I am notorious for hearing about books, wanting to read them, and then waiting years to do so. Reading Pestilence by Laura Thalassa is no different and as per usual, I am metaphorically kicking my own butt for waiting so long. Just yesterday (3/24) Bloom Books posted that they were allowing the first 500 people free copies of Pestilence through Net Galley. I figured, this way my time to do what I should have done and finally read the dang book! I’m not sure when Bloom Books picked up The Four Horsemen series, but I noticed a few weeks ago that both The Bargainer Series and The Four Horsemen Series were getting a makeover. I was so excited because while I did love the original covers, the new covers really piqued my interest. I have already told myself I am going to preorder the new Pestilence and now that I’ve read the book, I am even more inclined to do so!

First off, I forget how much I really do love the science fiction/fantasy story lines of books. This one was no different. I really loved the character development of both Sara and Pestilence. I could feel the change in Pestilence over the course of the book. I felt like I could feel both his coldness and distance as well as his warmth and appreciation. As for Sara, she realized what Pestilence saw in humans from the beginning – that they can be both calculating and evil. However, Sara never wavers from always trying to be kind, even when humanity continuously shows its ugly side.

I love everything about this book. The plot, the full-on love that essentially SHOULD NOT be developing between Sara and Pestilence, the character development. It had its funny banter moments, it had its sad and angsty moments, and it had it just pure happy, loving moments. I honestly can’t wait to read the rest of this series and I hope that Sara and Pestilence make cameos in the remaining books!

Real talk - this story is not for everyone. Heck. I didn't even think this would be for me. So imagine my surprise when I found myself somewhat entertained!

There are two major parts to this story - the dystopian, post-apocalyptic world that is present after the arrival of the Four Horseman (Pestilence, in particular) and the Stockholm Syndrome-esque romance between Pestilence and Sara. It's the first part, the world-building, that really got my attention.

Not that the romance is horrible - I just personally couldn't stand Sara. I didn't find her funny like most readers do. She was just too rough for me to like and, believe it or not, I thought Pestilence deserved better. But I did enjoy Pestilence finding his own humanity and growth because of his interactions with her.

I'm interested to see how the series progresses with the other Horseman and how the world-building will be portrayed. Hopefully there's more of it because I think it's areally interesting concept!

I... can't believe I actually really read this, considering my aversion towards stereotypical romance novels with Unnaturally Buff Guy™ on the cover. I went into this merely out of curiosity to see just how weird it would be. Because the premise? Absolutely marvelous, the stuff of my dreams, all my favourite tropes in a single book. It falls somewhere between dystopian and urban fantasy, but to my knowledge no one else has tackled the Riders of the Apocalypse as romantic interests before. For shame! Here I sit now, having finished Pestilence in a little over 48 hours, and I got to admit that it wasn't nearly as bad as I expected.

Are two stars an objectively good rating? Not really. Would I recommend Pestilence to a friend? Maybe for the laughs. Did I have a great time reading this and would read it again? Somehow I did, and yes, I would! Because let's face it, Thalassa's humor is her greatest writing asset, and it shows that her Apocalypse series should not be taken too seriously. Her tough, foul-mouthed protagonist Sara and the post-apocalyptic boyfriend - an actual expression from the text - get into the most hilarious situations as he tries to figure out how to human. Don't get me wrong, this is a dark, violent story that doesn't shy away from body horror, but it still felt like an easy read and not like something out of a genre I'm not accustomed to.

I would even give Pestilence three stars, were the intimacy not repetitive and falling victim to the drabbest nsfw vocabulary imagineable, rendering those scenes strangely out of tune with the rest of the writing - one of the reasons I normally avoid this particular kind of erotica. There was also a pattern of Pestilence and Sara breaking into houses, resting, riding through cities and being ambushed, then finding a house to recover in, which got old quickly, but also created plot holes. Additionally, the ending left much to be desired and didn't resolve most of the problematic issues of the romance, although the heroine is otherwise decisively feminist in her views.

