A review by katie_lacour
Pestilence by Laura Thalassa

4.0

As someone who grew up in the age of book dystopians and apocalypses (Hunger Games, Fifth Wave, etc.), I loved how this adult book takes on a new concept of the apocalypse with the four horsemen mentioned in the Bible: Pestilence, War, Famine, and Death. This author combines a little of everything I love: fantasy, romance, adventure, spice, character development, and she manages to do it with a very original concept- this cannot be underrated, as in today’s day and age I believe it is so hard to not inadvertently contain the elements similar to other books. The world-building for the series is well-written, it is easy to follow, interesting, and not overly detailed. It includes some of my favorite tropes, such as enemies to lovers and forced proximity. My biggest frustration with this book was that the back and forth between the heroine and the love interest was at times repetitive, although I understand the author trying to show the moral conflict. The torture was a bit graphic, which made it somewhat hard for me to envision the love interest as redeemable to the heroine. I also felt as though the ending was somewhat poorly thought out. While it makes sense for Pestilence to give up his mission for the heroine, I find it difficult to believe that he is able to “retire” with no consequences. With the media coverage of Pestilence, it seems unlikely that he would be able to live a normal life without confronting people who not only realized who he was but who would want justice or revenge for the death of their loved ones. Although this series will be leaving KU soon, you should make a point to read it regardless! Content warnings include kidnapping, torture, death, pandemic, sexual content, and fire-related death.
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