Riot: A Scarred Souls Novel (Scarred Souls, 4)

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.

Well for me Tillie Cole certainly left the best to last but i suppose it was always going to happen between these four books, even as much as loved Luka, Kisa, Zaal and Talia and Zoya and Valentin this book and Inessa and Ilya were no exception.

Being Valentins sister i knew we would get all the boys back in the story’s next i loved the few chapters of Luka we got to see what this three were doing and thinking, and i just admit i loved the plan that all came together.

Again we were back in the outs of hell and i feel like Inessa was the one that suffered the most and the part she was playing and being drugged was just such a horrid story to read but there is nothing better than reading a character be so strong and resilient.

Ilya was just a mad mad man who was out to survive and do things his way but of course he was caged up and breed to fight but i loved his character as well.

I must admit i was a massive fan of Maya she was one of my favourite characters in this book and my heart absolutely broke for especially towards the end when she had no one but that’s what i love about this group of friends no one is ever left out

This story is of taking back your freedom and really surviving and trusting and believing in others to help you through and i loved how these four men came together.

This book was dark and violent but i am so glad i read this series it was different and such a good storyline over all 4 books and the as much reading that page gave me all the happiness i was sad for it to end.

If your not opposed to violence and a dark story this series is a must read

This is the end of the series and culmination of the 4 couples stories. I think this story and Zoya and Valentine's may have been the best of the series for me.

This is is Inessna and 901's story. I won't tell you his name because that is part of the story, so I won's spoil it. We already knew Inessna's name. Again a woman who is being tortured herself reaches out to a man who has lost his humanity and touches him in his darkness to bring him to the light. I am absolutely loved it.

Great series. I wish we could have had more of them now that they were all free.

If you haven't read any of the previous books in the series I would seriously recommend that you do so before reading Riot. The way the books build on each other and how the characters connect throughout all four books is so incredibly well done, and I'd hate for anyone to not get the full experience of this phenomenal series.

"He knew. He knew I had noticed her. He'd told me he'd find a weakness. And after all these years, he finally found one."

Tillie Cole has always had a talent for writing non typical characters and making us feel the opposite of what we think we should feel for them. She has made me feel sympathy for a character that she had spent the 3 previous books making me hate. She's made me fall in love with killers and torturers who maim and kill for revenge and pleasure but I still love them! How does she do it? I don't know, but one thing I know for sure is that life would be a whole lot darker without Tillie's scarred characters in it.

"I want you. I...like you. Too much. I wish I did not."

According to my previous reviews for this story: Luka's story as Raze broke my heart, Zaal's story as 212 ripped my heart to pieces and Valentin as 194 obliterated the whole damn thing. Well, I'm not sure how to go any bigger than that, but this book somehow does and we are given not just one scarred soul but two in the form of 152 (Inessa) and 901 (nope, I'm not telling you his name. You'll have to wait to find out!).

"You smile at me. No one ever smiles at me." I took his hand on my lips and brought it to lie over my heart. "You make me want to smile."

I knew Inessa's backstory going into this book from the tortured memories from her brother, Valentin. I knew the terror she had been through already and boy did my heart break for her actually having to see what she was forced to go through. But even though she is a victim she is also a survivor. She may be powerless and vulnerable but she is also strong and fights not just for herself but for others who she cares about and who have been through things just as bad as she has. I loved that even after spending her entire life in such a horrific situation she was still able to see the beauty in even the most darkest of things and people.

"You have made me feel, in here. You have made me want things I never dare let myself want. You have made me want to fight for survival, not pride. I no longer want to die on the pit's sand like a warrior. I no longer want to die at all." I held my breath, exhaling only when he said, "You make me want to live."

Tillie Cole has brought out a side of me I never knew existed: the part that LOVES alpha males. Each of the leading men in this series have called to me and the possessive and violent tendencies that I thought I'd hate have become something that, when Tillie writes, I find incredibly HOT. 901 is no different. He is the most feared, toughest of the tough, undefeated champion of the blood pit. One who has no weakness and lets no one close. For 901 it is all about survival and he wont let anything distract him from that primal instinct. Until he meets 152.

"I chose to take you. I chose to hold you close." He inhaled. "I chose to make you mine."

