Love and Pestilence

by J.W. Stark

Grove, the Grim Reaper, is beyond jaded. His never ending plight of reaping souls has made him depressed, questioning if there is more to his immortal life.

However, halfway through the 14th century, he meets Aurelia, who makes him reevaluate his existence. The only humans who could ever see him before were those about to die, but with her, that is strangely not the case. This anomaly blossoms curiosity that snowballs into a delicate romance between god and mortal. In their time together, Aurelia helps Grove feel what it’s like to be truly alive for the first time, which is quite an accomplishment considering he is death.

But when Aurelia is ripped away from Grove, with her soul facing an eternity trapped in purgatory, he spirals into dark despair. In desperation he makes a bargain with the queen of the underworld to save Aurelia’s soul—he must reap one hundred million souls in three years.

In a race against time and out of options, Grove pours all of his heartbreak, hatred, and agony into an unholy union of death, unleashing a terrible pestilence upon the world—the Black Plague. The world will suffer...all in the name of love. However, when foul play arises from the realm of the gods, Grove may not even survive to meet his grim quota, let alone be reunited with his love.

268 pages, Paperback

Published June 20, 2024

Reviews

[Chiara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found this book because of the song Peak of Despair(shout out Mitty and chase atlantic). I felt the pacing was fast enough to keep my interest. However, I wish it was a tad bit longer, so the audience could be given more detail, longer scenes and a deeper connection with the characters.The writing style was right up my alley and overall I enjoyed this book. If you’re looking for a quick read I recommend this. I hope this author puts out other works along the same vibes.

I cant remember if there were trigger warnings or not,in the begging, but I’d say keep in mind there’s a lot of death and violence throughout. Including things like , domestic violence between father and daughter, being burned alive, in general fairly graphic depictions of death. Again based on the story it makes sense, so sorry if I come across as redundant.

[Natalie Harkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is just 😭😭😭
Listening to the soundtrack while reading is a whole other experience. Peak of Despair by Jake Stark ft MITTY was a masterpiece in itself and the way they incorporated parts of the book into the song had me fan girling but also crying.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

The theming and story was good. Like everyone else, I also read this book after listening to Peak of Despair featuring Mitty from Chase Atlantic. The ending was bittersweet and I thought that some parts were rushed and I had to back track on how many days left Grove had to get back Aurelia but I'm a slow reader so I must've missed context clues. The first half of the book was the most enjoyable. The yearning from lovers intertwining like close friends. It melted my heart. The second half however is when I wished that this book was longer. You start seeing character development between Grove, Heidi, and Lanx. You also get introduced to other characters and it makes you wished the book gave you more lore and origins of this fantasy setting. The new characters get thrown at your face such as Ikari and I would've liked to read a quick back story on the demon. Fae lady who Grove has met before but was just there...I did like the inclusion of a father and daughter POV this type of writing is what should've been used for the other characters that was introduced but I think this was done to create build up and a bittersweet moment like the ending of the book. I'm hoping for a part 2 but the ending seemed inevitable since a sequel will just loop. Grove can't die because if he dies, he creates a black hold that will consume the world itself. If Grove were to encounter Aurelia again, he has to love her again like he did the first time before The Maker wiped his memories of her only this time, Aurelia is the one who ends up needing to forget about Grove just to prevent her from taking the Eternal Walk. Whatever happens I'm still hoping for a sequel. I like to be surprised, 8/10 Quick Read would recommend to anyone

[maheeꨄ︎ · Rating 3 out of 5]

THE legendary lovers❤️‍🔥

there's nothing more iconic than a love story between death himself and a mortal, he'd sacrifice EVERYTHING for.

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now, i really wanted to love this book, but i didn't and i kinda hate myself for it. i discovered this book through 'peak of despair' by jake stark & mitty and since mitty happens to be the lead singer of my favorite band, chase atlantic, i had no trouble falling in love with this song. its fucking amazing, i love it so much.❤️‍🩹

however, i didn't love this book the way i love the song. but honestly, i know this is entirely up to me. i just didn't fully click with the writing style. don't get me wrong, it's amazing and beautifully written, it's just not my type of writing style.

the storyline itself is a 10/10 but the execution was just not up to my standards. it felt a bit disjointed sometimes. like, it starts with one scene and it suddenly cuts to another scene that doesn't have any correlation to the former scene. this kept confusing me. in some parts, it was lacking detail and in some other, there was too much detail for an irrelevant scene. it also could've done with a bit more tension. a bit more attention to detail when it comes to the emotions of the main characters.

but all things considered, this book has a really unique storyline and i did love the concept of the grim reaper falling in love with a mortal and sacrificing everything and everyone to bring her back when she was taken away from him. even though this book does end on a sad note.😞

[Emily Beswetherick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only read this book because of the song “Peak of Despair” that was released, so going into the book I didn’t think I would love it but read it due to the shortness of it. After reading I would have loved for it to be a longer novel. I think a sequel of Grove finding Aurelia would be *chefs kiss*. The book gets a 4 star rating from me mainly because I feel like there was a shortening of a lot of scenes that could have been longer and expanded on. Overall I think the story was fast paced enough to keep my attention, but in certain parts too fast for my liking. The characters were very well written as well. The ending was disappointing although I understand the reasoning behind it.

[Spike · Rating 5 out of 5]

A blend of really beautiful moments and really gruesome moments. Romance and adventure done in a low fantasy world that had little exposition. A very fun and quick read.

[Romy Rice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing amazing book. Cried over it 10 times and read it 4 times and will continue to re read