dodo98's review against another edition
3.0
Well, I feel the same about this one as I did the first. Maybe liked it a little bit more. In this one, it is told entirely from Naz’s POV rather than Karissa’s and I really wish it was dual POV. There were times in this when I wish we knew what Karissa was thinking. This one also felt quite slow, nothing really happening besides Naz and Karissa living in some kind of stalemate with each other for most of the book. It was nice watching them slowly, so very slowly, build some trust with each other again and there were a few cute moments between them in this book which I really liked. It was picking up a little towards the end, and of course, the conflict came and it seemed to resolve. I thought this was the end and it probably could have been. But there is in fact one more book to go.
edenzano's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
daisybox's review
1.0
I mean... REALLY ?! I didn't really cared about Naz in the first book, and I didn't understand Karissa's infatuation with him. And after this book, I can't understand his infatuation with her either.
And I really really REALLY don't get how can she can end up with someone like him. I totally guessed the plot since the first book, and now I'm guessing Naz is going to kill half the citizens in New-York because dude is paranoid as fuck.
And I really really REALLY don't get how can she can end up with someone like him. I totally guessed the plot since the first book, and now I'm guessing Naz is going to kill half the citizens in New-York because dude is paranoid as fuck.
elizjmcfarland's review
5.0
loved it!! I like how this book continued on but it Naz's POV. definitely answered the questions from book 1!
julie_loves_books's review
5.0
"We're a tragedy in the making. The game of tug-of-war we're playing will end up destroying us, because she doesn't have it in her to surrender, and I can't let go."
This book picks up right where Book 1 left off and we get Naz's POV. I've been dying to get in his head and we finally get that chance. As we found out in Book 1, Naz did have a secret. A pretty big one. He suffered great loss and because of that, he wanted revenge. But, what happens when you fall in love with the main part of that revenge? Was it worth destroying everything you'd been working towards?
This book deals with the struggle that both Karissa and Naz face. How do you move on when you're faced with every reason that you shouldn't? Karissa knows she should not be with Naz for so many reasons. But, is love enough to look beyond all of that? Naz knows that he shouldn't be with Karissa for his own set of reasons. But, he also knows he can never let her go. They're both dealing with their own type of guilt in their own unique way.
I loved this book. It's written with so much emotion. You feel the turmoil and hopelessness that Naz is experiencing while he waits to see if Karissa can forgive him. But, you also feel his desire to get back to a good place with her. Not ever accepting that they won't get there.
This also has one of the best hate sex scenes I've ever read.
So.Much.Emotion.
So.Much.Passion.
Hate. Love. Acceptance.
J.M. Darhower's writing is just exceptional. I can't get enough of these two.
Nicknames: Jailbird, Baby, Sweetheart
Words are a rare gift from her these days. She showered me with plenty of scathing ones before they dried up and we entered the drought stage. I wait it out, but her silence is deafening. Frustrating. Downright torture some days.
I smile, watching her. She's trying to hurt me, but all I can think is she's so goddamn beautiful when she's pissed.
She got to me. I try not to let her. I try to stay calm and collected. I'm trained to keep my emotions from showing. But she alone knows how to get under my skin. Once again, she's my exception. Always a goddamn exception.
No matter how many times I swear I'm not going to hurt her, she still forgets. And even if it's only for a moment, it's too much.
It's a battle of wills, one she'll never win. I'll fuck her until my heart gives out. Hell, without her, I don't need it, anyway.
We're a disaster, a certifiable catastrophe, and there's nothing beautiful about the way we're going. She's trying to be unbreakable but I'm unshakeable. She's going crazy, and I'm already goddamn insane. I clipped my jailbird's wings so she couldn't fly away from me, and then I wonder why the fuck I can't make her soar.
"Breathe," I whisper into her hair. "Just keep breathing, and it'll be okay."
We're at an impasse, and we're never going to break it if one of us doesn't give. One of us meaning me.
