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I had big plans before I started this. However, I ended up reading it sober. Maybe that’s why it wasn’t hit right out of the ol’ ballpark for me. Or maybe I just channeled my former non-porn reading self.

Before anybody goes all apeshit and tells me I read this wrong, allow me to state for the record that I have read two others in this series and even though the first didn’t really work for me much at all, the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1732092978?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1">other I liked berry berry much</a>. I will totally own up to the fact that a lot of the problems I had with <i>Riot</i> were mine and not the book's. But let’s start with the positives.

The covers. This whole series is nothing but #sploosh when it comes to the fronts.

I love this world hardcore. It’s oh so very Thunderdomey and I get all <s>moist</s> excited just thinking about all these sweaty Russkies fighting to the death.

This one also had a plot. It made for less of the sexuals, but it tied everything together quite well. The story here was about 901 and 152. If you’ve read this series before, you’ll know that the characters are prisoners of an evil “Master” and known only by assigned numbers. 901 is the best fighter in the Blood Pit, 152 is the Master’s number one whore. In an attempt to break 901’s spirit and make him obedient, the Master gifts him with 152 so he will develop all the feels and have something he’s afraid of losing. (There’s also stuff with the former featured players from the previous books in the series, but I don’t do the spoilsies.)

So there you have it. Now let’s talk about how I read this wrong because it’s far more entertaining than when I read things right.

First, 152’s official job title was called the “mona” – which my mind constantly replaced with "Moana." Good Christ brain, that’s a child FFS! It made the pervy good time nearly impossible to achieve.

Second, to prove a sober brain is a horrible brain, I also thought of the Master as a shirtless Putin the entire time I was reading . . . . which was hilarious, but I’m fairly certain that wasn’t really the reaction Tillie Cole was going for.

Third, although 901 was clearly described as a giant blonde, as soon as a leading male is described as a giant who is twice as broad as the average petite leading lady I want to cast him as either Jason Momoa or The Rock. Again, that would be great if I had not just watched Central Intelligence with the boychild – thus making 901 be: Fat Robbie.

And then there was the sexytimes. Why did the term “channel” get brought back in to play?????? Channel does not conjure good imagery. At all. More like a hot dog in a hallway.

Anway, this ended up being just okay for me. If I would have gone with my gut instinct and read it while loaded it probably would have been 5 Stars and my husband would be a much happier camper too. At least he scored some jambalaya out of the dead for Mardi Gras weekend.

<I>ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley!</i>

My rating is not just for this book, which was brutally epic, but for the Scarred Souls series as a whole. I don’t know where the idea came from for Tillie Cole to write a book about blood pits and gulags but it was brilliant.

With numbers in place of names for the main protagonists, the characters can get a little misleading at times but you soon fall into accepting these people by their numeric pseudonyms. This story features 152, a girl taken from a Russian orphanage into Georgian slavery. Now Arziani’s High Mona, she serves him and only him, but when Arziani needs a way to break the will of his champion fighter, 901, he does so by forcing him to take 152 on a nightly basis.

152 is fitted with a drugged bracelet which causes her indescribable pain until she is relieved of her suffering by 901. 901 resists Arziani’s intention to try and find his ultimate vulnerability but he struggles when he witnesses the pain and suffering experienced by 152. Deciding to take away her pain and to not become attached, 901 tries in vain to ignore his growing feelings for 152.

Whilst 901 fights and 152 suffers at the hands of Aziani, 152’s brother, Valentin, works with Luka and Zaal to rescue her and to once and for all end Arziani’s tyranny. Valentin, having killed Arziani’s sister, still has a score to settle and is more than relishing the task of bringing down Arziani and thus freeing those held in captivity, including his sister.

With one last battle on the horizon, Luka, Zaal and Valentin head to Georgia in order to rescue 152. Inessa, 152, and Ilya, 901, know nothing of their pasts, apart from their names revealed to them by Inessa’s chiri, Maya, but 152 dreams of a man with scars on his face but until she comes face to face with him she has no idea that it’s her long lost brother.

This series may sound unusual, and it is, but it is also a powerful story of love, survival and hope and one highly recommended, especially if you love your romance stories with a hard and unyielding edge to them.

3.5 stars

This book was about survival of the fittest and leading by example! While I liked this book slightly more than Raze, I wasn't expecting that sci-fi erotica/ fantasy-ish/ twilight zone feel of the story. Overall, I enjoyed the last fifteen percent of this book most and the epilogue was fitting. It was great to get Luka's insight and watch this cast of characters come full circle! Favorite stand-out character? Maya!

