I had the pleasure of receiving an eARC of War through NetGalley, and I must say, this series continues to impress me. It's astonishing how Laura Thalassa can craft such a compelling romance centered around the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. While I might have a slight preference for the first book, Pestilence, this one still takes you on an exhilarating ride.

What's striking is how War differs from his brother Pestilence. War immediately recognizes Miriam as his heaven-sent wife and doesn't harm her, adding a unique twist to their relationship. While the violence and death still abound, War exhibits a deeper understanding of humans from the start, making the transition in this book seamless. Miriam is a remarkable character, strong and unapologetically herself. She's a fighter and a lover, which I found incredibly appealing. However, a word of caution: this book does delve into the death and harm of children, so consider this if it's a trigger for you. The ending caught me off guard and had me in tears, but in the best way possible. Overall, War is an enjoyable addition to the series that keeps you hooked from beginning to end.

Laura Thalassa has upped her game. While "Pestilence" was a great book with characters that were built with great detail, this book is a whole another level.

War is a very possessive man, who, while this is a dark romance, has respect for women and never harms them (unless they harm him first lol). Miriam is a very strong FMC who is a BADASSSSSS.

They form a great pair and this book is filled with banter, arrogant characters that will make you enjoy this read. However, this book is dark, so you better check TWs before reading.



*I received an earc of this book through netgalley.

I enjoyed 'War' more than 'Pestilence' and it's because the romance in the first book was way slower than in this one.
Still a slow burn with a lot of spice about a young woman and one of the Horsemen of the apocalypse.
If that's your cup of tea, read this book! (And be my friend!)

The scenery, the descriptions, and the characters, even the secondary ones are very well-written. I am in love with the author's writing.

I can't wait to read 'Famine' and then get to 'Death'! I shouldn't be so excited about that book, but, oh well.
Look for the trigger warnings.

Thank you to NetGalley for the e-book.

First, let’s admit War is a sight to behold and to imagine in your head.

What always strikes me in the Four Horsemen series by Laura Thalassa is how much we don’t want to accept the horsemen as a love interest and end up understanding them enough to wish their redemption for all the atrocities committed against humans and eventually their happiness.

War, as Pestilence, is a disease, in this case spread by men’s vengeance and hate. That's all that he knows. Being a corporeal being is alien to him.

Miriam is a self-tough force of nature. She governs her lonely life by strict rules that have allowed her to survive in a poor and dangerous environment. She has been taught to accept differences in men and religion, as well as the power of love.
But little does she know that when War sees her, he proclaims her his wife.

The atrocities committed by War are the main obstacles of the romance. And it is amazing to see how Miriam tries all she can to protect and save as many as possible while resisting War advances and warmhearted moments.
But when she least expects, her tries and messages start to take root in War’s heart and his path to redemption starts.

The storyline keeps you entertained since they go through every twist possible to reach their HEA.

The ending was a bit anticlimactic.

The violence including children and families made me distance myself from the storyline and characters. As it is a sensitive topic to me.

Content Warnings:
• Mention of death of parent
• Cursing
• Extreme Violence
• Violence against children
• Attempt of sexual assault
• Religious topics
• War
• War trauma
• (view spoiler)
• Death of loved ones

Series with overarching plot, but can be read as standalone.
Each book focuses on one couple with HEA.
POV count: 2

Thank you Net Galley for giving me a copy of this book for an honest review!

I'm really enjoying this series and how enthralling it is. This is the second time in one series that Laura Thalassa has hooked me almost immediately. There is just something really unique about these stories and the writing, I just need more!

Miriam is one hell of a woman! She is just amazing all her hard work and focus toward what she believes is right!
War, I have to say I didn’t like him much at the beginning but as the story progressed and his relationship with Miriam grows you can see him wanting to be better but not being able because of his mission.
The bit almost at the end had me in tears and I loved it!

Amazing series love it!

I really enjoyed the Four Horseman books - it is my favorite series by Laura Thalassa. It felt different from many apocalypse plots I’ve read, even though it featured the biblical tale. There was a good balance between survival plot and romance. War is my favorite in the series.

After reading Pestilence I was more than excited to start the 2nd of this series. War brought us a whole new female and male protagonist couple, and although I was familiar with the type of story I was about to read, I was still happily surprised and excited by the diversification of the characters from the previous novel.

A lot of times you come across a series with different protagonists within the same world, and you are faced with interactions that feel somewhat repetitive. However, Thalassa avoids this. In "War" we are treated to an entirely different romantic entanglement, and it is the instant possessiveness between the characters that grabs your attention and immerses you into the story.

The way War conducts himself and his approach to conquest is nothing short of intriguing.
I AM OBSESSED with WAR! I also love the idea of his position within the end-of-world days.
He adds a layer of complexity to the narrative, elevating it beyond the conventional. He is captivating, delicious, and downright sexy.