901 and 152 are thrown together in a plot by Master Arziani to gain back control over 901. Unable to resist 152's beauty, both inside and out, 901 succumbs and becomes the thing he always fought so hard not to be; weak. But that weakness in the eyes of Master Arziani becomes a strength as it develops into a love so strong and pure. Considering the brutal situation the two have been raised in there is a certain innocence to their relationship and I was brought to tears so many times by the raw vaulnerability it showed.

"In a world of iron cages and bars, we were taking something of our own."

Like with previous books we get Luka's POV mixed in which gives us an insight into how Valentin is adapting to life as a free man. Tortured by the thoughts of his sister he struggles to find peace and more than once his lack of control threatens to ruin any chances of getting his sister back. I felt so much for Valentin in this book and his pain made my heart ache and I had so much hope that his story would end happily and he would be able to find peace.

Through Luka's POV we are also gifted the other characters from the series that we love including Kisa, Zaal, Talia and Zoya, and we get to see their strength as they prepare for one final fight to free them all from the horrors that plague them. I really loved seeing these characters together and the family that they've developed into. The love between them all, such scared and tortured people was just beautiful to see, even if it did petrify me that something was going to happen to ruin it.

"I want this." He inhaled. "I want this every day. I..." His words cut off, but he forced himself to finish, "I want to be forever with you."

This story was desperate and heartbreaking, raw and full of emotion. From start to finish I was kept on the edge of my seat, scared to take a break incase something happened to a character I loved. Arziani was probably one of the more unhinged and unpredictable villains I have read for a long time and I honestly had no idea where the story was going to go next. This book is definitely not for the faint of heart with some very dark scenes. To say that I enjoyed this book feels wrong due to it's dark nature, but I really did.

"You are in my heart. You are in my scarred soul...I am not free if I don't have you."

The thing I loved most about this book was how everyone was brought together one final time and as family fought against their demons in order to finally to find their peace. Every single one of these characters deserved love and happiness and I love the way in which Tillie decided to end the series and say goodbye to this group of characters that we have been through so much with.

"Happy. Together, we make happiness."

Loved it! A new twist on love.

I really enjoyed this book.

Tillie Cole has won me over with these intense crazy twisted worlds that she has created in this series and others. She proves she can write across many types of stories and still have me sporting heart eyes. There’s so much packed into the pages of this book and if you haven’t read the other in the series first I highly recommend it because you wont want to miss one moment in this world or with these characters.

It’s Dark Mafia Romance at it’s best, dingy and dirty and perfect in every way. You’ll not want to put this book down, it’s full of edge of your seat action, and deep characters that will suck you in. It’s a brilliant ending to a series, one that I’ve loved from book one. 901 and 152 story isn’t one to be re-told in a review either it’s one to experience by reading so I highly recommend that you pick it up and get to devouring it today!

3.5stars
Riot is the book where everyone finds their revenge and the people who are responsible for the cruel fate of previous characters finally come to justice. I didn’t like so much this book is was darker have more explicit content that some of the other readers may find it disturbing. For me was in this book too much. The characters are develop and we see how they are surviving the cruel world they are living in. Inessa and Ilya are both several times cruel punished and there is a lot of blood. It is great that we see how they fall in love unplanned. But the author is true to herself and ends the story beautifully.
I volunteered to review an ARC of this book for Netgelly

“Mesmerizing!” “Played out like a movie!” “Tillie Cole outdid herself!” These were among the few thoughts running through my mind as I got to Riot’s end.

There are so many things that I loved about this book…well, the entire series actually. I loved that despite the violence and depravity that all four of these hardened males experienced that they were able to save themselves from the brink of insanity through LOVE.

They are all in their own sense, remarkable and their counterpart females are just as impressive. There was never a doubt about the couples’ pairings. Tillie Cole certainly proved to us repeatedly that each were fated to be together especially in Inessa and Ilya’s case.

“…life had played out as it should. Though tragedy, we were both stronger. And through distance out love was stronger. She was mine. I was hers. Her, the girl, whose soul matched mine. And I, the boy, who was made perfectly for her. Finally home. Happy. At peace.”

