Ana da Silva always assumed she’d die young, she just never expected it to be at the hands of Famine, the haunting immortal who once spared her life so many years ago. But if the horseman remembers her at all, he must not care, for when he comes face to face with him for the second time in her life, she’s stabbed and left for dead. Only, she doesn’t quite die. If there’s one thing Famine is good at, it’s cruelty. And how these blighted bastards deserve it. Try as he might, he can’t forget what they once did to him. But when Ana, a ghost from his past, corners him and promises pain for what he so recently did to her, she and her empty threats captivate him, and he decides to keep her around. In spite of themselves, Ana and Famine are drawn to each other. But at the end of the day, the two are enemies. Nothing changes that. Not one kind act, not two. And definitely not a few steamy nights. But enemies or reluctant lovers, if they don’t stop themselves soon, heaven will.
Review:
“His hair is the color of melted caramel, his sun-kissed skin only a shade or two lighter. There’s this sharp, chiseled line of his jaw, the high brow and cheekbones, and the haughty curve of his lips. Most striking of all are those moss green eyes of his. Devilish. His shoulders are broad, and that bronze armor, embossed with spiraling floral designs, fits snugly against his powerful, sculpted physique. Up close, his beauty is a shock to my system.”
When I first started reading the third book, I was not a fan of Famine. Famine as a character was such a jack-ass. I was struggling to see why anyone would like him. I guess that was the whole point. He is supposed to be this monster that was impossible to love. But he swiftly became a lovable jack-ass that curled his vines around my heart. There is lots of violence in this book as well. Lots of violence and torture. Well, all of the books are that way but I feel War and Famine had the bulk of it. It was very difficult to read all of the horrific things that happened to Famine. It is hard to not understand why he is so spiteful and loves killing to be honest.
I thoroughly enjoyed Ana. She had been beat down over and over again but she kept getting back up. She was such a fighter and admired that so much. It was also difficult but important to read about all the atrocities men have inflicted upon Ana, especially as a sex worker. However, despite all of that, she once again refused to stop fighting.
I also absolutely loved the banter between Famine and Ana. This book has to be the most humorous out of all the books. I loved the connection that formed between the pair. They both have had the most horrific things happen to them by the hands of men and that bonded them. But also the kindness and compassion they showed to each other.
I also really enjoyed that Famine was willing to give up his purpose not for humanity, who he still deemed unfit, but simply for Ana and being able to live and grow old with her. That was so special.
I genuinely was pissed off at Death at the end of this book. I was NOT looking forward to his book with how he acted at the end of book three.
Quotes:
"I feel...everything," he finally says. "Every blade of grass, every drop of rain, every centimeter of sunbaked clay. I am the storm that rolls in, I am the wind that carries the bird and the butterfly."
"I'm fucking over being forced to fit into roles of men have out for me."
"I'm a bar-fighting, pussy-hustling, scrappy-ass bitch, and I'm not going to just go along with this quietly."
"You were made from the earth," I whisper to her skin, "I can feel the universe moving through you, and yet you are something else unto yourself."
"That's the difference between me and my brothers," he continues. "We are all meant to ravage the world, but we have our distinctions: War is the most human, Pestilence perhaps next. But even Thanatos-Death-is intimately connected to life. I am the one least truly alive. I have more in common with wildfires and clouds and mountains than I do anything else. So to be something that lives and breathes is a stifling, unpleasant experience. I am...trapped in this flesh."
"I love you, you foolish little flower."
Death (Book Four)
Rating:
Readability:
Summary:
The day Death comes to Lazarus Gaumond's town and kills everyone in one fell swoop, the last thing he expects to see is a woman left alive and standing. But Lazarus has her own extraordinary gift: she cannot be killed-not by humans, not by the elements, not by Death himself. She is the one soul Death doesn't recognize. The one soul he cannot pry free from her flesh. Nor can he ignore the unsettling desire he has for her. Take her. He wants to, desperately. And the longer she tries to stop him from his killing spree, the stronger she becomes. When Lazarus crosses paths with the three other horseman, an unthinkable situation leads to a terrible deal: seduce Death, save the world. A hopeless task, made all the worse by the bad blood between her and Thanatos. But Death's attraction to her is undeniable, and try though she might, Lazarus cannot stay away from the ancient, beautiful being and his dark embrace. The end is here. Humankind is set to perish, and not even the horseman can stop Death from fulfilling his final task.
Only Lazarus can.
Review:
"He is dressed to do battle-though who could possibly stand against him is a mystery. That armor gleams as though it's freshly polished, and those massive black wings lay folded at his back, so large that the tips of them nearly touch the ground. As the horseman rides, his eyes are pinned to something in the distance. His face is solemn and captivating. I swear that I've seen the arch of that brow and the slope of that nose before in my dreams. And I've imagined the curve of those lips, the press of those cheekbones, and the cut of that jaw in every tragic poem read by candlelight. He is more beautiful than I can make sense of and more terrifying than I could've imagined."
As stated before, I was extremely disappointed with Thanatos when he made his appearance at the end of Famine. However, I do think that Thanatos redeemed himself in this book. I was ready to fully hate Thanatos with all of my being when starting this book but he had quite the opposite effect. He was the horseman I grew to love the quickest. He is Death himself but does not like taking lives. He was so sweet, thoughtful but also hell-bent on completely his otherworldly, destructive task.
Once again, another amazing female protagonist, Lazarus is such a headstrong badass woman who has slain Death himself time and time again. They had a fun little cat-and-mouse game for most of the book.
Laura Thalassa truly does an amazing job creating characters with so much depth. Also does a great job at capturing the essence of good sex with her writing. Truly an art form.
I thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the horsemen featured in this book. To see sweet Victor (Pestilence) and War grow older warmed my heart. Then to have sassy Famine in the bunch still immortal and hating humanity. definitely a treat to see their interactions and commentary. Although during the epic battle scene, having to read about these amazing horseman suffering and hurting, ugh. I was hurting too!
I think the way this series ended was phenomenal. I am normally a big stickler for book endings, and most don't satisfy me but this one definitely did. I definitely cried at the last chapter.
Quotes:
"Yes, but life and death are lovers, kismet. They always choose each other in the end."
"He has yet to realize that you don't have to cut someone to make them bleed. Take away the most precious thing they have, and they will suffer."
"To live is to die," he adds. "That was the agreement you made when you came into this world. You cannot have one without the other. All your life, all your suffering, all your loss-it was all for this." he gestures to the dead around us, his wings spreading wide. "You all have been running towards me your entire life."
Pestilence adds, "We gave up our immortality and the vast extent of our powers because we believe that despite our task, humans are worthy of living." Famine huffs, glancing away. "Ignore him," War says. "He's still bitter that Death didn't find his motives pure enough to strip him of his immortality." "Humans are retched," Famine says. "I don't know why I must change my mind about that first."
"There, standing over the threshold of the afterlife, are my brothers, their wives. And Lazarus, my sweet Lazarus. She opens her arms, and I walk into them. And once again, I am home."
Favorite books in the series (in order):
Death, Pestilence, Famine, War
Favorite horseman (in order):
Pestilence, Famine, Death, War
Favorite female protagonists (in order):
Ana, Lazarus, Sara, Miriam
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