Thank you to Netgalley and SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books for giving me a chance to read Pestilence by Laura Thalassa in exchange for my honest review.

The first of the our horsemen of the Apocalypse is here, and with him the beginning of a promising enemies to lovers series with the fate of humanity in the balance.
First things first , Trigger warnings and Tropes included .
TW : attempted murder, torture, graphic violence,death of minor/major character
Tropes : I was sent to kill you but i fell for you instead, banter, morally grey/morally ambiguous characters, enemies to lovers

What to say about this book ? First things first, I loved the apocalyptic/dystopian vibes above everything else, the way morality and humanity was handled in the future where humankind has suffered from the horsemen in the past and is now feeling the beginning of the end come again with Pestilence's arrival.
Sara and Pestilence have a very delilcate chemistry, sometimes inclining towards enemie, others to more than her just being his prisoner or victim to set an example to the world to show what happens when you mess with the horsemen.
Pestilence slowly changes and understands more and more about the human experience through Sara, and her seeing the kindness behind the cruel mask of the horseman makes for a compelling (almost slow burn) story full of tension
and morals being put to the question and in the end love being the force of human nature that even Pestilence the Conqueror cannot defeat.

Spicy romance with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Sign me up! I adored the different kind of hero that Pestilence was, really original and not seen much in books nowadays. Enemies to lovers is always a good trope to be and the story was intriguing seeing it from different points of view, from the side characters, made me change my perspective too. Laura Thalassa did something with this series and I can't be more excited to move on to the next "brother"!

I went into Pestilence without really knowing anything about it. First thoughts - wow Pestilence is a total asshole and Sara is a complete badass (lol!). Also - how are these two going to eventually become a couple I will root for?

Pestilence is set out to destroy the world, but he has mercy on Sara and keeps her as his prisoner. But the more time these two spend together the more complicated their relationship becomes. How can they ever have a relationship if Pestilence isn't even a human form, but one of the four horsemen set to destroy the world. The same world that Sara needs to try to save.

Laura Thalassa is an amazing author - this is my third book by her. I binge read Rhapsodic and Bewitched and enjoyed them both! I know that her fantasy romances can be a bit dark, but her humor is usually spot on! This was definitely the case in Pestilence.

I highly suggest you go into this book without reading too much about it. I can't wait to start the next book in the series!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher.

This book was much more of a slow burn than I expected, but it did not ultimately disappoint.

Pestilence has been spreading his plague across North America and runs into Sara Burns, a firefighter who was chosen to kill him (of her group). She tries, and when it ultimately fails, he takes her captive to go with him on his journey. At first they are at odds, but they end up falling in love.

Sara has to see the plague in action, trying to help people as she can, and the media calls her a whore, etc. Pestilence learns more about humanity. Along the way they meet good and bad people.

I enjoyed this book and it had an ending I enjoyed, but I'm not sure if I'll be reading the rest of the series.

I dont know if this book was meant to be as much of a comedy as it was but I was laughing all the way through. The internal monologue of the main character, Sara Burns, is one that i would compare to my own. This aspect of the book made me not want to put it down. I loved that this story was in first person. I loved how Pestilence was so obviously unaware of the world even though he had been walking the Earth for thousands. I think the love story is one that is realistic. Split between your own duties versus love. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend to anyone. I love a book that doesn't take itself so serious, even if the topic is a great one.

The story had no plot. One of the four horseman of the apocalypse takes a young lady who fails to kill him. They travel across Canada and the west coast of the US spreading the plague to humans behind them. The horseman finally see a different side of humanity, but is it too late? This is a slow-burn, enemies to lovers romance.

Pestilence by Laura Thalassa
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Republication date: August 15, 2023

The Four Horsemen series, book 1

This was first published in 2018 independently by the author, and is being republished by Bloom books in August with updated covers.

This was quite different than my usual reads. I read the Bargainer series by the same author a while back after trying to find a series similar to ACOTAR and enjoyed many parts of her writing style, so I’ve had her backlist on my radar!

I am a fan of post-apocalyptic plots and so I was interested where this would go. I’d describe this one as more of a story of the apocalypse vs. a post-apocalyptic read.

This is a TRUE enemies to lovers story that had me so curious where it would go. I appreciated many of the themes that the story left you with and the interactions they made on their path to destruction were so interesting. A lot of this was HARD to read, but it kept me interested throughout.

Perfect for you if you like:
*it’s the end of the world as we know it*
TRUE enemies to lovers
🌶️🌶️🌶️

🛑 multiple open door scenes and explicit language
⚠️ several hard to read scenes of death and violence

Thank you @netgalley and @read_bloom for the advanced review copy!

It's the year of the horsemen and Pestilence has been spotted. So firefighter Sara and her coworkers pull sticks to determine who will stay and try to thwart him. Sara of course pulls the short stick and lies in wait. But after a failed attempt to stop him, she becomes his prisoner. This was my first spicy four horsemen retelling and I loved it.

The apocalypse is coming and the Four Horsemen have come to bring the end of days to humanity. Sara upon meeting the horseman ends up shooting and then burning him alive.

This is not going to be for everyone. It is an enemies to lovers story and not going to be for everyone with the darkness. Pestilence decides that death is too good for her and he intends for her to suffer. Sara is Pestilence’s prisoner traveling with him as he brings a plague on to the world. Their journey did get repetitive in places as the plague spread but I know this was used to get to know the characters so I could see past it.

This is a SS romance in a dystopian world. Stockholm syndrome in a dystopian world. I did enjoy this novel and the world/Characters that were built into it. I’m curious to see where this will continue and I will be reading more!

3.5 stars

Laura Thalassa's fantastic storytelling and writing style hooked me from the very beginning of the book.

Sara was an interesting and relatable character despite the unrelatable circumstances she finds herself in. How do you fall in love with one of the four horseman of the apocalypse? It was interesting seeing how Sara and Pestilence affected each other in big and little ways and how their relationship developed. I sometimes didn't understand how Sara softened toward Pestilence even knowing he was treating her kindly versus what he was doing to others. That did take me out of the romance a bit, but I still couldn't put the book down as I wanted to see how their story ended.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me a copy of this book. I picked up this series from Arcane Society and getting this copy was the motivation I needed to finally get around to reading these.

Some spoilers ahead!

After reading The Serpent and the Wings of Night, I am definitely in my fantasy romance era and I was hoping that this series would be another winner. While I didn't hate this first book, this definitely didn't live up to all of the hype for me personally.

I think the concept of the story is super cool. I liked the setting and seeing the world in this state. I can fully imagine the fear and what the people are going through and right off the bat, I was hooked. HOWEVER, Sara is a terrible main character. Her humor was. a definite miss for me. She thinks she is so smart and witty and instead I found her completely insufferable. Also, I don't know, but the concept of loving the man you know is literally going to murder your family-HELL ALL OF MANKIND, seems a bit outlandish. Because she knows this isn't like a distant possibility. She legit comes face to face with the pus bubble skin of this man's victims. Also, I found it super weird how she was CONSTANTLY concerned with the appearance of his stomach, and how even during sex, she was just calling him Pestilence yet I was supposed to believe in three hundred pages that this was love. ALSO, he was an actual virgin before her, yet the first time he gives her oral, he's a pro? HOOOWWWW? I just wasn't buying into the love story and the sex truly wasn't that steamy.

I am definitely going to continue on in this series because I want to see what the hype is all about and despite my low rating, I did finish this quickly and enjoy it well enough.

I thought this was absolutely fascinating, I could not put it down! Just an excellent story with page turning plot lines and twists you did not see coming. Read this now!!!

The Apocalypse has come and our female lead has the unforgotten task of killer the horseman Pestilence before he can kill everyone else.

Why I loved this book
-Forced Proximity trope came into play
-thing that is supposed to kill someone falling in love with them trope came into play
-excellent post apocalypse set up
-solid use of dialogue and action to move creating a fast paced reading experience
-very solid intimate scenes
What else I would have liked to see.
I would have loved to see Pestilence struggle a little more with his nature maybe having them respond to the world around them a bit more sans the influence of his love interest.

