Reviews with content warning for Gore - Pestilence

Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Pestilence by Laura Thalassa

36 reviews

katbenimble's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

1.25

I do not even know where to begin with this 😂 it was so bad. The plot holes are big enough for Tricksy to ride through. The graphic violence was almost too much for me. The MCs are both idiots. The spice started like...75% through the book. The end.

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lacrimaeignis's review against another edition

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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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plsnotanotherdamselindistress's review

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emotional

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

2.75

This was...something.

The logic, the romance...it sas something.
Surprisingly this book was not poorly written, but definitely not what I expected and lacking in the plot department.
Him

Spoiler

murdering masses and children

before her eyes and her slowly falling in love with him while he continues to do that felt -let's call it- *not really relatable*.
I thought this book would be mostly about monster smecks but actually the romance was the main storyline.
Spice: max. 2/5

Only reason this gained 1 star in the rating was because it actually made me cry...surprisingly...

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itsnotri's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-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

4.5

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kat1105's review against another edition

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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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anollylollymolly's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny reflective sad 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? Yes

3.25

This was a fun book! I enjoyed it more than I anticipated and will definitely read the next book in the series.

In this story, we follow Sara Burns- a young Canadian firefighter, who literally draws the short end of the stick and is tasked with killing Pestilence, a horseman of the apocalypse who’s actively spreading plague through the world. When killing Pestilence doesn’t go according to plan, Sara winds up his prisoner and is thus subjected to suffer as she joins him on his journey.

I wasn’t expecting this book to be as deep, dark, or sad as it was. It was a pleasant surprise. On the surface, this book is just a fun and imaginative romance, but it also has interesting commentary about humanity and how love can both bring out the best and the worst of us.

I did enjoy the story, but occasionally found the writing to be lacking, which is why I rated this book 3.25 ⭐️s.

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ellalife's review against another edition

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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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bookedupchick's review

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

3.5

“When you ignore me, I burn with restlessness; it feels as though the sun has turned its back on the world. And when you smile at me—when you gaze at me like you can see my soul—I feel … I feel like I am lit on fire, like you have been called by God to raze my world.” 🖤🖤🖤

Sara is a firefighter who drew the short straw and was sent on a mission — to kill the horseman. Pestilence is an immortal horseman sent by god to infect the human race with the plague. When their worlds collide and turn upside down, what they thought was their purpose completely changes…🤴🐎

I thought it was interesting, but I was enamored by it. The spice was okay, but not really what I was thinking. 🤷🏼‍♀️

🦠 Post Apocalyptic
⚔️ Enemies To Lovers
💀 “I was sent to kill you” Vibes
🌹 Beauty & the Beast Vibes
👥 Forced Proximity
🔮 Romantasy

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5
🌶️🌶️/5

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lisersaurus's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

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sarrie's review

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dark funny sad tense fast-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? Yes

3.0

Pestilence by Laura Thalassa is everywhere if you spend a lot of time on the Fantasy Romance part of the bookish internet - or it was at one point and now it has just seeped into the collective consciousness there. It’s getting it’s traditional release this year and I grabbed a copy to try out (both an eArc and the physical edition at my local Barnes & Noble). And I can’t quite get my head around it.

The premise is simple enough. The four Horseman arrived on Earth some years ago, announcing our demise, then disappeared. The first of the Horseman has awoken, and it’s Pestilence who is slowly riding around the world and sickening and destroying the populace. Sara Burns (a hilarious name considering she’s a firefighter) takes it upon herself to attempt to kill Pestilence. Then ends up paying the price.

So here is where my first BIG problem with this comes. Sara does indeed manage to kill him, burns him to death in fact and when he gets back up (he’s a Horseman of the Apocalypse, of course you can’t kill him) he’s very angry. In an interesting twist, he can feel all the pain and agony of death and all that it does to his body but he never truly dies. So he decides to keep her captive and punish her. From there he does many things to her. Shoots her, drags her by the wrists behind his horse, verbally abuses her, etc. As this is a romance eventually he comes around and she ‘brings out his humanity and gives him hope’ - the usual. But the things he does prior to this, it’s a LOT.

There is also the weirdly added chunk of travel in which Sara constantly tends to those who are dying from his plague he spreads just by being somewhere. We read about these people dying, including small children, and his simple refusal to do anything. If the ultimate end game was for us to like Pestilence it didn’t happen for me. The man or whatever he is because at one point he tells her he’s is just what his name says - a walking cloud of disease? Is simply not appealing. It missed me. No thank you.

And yet I finished it. I cannot tell you why. I don’t think I recommend this one, but the writing just kept me going and I am just so convinced there has to be something more in the later books. I want the twist to be that these men are not what they seem. Or they are but in a way that makes sense for them to feel the pain they do?

I genuinely don’t know who I’d recommend this too. It’s not romantic, it’s sad then funny then so melodramatic. It has the Happily Ever After all romances do. She ends up sleeping with the personification of a cloud of disease and it’s implied they have children by the end when War appears - but I also can’t tell you I’m not going to read the next one.

If you do pick it up… just don’t think to hard about it. Like the boils his plague leaves behind it’s peppered with red flags and holes but it was fun and bingeable.

2 warm baths with a disease cloud watching you (and yes. that line felt like kink shaming in the book)

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