Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Pestilence by Laura Thalassa

4 reviews

abicaro17's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I have mixed feelings about this book. This is a dark romance about Sara, a firefighter, and Pestilence, a horseman of the apocalypse. Sara is tasked by her squad to stay behind and kill Pestilence to prevent the spread of the Plague. When this fails, Pestilence kidnaps her and keeps her prisoner. The concept of this book is cool. Falling in love with a physical manifestation of a biblical plague? Awesome! The issue is the execution. Sara is a little young for me, their "romance" feels a little forced, and Pestilence knowing nothing about humans feels wrong. It wasn't bad at all just a little off for me. I will probably eventually read War and the sequels but not now. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

lacrimaeignis's review against another edition

dark hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I've always held a certain fascination for the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse so when I heard about this series, I knew I would have to eventually read them (especially when I heard that Death, book 4, is being represented by Thanatos, the name of the greek god of death, whom I've always held an unexplainable but particular fondness for). I wasn't sure what to expect going in but this book definitely wastes no time in throwing you into the Apocalypse. This novel is graphic in detail at times and definitely not for the faint of heart or those who can't stomach violence or gore.

The book brought up many interesting points on the concept of religion/faith and why the Apocalypse was happening. It was very interesting to see Pestilence as a character and how he adapted and changed throughout the novel. The Female Lead, Sara, felt very realistic in how she dealt with what she was going through, especially as a young woman in her 20s.  However she does come across as annoying at times, especially with some of her side comments that serve no purpose and ended up throwing me out of the story, and she fell flat towards the end of the novel. Because of her I almost DNF'd with only 20 pages left (although my interest was waning around page 200).

The book was also very repetitive at times and therefore, very predictable. Many of the chapters/events just felt too similar to each other but because most of the chapters were short, it was easy to get through them.

The only reason I continued the book was because I was so close to the end and also because I do plan on reading the rest of the series. I gave the book 4 stars because I did like the concept and I really liked Pestilence and it also kept me intrigued enough to want to continue the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

ellalife's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

0.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

unsuttefing. the main love intrest is litteraly discusting, misogenitic inhuman guy.

and after constent abuse he is not ponished or reedimed, he just gets the girl like nothing happend

cinderrunner's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I have a lot of conflicting emotions about this book. I am not a fan of "dark" romances typically and don't see the appeal of fictional relationships that are founded on toxicity/abuse. I didn't realize just how dark this novel was before i picked it up. The relationship between Sara and Pestilence is very abusive, toxic, and violent; all of which  was incredibly off putting and made it difficult to get into the love aspects of the story. However, the world in which the novel was crafted and the plot surrounding the relationship made me enjoy it to the point where I would have given the book 5 stars if it weren't for the awful relationship dynamics. The author created a brilliant landscape for a world sliding deeper into dystopia. She also did an incredible job capturing the moral complexity of humanity and of our ideals around right or wrong. The book was surprisingly poignant and tugged tight on my heartstrings. The violence and cruelty of the romance didn't feel pointless and the author made Pestilence's grasp of what humanity really means grow in a way that I was able to feel for him and Sara. I was worried the topic of religion would be overbearing given that the plot revolves around the four horsemen of the apocalypse, but it is handled with tact and in such a neutral way that I think an open minded reader of pretty much any background would be okay with it. But please check trigger warnings for this book because it is very dystopian and dark. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail