Review: Raze by Tillie Cole

Title: Raze
By: Tille Cole
Series: Scarred Souls #1
My Copy: Amazon.com
The BookWhisperer's Rating: 

To take back life, one must first face death...

One man stripped of his freedom, his morals...his life.

Conditioned in captivity to maim, to kill and to slaughter, prisoner 818 becomes an unremorseful, unrivaled and unstoppable fighter in the ring. Violence is all he knows. Death and brutality are the masters of his fate.

After years of incarceration in an underground hell, only one thought occupies his mind: revenge...bloody, slow and violent revenge.

Revenge on the man who lied.

Revenge on the man who wronged him.

Revenge on the man who condemned him and turned him into this: a rage-fueled killing machine. A monster void of humanity; a monster filled with hate.

And no one will stand in the way of getting what he wants.

One woman stripped of her freedom, her morals...her life.

Kisa Volkova is the only daughter of Kirill ‘The Silencer’ Volkov, head of the infamous ‘Triad’ bosses of New York's Russian Bratva. Her life is protected. In reality, it’s a virtual prison. Her father’s savage treatment of his rivals and his lucrative and coveted underground gambling ring—The Dungeon—ensures too many enemies lurk at their door.

She dreams to be set free.

Kisa has known only cruelty and loss in her short life. As manager of her father’s death match enterprise, only grief and pain fill her days. Her mafia boss father, in her world, rules absolute. And her fiancé, Alik Durov, is no better; the Dungeon’s five-time champion, a stone-cold killer, the treasured son of her father’s best friend, and her very own—and much resented—personal guard. Unrivaled in both strength and social standing, Alik controls every facet of Kisa’s life, dominates her every move; keeps her subdued and dead inside...then one night changes everything.

While working for her church—the only reprieve in her constant surveillance—Kisa stumbles across a tattooed, scarred, but stunningly beautiful homeless man on the streets. Something about him stirs feelings deep within her; familiar yet impossibly forbidden desires. He doesn’t talk. Doesn’t communicate with anyone. He’s a man beyond saving, and a man she must quickly forget...for both their sakes.

But when weeks later, out of the blue and to her complete surprise, he’s announced as the replacement fighter in The Dungeon, Kisa knows she’s in a whole lot of trouble. He’s built, ripped and lethally unforgiving to his opponents, leaving fear in his wake and the look of death in his eyes.

Kisa becomes obsessed with him. Yearns for him. Craves his touch. Needs to possess this mysterious man...this man they call Raze.

I am thoroughly confused with how I feel about this book.  I really, really liked it but it also left me feeling dark and depressed.  It was as if no matter how happy a scene got, I was surrounded by all the darkness in this book to where I couldn’t see the glimmer of hope.  It was a new take for me and reminded me a lot of the Hades Hangmen series. 

I will say that this book holds your attention throughout the entirety of it and doesn’t let you down.  To even read about the childhood that Raze experienced was heart breaking and to know that to keep himself alive, Raze had to shut down all human feelings and become a killing machine just sets the tone of the book. 

Kisa, on the other hand, is in a loveless relationship with her childhood friend who is nothing but controlling (and not in a sexy way) and toxic.  She is considered his and only his.

With a dual POV, you get both Raze and Kisa’s depressing view on their lives until they meet each other.  It doesn’t take long in the story but for me, that is when it started to pick up and show a small light of hope.  Just a warning, that light dims and grows brighter as the story continues. 

So if you are looking for a fluffy, lovey kind of book, this is not what you should pick at this time.  However, if you are looking for a gritty, raw book that sucks you in and veils your world full of darkness, then pick this book up.  It will rock you to your core, for good and bad.