Who would I recommend this title for

Pestilence is an excellent start to a new series by Laura Thalassa and thus a good read for existing fans as well as an excellent entry point to her work for new readers.

Obviously, this was a quick read since it took me about a day to finish. It was an interesting concept...one of the Four Horsemen meets a human and somehow learns that humanity isn’t as bad as he thinks. Pestilence, as the male “lead,” could have been developed more. It would have been interesting to SEE him struggle with what he is here to do versus what he can be. The “heroine” definitely has a case of Stockholm Syndrome, and that is something else that could have been more developed. I’m not sure how I felt about this book. I read it to the end. Read it quickly. I read the teaser for the next book, but didn’t mark it anywhere so I remember to buy it. For something to read to fill the time, sure I did that. Would I recommend this to friends? Um...probably only if they pick it up for free like I did.

Laura Thalassa is back with her next novel, PESTILENCE, that is sure to be the romance book of Fall 2023. This book had me wanting to curl up beside the fire drinking hot chocolate, it was truly the most perfect fantasy romance. I absolutely loved her other releases, so I was so excited to see we were getting another book by her. This was filled with the most perfect story, characters, and romance that I truly could not put it down. I cannot wait to see what Thalassa writes next!

Pestilence by Laura Thalassa is a post-apocalyptic romance novel that follows the story of Sara Burns and Pestilence, the first horseman of the apocalypse. Set in a world ravaged by a deadly plague, the novel is a gripping tale of survival and love in the face of unimaginable adversity. Thalassa's writing is vivid and engaging, with well-developed characters and a fast-paced plot that will keep readers on the edge of their seats. Overall, Pestilence is a solid read for fans of the genre.

What a wonderful addition to the Four Horseman series. Engaging worldbuilding and a hot romance. I enjoyed how it wasn't an insta love relationship, and throughout the book we actually got to see both the characters grow. I love strong female characters with agency!

If I were to describe my feelings about this book, they would fall somewhere in the neutrality zone. I’m typically picky about plot and this one just lagged quite a bit.

I loved the MMC, but struggled to connect with the FMC throughout the story. However, their journey and connection gave the FMC some points.

I would be interested to read the following novels in this series, but I wouldn’t say this one made it a top priority.

An amazing juxtaposition of human compassion and divine purpose. This book follows Sara the firefighter and her love/hate relationship with Pestilence after she attempts to kill him. They travel through Canada and meet every possible type of human; and while Pestilence holds the highest disdain for humanity, Sara's neverending compassion and vibrant human-ness start to sway and confuse him.
It feels like humanity has been put under a microscope and found lacking. Pestilence is just the first horseman to spread divine justice, and it's honestly nerve-wracking to see the plague travel and see how determined Pestilence is to see it through. Love may be his downfall, but it's also the best attribute humans have to offer. I just absolutely adored this book. I loved watching their relationship grow and change, their conversations were existential and enlightening. It was wild to see Pestilence fall first as Sara lives in denial because this... creature is destroying everything she has ever known and loved. A pretty much perfect rendition of enemies to lovers, and I'm so excited to see what War has in store.

I am freaking obsessed!!! OMG I loved this so much. I read Rhapsody and it was just okay for me, I didn’t love it as much as I expected it to, especially since it has more of a fantasy world aspect than this one did. But wow … Pestilence is to die for. I immediately went and got the second book and I can’t wait to read it. You can bet I will be reading this entire series in the next month.

We really get to see both Pestilence’s and Sara’s personal growth throughout the book, how they change each other for the better as they learn and get passed their prejudices. Sara learns to understand things beyond her mortal comprehension and Pestilence learns the good sides of human nature and to not judge so harshly and polarizing.

This all happens against such a dark backdrop of the world in peril. The story world is well-built. Everything they are going through is emotional and heartbreaking. I can’t wait to meet new characters and see what God has in store for the world next.

People can trash this book all they want and call it needless drivel but I truly think it brought to light some interesting concepts for discussion. And the passion is so freaking HOT. I loved everything about it - the plot, characters, world-building. I'm hooked. Yes, yes, yes, all the stars I need more!