“Are you just healing me because you want to fuck me?”
Holy mother of God. Did those words really come out of my mouth?
What is wrong with you, Miriam?
The horseman’s head snaps up. He stares for several seconds, his eyes dropping to my mouth. “I healed you for my own reasons. Fucking you is another matter altogether.”

As the story progresses, the dynamic between War and Miriam proves to be a source of excitement and delicious encounters. I love the complicated nature of their relationship, War's instant enraptured nature with Miriam is delightful and her fight against her own feelings and the eventual palpable passion and chemistry keeps you on the edge of your seat. How he views her makes things easier and harder for Miriam, and for us, we are drawn in further. The loneliness makes these two an easy math.

I thoroughly enjoyed the world-building and still love the post-apocalyptic story.
I am so happy that it took place in a different location and different continent!

I love the differences between Pestilence and War - where Pestilence was unaware of human nature and human customs, War is well-versed, experienced, and consuming. Both of them are fixed on their duty and their destruction of mankind. The only thing is, perhaps their purpose, their nature, was never to destroy but to learn what it means to be human - to be given a chance and a choice, to live...

"But then I was given this form, and suddenly I existed in an entirely different way. I saw human nature off the battlefield for the first time. More than that, I felt what it was like to live off the battlefield.”

I look forward to reading Famine!

(and holy smokes I cannot wait to meet Death - AGAIN!)

Thank you again to NetGalley for the book & to Laura Thalassa for the writing!

Actual Rating: 3.5⭐

This sequel is pretty much similar to the 1st book, one of the four horsemen (War) met the FMC(Miriam) while doing their mission. I also found Miriam and the previous one has similar traits – stubborn, strong willed and compassionate.

The world building is expanding, this time it takes place in Israel. Compare to Pestilence who works alone, War has a large camp where his captives and soldiers live. It’s interesting that the readers got a glimpse of how life goes for those living at the camp.

Pestilence was right though, War is more ruthless and vicious compare to Pestilence. I would be terrified meeting him face to face, but not Miriam who raised up against him every chance she got.

I like seeing how War slowly changes and learn more about mercy, growing conscience and redemption throughout the story, however it was mostly centered because of his needs to be loved by Miriam.

It takes quite a while for Miriam and War to admit their feelings for each other because they argue/fight most of the time.
The level of spiciness of this book is higher than the 1st book since War definitely know his way around women compare to Pestilence.

Overall, this story is pretty enjoyable. I really like the character’s development and the author’s writing style - it was easy to read and conveyed the emotions very well; the feeling of loss, love and hope.
I want to keep reading this series since I heard Famine and Death gets even better so I’m looking forward to it.

⚠️ 𝐓𝐖: Death, violence, sexual content, murder, war, sexual assault, vomit

I received an advanced review copy for free through Netgalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Huge thank you to the author and publisher!

My least favorite of them all, I found this book cringey. Miriam was very typical, strong and stubborn, but lonely. Her every thought relating to War was how attractive he is. It got redundant and felt it strayed from the main plot.

DNF 20% in.

I'm sure this is a great series, but I realize that it's not for me. I prefer a story like this, but that would give the female leads more of an understanding of why the horsemen are committed and maybe one of them who is going to agree with the horsemen (purely because of the odds of them all wanting to save humanity are iffy), but I fear that it won't happen and I would hate to continue and it not be enjoyable.

I do have a friend who enjoys this kind of thing, so I know that it has an audience and if horsemen being swayed by love is something you'd enjoy it's perfect for you.

I received this as an ARC on netgalley and I just love this series so much so far. How could a romance about the four horsemen be so freaking good. But it is that. I think I liked the first book just a bit more but this was still such a great ride. Unlike in Pestilence, War knows straight away who Miriam is to him and knows he wants her. He also never actually hurts her which is nice. As with the first book there is still a lot of violence and of course death but from the beginning War as a little more understanding of humans then his brother did. It made it so the transition really worked well in this book. He also had the unexpected power to raise the dead which I didn't expect but I guess makes some sense. So be prepared for zombies. I also loved how badass Miriam was from the very beginning. Although she has a problem with killing she never hesitates to do it in order to protect herself and those she loves. She is a lover and a fighter and I just really appreciate that about her. This book also talks about the death of children or them getting hurt so if that is a trigger for you then you may need to skip this book. The ending had me in tears which I did not expect but it was such a great twist I can't really be mad at all. Overall really enjoyed this book.

”Pray for the world. War is coming”.

Talk about book hangovers!