I loved reading this author's Hangmen series and was drawn to this series as a result. I look forward to reading more from Tillie Cole!

Riot by Tillie Cole
Scarred Souls #4

In a place where a person is just a number and is expected to do as they are told without question two people manage to defy the odds, live, love and survive. These two people are Inessa - #152 and Ilya - #901.

Both were taken from childhood and trained to become what Master Arziani and his sister determined their future would be. Inessa was to be a whore and Ilya became “Pit Bull” the to-the-death-fighter dominating the Blood Pit. Both managed to survive by focusing, suppressing much and getting on with the life they were forced into.

When this story begins Master is trying to break #901 and he has brought #152 in to be his Mona (personal sex slave). With a twisted mind and no limits to his machinations, predations and predilections Master is definitely someone you don’t want to be on the wrong side of.

While #’s 901 and 152 are suffering there are three men working to find and free Inessa. One is her brother, Valentin - # 194, who promised he would return for her. With Luka (818) and Zaal (221) a plan is devised to infiltrate, overthrow and put an end to Master and his games. A bloody bloody plan that spills quite a bit of blood!

I loved the strength of the characters – all of them – throughout this series. In this book we have a couple enduring but never giving up. They find strength in themselves, in anger, in revenge, in helping those around them – wherever they can. We find men who become closer than brothers who understand one another as no one else can. We find women that love men who have done unspeakable things but can see their core of gold. In this book there were also three other characters that made an impact: Maya (000) - young, scarred, serving others; #140 – a gladiator that loved and lost and fought and dreamed of revenge; and #667 – another pit fighter who finally had enough.

I am thankful to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of this book. This is my honest review.

4.5 Stars

What a conclusion to the series! I am glad I went back and read the other installments because I would have been lost.

This whole series has been heartbreaking. Men and women that were so evil to make people their slaves for sport and sex. Evil just dripped from the pages. Then the heartbreaking results and the fit to be free. It is amazing how the author fits in a touching romantic love story admist the pain and evil. The woman are just as strong as the men, no of course they are stronger.

Great series sorry to see it end. It does have violence and rape so if you are uncomfortable with that you may want to skip it.

Received an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley. (less)

Will you ever be free? What do you do when you wake up in a nightmare and you know that this is your prison until the day that you die? Inessa knows that she has been in this awful place before but she has no memories, she doesn't even have a name anymore she is just a slave as all the others that live in the pit. She is now the Master play thing and he is a cruel man that loves to have everyone bow down to him. She can't understand why he chose her over other woman and she knows that this is the last place she will ever live.
Llya has been the greatest warrior in the pit, she has no other memories, all he knows is to fight til the death, no ne has ever beaten him but that is all about to change as the master is going to use someone that he has come to care about for his own pleasure.
Will they ever escape this madman or will they both lose their lives before knowing freedom. There is help on the way as former fighters are on the way to save Inessa and they will stop at nothing to kill the master and save as many people from that hell as possible. Can they get there in time or will it be too late? What another great book in the series.

Interesting and thought provoking, but I had a little trouble connecting with the H/h.

I had read the first of this series but not the next two. It did not take the enjoyment out of reading this book (though I will probably go back and read the others). This book was great - I loved 901 & 152 - they were amazing. I absolutely hated the master and so glad he got his! The ending was great - it covered the characters from the previous books and was so so rewarding. Can't say much more without giving anything away - but this book had everything - drama, romance, revenge, relationships and the mother of all fights!

Seriously I can not say enough good things about this series. This book was the perfect ending for this set of bada$$ warriors and their ladies. It's really hard to say too much without giving away all the action, but I loved how everyone was included and working together.

This is definitely one of those series you will reread knowing you missed some of the juicy twists.

Arc Provided by Net Galley

I love this series so much and was sad to see it end. But Tillie Cole has written the perfect story to end this series and really knows how to write a dark read. This story had so much emotion throughout it just like the other stories within the series. My heart broke for the characters and the hell they have lived throughout their lives. Tillie Cole has become one of my favourite authors and I was nervous going into this story because I was worried it wouldn't be as good as the others because I loved them so much. I don't know why I even bothered being worried because this is a Tillie Cole book we are talking about and if any author knows how to write a highly emotional, dark and angst read Tillie.
This book you will see all your favourite characters and be introduced to new ones to fall in love, which you will. Thank you Tillie Cole for introducing us readers to the Scarred Souls series.

