Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Pestilence by Laura Thalassa

68 reviews

elektriche's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad medium-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

5.0

The book was wonderful but flawed. Pestilence is my favorite horseman, and Sara is my favorite Laura Thalassa character. I didn't like the lack of diversity, it's difficult for me to imagine a book with LESS diversity. There is not a single black or brown person shown on-page. No disability rep, no diversity of almost any kind. The author uses a line like... "I was not a small girl" in reference to Sara's body. It's almost immediately walked back and it almost seemed like a typo/consistency error. I adored Pestilence, but this book has heavy religious themes and has an unfriendly to queer people vibe. 
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becxreadz's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-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

Liked
*Enemies to lovers
*Slow burn romance
*The banter between the two
*Watching Pestilience learn to understand humanity

Disliked
*Could have used more sex
*Sometimes it got a bit repetitive
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mybookishdelights's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

4.25

Heat Level: High
multiple graphic sex scenes, kissing


I don't know what I was thinking picking up a book called Pestilence and it not even entering my head that it might be sad. Good grief. I don't like apocalyptic books for a reason. A lot of my personal anxiety stems from this type of content and, unfortunately, this didn't have a great effect on me after reading. However, I don't regret reading it, if that makes sense.

This is a series of books that follows each of the four Horsemen and it's set up like a contemporary romance series where each book follows a different couple. The overarching story between the four is that the end of the world is here, etc. Since I'm not a fan of these types of plots I'm not going to really comment on it other than the fact that this book made me cry several times, which is rude. 

The characters were good. The book is told in first person present tense, which took some getting used to. It was very graphic for the unpleasantness and I've listed some content warnings. This book was written in 2018 and has a different feeling to it with a topic like pestilence and what's going on in our world today. It hit a little too close to home. I'm not sure that I will be able to continue the series, but that is definitely a me thing. 

The romance was good. The steamy scenes were steamy. There were a few parts where I felt like things could have been better explained, but for the most part I enjoyed the tension and the angst. Even though this didn't blow my mind, I see it being a book that I won't forget anytime soon and I would recommend to anyone who can handle the content.

CAWPILE Score: 7.86 = 4.25 stars
Characters: 8
Atmosphere: 9
Writing:  8
Plot: 7
Intrigue: 8
Logic: 7
Enjoyment: 8 
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kat0790's review against another edition

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

3.0

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saharamars's review against another edition

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tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

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emilyclairemcauley's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective medium-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

4.0

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books_bunny's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional slow-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

4.0

This book surprised me, whilst I went in relatively blind and expecting an average read I found myself really enjoying this book. Some of the themes were a lot darker than I expected and, whilst I really enjoyed how the author wrote them, I can see why some people would not. If you are sensitive to certain themes I would recommend checking the content warnings beforehand.
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jasirepe's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny reflective 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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