I memorized every curve and crevice, every scar and scratch marking her skin. It's unforgettable, the dimples on the small of her back, the ridges of her ribcage when she's stretched out straight, the strain of her fingers when they clutch onto me, the curl of her toes when pleasure overwhelms her. She's perfectly imperfect, down to the scattering of freckles along her back and dotting her flushed cheeks. Everything about her is beautiful to me.
She's yelling at me. Yelling. She's beautiful when she yells, too.
We're a tragedy in the making. The game of tug-of-war we're playing will end up destroying us, because she doesn't have it in her to surrender, and I can't let go.
"Maybe you're not a good man—"
"I'm not." She stalls at my interruption before finishing her thought.
"Okay, but that doesn't mean you're a bad man, Naz." I pull my shirt off, tossing it aside before looking back at her.
"What does that make me then?"
"A man," she says. "Just a man."
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For thinking that."
"You're supposed to take it with food."
"I'm not hungry."
"Then at least let me get you some water."
"I'm fine, Karissa," I tell her. "Good as new."
"You're delusional."
"You mispronounced handsome."
"Cooking out and hanging out aren't really my things," I admit. "I prefer delivery and solitude."
"You are going to change, right?" Instinctively, I glance down at my suit.
"I wasn't planning to."
"It's the Fourth of July," she stresses. "It's a cookout, not a board room meeting or, you know, whatever it is you do in those suits." The way she words it makes me laugh.
"I do everything in these suits… socialize, eat, work… I've even been known to fuck in them before."
"I love you, you know," I say quietly, gazing up at her. "No matter what. I meant that."
"What are you doing over here?" My eyes shift to her, scanning her in the darkness.
"I'm admiring the view."
"Oh." She glances behind her. "Am I blocking it?"
"No," I say. "You are it."
"You want to know what I think about when I look at you, Karissa?"
"What?"
"I think there's nobody else like you in the world."
"Tell me," I whisper, running my tongue along the shell of her ear. "Tell me how you want it to be. Tell me what you need from me." I'll give her anything. I'll tear my fucking chest open with my bare hands, rip out my heart and hand it to her, if that's what she needs. All she has to do is tell me. All she has to do is ask.
"I want you to love me." So I do. I love her.
I turn back to the screen and try to focus again. It's pointless, though. Even across the fucking room she still distracts me.
"I'm not the only dangerous thing out there, you know. I'm not even the most dangerous."
I know how she feels. I know the shame and the turmoil. I know how it feels to love someone you shouldn't. I fell in love with her. It was my worst nightmare.
She talks to me about regret, but what she doesn't realize is that even if she destroys me in the end, I'll never want to erase what we have. I'd never want to take back a single moment of this. I'm not heartless—my heart is just hardened, while the rest of me is hollow. But she breathes life into what long ago stopped trying to live. She's oxygen, and without her, I'm dead.
She's upset, ranting, and continues to go on and on, but I'm caught on something she said seconds ago. When I marry you... Not an if. A when.
"I love every inch of you," I tell her. "Every part of your body that makes you nervous gives me pleasure. I see no flaws, nothing for you to be ashamed of or humiliated over... nothing you should hide from me. I've seen it all, and I love it. You're beautiful, baby."
She writhes, rubbing faster, harder, as she starts to whimper. She's getting close already. The sound, I'm convinced, is going to fucking kill me. Death by orgasm... and it's not even my own.
"You look handsome," she says.
"I look like I always do."
"I know. Handsome."
"I'm nobody's hero."
"You're trying to be Karissa's."
"No, I just don't want to be her villain."
This book picks up right where Book 1 left off and we get Naz's POV. I've been dying to get in his head and we finally get that chance. As we found out in Book 1, Naz did have a secret. A pretty big one. He suffered great loss and because of that, he wanted revenge. But, what happens when you fall in love with the main part of that revenge? Was it worth destroying everything you'd been working towards?
