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marureviere's review against another edition
5.0
It's been 5 years yet I still love this book.
The characters feel so real and palpable to me. I think that's what I love the most about Ms. Darhowers's writing; she just breathes life into her characters so you immediately get immersed into her storytelling and see what they see as well as feel what they feel, no matter how painful or wonderful their experiences are.
Rarely do I encounter romance writers that nail the male POV, especially someone as complicated as Ignazio is. She did it in 'Made', too. She excels at writing seemingly irredeemable and immoral men to the point that you want to root for them and love them despite and/or because of their flaws. I immensely enjoy her writing. I just hope that she'll release a new book in the near future.
The characters feel so real and palpable to me. I think that's what I love the most about Ms. Darhowers's writing; she just breathes life into her characters so you immediately get immersed into her storytelling and see what they see as well as feel what they feel, no matter how painful or wonderful their experiences are.
Rarely do I encounter romance writers that nail the male POV, especially someone as complicated as Ignazio is. She did it in 'Made', too. She excels at writing seemingly irredeemable and immoral men to the point that you want to root for them and love them despite and/or because of their flaws. I immensely enjoy her writing. I just hope that she'll release a new book in the near future.
shannon_cocktailsandbooks's review against another edition
4.0
I am so glad J. M. Darhower wrote the second book in this series with Naz's POV. That POV took a hero that was mostly unlikable and gave us the insight to like him, want to put your arms around him and hug him and finally to give us a reason to understand how Karissa could love him.
MONSTER IN HIS EYES is a must read before picking up this book. This is a continuation of the story that was told in that book, except this one was told from Naz's POV. Naz is a cold, hard ass, mafia guy that you don't want to mess around with. He's the guy mafia boss, Ray, calls when he needs something taken care of. But as TORTURE TO HER SOUL starts, we realize Naz has come pretty deep emotional scarring from the betrayal by his best friend and being cut out of his family by his father. Instead of feeling the pain, he's learned to close himself off from feeling anything. It makes him stiff, awkward and a little OCD.
Karissa is the one exception to everything Naz knows.
She fights him. Back talks him. And when she's pissed, gives him the cold shoulder for quite a while. But he loves her and he's not willing to let go of her, just because she thinks she hates him. Fighting for her goes against everything he thought he was, but he does it anyone, because he knows she's the light to darkness.
I enjoyed this story so much more than the first book. Karissa, being so young, tended to annoy me. But seeing her from Naz's POV and watching her grown more into their relationship made me like her more. Made me understand exactly why the two of them worked so well together.
J. M. Darhower never disappoints me and I'm glad I was able to enjoy this series over the weekend. If you like your romances a bit dark, definitely give this one a try.
MONSTER IN HIS EYES is a must read before picking up this book. This is a continuation of the story that was told in that book, except this one was told from Naz's POV. Naz is a cold, hard ass, mafia guy that you don't want to mess around with. He's the guy mafia boss, Ray, calls when he needs something taken care of. But as TORTURE TO HER SOUL starts, we realize Naz has come pretty deep emotional scarring from the betrayal by his best friend and being cut out of his family by his father. Instead of feeling the pain, he's learned to close himself off from feeling anything. It makes him stiff, awkward and a little OCD.
Karissa is the one exception to everything Naz knows.
She fights him. Back talks him. And when she's pissed, gives him the cold shoulder for quite a while. But he loves her and he's not willing to let go of her, just because she thinks she hates him. Fighting for her goes against everything he thought he was, but he does it anyone, because he knows she's the light to darkness.
I enjoyed this story so much more than the first book. Karissa, being so young, tended to annoy me. But seeing her from Naz's POV and watching her grown more into their relationship made me like her more. Made me understand exactly why the two of them worked so well together.
J. M. Darhower never disappoints me and I'm glad I was able to enjoy this series over the weekend. If you like your romances a bit dark, definitely give this one a try.
bibliophile90's review against another edition
4.0
"I wasn't born this way. The world made me who I am, and the world pays for that mistake every day."
I read the first book Monster in His Eyes more than 6 months ago. I really liked that book but couldn't get into Torture to Her Soul. So I stopped reading after the second chapter. I don't remember why I didn't like it, maybe because I wasn't in the mood for it or maybe I wasn't up for reading from a male POV. BUT when I received the ARC of Target on Our Backs I decided to give book 2 another chance. I was really happy I did because it was really good.
