Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Pestilence by Laura Thalassa

55 reviews

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

tatiannaskye's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

2.75

Ugh I don’t know what to say about this book other than I’m not the biggest fan. Was it worth it to waste my time? Maybe. Will I ever read it again? Hell to the no. Wish I could have gotten more out of it but oh well, it’s done and over with so I’m happy about that at least!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Torture, Murder, Child death, Terminal illness, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Gore, Blood, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

I don’t know what to say other than smut and a whole lot of death

kinsportch's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Gun violence, Violence, Torture, Terminal illness, Murder, Kidnapping, Blood, Genocide, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Vomit and Rape

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

moonshineforest's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore

Moderate: Gun violence, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Blood

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

cocpop_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.25

I am actually quite surprised people don’t like this book so much. 

I absolutely loved the story between Pestilence and Sara. I think you needed the angst and absolute agony in the beginning to truly show the different worlds they came from.

Did I cry? Yes

Did I also love the hell out of both of them? Yes

I think the author did an amazing job at developing both characters and not giving us the HEA so quickly because it wouldn’t have fit with these two.

2/5 on the spicy scale. A couple of scenes but they’re not super explicit or descriptive.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence and Blood

Minor: Gore

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