Review: ‘Pestilence’ by Laura Thalassa
Pestilence
by Laura ThalassaSeries: The Four Horsemen #1
Published by Self-Published on September 14, 2018
SubGenres: Fantasy Romance, Paranormal Romance
Format: AudioBook, Paperback
Pages: 381
Narrator: Susannah Jones
Length: 11 Hours And 22 Minutes
Source: Purchased
Audience: 18+/Adult
Add to Goodreads
Purchase at Amazon | Barnes & Noble
They came to earth—Pestilence, War, Famine, Death—four horsemen riding their screaming steeds, racing to the corners of the world. Four horsemen with the power to destroy all of humanity. They came to earth, and they came to end us all.
When Pestilence comes for Sara Burn’s town, one thing is certain: everyone she knows and loves is marked for death. Unless, of course, the angelic-looking horseman is stopped, which is exactly what Sara has in mind when she shoots the unholy beast off his steed.
Too bad no one told her Pestilence can’t be killed.
Now the horseman, very much alive and very pissed off, has taken her prisoner, and he’s eager to make her suffer. Only, the longer she’s with him, the more uncertain she is about his true feelings towards her … and hers towards him.
And now, well, Sara might still be able to save the world, but in order to do so, she'll have to sacrifice her heart in the process.
I’ve only read one other book by Laura Thalassa. I had been meaning to read her The Four Horsemen series for a while, so I finally made time to read the first book in the series, Pestilence, thanks to the Romanceopoly Challenge. The original covers of these books grabbed my attention, as did the fact that the series is based on the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. I’ve always enjoyed reading dystopian novels that feature the four horsemen, even though they sometimes can cause havoc and death along the way, which is what Pestilence did in this book.
If you are expecting a hero in this book, then you are going to be disappointed because Pestilence is anything but a hero. He kills people with sickness without any remorse and doesn’t even care that humans are trying to kill him because he’s immortal and can’t die anyway. The FMC, Sara, doesn’t want her or her family and friends to die and does the only thing possible and tries to kill Pestilence. Unfortunately, she finds out the hard way that he’s not easy to kill, and she’ll be held captive by Pestilence for most of the book because he wants her to suffer for a bit. Most of the book is about them constantly traveling and Pestilence killing people with disease and the humans begging him to have mercy on them. Pestilence won’t, of course, because he’s an immortal being and isn’t a human with feelings. He was sent on a mission to exterminate the humans, and that is what he’s doing until he meets Sara and starts to question things with her.
If you are expecting this book to be a cute romance, then you’ll be disappointed because Laura Thalassa definitely made this an actual enemies-to-lovers/hate-to-love storyline. There is a lot of death, too, because, once again, the MMC has no emotions and is on a mission to clear the world of humans who don’t realize what they have done to themselves and Earth. You’ll probably even dislike the MMC for most of the book, but you’ll love the heroine who is a fierce, strong character and tries to stick up to the horseman with no avail because he’s stronger and deadlier. I adored how she tried, and she even tried to save the others that Pestilence was killing. She witnessed a lot of death, and I felt for her character. In the end, though, she ends up caring for the horseman because she starts to learn more about him and that he has no control over what he does.
This book is not for the faint of heart, that’s for sure. There are emotional and difficult moments to read, especially with who Pestilence ends up killing in this book. I enjoyed the first book but had some issues with it, and most of it was due to the ending and how rushed it felt, especially when Pestilence did a 360. It also had a lot of repetition when it came to the parts where Pestilence and Sara were traveling and staying at houses, where deaths were happening. I felt like I was reading the same thing over and over again, just with different people dying. I wish there would have been more to the storyline other than the deaths. Other than that, it was an okay book, and I give it 3.5 stars, and I definitely plan on reading War’s book next. I’m hoping Laura touches on whether Pestilence ended up suffering or losing something in the end with the choice he made because there is no way he does a 360, and there are no repercussions in the end.
Would I recommend this book? Yes. If you enjoy reading Paranormal Romances, which is a dystopian and an actual Enemies to Lovers storyline, then read this book.
Trope(s)/Element(s):
✓Dystopian Romance
✓Enemies to Lovers/Hate to Love
✓Capture/Captive Romance
✓Forced Proximity
✓I was Sent to ☠️ You
✓Slow Burn
This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I will receive a small commission from the sale. It will help sponsor future giveaways but costs you nothing extra. You can read the full disclosure underneath the Privacy Policy.
About Laura Thalassa
Found in the forest when she was young, Laura Thalassa was raised by fairies, kidnapped by werewolves, and given over to vampires as repayment for a hundred year debt. She’s been brought back to life twice, and, with a single kiss, she woke her true love from eternal sleep. She now lives happily ever after with her undead prince in a castle in the woods.
… or something like that anyway.
When not writing, Laura can be found scarfing down guacamole, hoarding chocolate for the apocalypse, or curled up on the couch with a good book.
Related Posts
My obsession with reading started over 30+ years ago when I went to my first Scholastic Book Fair and found R.L. Stine's Fear Street series. Later, I came across Anne Rice's novels at my public library when I was fourteen when my obsession with vampires started. I was the girl who preferred to be a vampire over a princess any day. My husband says I would leave him a heartbeat for a vampire that looked like Spike or Angel (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) or Damon Salvatore from The Vampire Diaries. (It's true, though, and he's accepted it.)
- ARC Review: ‘Broken Butterfly’ by Jennilynn Wyer - May 15, 2025
- Book Blitz + Giveaway: ‘Same Place Same Stars’ by Katey Taylor - May 13, 2025
- ARC Review: ‘Beautiful Mess’ by A. James - May 12, 2025