'The Pale Horseman' is a wonderfully unique take on a regular tetrad of baddies and will keep you glued to your screen as reveal after reveal keeps you guessing until the very end! Gemini provides gripping characters, amazing dialogue, humour, action, and suspense, making 'The Pale Horseman' one of my favourite stories thus far in this competition.

This story follows the Horseman of Death, a sassy and eternal being who inhabits young women and judges every moment of their lives. Cursed with seeing death around every corner, the horseman does her best to make life a little easier on herself by preventing as much unnecessary death as possible. Unfortunately, death is a way of life, and as such, she is regularly put up against situations that will force her to choose the lesser of two evils. This often leads to hilarious scenarios where Death's sassy personality (probably acquired during the late medieval ages, in my opinion) really shines. Always one to have a witty retort or opinion of a situation, I found myself regularly laughing at the dialogue between this surprisingly lovable character and the world around her.

But Death isn't the only Horseman who receives time and love in this story. Pestilence is given her fair share of moments, tugging at the reader's heart every step of the way and bringing joy through her ditzy, twisted attitude. It'll be hard not to fall in love with this side character and find yourself wondering whether she or any of these horsemen is truly evil. With guest appearances by Famine and War, we are given a brief glimpse into the strange family dynamic of these immortal beings and their purpose on this planet. And for every lovable character, you are given a few that really rub you the wrong way. I found the writing for the main heroine, Raven, to be strong and engaging. Raven was fantastically displayed as a girl with a deeply selfish and self-righteous personality that makes you love to hate her. Gemini really did a great job making me despise this character and (honestly) kind of wish she were dead sooner so Death could spread her unholy wings. Very few authors have ever managed to do this to me, so that alone makes this an amazing piece of work.

But characters weren't the only thing working for this story. Gemini's handling of magic in her world was beautifully unique and powerful. Drawing on real-world examples and tying it into an understandable level of technology, magic was as useful and as easy as using the internet. A literal child could harness the power of magic to make or break this reality, and it was amazing to see. I found myself regularly amazed by how she wrote her combat scenes, adding in powerful artifacts and tasteful brutality to the spells. Every fight scene was unique, bringing a new form of combat and a solution to resolve it, sometimes requiring more sacrifice than others.

I've decided to give 'The Pale Horseman' a 5/5 because I couldn't put it down. The story is truly a page-turner and kept me engaged every step of the way. The humour is amazing, the combat even moreso, and Gemini's take life, death, and information will leave you longing for more to read after you reach the end. So, my recommendation is to prepare yourself a nice cup of tea, sit down with a handful of white chocolates, and listen to that little voice in your head telling you to read 'The Pale Horseman' today!