Ravage by Tillie Cole Pages: 336
Series: Scarred Souls #3
Genres: Dark Romance
Also by this author: A Veil of Vines, It Ain't Me Babe
Goodreads
Taken by the Jakhua Clan as a teen, 194 was stripped of his name, his identity, and his freewill, meticulously honed to be a ruthless, soulless killing machine, trained solely to spill blood and stop hearts. This is a role he resents with every fiber of his being, but one he embraces to gain back the precious leverage the Georgians wield as their weapon of control: his younger sister, 152.
Mzia Kostava is in shock. After fleeing her mafia family's massacre in Georgia as a child, Mzia lives in secret, hiding from her enemies in the dark shadows of Manhattan. At age twenty-five, believing all her family is dead, word reaches Mzia that her brother Zaal is very much alive... and living with their family's greatest enemy: the Volkov Bratva in Brooklyn.
Yearning to be reunited with her beloved Zaal, Mzia risks her safety and anonymity for the brother she had mourned since childhood. But just as she reaches Zaal's apartment, Mzia is seized and taken captive by a strange man, who is strong, dark, and brutal... Unyielding, he demands her utter obedience as he locks her away in darkness. He is highly skilled in torture and inflicting pain, and demands to know everything about her brother Zaal and everything about her. He is a man that'll do anything to get what he wants.
Sometimes love requires the sacrifice and betrayal of those held most dear. But is finding one's true love worth committing the greatest sacrifice of all?
Ravage
Tillie Cole
Tillie Cole writes some amazing books. They range from the VERY dark (Ravage) to much lighter, NA fare (Sweet Home), to even YA (A Thousand Boy Kisses). Ravage is certainly her darkest, in my opinion. There are LOTS of triggers in this book too so only pick this up if you really have no issues with anything you read. Consider yourself warned.
This is book 3 in the series and you really should read them in order. The characters all overlap a bit so it really will help you understand the story and the ‘world’ Cole has created. There is a lot of family interaction as well. Brothers and sisters who want to save each other leads to a deeper characterization than I expected. Because the book is so dark, having these deep relationships between siblings is so important!
Now, I haven’t really said much about the actual book, and thats because I don’t really want to give it away and, if you have already decided that this might not be a good book for you because of the triggers, I don’t want to bring any up! But, if you are a Cole fan, and have read Reap and Raze, you will read this one! It is darker than even those two, so be prepared! Ultimately, I am not too ashamed to admit it was too dark for me. Looking back, I am not sure why I grabbed it; maybe reading some of TM Frazier books made me think I was more badass than am? I’m not sure!
Lawless by TM Frazier, Gun Shy by Lili St. Germain, Nine Minutes by Beth Flynn…then you will probably like Ravage!
Having read all of TC’s books this is the one I liked the least unfortunately. It was too dark but that wasn’t the issue I had with it, the amount of darkness and the amount of romance (purely just the sex in the middle of the dark plot) make no sense to me. I just didn’t connect with them at all. I still think the first book in the series was the best one! Great review!