Pestilence (The Four Horsemen #1) by Laura Thalassa

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Title: Pestilence (The Four Horsemen, #1)
Series: The Four Horsemen, #1
Release Date: September 14, 2018
Format: Kindle Book
Pages: 383
Genres: Religious, Romance, Post-Apocalyptic, New Adult
Reading Challenges: CC's Goodreads Reading Challenge
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon
My rating:

Blurb:

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.

My Review:

Favorite Quotes:

The horsemen rode to the four corners of the world, and in their wake machines broke, fuses blew. The Internet crashed and computers died. Engines failed and planes fell from the sky. Bit by bit, all the world’s great innovations ceased to be, and the globe slid into darkness.

This is what Pestilence misses in his quest to kill us off. That right alongside the worst of human nature is the best of it.

The tent flaps open behind me, and the horseman comes striding out. His mouth is set in a grim line, and his eyes are sad when they meet mine. The monster that is my horseman is a lonely, melancholy being.

“Ruth,” a thin, raspy voice calls from another room in the house, “who’s at the door?” Did he miss the part where we broke into their home? Ruth’s gaze stays on Pestilence for a long time, moving from his bow and quiver to his crown, before settling on his face. “I believe it’s one of the Four Horsemen, dear.” Her eyes flick to me. “And he’s brought with him a lady friend.”

“You’re going to be okay. You walk in His light,” Ruth says like the straight baller she is. I mean, holy shit, this woman is on her deathbed and she’s comforting the dude that put her there. If that’s not savage, I don’t know what is.

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There are no adequate words to describe how incredibly moved I was by the love that blossomed between these two in this book.  I just don’t think I can articulate it.

Pestilence was…..horrid.  He was uncaring and tragically damaged.  And yet, I wanted to pick up all his broken pieces and just bask in his struggle.  And I did.  I loved every minute of this book.  This one may top my all time favorite book list and push Anyta Sunday from her spot.

And if that wasn’t enough to have such a great male lead, the author had to go and write a beautifully well rounded and deep female lead as well. Sara Burns is everything I want to be during an apocalypse.  She’s a badass firefighter, doesn’t think twice about martyring herself for the greater good, and is willing to murder a stranger (and subsequently go to hell)  in order to save her world filled with strangers who may or may not deserve it.  And during all this, she still refuses to lose hope. Hope is the fire burning inside her when every other feelings has died.  Her struggle with her feelings about Pestilence, hating what he is doing yet not hating him, was so wonderful to read.

The side characters they meet on the way are both disturbing and loveable, showing both extremes of humanity and creating a great frame of reference to relate to.  The ending was wonderful in the love story aspect but a bit of a let down in the apocalyptic aspect.   Either way, I immediately went and TBR’d War and got The Queen of All That Dies since I have KU.