I LOVED the first two books in the Scarred Souls series, so I’m a bit bummed out that I didn’t quite love this third book as much. I enjoyed some parts, but as a whole it just didn’t live up to the previous books – I never really connected with the characters or romance, which was a shame because I was so excited about the main characters. Still, if you’ve been a fan of Tillie Cole’s dark romances like I have, Ravage is just as gritty, intense, and thrilling as you’d expect. The romance just wasn’t believable enough for me to truly love this book like I’d hoped to.

I was insanely excited when I heard Ravage would be about Zoya Kostava. Tillie Cole knows how to entice her readers, because that snippet at the end of book two had me salivating for more. Zoya’s family was murdered when she was a young girl, and she was assumed to be the only survivor until she finds out that one of her brothers is alive. But on her quest to reunite with Zaal, she becomes a pawn to a game bigger than she realizes, one with a target right on her brother. She is kidnapped by a ruthless killer… who turns out to be so much more than he seems.

“We are different. Me weak and you strong. Me a Georgian and you Russian, but our broken hearts are tired and old. Our spirits are low, though not broken. But our souls, though thoroughly tested and hardened through pain, are resilient.” Her lips twitched, and she added, “They are the same.”

Abducted and sold into underground slavery, Valentin and his younger sister were forced into horrifying conditions no child or person should ever go through. Valentin was pumped with drugs to become a mindless killer while his sister was forced into sexual slavery. But as mindless as Valentin became, he never forgot about his sister and only allowed the things to be done to him in order to keep her alive. His latest task given by his “Mistress” is to kill a man named Zaal, and his way in is through Zoya. But even as his captive and being psychologically tortured day after day, Zoya never gives up information on her brother, and her resilience astounds Valentin.

I had survived the massacre that took my family, but lying here, I realized that the years spent away in hiding I was simply existing.
And it took a monster to revive my heart. It took a killer to touch my soul.

I loved Ravage… up until the romance started to kick in. The main reason I wasn’t into the romance was because of how unbelievable it was. I never understood how or why Zoya and Valentin started to fall for each other. Their feelings developed too much too fast, especially after what Valentin makes Zoya go through. I started liking the romance better once Valentin became fully invest in Zoya, but I still couldn’t fully connect.

If you love the Scarred Souls series, chances are you’ll probably enjoy Ravage too. It’s another fast-paced, crazy intense, action-packed installment, just a little weak on the romance side. I’m still incredibly excited for more of the series – Valentin’s sister is the heroine of the next book, and I seriously can’t wait to read it!

Quotes are taken from the arc and are subject to change in the final version.

Reading Order: Scarred Souls series

#1 ~ Raze: My Review • Ebook • Audible • Goodreads
#2 ~ Reap: My Review • Ebook • Audible • Goodreads
#3 ~ Ravage: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#4 ~ Riot: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#1-2 ~ Scarred Souls: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads

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