First let me start with , finally we get everything we ever wanted to happen, happens! I just finished and I am a little frazzled right now. I loved this series from Raze to this one Riot. Tilling has a way of drawing you into these deeply personal stories and you are hooked. You hurt because of the atrocities that have occurred to each character . You rejoice when they finally enjoy a little bit of happiness. But in this story you are finally elated when revenge is handed down. This book grips you by the heart and does not let you go until the very end. I will say ain't the beginning it is a tad slow, but just a tad. There is a lot of back story no you sometimes feel like this is more of the same story from the previous books. But each character has been through much of what Ineasa and Ilya have. The methods of torture are the same but 901 is the Masters champion and he wants to keep him in line no matter the cost..
I feel like this is the perfect ending to a series that is gripping and not all that pretty, but most of the best stories aren't. This is a fantastic ending or is it a fantastic new beginning.

This series is dark and devastating but oh so good. I have been super excited to read this book. It is a little difficult to review without spoilers but I will say there is definitely a feeling of finality in this one. As with the previous three books, this book connects new characters with past characters and story points. It is well written and draws the reader into the world.

152 was in book three and we meet her again in the Blood Pit, where in a battle of wills and manipulation 152 is gifted to 901. Blood Pit champion, 901 is tough and focused on staying strong as well as alive. I liked 152 and 901 individually and I liked them together.

There is so much to love about this book.

Holy. Hell.

This book.

Wow. Just wow.

Not gonna lie, I was a little...concerned when I got the ARC for this.

was <i>really</i> worried about not liking it.

While I definitely liked <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1894972744">Ravage (Scarred Souls #3) </a>
I did NOT lurve <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1063327149">Raze (Scarred Souls #1) </a>
Or <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1311377734">Reap (Scarred Souls #2) </a>, for that matter.

Thus, I was very uncertain how this one would go for me.

And, while I would <i>never</i> skew my opinion/review to be higher just because something is an ARC - this is not a dig at anyone else and I'm not trying to suggest others do this - I am talking only about myself...

...I also feel really shitty about negatively rating something I was lucky enough to be given free and early by an author whom I love and admire.

This was me about 20% into this book when I recognized I was <i>really</i> enjoying it:

<img src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/39/3c/24/393c24b106b3281b6811d407d6557340.gif" width="240" height="180" alt="description"/>

At 50% when I realized I was totally gripped by it:

<img src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/bb/a1/46/bba146971b78abdc5b60b05a36220975.gif" width="357" height="296" alt="description"/>

And, finally, at 75-100% when I had the realization this was the best thing I had read in a long time:

<img src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/51/e6/38/51e6388d9f7dcd2c8031dc1ab14c9fb9.gif" width="400" height="274" alt="description"/>

Tillie Cole is just a master at making emotions jump off the page and into your heart.

She also isn't afraid to make you uncomfortable - and to put your characters in positions and circumstances that are going to make you feel uncomfortable.

And not just for the sake of shock value, either.

While so many authors make tragedy or hardship feel empty or like a constantly overblown plot device (that usually falls flat for me), Cole has this ability to capture those moments and make them feel authentic.

Not only that but, in this case, this book was the culmination of the emotions of the three books which preceded it - and I didn't even <i>like</i> two of those books.

So just imagine how much you will love this one if you did.

Needless to say, I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to read this, it's definitely going on my "Top Reads of 2017" shelf.

I hope you all love it as much as I did.

This is a bittersweet review for me for a few reasons. Mainly the fact that Tillie Cole's Scarred Souls series is the first Dark Romance series I ever picked up and fell in love with. Raze will always hold a special place in my heart and now Riot has sidled right up next to Raze as two of my favorite heroes ever.

There is beauty in the darkness that Tillie Cole has given us with this series and Riot surpassed what I have come to love about this series, it brought us full circle and out of the dark and into the light. It's brutal, bloody, tear jerking, and painful but it's also hope, passion, friendship and love.

With Riot we thrown into the same darkness that we have gotten with the previous three books but now we are getting an up close and personal look at the Gulag's, the fighting rings that each of our four heroes have broken away from and it's worse than I think we could have ever imagined. Not only are we seeing it from the heroes perspective but we are also seeing how females in the gulags have been treated and it is just as painful as knowing what the men went through, perhaps at times even more so. This is a dark romance so you have to know going in that while you may get that HEA we all crave at the end there is going to be a lot of pain and suffering in the process of getting there. If you have triggers to abuse and rape keep in mind that these two things are not hidden. These are issues that are heavily discussed and visualized and it makes the book what it is, it makes the lightness that comes out of the dark even more beautiful, but it is harsh and it can be hard to read so just keep that in mind before going in.

