War (The Four Horsemen, #2) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Feb 19, 2019 Shawna rated it it was amazing

Shelves: pnr-fantasy, tattoos-piercings-body-art, hero-bad-guy-ruthless-villainous, hero-antihero-gamma, hero-stalk-me-baby-possessive, enemies-to-lovers-opposites-attract, hero-in-pursuit, hh-disfigured-injured-scarred-ill, dark-twisted-disturbing-gritty, best-fave-reads-of-2019

4.5 stars - Paranormal/Fantasy/Post-Apocalyptic

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Aug 15, 2019 Monadh rated it it was amazing

Shelves: pnr, dystopia, anti-hero, action, post-apocalyptic, allegory

Different, dark, dystopian, but the story works against its own premise

This is book #2 in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse tetralogy. Overall I loved it, it’s fast-paced and intense. The setting is very dark and dystopian, but in a way also very limited. We only learn what happens in the area (mostly Israel, later Egypt) where War is waging his campaign against humanity. During one of the attacks his eyes fall on Miriam, and he recognizes her as his chosen wife, marked by God. Miriam is enamo Different, dark, dystopian, but the story works against its own premise

This is book #2 in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse tetralogy. Overall I loved it, it’s fast-paced and intense. The setting is very dark and dystopian, but in a way also very limited. We only learn what happens in the area (mostly Israel, later Egypt) where War is waging his campaign against humanity. During one of the attacks his eyes fall on Miriam, and he recognizes her as his chosen wife, marked by God. Miriam is enamored by his physique (mostly) but at the same time also quite repelled by the unwavering adherence to his purpose to exterminate all of mankind, killing women, children, civilians indiscriminately. So Miriam tries to resist him and to thwart his purpose, only to make things worse most of the time. But it wouldn’t be a love story, if War didn’t ultimately fall in love, reform his ways (forsake his destined purpose) and live happily ever after, naturally not without overcoming a number of impediments to their love (one of which is his own forcibly conscripted guards trying to kill him). But of course he can’t be killed…

So, on one level it seems like a conventional story of the type “bad boy reformed by the love of a woman”, and I am ok with that. It’s the allegorical part I struggle with, mostly because the story works to undermine the allegory. When we first meet War, he is described as the embodiment/personification of his name; he is not human, neither is he born, but he has been created from all the feelings and actions of war, attack, conquest, violence, rape, pillaging, fighting that move and motivate humanity to behave the way they do. It’s only slowly that War develops a consciousness of his own and starts to reflect on the consequences of his actions, although that doesn’t keep him from eradicating villages, towns and whole swathes of land. So, part of his attraction for Miriam (and the reader) comes from the fact that War is this otherworldly being, that is strong and relentless in his purpose, devoid of human emotions like empathy or remorse. It’s his feelings for Miriam that ultimately turn him human, and then he is just a man and all he wants is to live a humble life with his love and their child. Not that I am against a HFN or even a HEA ending, but it does feel kind of anticlimactic…

Also, if his creation has been fueled by human feelings and acts, the ending kind of defeats the purpose, because aside from his and Miriam’s personal relationship nothing has been resolved. Human nature being what it is, war still rages on unabated in the world, so the reason for his coming into being continues to exist…

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Mar 29, 2021 Shan ~A~ rated it really liked it

Shelves: romance, owned-kindle, new-adult, books-i-own, paranormal, in-series-or-trilogy, dystopian, title-one-word, artist, angels-or-demons

Miriam finds herself face to face with the 2nd horseman, War, and instead of killing her he spares her. This lead them on the journey of their lives. With actual lives lost along the way.

The actual journey goes from Jerusalem to Egypt and beyond. No one is safe from War's duty.

The journey Miriam Elmahdy and War takes in their tumultuous relationship is fascinating to witness. War has claimed Miriam as his wife and Miriam is having none of that. He is destroying human life, while she wants to sa ...more

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Jul 08, 2019 Kaitlynne rated it really liked it

Holy moly.

Jason Momoa is my War, thankyouverymuch.

Also, I found that this book, much like Pestilence, was one that was hard to read at times. But I also couldn't stop reading it. (obviously. Because I started reading it at like 8 pm and finished reading it at 1:47 am.) It deals with some serious stuff, and Laura doesn't shy away from tough subjects.

But it also shows that people aren't always as bad (or good) as they seem, and everyone has layers, and people CAN change for the better.

This was so ...more

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