I received this book via Amazon. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review.
War by Laura Thalassa Series: The Four Horsemen #2
Published by Lavabrook Publishing Group on 2019-07-11
Length: 427 pages
Reviewing Kindle from Amazon
Rating:
Reading Challenges: 2019 Finishing the Series Challenge, 2019 New Release Challenge
They came to earth—Pestilence, War, Famine, Death—four horsemen riding their screaming steeds, racing to the corners of the world. Four horsemen with the power to destroy all of humanity. They came to earth, and they came to end us all.
The day Jerusalem falls, Miriam Elmahdy knows her life is over. Houses are burning, the streets run red with blood, and a traitorous army is massacring every last resident. There is no surviving this, especially not once Miriam catches the eye of War himself. But when the massive and terrifying horseman corners Miriam, he calls her his wife, and instead of killing her, he takes her back to his camp.
Now Miriam faces a terrifying future, one where she watches her world burn town by town, and the one man responsible for it all is her seemingly indestructible “husband”. But there’s another side to him, one that’s gentle and loving and dead set on winning her over, and she might not be strong enough to resist.
However, if there’s one thing Miriam has learned, it’s that love and war cannot coexist. And so she must make the ultimate choice: surrender to War and watch humankind fall, or sacrifice everything and stop him.
It’s time for the second horseman of the apocalypse in Laura Thalassa‘s War. Y’all it doesn’t disappoint! When I picked up the book, I was not hesitant like I was with Pestilence. I went in with the attitude of I’m going to devour this book and I did 😉 It is year 13 of the horsemen when the story opens and War is descending on Jerusalem.
Miriam Elmahdy’s Guide to Staying the Fuck Alive:
- Bend the rules—but don’t break them.
- Stick to the truth.
- Avoid notice.
- Listen to your instincts.
- Be brave.
Miriam is my hero! She is everything I could hope to be during an apocalypse. Her rules for herself say it all. When she encounters War, she knows she can’t win, but she doesn’t give up. She’s brave and faces him head on, which of course gets her noticed by the horseman. As her world unravels and remakes itself, she begins to question everything she’s ever known. This is a woman who lost everything: her family, her home, her own safety. And yet she finds herself in a situation to possibly change it all.
War is not his brother. Pestilence grew on me. He didn’t understand humans and had no empathy for them until he met Sara. However War is made of human emotions. He was created on the basis of human fighting. He understands the motives behind war, the highs of living through a fight, the longing of missing those you love, the waiting on the battlefield. War thrives on it. When he encounters Miriam, he claims her as his wife and spares her. Not at all what you might expect of this monster of a man.
The plot revolves around War’s conquest, his mission to judge human hearts and deliver them to whatever comes after. Like Pestilence, the plot and romance are slow moving, but as you read it doesn’t feel like it at all. I was engrossed in the story. It felt as if I was living it with Miriam. And the romance….it’s a hate to love. Miriam hates herself for falling for the guy, and he is utterly devoted to her from day one. His conquest though and the fact he is remorseless are hard to overlook. He is not human, and it shows. But trust me when I say you’ll fall for him as hard as I did.
“For your soft heart.”
Overall I loved War. I may even love him more than Pestilence. His character transformation and Miriam’s struggle to admit her feelings will tug at your heart-strings. I highly recommend this book to anyone that enjoy post-apocalyptic settings, paranormal romance, and urban fantasy.
About Laura Thalassa
Found in the forest when she was young, Laura Thalassa was raised by fairies, kidnapped by werewolves, and given over to vampires as repayment for a hundred year debt. She’s been brought back to life twice, and, with a single kiss, she woke her true love from eternal sleep. She now lives happily ever after with her undead prince in a castle in the woods.
… or something like that anyway.
When not writing, Laura can be found scarfing down guacamole, hoarding chocolate for the apocalypse, or curled up on the couch with a good book.
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