This is one of those series that if I talk about too much in detail I will take away from your experience so I am not going to do that and I am definitely not going to give anything away that could be a spoiler. The best thing I can tell you is that this story brings everything together. All the pieces fall into place and the battle we have watched coming arrives. The romance between the two main characters is scary, a bit angsty, painful, and (yes I know I keep coming back to this word) beautiful. It's a quiet light in the middle of the loud dark of the gulags. It is the antithesis to all the evil surrounding 901 and 152, it is, in it's darkness, virtuous.

Clearly, when it comes to this story, in fact this series I could wax poetic and if I could have I would have left you a review with one word alone.....BEAUTIFUL. I know you are tired of me using that word and if I had an editor going through my review right now they would have run out of red ink circling that word over and over but I think that what you need to know when you go into this story and this entire series is that despite the pain and tears that will occur with each book, each book ends with a beauty that will light you from within and Riot is the culmination of all the darkness being beaten back so that the beauty of life and love can shine through. It is the redemption of broken souls and the truth of love.

I would shout to every reader that this series is worthy of your time and devotion. These are not standalones, you need to read them from beginning to end and in order but you will never regret putting in the time. Just one last reminder that these are dark romances even though I use the word beautiful to describe them that beauty comes at a price so go in prepared. Grab yourself some tissue, a good strong drink of tea or vodka and settle in becuase once you start you aren't going to want to let go. I know how everything ends and I am still not ready to let go of this world and these characters. They will always be with me for their strength and love and I hope that when you are done you feel the same way.


~ HAPPY READING ~

I really enjoyed this book. It has a good story. Plot keep me interested and wanting to get to the end. Writing was smooth. Even though there are 2 books before this, it can definitely be read as a standalone.

I have been sitting on this book for awhile. I had to get my head ready for the story that I knew would take me where it was bleak. I knew this book was going to be dark and intense. I found it exciting finish to the series. After years of being in the dark for these men and some of the women they all found their light.

Was not disappointed with this story. Sitting on edge for the happy ending that I hoped would come.

I cannot give this book enough stars... OMG I was so happy when I received this ARC
I am in awe of this author. She can tell a story so vividly that it will seem you are in the book. That is what happened to me when I was reading this book. I felt like i was in the Pit with 901 and that I was right there while 152 was being beaten and abused. Totally broke me apart Tillie Cole

This story was about 152 who is Valient's sister who read about in the previous book. She has been elevated to High Mona status as the Master has become obsessed with her. So you would ask then why abuse her and hurt her.

Because 901 was his best warrior in the pit and not afraid of anything. Had no ties no emotions so Master couldn't use anything against him. So he decided to use 152 and even though 901 didn't want that emotions with her he couldn't help himself.
Two people in the most terrible circumstances and the most horrible things done to them finding some little happiness with each other.

This book will make you see what terrible things people are capable of and also how people can find happiness in the most terrible of places.

Beautiful, he had said. Krasivaya. 901 thought me beautiful. And he had told me so in Russian. In the language of our hearts. The Language of our home. I smiled as his chest brushed my breasts. I smiled as I looped my arms around his strong neck. Because I also thought this deadly warrrior was Beautiful. He was simply... more

This series was an awesome experience and I think my most darkest read.

Riot is my favorite out of this series, it could be because all the characters from the previous books played a part in Riot as well or it could simply be because it’s based on the female’s story versus the male, like the first 3 book of this series. To be honest I was hooked from Raze (#1) but in the 2nd and 3rd books it almost felt repetitive even though the characters had their own story to tell, however Riot wrapped up this series spectacularly and I loved the way it concluded. As always, the author’s writing is phenomenal and you find yourself drawn to the characters as usual.

Even though I mentioned the previous characters are a part of 152 and 901’s story, it did not once feel like they were overtaking it. The author did an amazing job in closing the Scarred Souls series without taking the light off the main characters.

I recommend reading them in order even though they could be read as standalones. I feel like in order to truly understand and enjoy it, reading the entire series will give you a better picture of the pain they endured both physically and mentally in order to survive.

This was so so good.
The quest for freedom and the forbidden love!
Really good.
Fantastic for fans of dark romances.