Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Pestilence by Laura Thalassa

55 reviews

slavic_bookworm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative sad 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual content, Genocide, Violence, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Terminal illness, Blood, Body horror, and Death

Moderate: Vomit and Child death

mattiedancer's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional fast-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

4.25

Writing: 3.75⭐️/5 

Alright, so the writing is serviceable, and honestly better than I was expecting. That being said, the main character’s internal dialogue often felt a bit contrived – forced to be a bit sassier, a bit quippier than felt natural. However, it wasn’t bad, just a bit contrived at moments. And, on the more positive end, the writing is fast-paced and resonant, letting you absorb the plot quickly and easily. It takes talent to write with such smoothness, and I enjoyed reading it. 

Characters: 4⭐️/5

Again, our main character, Sara, started out feeling like a cookie-cutter “badass” main character. As the novel progressed, though, she started to grow and I thoroughly ended up enjoying reading about her and through her perspective. I liked Pestilence a lot. The mixture of his naivety with his inability to forgive Sara seemed true to him. I enjoyed the slow reveal that he didn’t like his job, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching him slowly become more and more human. 

Plot: 4.25⭐️/5 

Again, I don’t think I was expecting too much from this novel’s plot, and it pushed those expectations so very far. Part of my joy with the plot might be heavily attached to the fact that I didn’t expect too much, but, regardless, I loved it. I was a bit hooked from the start, when Sara explained her and her friend’s half-baked plan to kill Pestilence. And I was extra hooked the moment Pestilence felt fear at her mortal well-being. 

Who Should Read This Book? 

• Fans of ACOTAR and dystopian societies
• Someone looking for a romance with an intriguing plot
• Those who like fantasy/apocalyptic novels that centre on romance
• Readers who like (or don’t mind) a bit of spice, but not just spice.

Content Warnings? 

Death, murder, illness, terminal illness, murder, sexual content, physical abuse, emotional abuse, kidnapping, fire, fire injury, gore, blood, injury, injury detail, gun violence, violence, animal death, torture, grief, body horror, pandemic/epidemic

Post-Reading Rating:  5⭐️/5

Addicted.

Final Rating: 4.25⭐️/5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Death, Gore, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Murder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexism, Violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Terminal illness

Minor: Pregnancy

twinklepuff's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Pandemic/Epidemic, Death, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Body horror

theruemorgue_03's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense 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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Grief, Murder, Rape, Sexual content, Blood, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Kidnapping, and Terminal illness

ruckystarnes's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Body horror, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Pandemic/Epidemic, Terminal illness, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, and Vomit

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Blood, Alcohol, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Cursing, Vomit, and Violence

katbenimble's review

dark tense medium-paced

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

1.25

I do not even know where to begin with this 😂 it was so bad.  The plot holes are big enough for Tricksy to ride through.  The graphic violence was almost too much for me. The MCs are both idiots. The spice started like...75% through the book. The end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, Animal death, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Murder, Torture, Stalking, Medical content, Gore, Death, and Body horror

Moderate: Sexual content

lacrimaeignis's review against another edition

dark hopeful 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

I've always held a certain fascination for the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse so when I heard about this series, I knew I would have to eventually read them (especially when I heard that Death, book 4, is being represented by Thanatos, the name of the greek god of death, whom I've always held an unexplainable but particular fondness for). I wasn't sure what to expect going in but this book definitely wastes no time in throwing you into the Apocalypse. This novel is graphic in detail at times and definitely not for the faint of heart or those who can't stomach violence or gore.

The book brought up many interesting points on the concept of religion/faith and why the Apocalypse was happening. It was very interesting to see Pestilence as a character and how he adapted and changed throughout the novel. The Female Lead, Sara, felt very realistic in how she dealt with what she was going through, especially as a young woman in her 20s.  However she does come across as annoying at times, especially with some of her side comments that serve no purpose and ended up throwing me out of the story, and she fell flat towards the end of the novel. Because of her I almost DNF'd with only 20 pages left (although my interest was waning around page 200).

The book was also very repetitive at times and therefore, very predictable. Many of the chapters/events just felt too similar to each other but because most of the chapters were short, it was easy to get through them.

The only reason I continued the book was because I was so close to the end and also because I do plan on reading the rest of the series. I gave the book 4 stars because I did like the concept and I really liked Pestilence and it also kept me intrigued enough to want to continue the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Animal cruelty, Alcoholism, Genocide, Animal death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Sexual content, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Blood, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

plsnotanotherdamselindistress's review against another edition

emotional

• 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

2.75

This was...something.

The logic, the romance...it sas something. 
Surprisingly this book was not poorly written, but definitely not what I expected and lacking in the plot department. 
Him

murdering masses and children

before her eyes and her slowly falling in love with him while he continues to do that felt -let's call it- *not really relatable*.
I thought this book would be mostly about monster smecks but actually the romance was the main storyline.
Spice: max. 2/5

Only reason this gained 1 star in the rating was because it actually made me cry...surprisingly...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Gore, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic

teddyb80's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Pandemic/Epidemic, Bullying, and Gun violence

itsnotri's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Chronic illness, Genocide, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Kidnapping, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

Please pay attention to the trigger warnings