to this series, definitely one of the best series I've read so far this year.

Evidently, the worse the horseman, the harder I fall.

Following the events of “Famine,” “Death” tells the story of Lazarus Gaumond, the one soul Death cannot claim the day he comes to her town and kills everyone in one fell swoop. Determined to stop Death from his killing spree and save the world, Lazarus takes up the hopeless task of seducing him. The longer she tries, the harder it is for the two to ignore the unsettling desire they have for each other.

I LOVED reading from Death’s pov in this book! It was so interesting see the world and humanity through his eyes, dark and eerie as it was. Thalassa did a great job making his character’s voice so different from the very human perspectives dominating the series. Additionally, the inclusion of not only Death’s pov, but Lazarus’ pov allows for the reader to see their longing from all sides. Their romance truly is like no other, the two initially unbending when it came to accomplishing their respective tasks. Watching them eventually abandon those tasks for each other made my heart full.

In my previous reviews of the first three books, I mentioned that they all had similar plot structures and that I was ever for something new to be introduced to the story. Thalassa does just that in this book by giving Lazarus the extraordinary ability that prevents her from being killed. I enjoyed learning the extent of her supernatural ability, where it derived from, and thought that Lazarus’ very existence challenging Death’s power was the perfect foundation for their romance.

Another aspect of this book that I loved was reuniting with the other three horsemen! I adored checking up on them and their interactions with Lazarus lightened an otherwise dark book.

Lazarus had watched people die in her home town, but she cannot die. When she finds her family have also died and the last of the horsemen of the apocalypse, she vows to stop him and save humanity. This gets the attention of Death and so starts a game of cat and mouse.

Thanatos is the angel of death and the last horseman of the apocalypse. He has glorious black feather wings and eyes that have seen thousands of years. I mean, he is hot, smoking hot. When he realises that Lazarus is his kismet, or fate, will this be enough to stop humanity dying or will it take more?

This was the best of the series but you really need to read the rest to understand the nuances, especially at the end of the novel. I really enjoyed how both characters battled with fate but also flexed and moved with each others needs and wants. This was probably also the spiciest of the books, which was chef's kiss. Thank you, Laura, for such an amazing series.

Big thanks to NetGalley, Sourcebooks Bloom Books and Laura Thalassa for this early release copy.

"Death" by Laura Thalassa is a dark and intense fantasy novel that delves into a world where the four horsemen of the apocalypse—Pestilence, War, Famine, and Death—have come to Earth with the power to bring about the end of humanity. The story follows Lazarus Gaumond, a young woman with an extraordinary gift: she cannot be killed. When Death arrives in her town, wiping out everyone but her, she finds herself entangled in a dangerous and unexpected situation.

Thalassa crafts a unique and chilling portrayal of the apocalypse, drawing readers into a world teetering on the edge of destruction. The premise of the four horsemen as central characters brings an intriguing twist to the familiar concept, and the tension builds as the story unfolds. The atmospheric writing style enhances the dark and ominous tone of the narrative, immersing readers in a world filled with despair and impending doom.

Lazarus emerges as a compelling and resilient protagonist, grappling with her newfound abilities and the weight of her responsibility to save humanity. The dynamic between Lazarus and Death adds layers of complexity to the plot, as their interactions are fraught with a mix of desire, conflict, and intrigue. Thalassa skillfully develops their relationship, exploring the boundaries between love and destruction.

The novel explores themes of sacrifice, redemption, and the power of human connection in the face of annihilation. As Lazarus is presented with an almost impossible task—to seduce Death and save the world—the stakes are incredibly high, and the suspense keeps readers engaged throughout.

"Death" is a story that pushes boundaries and challenges conventions, offering a fresh take on the apocalypse genre. Thalassa's imaginative world-building and intricate character development create a captivating reading experience. With its dark atmosphere, emotional depth, and high-stakes plot, the novel delivers a thrilling and thought-provoking journey that will leave readers pondering the complexities of life, death, and the choices that define our humanity.

I am sad that is the end of the series, but definitely ended on a high note with Death on this one. Out of the four couples I've read in this series, I have to say Lazarus and Death was by far my favorite couple (I'm sorry!) because the chemistry was all there and made you feel ALL the feels. The symbolism of life and death between the two characters themselves was beautiful written, really made you sit and think about your reality for a second. This book put me in a book hangover that it took a couple weeks to pick up another book. In opinion, this was kind of a heavy read for me but I highly recommend reading because this was a great read and Lauren Thalassa knew what she was writing and did not disappointment whatsoever.

Another incredible book by Laura Thalalassa. There is nothing this woman can do wrong. Her writing style is incredible, world building impeccable and characters lovable.

Having previously devoured the three other books in this series, I jumped at a chance to read an e-ARC of this book. It follows the same kind of pattern as the last three – boy meets girl, they hate each other, they journey together and fall in love. What I really liked about the FMC (Lazarus), was the fact that she came back to life every time she died, which made her the perfect match to Death/Thanatos.

This was such a good conclusion to such an underrated series. I’m not sure what I’m going to do without more Laz/Death in my life.