Very good read! I love the end of times combined with the romance and I've never seen any other book about this topic. So kudos to the author for doing something no one's thought of yet! Pestilence and Sara have very cutesy moments throughout that make me swoon. Plot, storyline and everything is there. Spice I'd give a 2.5/5 🌶🌶. Will definitely be reading the rest of the series and more by this author! ( )

Started out a bit cringey, but it was well worth the read. ( )

So, I was looking forward to this since I heard there was a Four Horsemen-based paranormal romance series coming out, and purchased it once I saw it was available! Dove into this with much enthusiasm (and the opening chapters really suck you in), but then it kind of fell apart for me toward the middle and end. 3 stars because there were things I liked about this book, and things I didn't quite like.

First, loved the cover art. So, so gorgeous. And the prose is beautiful, as well. The author is clearly talented! And again, the opening chapters were wonderful and really drew you in, making you want to read more, more, more. Also, satisfactory ending and typical HEA for a romance novel, so it does end on a good note. And a cliffhanger, to boot (assuming to prep for the next book in the series). I really do love the premise.

After our hero and heroine "meet" (if you could use that word to describe their first encounter), I did feel like the story started to drag. They pretty much just did the same thing over and over (won't go into that because spoilers), and the sequence of events began to get repetitive. But I think the biggest thing I had a problem with was...I didn't buy into the budding romance and declarations of forever love that followed, as much as I wanted to. I also didn't get why the Horseman let her live and was so enraptured with our heroine, other than she was hot. And his transition from cool, calculated harbinger of the apocalypse to almost a puppy who would do anything for a hot girl just seemed...forced and too fairytale-like for my liking. The change in him and some parts of his personality seemed unbelievable, for someone who had been doing this for centuries. The romance seemed primarily based on lust, and not deep love, if that makes sense.

I love myself a good love story and romance, and I so wished this would be what I was looking for. But perhaps my idea of a good love story is different than others', given the copious amounts of positive reviews. I want to find myself really rooting for the couple to overcome all odds and find a way to be together, and I just didn't get that feeling here (mostly because I felt like I already knew what was going to happen).

It was still a fun read, nonetheless, but I'm undecided if I'll read the next book. Will see when it comes out! ( )

This is my first dive into Laura Thalassa’s Four Horsemen series, and I had a blast reading this book! It was funny, heartbreaking, and romantic all at the same time.

You would think a story taking place during the apocalypse wouldn’t be funny, but Sara’s inner monologue and Pestilence learning about what it means to be human was hilarious at times. However, it was heart breaking at others. I don’t want to spoil anything, but I shed quite a few tears at times. Pestilence was also swoon worthy! Sara may have recited some of her favorite poems from Shakespeare and Edgar Allen Poe, but I needed a fan when Pestilence starting waxing on poetically about her and his feelings!

If you enjoy post-apocalyptic fiction and romance, this is a good mix of both!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Bloom Books, for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. ( )

The four Horsemen have arrived on earth, Pestilence, War, Famine and Death, harbingers of the Apocalypse. The entire world held its breath... and then they disappeared.

Pestilence is the first one to resurface again after several years, bringing with him the Fever, a plague, through every city and village he rides.
Sara, a firefighter, stays behind when her town evacuates for a crucial (and suicidal) mission to save all her loved ones... and well, the rest of the world: to kill the Horseman.

That unfortunately isn’t as easy as it seems though since apparently he can’t be killed and Sara is taken prisoner. Instead of succumbing to the plague, he keeps her alive. To suffer and to accompany him while he brings death to the world.

My take on the book:

This book has it all. It had me laughing, face palming, cursing and crying, it was a superb read, nothing much I can add to that to be honest. It's been a long time since I read a romance of this caliber.

Taking place in the current yet slightly post-Apocalyptic world, the author excellently describes how we as humans go back to an age where electricity is a rare commodity and metropolitan cities turn to empty carcasses.

Character development is great, we get to feel Sara's terror, resignation and pretty much the whole range of emotions. While we don’t get to know much about her history, I don’t feel that it’s really needed for this story. We get to experience humanity in all its glory (or severe lack of) from Pestilence's perspective. It feels like we grow with our characters. Oh and if you don’t cry when you meet the elderly couple then you have no heart!

I feel that everything I write in this review is insignificant, not able to express what this book did and still does to me.
And yes, I'm well aware that it's 'just' a book, a romance at that, and as such for many people not worth feeling so strongly about. But the way you experience the emotions in this book, the way the author takes you by the hand and makes you feel, it even now brings tears to my eyes.

This book highlights 3 things: it reflects upon humanity. If there would be a real Apocalypse right now, we would be so screwed... We are killing the planet (and each other), we are disconnected from our world (and each other) and yes... even I am guilty of this (well... not killing anyone, unless you count ingame?).
Sometimes I don’t know if we would deserve mercy.
And last but not least, as sappy as it sounds... the power of love. What would you do for the man or woman you love?
Maybe (most probably) this is aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallll me taking this story too far, but yeah, it moved me.

This is the first part of the series, while the story for Pestilence and Sara has drawn to a close, I secretly hope we get to see them in the other stories as well. Bring on War! ( )