Reviews tagging 'Genocide'

Pestilence by Laura Thalassa

28 reviews

psydneigh's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I did not like this one. Sara is in the same “i cant love him, but i do” mindset for 98% of the book. There was no real growth, it just changes in the end.

I think it would’ve been better if Pestilence had spared Rob and Ruth. Then at least his actions seem to be changing and killing all of California would be more impactful

 
I also just couldn’t really get behind falling in love with a man responsible for genocide and who tortured you horrifically. I’ve read dark romances, but Pestilence did not have good enough redeeming qualities in my opinion.
Side Note: I don’t know if this was intentionally (probably not) but when the God discussion came up, Pestilence says that God is genderless and she goes with ‘it’ and then later calls God ‘he’ again? Sounds like God has they/them pronouns to me and it irked me a bit that they weren’t used.
Overall, meh read but will not be continuing the series.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Torture, Kidnapping, and Fire/Fire injury

parfwen's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, and Alcohol

Minor: Body horror

elenamarmiroli's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

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

3.5

Questo libro contiene al suo interno una d'amore, enemies to lover e mediamente dark, tra Pestilence, uno dei cavalieri dell'apocalisse, e la nostra protagonista Sara, un'umile umana, che nella speranza di salvare l'umanità, decide di rischiare la sua vita per uccidere questa creatura che sta annientando intere città. 
Purtroppo i suoi piani sono destinati a fallire, siccome, anche se lei ne è ignara, Pestilence è immortale. Ciò però non la salva dall'ira di quest'ultimo che decide di fare di lei un esempio e tenerla come sua prigioniera.

Nel corso del romanzo, i due protagonisti cominciano pian piano ad appagare le loro differenze, però rimane un problema non da poco: Pestilenze sta ancora causando la morte di milioni di persone e costringe, direttamente o indirettamente, la protagonista ad assistere alla morte dei suoi simili.

Sara è quindi ad affrontare un dilemma: è giusto per lei provare dei sentimenti per questa creatura, quando lui sta decimando la razza umana e non ha intenzione di smettere? 

Come potete intuire anche voi questa premessa può dare luogo a un romanzo d'amore interessante e innovativo, in quanto non ho mai sentito di un libro che avesse come interesse amoroso uno dei cavalieri dell'apocalisse. E lo sviluppo di quest'idea non è male: essa è infatti riuscita a coinvolgermi abbastanza emotivamente, soprattutto nella parte, tanto che sono anche arrivata a piangere in un determinato passaggio.
Dove essa mi ha perso un po' è stata nella seconda metà, in quanto certe scene cominciavano a diventare ripetitive (dovete immaginare che passano la maggior parte del romanzo in groppa al destriero di lui a portare una malattia simile alla peste nel mondo), e la fine, dove il conflitto e la risoluzione sono affrettati nell'ultimo 10% e parte della risoluzione avviene troppo off page per i mie gusti.

Per quanto riguarda l'epilogo c'è un piccolo cliffhanger per il prossimo volume, ma nulla di grave.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, and Violence

c_dmckinney's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

zabeishumanish's review against another edition

dark inspiring slow-paced

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

4.5

Incredibly unique romance. I never really felt like we got to see enough of Pestilence’s emotions. The strength of Sara’s emotions still made for an incredibly compelling narrative. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

politewriter's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective tense slow-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

3.0

I really enjoyed the analysis and reflection done by the main character regarding the morality of the situation. It's a really interesting grey area that often isn't explored well. Unfortunately, both main characters were too emotionally constipated to do it any justice. However, that's very obviously not the book's goal. Considering the genre, morality arguements were handled very well. Did not like the main character, though. She was incapable of articulating her feelings and didn't have the capacity to argue her view point at all. Made a lot of the interactions between her and Male Lead grating.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Terminal illness, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Death, and Murder

Minor: Pregnancy and Alcohol

parttime_heroine's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense 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

5.0

I can see why this book isn't for everyone, but I personally loved it - especially the character development!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Sexual content, Violence, Kidnapping, and War

Moderate: Toxic relationship

books_bunny's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional slow-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

This book surprised me, whilst I went in relatively blind and expecting an average read I found myself really enjoying this book. Some of the themes were a lot darker than I expected and, whilst I really enjoyed how the author wrote them, I can see why some people would not. If you are sensitive to certain themes I would recommend checking the content warnings beforehand.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child death, Toxic relationship, Blood, Kidnapping, and Grief

Minor: Confinement, Vomit, and Medical content