Another thing great about this was how the relationships among Ilya, Valentine, Luka and Zaal developed. They weren’t blood-related but their bond was even deeper and profound than that. They all ended up exactly where they deserved to be.

Everything I’ve read so far by Tillie Cole has been outstanding but I must say that the “Scarred Souls Series” is by far my favorite. I definitely couldn’t ask for a better ending in “Riot”, the way she pulled every aspect together in this finale was perfection.

Wow. Um. Just.. Wow.

If I could have one wish, it would be that Riot would never end. I would wish for Tillie Cole not to end this series and keep Raze, the Bratva brothers and theirs loves alive and well. That is probably the most absurd request, but I’ll make it, crazy be damned.

So if you haven’t figured it out, Riot is amazing. It is a beautiful story that concludes the Scarred Souls series. It’s dark, gritty but a stunning read none the less. Tillie Cole has this way of creating worlds which are so dark and depraved yet are soul consuming to read and live in. Each book in this series is a testament to her amazing ability.

So Riot tells the story of Inessa Belrov and llya Konev. Both have immense mental and physical scars from the lives they have lived. Riot tells the story of how the two find love in the deepest of hells. It is a heart wrenching yet amazing journey to go on with them. They go from having no control of their lives to finding freedom which is worth living for. To get to the freedom any human deserves both our hero and heroine go through events no human should ever have to endure.

“Ilya, can you feel it?”
“What?” he questioned, the warmth of peace radiating from his worn body.
Freedom,” I hushed out.” Our freedom…our freedom at long last.”

The challenges that they face in Riot are both thrilling and heat breaking. You will cringe at the times they hurt to be free and get angry at the times they are hurt by another’s’ hand. You will hate Master with an intense passion and rejoice in the pain he receives. That may sound like a bit of an exaggeration as I tell you this, but Tillie Cole’s words can really make you feel. Master’s character makes it easy to hate him right down to his sick sadistic core..
Enough about him.

Lets talk characters.

Ilya. He is the bravest of warriors. Known as the Pit Bull of the Arziani empire, he is highly skilled and an effective killer. Too effective it leads him to Inessa. I was wondering how Tillie would pull of their meeting but she surprises you. Once he meets Inessa, he can’t do anything but fall in love. He sees the strength in her when Master tears her apart and he wants to protect her. He is strong, fierce and all the great qualities a hero should be. There is no doubt you will fall in love with him. His love for Inessa honestly shines from the moment the beginning.

Inessa. She is so damn brave. As the High Mona, she has to serve the sickest man alive, Master. She has to play his games as if his actions don’t kill her inside. Her strength really is seen in the way she handles the situations and the way she loves Ilya. She loves so fiercely and risks a lot to be with him. It is the sweetest thing to read. So when they find each other, it is really finding home. They have been through so much alone. And finding a comfort and a place to feel some sort of happiness in the hell they live in is beautiful.

“When it is me and you alone, there is no Master. When we are here, in your cell, there is no Blood Pit.” A smile tugged on my lips. “ There are no matches to the death. There are no quarters where I am held captive all day. There is your heart beating in sync with mine. Speaking the language of our old home, in the company of the male that is becoming my new home.”

Sigh….

The love they find is so special. And is so them. It was totally worth going on their journey and finding the conclusion to the story of all four brothers. There’s so much to say but I don’t want to bore you.

I just want to put in that Maya was one of the strongest characters in this book. Even though she is a minor character, her presence is the light in this book. Her strength is seen from the beginning to the end of this book. I loved her with every single part of me. I thank the reading gods she also got a happy ending. :P You think she would be meek with the way she has been treated all her life, but she does things that you will love and be surprised by in this book. She definitely is a heroine of her own. She kicks ass like no chiri has done before. I’m so proud of her. Thank you Tillie Cole for bringing Maya into out lives.

“I am a chiri miss. I have no say in anything that happens in my life.”

Do you see something forming in my eyes… Well I do. They are tears. Now I am sad. Sad that the Scarred souls series is concluded.
The journey of all four soldiers was incredible. The stories were well written and woven so beautifully, each book had characters and plots that were loveable. It is sad to say goodbye.

This definitely gets a FIVE stars. Riot is the riveting conclusion that we have all been waiting for. Thank you Tillie Cole!!