5⭐️ 3🌶️

- M/F
- 4 Horsemen of the apocalypse
- Enemies to lovers
- Forced proximity
- One horse
- Slow burn

This was my first Laura Thalassa book and I was hooked! I had a bit of a hard time categorizing it because while it is definitely enemies to lovers it was also kind of a bully book, but not in a way that I traditionally associate with bully books. This book made me so I uncomfortable at times but I still loved it.

I love Pestilence! He was just so laser focused on his task until he wasn’t. I loved how oblivious he was to all things human despite knowing so much about the terrible things they are capable of.

I loved Sara, she was so brave! I felt just as conflicted as she did when she begrudgingly started to care for Pestilence. I too had trouble reconciling the man he was with her with the horseman determined to fulfil his purpose. The chapters with the older couple gutted me.

I love this series so much and can’t wait to get physical copies with the new covers. How many versions is too many versions? Asking for myself.

The four horsemen race to all corners of the Earth to destroy all of humanity. One of the horsemen, Pestilence, makes his way to Sara Burn’s town with one thing on his mind: death. Failing to kill the horseman, Sara is taken as his prisoner. However, as time goes on and the longer they’re with each other, feelings start to blossom. Can Sara change Pestilence’s mind and save the world by stopping him from causing death?
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I ate this book UP! This was so beautifully executed, and it had me hooked from the start. I absolutely loved the concept and message behind this book. It was an easy, fast paced read with a little bit of spice, making me eager for more! I’d highly recommend.
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Thank you so much for the copy Laura!

Let me start off by saying I’m a huge fan of dark romance novels. Gild, A Touch of Darkness, What Lies Beyond the Veil - those are all books I’ve loved with top notch character arcs and world building. But this one, wow. It’s like the author didn’t even try to make this anything other than some disturbing biblical fanfic. It’s really quite alarming.

Pestilence, one of the horseman of the apocalypse, is spreading plague with the sole intent of killing the human population, and our protagonist, his prisoner, cannot stop obsessing over his looks and how much she wants to kiss him. They spend four days in a house in which she watches an entire family, including two children, die, and she’s sitting there fighting off her romantic interest in him. I’m sorry but this was so unbelievable for me. She’s supposed to be a firefighter, she’s trying to save people, she’s watching them die, and she’s lusting over the person responsible?? Someone who outright said he’s going to continue killing people?

I think my favorite awful part is when Pestilence is trying to reconcile is feelings for Sara and they break into yet another home and Sara’s thinking about how the owner is a mean, mean man because he hates her for Pestilence being in his house. Of course he hates you!!! You’re consorting with someone who is committing mass murder. I could seriously keep going. The characters in this book are delusional - this whole plot is not grounded in any sort of reality that makes sense - not even in the book’s world.

Overall, I think the concept of romance with the four horsemen is really neat, and perhaps if there had been some grander plan, or if the horsemen were trying to save humankind and not actively killing them, then it might have worked. I just feel the author did herself a disservice by not even attempting to build up the world or trying to create a rationale for the appearance of the four horseman beyond humans are evil and must die for their sins. And the romance - again he’s literally killing people while she’s lusting over him and after several days of watching her injure herself as his prisoner, he’s somehow jumped from feeling guilty to loving her? Yes, there’s redemption, but in order for that to work there needed to be plausible reasons at the start, that groundwork needed to be set and it wasn’t. This was just so poorly done and after seeing all the rave reviews, extremely disappointing. I’m giving it two stars only because I kept flipping the pages.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Bloom Books for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I'm going to go ahead and review the series as a whole, because there are common themes that run throughout that are uniquely explicated in each book.

Where do I even start? First, that I totally understand the hype about this series now. It’s one of those series that grabs you by the throat and takes you along for one hell (pun intended) of a ride.

