Reviews with content warning for Blood - Pestilence

Solid 4 from me. This book isn't breaking any major philosophy ideas but when taken at face value, it is a delicious story about a young filthy mouthed woman and her horseman. Check your warnings, know what you're getting into. The ending felt a bit brief but getting there was delightful.

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madoav's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.5

so this book took a little while for me to get into. The beginnings of Sara and Pestilence’s relationship was…something, to say the least. I just find it very unbelievable that any kind of meaningful relationship could happen after what Pestilence put her through. Still, if I didn’t think about that part too much, the rest of the book rapidly improved. It was well written, and I enjoyed the character development, especially as their relationship progressed. It has a happy ending, for the most part! This book is basically the mascot of “I can fix him” and I enjoyed most of it. I’m pretty interested in starting the next book!

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wait_whoissheagain's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

3.5

This book was really easy to read. The chapters are short which kept the story moving at a good pace, and held my attention. I was very engaged in this story, reading it in a total of 4 hours!

Despite this, I’m not entirely sure how I feel about the plot. The premise of the story is interesting, and I was intrigued to read a fantasy book that takes place in the “real world”, but I feel like this book’s plot was lacking. We had the hero, but there was no real villain to fight. If we consider Pestilence the villain, then the FMC didn’t do much fighting at all. I’m hoping that the plot intensifies throughout the remainder of the series.

Another aspect of the book that I’m still trying to process, is the FMC’s internal struggle with her feelings for Pestilence. The horseman put Sara through A LOT (no spoilers, but Chapter 18 had me in tears) and she seems to get over these things pretty quickly because “it’s hard to be mad at something that’s so pretty” and because he made a sandwich. I feel like this is a stark contrast to her beliefs at the beginning of the book. It wasn’t until the last few chapters, when Pestilence’s character started developing, that I began to accept this change. Once again, I’m hoping their relationship will be explored and expanded upon in the next book. I would love to see more of Pestilence’s character development.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book, and look forward to continuing the series. I am intrigued to see the role that the other horsemen will play in this world.

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