This book deals with the struggle that both Karissa and Naz face. How do you move on when you're faced with every reason that you shouldn't? Karissa knows she should not be with Naz for so many reasons. But, is love enough to look beyond all of that? Naz knows that he shouldn't be with Karissa for his own set of reasons. But, he also knows he can never let her go. They're both dealing with their own type of guilt in their own unique way.
I loved this book. It's written with so much emotion. You feel the turmoil and hopelessness that Naz is experiencing while he waits to see if Karissa can forgive him. But, you also feel his desire to get back to a good place with her. Not ever accepting that they won't get there.
This also has one of the best hate sex scenes I've ever read.
So.Much.Emotion.
So.Much.Passion.
Hate. Love. Acceptance.
J.M. Darhower's writing is just exceptional. I can't get enough of these two.
Nicknames: Jailbird, Baby, Sweetheart
Words are a rare gift from her these days. She showered me with plenty of scathing ones before they dried up and we entered the drought stage. I wait it out, but her silence is deafening. Frustrating. Downright torture some days.
I smile, watching her. She's trying to hurt me, but all I can think is she's so goddamn beautiful when she's pissed.
She got to me. I try not to let her. I try to stay calm and collected. I'm trained to keep my emotions from showing. But she alone knows how to get under my skin. Once again, she's my exception. Always a goddamn exception.
No matter how many times I swear I'm not going to hurt her, she still forgets. And even if it's only for a moment, it's too much.
It's a battle of wills, one she'll never win. I'll fuck her until my heart gives out. Hell, without her, I don't need it, anyway.
We're a disaster, a certifiable catastrophe, and there's nothing beautiful about the way we're going. She's trying to be unbreakable but I'm unshakeable. She's going crazy, and I'm already goddamn insane. I clipped my jailbird's wings so she couldn't fly away from me, and then I wonder why the fuck I can't make her soar.
"Breathe," I whisper into her hair. "Just keep breathing, and it'll be okay."
We're at an impasse, and we're never going to break it if one of us doesn't give. One of us meaning me.
I memorized every curve and crevice, every scar and scratch marking her skin. It's unforgettable, the dimples on the small of her back, the ridges of her ribcage when she's stretched out straight, the strain of her fingers when they clutch onto me, the curl of her toes when pleasure overwhelms her. She's perfectly imperfect, down to the scattering of freckles along her back and dotting her flushed cheeks. Everything about her is beautiful to me.
She's yelling at me. Yelling. She's beautiful when she yells, too.
We're a tragedy in the making. The game of tug-of-war we're playing will end up destroying us, because she doesn't have it in her to surrender, and I can't let go.
"Maybe you're not a good man—"
"I'm not." She stalls at my interruption before finishing her thought.
"Okay, but that doesn't mean you're a bad man, Naz." I pull my shirt off, tossing it aside before looking back at her.
"What does that make me then?"
"A man," she says. "Just a man."
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For thinking that."
"You're supposed to take it with food."
"I'm not hungry."
"Then at least let me get you some water."
"I'm fine, Karissa," I tell her. "Good as new."
"You're delusional."
"You mispronounced handsome."
"Cooking out and hanging out aren't really my things," I admit. "I prefer delivery and solitude."
"You are going to change, right?" Instinctively, I glance down at my suit.
"I wasn't planning to."
"It's the Fourth of July," she stresses. "It's a cookout, not a board room meeting or, you know, whatever it is you do in those suits." The way she words it makes me laugh.
"I do everything in these suits… socialize, eat, work… I've even been known to fuck in them before."
"I love you, you know," I say quietly, gazing up at her. "No matter what. I meant that."
"What are you doing over here?" My eyes shift to her, scanning her in the darkness.
"I'm admiring the view."
"Oh." She glances behind her. "Am I blocking it?"
"No," I say. "You are it."
"You want to know what I think about when I look at you, Karissa?"
"What?"
"I think there's nobody else like you in the world."
