Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Pestilence by Laura Thalassa

19 reviews

booksalacarte's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

2.5⭐️ 3🌶️ (spice)

I don’t know what I was expecting from this book. Spicy Booktok raved about it and I suggested it to my best friend, kelly as a buddy read, almost as a joke because it looked super steamy. 

Pestilence was a slow burn romance and had more religious content than I was expecting, even though it’s literally based on the Bible’s four horsemen of the Apocalypse. I found the spiritual parts to be very sweet and inspiring, even though I was caught off guard seeing them in this very solidly categorized romance novel. 

The plot was difficult mainly because this was a 100% character driven story. There is a lot going on with the MC’s, but they aren’t doing too much. The traveling and troubles they run into get a little repetitive. But I understand the nature of why it had to be that way. 

The end was a little dissatisfying, with a time jump before a cliffhanger that didn’t give a clue to what the next book would entail. So the series overarching plot is a little ambiguous. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Kidnapping, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Gun violence, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Alcohol, Torture, Cursing, Vomit, and Confinement

tiana_king's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-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

4.0

The circumstances that bring the two main characters together is a bit flimsy but otherwise the plot was good. My biggest gripe is just that the timeline isn’t very clear. Overall a great steamy romance with moral dilemmas, and dashes of the supernatural.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Violence, Gun violence, and Alcohol

Moderate: Cursing and Grief

Minor: Child death, Pregnancy, and Torture

cinderrunner's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I have a lot of conflicting emotions about this book. I am not a fan of "dark" romances typically and don't see the appeal of fictional relationships that are founded on toxicity/abuse. I didn't realize just how dark this novel was before i picked it up. The relationship between Sara and Pestilence is very abusive, toxic, and violent; all of which  was incredibly off putting and made it difficult to get into the love aspects of the story. However, the world in which the novel was crafted and the plot surrounding the relationship made me enjoy it to the point where I would have given the book 5 stars if it weren't for the awful relationship dynamics. The author created a brilliant landscape for a world sliding deeper into dystopia. She also did an incredible job capturing the moral complexity of humanity and of our ideals around right or wrong. The book was surprisingly poignant and tugged tight on my heartstrings. The violence and cruelty of the romance didn't feel pointless and the author made Pestilence's grasp of what humanity really means grow in a way that I was able to feel for him and Sara. I was worried the topic of religion would be overbearing given that the plot revolves around the four horsemen of the apocalypse, but it is handled with tact and in such a neutral way that I think an open minded reader of pretty much any background would be okay with it. But please check trigger warnings for this book because it is very dystopian and dark. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Grief, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Torture, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Gaslighting, Rape, Death, Kidnapping, Misogyny, and Murder

cluckieduck's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

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

2.0

An interesting premise, but I found most of it to just be sorta…meh. The world building, the writing, the “romance” - it just lacked the substance that allows me to fully invest in what I’m reading, though I did think Pestilence was an intriguing lead. I found myself wondering, like Sara did, how can one fall for him? Is it his naivety? He did make quite a funny nursemaid. 

The sex scenes were rough (and not in a good way) - poor Sara’s vag deserves a break from all the furious pounding. Much like the rest of the story, it’s overly repetitive and not written well. A very underwhelming read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, Vomit, Sexual content, and Torture

Minor: Rape

ka_ke's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

3.0

As a fan of Laura Thalassa, I was a little let down by Pestilence. I found that there was no plot, but also no spice. The theological perspectives thrown in are enlightening, but it’s not why I read the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Emotional abuse, Grief, Blood, Body horror, Death, Cursing, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Murder, and Sexual content

admunro20's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, and Gun violence

Moderate: Torture, Violence, Gore, Blood, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Death, and Cursing

c_dmckinney's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, War, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Torture, Violence, Classism, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Genocide

zabeishumanish's review against another edition

dark inspiring slow-paced

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

4.5

Incredibly unique romance. I never really felt like we got to see enough of Pestilence’s emotions. The strength of Sara’s emotions still made for an incredibly compelling narrative. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual content, and Violence

sam019's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring 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

5.0

I'm surprised by how much I liked this book. What an amazing and unique story. I love the adventure, the distopian future and the ever growing relationship between Sara and Pestilence. I can't even think of anything I didn't like about this book!  It was so good and I'm so excited for the rest of the books! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, and Kidnapping