Each FMC brings different elements of humanity to the fore that speak to their angelic counterparts in profound ways. And the ways in which author Laura Thalassa explores idea about God, humanity, frailty, good, and evil are so intriguing. Though these were written starting in the “before” times, Thalassa’s work seems all the more prescient today.

If you want your mind and heart challenged, if you want to experience the beauties of love and human nature (and their ugliness, too), then please, please read this series. It is masterful.

5/5 ⭐️ 3/5 🌶️

Pestilence is my favorite of the four horsemen brothers. I love loved how Laura wrote this story. It was one of my first time reading a book with these tropes and fell in love and was smiling and rooting for them the whole time.

I really enjoyed seeing Sara and Pestilences story unfold. Pestilence was such a bully for so long until he wasn’t and I was here for it. I really can’t wait to the read the story again soon.

Pestilence kicks off a story of the Four Horsemen arriving on their steeds to the four corners of the earth, to do do what the Four Horsemen do and bring the apocalypse. In this book, Pestilence, obviously, has arrived and brought with him a plague across North America. We start off with Sara who's been tasked with killing Pestilence as he comes through her town, but no one knew that Pestilence can't be killed.... And Pestilence finds himself totally fascinated with this human being who had the gall to attack him.

I loved this story. It's not for everybody, but if you live and die for morally grey/villainous heroes and enemies-to-lovers vibes, I have a feeling you will love this too. Of course these stories live in Romancelandia and so require a certain amount of disbelief, but I loved the moral questions that this book inspired. There's this immortal, tortured soul whose one divine purpose in "life" is to eradicate mankind, and he falls in love with a living woman, but she is fighting for her life and all human beings on earth?? Talk about max angst!!! Is Pestilence just fulfilling God's plan and therefore absolved of guilt, or is it God's plan all along for mankind to have one last chance at retribution? Oh, and there's a touch of virgin hero goodness...

I originally read this maybe a year or two ago and I gave it a pretty low rating, but this story and series sticks with me years later. I still think about it, I still gush about it. And I totally enjoyed reading it again!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book through Netgalley and the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was truly not for me and I am so sad about it.

I see people still rating this book highly with the claim that it's trashy and fun, and despite the writing being poor it's still a fun time, but I find these reviews almost frustrating.
I read a lot of romance, and on the same line that we need to normalise romance as a legitimate genre, I think boosting book like this with poor writing could even harm the romance reader and author community by further pandering to those who make the argument that romance 'isn't proper writing and requires no effort'.

The author has made some horrendous innacurate statements into what an apocalypse looks like, claiming that despite all technology being demolished and phonelines being gone, that TV still works? And yet shes saying most places don't have electricity? Seems like the author didn't want to be bothered actually sticking to an apocalyse setting - and couldn't be bothered doing any research as to what this means - so conveniently every bit of tech the protagonist comes across works. Hospitals are still functioning and yet cars don't work? Like what? If tech doesnt work - like vehicles - then how is it possible that the protagnist has access to most normal foods? Is food still being produced? But how can it even be driven to supermarkets? Most food s imported, so how is this possible if theres no planes? IT MAKES NO SENSE AT ALL.

Next - the actual physical writing is just not good. The protagonist is being held captive by one of the biblical four horsemen set on killing everyone on planet earth including herself and all her family and friends. And yet our protagnist says things like "ugh, hes such a hot asshole" and "aren't I in a shit-sandwich" and "he's so hot but oh yeah I forgot he wants to kill everyone on earth, and he will literallay kill me once he's finished torturing me". She uses slang that feels wholly innapropriate in the sitaution the protagonist is in: "I legit.....". So many "ughs" written on page. Come on. This is poor and lazy,

