Famine

I enjoy Thalassa's stories even while rolling my eyes at much of it. Each couple in this series have been basically the same - a Strong Female Character archetype with a checkered past meets a Horsemen of the Apocalypse who just can't help but fall for them tits first. In this one, we're in Brazil where a sex worker is offered by her Madame to Famine as a sacrifice but he's not interested in humans that way (so he says) and has them both killed. Magically, the woman survives being basically gutted and wakes in a pit of bodies, drags her self all the way back to her previous rooms while passing by more bodies, and nurses herself back to fighting fit. But she's not done with Famine because, as it turns out, she's met him before and wants Famine to remember her while she attempts to assassinate him. Well, you can't kill a messenger of God but that's besides the point - apparently.

From there it all goes as expected based on the past two books. I didn't like Famine as much as War or even Pestilence but the end of this one was interesting, as Death seems a little more distinct with totally different abilities as his “brothers”. Thalassa relies heavily on stereotypes in this one as well (see her unsavory handling of Middle East politics and history in War) and the dialogue she used for Ana is 110% American, especially in the slang. Come for the descriptions of hot bodies smacking against each other plus some strong gore if you're into that, not for the geopolitical studies.