I’m glad I get to read the rest of the series! War, the second of the Four Horsemen, was deliciously dark, dangerous, swoony in a warlord kind of way, and yet had such tender sides, which were the stark opposite to his ruthless pursuit of his duties. It was a unique love that grew between War and Miriam. In Pestilence’s book there was a lot more touching, whereas War and his “wife” ( he truly believes Miriam was given to him by God to be his wife) were against each other for the majority of the story.
If a dark tale with a supernatural bit mixed is you jam please read this book! If you’re worried about it having a ton of religion thrown in, it’s not like that at all. I have definitely found an author that is new to me and I can’t wait to read more.

Thank you Netgalley and SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books publisher for this arc read in exchange for my honest review! ❤️

These books just keep getting better as I go! Spicy, drama, action, angst and just enough edge to keep you wanting more. Excited to keep going with this series and now I must have the physical copies.

I have been in a huge reading slump for about a month and a half. This book had me wishing my baby would nap longer.

Do you want you a boy with golden retriever energy but also low-key well high-key commits mass genocide? Well, then war is your man.
I loved this book through and through. It was great escapism, and I love that it took place in a country that is not the United States. It also showcases a strong and feminine heroine. Miriam was wonderful and one of my favourite heroines that I’ve read this year. The only reason I’m not giving this book 5 stars is because of the pacing of the last 15% of the book.

Can’t wait to read the next one

Thanks so much for allowing me to review this title.
I love Laura’s work and this series is incredible.
I look forward to reading more of her words and working with you again!
Thank you!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloom Books for the digital ARC of War.

The publisher is rereleasing the series with new covers and that's how I received access to this ARC, even though the Four Horsemen series has been out for a few years now.

This series has been on my radar for a while and I did receive ARCs of the entire series, so here we are with my second review.

I was not a big fan of the first book (Pestilence), which I rated 2.5 stars, so I will say that my expectations for War were fairly low. I can report that I thought the writing did improve from the first to the second book. It seems as though some of the kinks and issues that I had with the first story might have been the growing pains of starting a new series. I would say that the book is an easy read; there's nothing complicated about it and there are no instances of information dumps (massive or otherwise *sigh*).

I did like the fact that this story took place in a vastly different location than the first book. However, it did feel as though the setting and culture were under-researched. In my opinion, the author seems to lack knowledge of the place and people she was portraying.

Unfortunately, I still didn't think this book was anything special. Once again, I found it very difficult to like and/or relate to the main female character (Miriam). For approximately the first 10% of the book I really thought I was going to like Miriam. I found her backstory interesting and I could appreciate her struggles and what it took for her to survive. Then cue War to enter stage left and everything goes downhill for my opinion of Miriam. What is it with the women in this series?! Their disillusion is frustrating at the very least and their internal thoughts are beyond cringy. Apparently, pretty men make these women stupid.

On the one hand, the first horseman, Pestilence, was a character that I could get behind; I sympathized with him and I enjoyed seeing his progression throughout the story. War, on the other hand, was not a character that I could get behind. I didn't like anything about him. When you are first introduced to War, he's been awake for some time and he still doesn't seem to care or understand the human condition. As the story progresses, it is clear that he has no desire to learn and I just found him to be very one-note.

The combination of Miriam and War with all their little nuances that I just found to be annoying, contributed to my opinion that these two are not believable as a couple. The chemistry between them seemed forced and just didn't do it for me.

Lastly, I (once again) found the plot to be overly repetitive - a battle takes place; War and Miriam bicker/argue/fight; War's army moves; there's another battle; War and Miriam fight again; the army moves; there's a battle; War and Miriam make out/have sex and then they fight; the army moves (rinse and repeat). The cookie-cutter layout of this book was very reminiscent of the first book, which also made me feel like I was reading virtually the same story. There was very little to distinguish this book from Pestilence.

Clearly, there are plenty of people who really enjoy this series; I just don't happen to be one of them. Since I do have the ARCs for the last two books in the series (Famine and Death), I do plan on completing it. I hope that the plot for these two books is unique and I enjoy them more.

I need to know what sort of crack Laura Thalassa is putting in her books to make me this obsessed with them!! The Horseman series has been SO good and I will be purchasing the remaining books immediately. The enemies to lovers is done incredibly well, War’s character development is heart warming, and the angst is just *chef’s kiss*. I didn’t want to put this book down at any point and I’m looking forward to the rest of the series. I was a little worried War would feel repetitive with Pestilence but Thalassa does a great job distinguishing the two stories and I never felt like I could predict the exact storyline. I do hope one of the couples in the last two books don’t have children to represent that a child isn’t a requirement of a loving, long term relationship. Overall, I devoured this book and I’m already looking for seconds.

"War" by Laura Thalassa is a total winner! I couldn't put it down. The action is off the charts, and War is one hot character. The love story is intense, and the plot twists are mind-blowing. If you're up for a wild ride, give this book five stars! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

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.