Need I even go into the actual critique of the plot? I DNF'd - so whats the point - but a redemption arc for a guy set on killing the entire population - kidnappimg the protagnist - dragging her by her wrists behind his horse for days - shooting her with arrows - forcing her to be naked in front of him - forcing her to watch him be naked - forcing her to watch people die. I don't care if he's being manipulated into doing any of this - he's a fucking murder who enjoyed torturing the protagonist. Why do we have to have a love interest be the most morally corrupt person under the sun for people to be like "oohhh hes dark and misunderstood and sexy" NO. I get 'dark romance' as a genre , and I like it - but a gang lord being a love interst is very different to someone set on killing everyone on earth who enjoys torturing people. You wouldn't write a book romantisicing Ted Bundy or any other serial killer - OH WAIT- yes there are jack the ripper dark romances out there. Wow. It's truly no wonder the romance genre gets so much shit. I get that you want a morally grey love interest but taking insperation from historical murderers who targetted young women? How truly feminist.

Pestilence is one of my absolute favorite reads. Is gruesome, tragic, and a very enjoyable "falling in love" story at the same time.

It opens with the female main character, Sara, ready to shoot down the first Horseman of the Apocalypse, Pestilence. Unfortunately, it doesn't pan out as she hopes, and she ends up being Pestilence's captive.

The way he treats from the beginning is fairly brutal, but with the subject matter being what it is, the reader should really expect the world and the characters to be harsh.

Because of the initial way Pestilence treats Sara, Pestilence killing humankind wherever he rides without prejudice, and the violence from humans trying to survive in this dystopian future setting, it's definitely not for everyone. It can be very dark.

But if you're okay with a darker love story, Pestilence is a fantastic read.

Pestilence is one of my favorite books of all time so when I saw it pop up with the new cover, I NEEDED IT! I loved it even more this time around. I can’t even get any coherent thoughts together to write a review.. it was just too good. Buy it!!

It's a 4.5 but I'm gonna give it a 5 because that 0.5 left is just me not getting that "this-is-the-one" feeling but it also doesn't have anything wrong with it.

I cried a lot with this book, don't even ask me why. It's just all the situations that Sara goes through, they got me.

I don't even think I was expecting any of the stuff I read, and it was better than what I could've expected.

I loved this book! I would recommend for 17+. The story is intriguing and a little dark. I can’t wait to read the other books in this series. I’ve read the authors other books and this one did not disappoint.

I absolute love the story of Pestilence and Sara. This is the good reliable enemies to lovers trope and they do hate each other. Their relationship grows and changes as the book progresses and Pestilence sees that humanity isn't so bad after all. I also love when books take place near me, so hitting up Iowa along the way gave me my little (scary) dose of being able to relate.

Adult content ⚠ check triggers ⚠
Spice ~ good, very good 😏
~ unbelievable 😦 I still can't believe what I read 😵
Don't misunderstand, this is an evil hero with one goal, genocide... but Sara, a firefighter, goes on a journey of falling back in love with humanity and accept its flaws.
The side characters were as rich as the main. I cried 😭 I did! And I loved it!

~ What a ride... literately. The big question is, does Laura Thalassa makes you believe in his redemption and love? Yes! And my brain hurts 😵

World ~ An post-apocalyptic contemporary world where airplanes and internet have failed to work

Lows ~ none, moving forward to read War

"𝐿𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝐼 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒–𝑎 𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑐 𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑡𝑜𝑥𝑖𝑛," ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑦𝑠. "𝑇𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝐼'𝑣𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑡ℎ."

𝓬𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓲𝓿𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰, 𝓶𝓮𝓵𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓱𝓸𝓵𝓲𝓬, 𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓹𝓪𝓼𝓼𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓪𝓽𝓮

The first installment of Thalassa's 𝔽𝕠𝕦𝕣 ℍ𝕠𝕣𝕤𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟 series confronts us with Pestilence, the relenting godly threat, determined to wipe the lands from human sin. At least, until he crosses paths with Sara Burns, an ex-firefighter determined to save her dying world by ending the heavenly-send creature. But soon she is at his mercy, and Pestilence is reluctant to give it.

The first book of the series features the fewest, but most intense deaths, luring out compassion with every tragedy Sara must endure while in Pestilence's company. Full of tragedy, melancholy, desperation, but also compassion, intimacy, longing and deep connectedness and a big-ass whip of hurt, this book sucks you in to MAKE. YOU. CRY. Like a baby at that.

From the three installments of the series this was by far the most emotional, with War being the fiercest and Famine the funniest and most empathetic, although all three books carry an underlying emotional intimacy which in itself is hard to put into words and satisfying to let yourself fall into, repeatedly.

So, this series is (strangely enough) my comfort read. The plot, the setting, the pacing is all excellent.

The world is ending. The Horsemen came and destroyed our technology, putting an end to man’s dominance. As quickly as they came, they vanished. And now 5 years later, Pestilence the Conqueror has awoken and begun his deadly trek, killing all in his path. His path leads him to Whistler, where firefighter Sara Burns draws the literal short straw of staying behind to take him out. And she definitely tries. After failing to kill him Pestilence takes her as his prisoner, determined to make her suffer.

This book is an excellent beginning to the series. The writing is descriptive, but not uncomfortable. And it’s does give a window into how bleak the horsemen times are. People have rebuilt and moved on to an extent, but remnants of the past are still around. The plot is interesting and the characters of Pestilence and Sara work well of each other. They basically carry the story, as side characters don’t stick around.

Pestilence, while at first isn’t at all likeable, does grow and learn as the book goes on. I’ve never been able to fault him for his task. Grisly as it is, it’s simply what he was created to do. Watching him learn and start taking an interest in things other than his task was great to read. Sara is brave and understands a sense of duty. Shes also super sarcastic and talkative. She’s an excellent foil for Pestilence. Reading the relationship develop between the two of them was fun, even if it seemed a bit unrealistic.

I find this to be a true enemies to lovers story. Pestilence, in my estimation, is a morally grey character. He’s not a villain or a hero. He’s simply here to carry out his heavenly task, come what may. It can be a bit uncomfortable in the beginning, as Sara and Pestilence do not get off to an auspicious start, but keep going. It’ll get much better as conversations and compromises take place.

If you are uncomfortable with death in relatively high quantities then steer clear of this series. It is not for the faint of heart. The books all feature different heroines and different locations and time periods. They are relatively formulaic, however there’s enough differentiation to make them interesting.

Thanks to netgalley and Bloom Books for providing me with an eARC of the newly published edition in exchange for my honest review!

I read this beauty last year and absolutely became obsessed with it and the series! Laura Thalassa is one of my favorite authors as well as an auto buy author for me.

If you like dark, gritty, urban paranormal fantasy esq books you will want to check this series out!

The world is ending, no seriously! Like the four horsemen have risen and each with have their turn at destroying the world that has become too corrupt to save. The first to come to our world is Pestilence, he spreads disease wherever he travels. None are safe from his touch. Until he meets her!

Literally gets his ass handed to him, but in his defense he wasn’t expecting a trap! As revenge he decides to keep her as his prisoner. The palpable hatred and angst is magnificent. Ugh I loved these two so much! Y’all there is so much emotion in this book if you don’t cry I don’t know what’s happened in your life to not make you feel things but for me I was a giant blubbering baby!

Read this book! Yes the horsemen are here but it is up to each badass and unique lady to show them the world is worth saving!

So glad I found this series and Laura, I cannot wait for whatever she does next.

3/5 🌶️

I was absolutely blown away by how much I loved this book. This is one of the first bully romances I have read and watching Pestilence literally drag her around was a bit hard at times.... But watching them fall in love was E V E R Y T H I N G.

The entire series premise of The Four Horseman was brilliantly done. It's such a fascinating story line and Laura did an amazing job of bringing it to life through the pages. I loved watching Sara try and get him to change his mind about his fate. I kept waiting for him to cave, but Laura kept reminding us that these "men" are not actually men, but angels who are héĺĺbént on bringing death and destruction to Earth.

The ending was so, so good. I absolutely love these two together and what they became. And the foreshadowing into book two was eerie feeling, just so perfect. I can't wait for War.