"Tell me," I whisper, running my tongue along the shell of her ear. "Tell me how you want it to be. Tell me what you need from me." I'll give her anything. I'll tear my fucking chest open with my bare hands, rip out my heart and hand it to her, if that's what she needs. All she has to do is tell me. All she has to do is ask.
"I want you to love me." So I do. I love her.
I turn back to the screen and try to focus again. It's pointless, though. Even across the fucking room she still distracts me.
"I'm not the only dangerous thing out there, you know. I'm not even the most dangerous."
I know how she feels. I know the shame and the turmoil. I know how it feels to love someone you shouldn't. I fell in love with her. It was my worst nightmare.
She talks to me about regret, but what she doesn't realize is that even if she destroys me in the end, I'll never want to erase what we have. I'd never want to take back a single moment of this. I'm not heartless—my heart is just hardened, while the rest of me is hollow. But she breathes life into what long ago stopped trying to live. She's oxygen, and without her, I'm dead.
She's upset, ranting, and continues to go on and on, but I'm caught on something she said seconds ago. When I marry you... Not an if. A when.
"I love every inch of you," I tell her. "Every part of your body that makes you nervous gives me pleasure. I see no flaws, nothing for you to be ashamed of or humiliated over... nothing you should hide from me. I've seen it all, and I love it. You're beautiful, baby."
She writhes, rubbing faster, harder, as she starts to whimper. She's getting close already. The sound, I'm convinced, is going to fucking kill me. Death by orgasm... and it's not even my own.
"You look handsome," she says.
"I look like I always do."
"I know. Handsome."
"I'm nobody's hero."
"You're trying to be Karissa's."
"No, I just don't want to be her villain."
ladyyluna's review
4.0
Yeah, I was excited when I noticed this book would be in Naz's POV, and then oof. Karissa's POV was mostly humor with introspection (and then heartbreak). This one is just a tunnel of dark self-torture and resolve. His perspective sheds a lot of light on things that happened in the first book and how he's been juggling trying to keep the relationships in his life until he ends up having to choose. It's a lot of torture, waiting to see how(and when) things will likely implode, but I'd say it was worth it for the end (not that it's the actual end because nothing can ever be simple *sigh*). The spice is still definitely there, and it serves as a nice reprieve of the mood that carries this book (well, some of it), but still, oof.
Some important notes that bear mentioning: first, reviews are highly subjective, including mine. My opinion is meant to give an overview of what I saw/felt when I read it (and how it may or may not have made my brain explode). What I see might not be what you see, and what I like (or don't) might not be what you enjoy, which is just fine. My advice to anyone looking into a book? Read the premise, and if it interests you enough, give it a chance and form your own opinion.
Some important notes that bear mentioning: first, reviews are highly subjective, including mine. My opinion is meant to give an overview of what I saw/felt when I read it (and how it may or may not have made my brain explode). What I see might not be what you see, and what I like (or don't) might not be what you enjoy, which is just fine. My advice to anyone looking into a book? Read the premise, and if it interests you enough, give it a chance and form your own opinion.
ghajani's review
3.0
I much preferred Naz’s POV in this one. That being said I still thought things were a little predictable female mc was very naive. Also not a whole lot happened things felt repetitive and dragged out and perhaps should’ve been cut out.
sy_books's review
5.0
"it's not the darkness that's terrifying, it's what you might find in it."
I hate and love this book, the 2nd book fills with a lot of pain and sometimes i just had to stop read ahaha i cant bear the pain. Looking forward to read the 3rd book
I hate and love this book, the 2nd book fills with a lot of pain and sometimes i just had to stop read ahaha i cant bear the pain. Looking forward to read the 3rd book
makaelalynn's review
4.0
I enjoyed this book a lot better than Monster in His Eyes. Reading from Naz's point of view was more interesting and made me understand him. In the first book, I couldn't decide whether I liked him or not. But in Torture to Her Soul, I definitely did, despite the crazy things he does. From beginning to end, it kept my attention.