Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Pestilence by Laura Thalassa

34 reviews

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Moderate: Cursing and Grief

Minor: Child death, Torture, and Pregnancy

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

xlaurareads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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

4.0

in the beginning, i was completely engulfed in this book; however, i feel after sara tried to kill pestilence there wasn't too much happening anymore, idk? like they went to other people's houses, they kinda fell for each other real slowly but other than that? i think pestilence's character development was real great but also kinda very very late. nevertheless, i loved how one could really feel how i fell for sara and how he feels about her; it was amazing how he cared about her and made sure she's got everything she needs. the ending seemed a bit rushed then, hm. i had high hopes after the amazing start but i can't give it more than 4 stars bc it was just a bit repetitive and the character development seemed just so dragged on and was too long-winded for my liking. but in general i still found the book pretty good and it was one of the best fantasy romance books I've read this year. and I'm all in for "i hate everyone but her". 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexual content, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

ka_ke's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

3.0

As a fan of Laura Thalassa, I was a little let down by Pestilence. I found that there was no plot, but also no spice. The theological perspectives thrown in are enlightening, but it’s not why I read the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail