Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Pestilence by Laura Thalassa

16 reviews

bekahzabel's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

3.85 rounded up to 4 stars! 

This book really got better and better as it went on. A bit of a slow start but wow I couldn’t put it down after 35%! Who knew the four horsemen could be so hot? 

Very modern writing style, 
Slow burn enemies to lovers, almost felt a bit like a bully romance at first. 
Strong character development in both the FMC & MMC. 
Magical realism. 

I will definitely continue on with these, had me giggling and laughing out loud often, swooning over banter, and smiling like a fool into my kindle. There are some triggers in there so please be sure to check those out beforehand. 

Thanks so much to Netgalley and Bloombooks for the ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Gore, Grief, and Confinement

stardust_heidi's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.5

My first time rereading these books. There’s something about Laura’s writing that just sucks me in. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Murder, Grief, Gore, and Genocide

theruemorgue_03's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Grief, Murder, Rape, Sexual content, Blood, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Kidnapping, and Terminal illness

ruckystarnes's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Body horror, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Pandemic/Epidemic, Terminal illness, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, and Vomit

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Blood, Alcohol, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Cursing, Vomit, and Violence

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

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

kat1105's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Child death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Violence, Vomit, Gore, Gun violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcohol, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content

bangiebangs's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Oh this book was something else... 

You get dropped into the story, and the first third of the book is savage - not to spoil, but it's not easy to like either of the characters then. Understand their motivation? Yes. But not like. 

I really enjoyed the setup here, and also the twists that really went against what I was expecting the story to be. Yes, tropes and the ending are as expected, but how we get there was particularly enjoyable here. I also liked the pacing (even if at times it went slower than others), but this worked well for me. 

I've since read the second book and am on the third, and I love that (so far) the journey is always different, and there is some food for thought in there as well (humanity and how we treat each other). 

Slight warning to heed the CNs, because this is brutal at times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Body horror, Child death, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Violence, Torture, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Death

shananicoletaylor's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

TW - because i know this is a massive one for me, just a prewarning that there is a horse in the book that is killed multiple times, BUT always comes back because of ✨religious magic✨

a very quick paced read, exploring some harsh topics in a mystical way. i’m not sure if i’ll continue with the series, just because the whole ‘world is being destroyed’ makes me very emotional, but i really enjoyed seeing the character development in this story 💗 the characters are loveable, stubborn, frustrating, and wholesome. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Murder, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Blood, Animal death, Kidnapping, Death, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief

tiana_king's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

4.0

The circumstances that bring the two main characters together is a bit flimsy but otherwise the plot was good. My biggest gripe is just that the timeline isn’t very clear. Overall a great steamy romance with moral dilemmas, and dashes of the supernatural.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Violence, Gun violence, and Alcohol

Moderate: Cursing and Grief

Minor: Child death, Pregnancy, and Torture

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