Dark romance isn't for everyone. It’s gritty. It’s often deeply uncomfortable. But if you’ve spent any time on BookTok or lurking in romance forums, you know that The Four Horsemen series by Laura Thalassa has become a sort of rite of passage for readers who want their "happily ever after" with a side of global apocalypse. It’s a wild premise. Pestilence, War, Famine, and Death show up on modern-day Earth, not to save us, but to wipe us out. And then? They fall in love.
It sounds ridiculous when you say it out loud. How do you find a "meet-cute" with the literal embodiment of a plague? Thalassa managed it. She took the bleakest possible biblical imagery and turned it into a character-driven saga that somehow balances mass destruction with high-stakes intimacy.
The Four Horsemen series: A Brutal Reimagining
Most people expect the Four Horsemen to be these ethereal, distant figures. Thalassa makes them terrifyingly physical. They arrive on their colored horses, and they don't talk much at first. They just do their jobs. Pestilence spreads fever. War incites mindless violence. Famine brings the literal hunger. Death... well, he finishes the job.
The brilliance of the series isn't just the romance; it's the world-building. This isn't a fantasy realm. It’s our world. We see the collapse of the internet, the failure of the power grid, and the desperation of human beings when the grocery store shelves go bare. It feels claustrophobic because it's familiar.
Why Pestilence Hits Different
The first book, Pestilence, sets a high bar. We meet Sara Burn, a firefighter who stays behind to kill the horseman. She shoots him. She burns him. He doesn't die. Instead, he takes her prisoner.
What follows is a slow-burn—pardon the pun—dynamic where two beings from completely different moral planes have to exist in the same space. Pestilence, or Victor, doesn't understand humans. He thinks we’re a blight. Sara has to prove we’re worth saving while he’s literally making her sick. It’s a mess. A beautiful, tragic, messy story. The transition from him being a literal monster to a man learning what it means to feel empathy is what hooked most readers. Honestly, it’s probably the most "romantic" of the four, despite the constant coughing and oozing sores.
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War and the Brutality of Choice
Then comes War. If Pestilence was about sickness and isolation, War is about the sheer, loud violence of humanity. Miriam is a bowyer—she makes bows—and she ends up in the path of a golden-skinned warrior who wants to burn the world.
This book is harder to read. The body count is astronomical.
The dynamic here is different because War is charismatic. He’s not a quiet, sickly entity; he’s a general. He’s the personification of our own worst instincts. The conflict for Miriam isn't just surviving him; it’s the fact that she starts to see the world through his eyes. It raises the question: if humanity is constantly choosing violence, why should we be spared? Thalassa doesn't shy away from the dark stuff. She makes you sit in it.
The Grittiness of Famine
Famine is often the polarizing one. People either love him or hate him. He’s cruel. He’s petty. He’s also incredibly funny in a dark, twisted way. Ana Da Silva is a prostitute trying to survive in a world where food is the only currency that matters.
Unlike the previous horsemen, Famine has a history with the protagonist. He was tortured by humans before his "awakening," and he hasn't forgotten it. This book deals heavily with trauma and revenge. It’s less about "saving the world" and more about two broken people finding a way to be less broken together. The banter is top-tier, but the backdrop is bleak. You can almost feel the hunger on the pages.
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Death: The Grand Finale
By the time we get to Death, the stakes are as high as they can get. Lazarus, the fourth horseman, is the oldest and the most detached. He’s seen it all. He’s the one who has to reap the souls the others left behind.
Lazarus is different. He’s not just a warrior or a bringer of disease; he is the end. When he meets Thanit, a woman who can’t seem to stay dead, the cosmic irony is delicious. This book ties the whole series together, addressing the "Great Task" the horsemen were sent to complete. It’s a long book. It’s heavy. But it provides a sense of closure that most long-running series fail to deliver.
The "Villain Romance" Appeal
Why do we read this? Why do we want the guy who is literally ending the world to get the girl?
It’s the ultimate "I can fix him" trope, but dialed up to eleven. There is something fundamentally human about the desire to find connection in the middle of chaos. These women—Sara, Miriam, Ana, and Thanit—aren't damsels. They are survivors. They challenge their respective horsemen not with just beauty, but with logic, compassion, and sometimes, a well-placed knife.
Common Misconceptions About the Series
A lot of people think this is just "smut in a wasteland." While there are definitely explicit scenes, that’s a reductive way to look at it.
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- It’s not just about the romance. The series is a heavy critique of environmental collapse and human greed.
- The horsemen aren't "humanized" too quickly. Thalassa takes her time. They remain alien and terrifying for a significant portion of each book.
- The endings aren't always happy. They are "Happy For Now" or bittersweet. You don't just fix an apocalypse in 400 pages.
Where to Start and How to Read
If you’re diving into The Four Horsemen series, go in order. Do not skip to Death because he sounds the coolest. The overarching plot of the "Great Task" and the internal politics of the horsemen—who, by the way, don't always get along—builds from the first page of Pestilence.
- Pestilence: Read for the emotional growth and the "enemies to lovers" tension.
- War: Read for the action and the moral dilemmas.
- Famine: Read for the dark humor and the "enemies with benefits" vibes.
- Death: Read for the epic conclusion and the cosmic scale.
Final Thoughts for the Skeptics
Look, if you want a cozy read, stay away. This series is about the end of everything. It’s about dirt, blood, and the smell of decay. But it’s also about the fact that even at the end of the world, we still want to be seen. We still want to be loved.
The horsemen are mirrors. They reflect the worst of what we’ve done to the planet and each other. But through their eyes, and the eyes of the women they love, we also see the best parts of being human: our resilience, our capacity for change, and our stubborn refusal to give up, even when the literal Horseman of Death is standing in our living room.
Next Steps for Readers
- Check Content Warnings: This series deals with plague, famine, sexual violence (not between the leads, but in the world), and graphic death. Be prepared.
- Look for Special Editions: Since the series concluded, several publishers have released hardcover "omnibus" versions or sprayed-edge editions that are gorgeous for collectors.
- Join the Community: The r/romancebooks subreddit and BookTok's "Dark Romance" niche are filled with fan art and deep-dive theories about the horsemen's origins that add a lot to the reading experience.
- Follow Laura Thalassa: She’s active on social media and often shares "bonus scenes" or insights into the characters that didn't make it into the final cuts of the books.