"She looks broken, but so goddamn beautiful. I want to put her back together. I want to break her down even more."
I couldn't really remember what happened in the first book so I read a couple of reviews and asked my friend about it so that I at least had some idea what happened again. I think I liked Naz more in this book than I did in the first, however I didn't really like Karissa. She really annoyed me and I was getting sick of her childish behavior. She was acting really immature in the beginning of the book. Of course I could understand part of why she acted the way she did, but she could've tried her best to get along with Naz. Make the best out of a bad situation right?
"You can't smile and act like you love me one second then destroy my world the very next."
There were also some moments I did not agree with how Naz handled things. Sometimes he was a bit extreme but I think it's just the way he is and we just have to accept him like that. He is still struggling with what happened to him in his past but Karissa is helping him step by step to get over is guilt.
"She's not just under my skin, she's in my organs, wrapped up in my cells, infecting me."
I LOVED the Tupac references because I am a huge fan of his music so that was awesome to read about. I also loved Melody, she is the crazy up for anything best friend that everyone needs in their lives. There was again a lot of killing and shooting going on. JM doesn't hold back at all, I loved that she stayed true to Naz's character. I wouldn't have liked for him to turn soft, he is still the same old cold-blooded killer. Can't wait to see what will happen to Karissa and Naz in Target on Our Backs!
"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."
foreverburningred's review against another edition
2.0
DNF 78%
I just couldn't get into this series. It was so slow and I barely liked the characters. Maybe I'll pick it back up another time. I was just too uninterested. Nothing was there to keep me going.
I just couldn't get into this series. It was so slow and I barely liked the characters. Maybe I'll pick it back up another time. I was just too uninterested. Nothing was there to keep me going.
annica_reads_books's review against another edition
5.0
I’ll just leave a short review here - my full review will be found on the last book of the trilogy, “Target On Our Backs.”
I was pleasantly surprised to see that this book is told from Naz’s POV. We didn’t see anything from Karissa’s POV, and that made things really interesting in a few scenes! This book and the previous book are examples of when unreliable narrators need to be considered. I could find myself getting frustrated with Karissa at times, and I had to ask myself - would I be frustrated with her if I actually had her POV? I would guess that I wouldn’t. I really enjoyed this book and it was a perfect setup for the last book. The plot pacing continued to be slow and allowed breathing room for subtle references for things to come. I absolutely love this book and how JM Darhower wrote this!
I was pleasantly surprised to see that this book is told from Naz’s POV. We didn’t see anything from Karissa’s POV, and that made things really interesting in a few scenes! This book and the previous book are examples of when unreliable narrators need to be considered. I could find myself getting frustrated with Karissa at times, and I had to ask myself - would I be frustrated with her if I actually had her POV? I would guess that I wouldn’t. I really enjoyed this book and it was a perfect setup for the last book. The plot pacing continued to be slow and allowed breathing room for subtle references for things to come. I absolutely love this book and how JM Darhower wrote this!
duchessrin's review against another edition
3.0
★★★☆☆
I'm gonna post a review soon. I think I'm the only one who didn't like the second book that much. Hmmmm.
I'm gonna post a review soon. I think I'm the only one who didn't like the second book that much. Hmmmm.
eurynome's review against another edition
4.0
İlk kitap beklentilerimi, standartlarımı öyle yükseltti ki, bu güzel kitaba belkide haksızlık yapıyorum.
Paul konusunu geçiştirmesini pek mantıklı bulmadım. Anlıyorum diğerlerine kıyasla o kadar önemli değildi, ancak o konu ortada kaldı bence.
Kız ne aşık ya, aklım alamıyor nasıl devam edebildiği ilişkilerinin. Kurgu olsa bile annesine daha fazla üzülmesi gerekmez miydi?
Ama güzeldi bence.
Paul konusunu geçiştirmesini pek mantıklı bulmadım. Anlıyorum diğerlerine kıyasla o kadar önemli değildi, ancak o konu ortada kaldı bence.
Kız ne aşık ya, aklım alamıyor nasıl devam edebildiği ilişkilerinin. Kurgu olsa bile annesine daha fazla üzülmesi gerekmez miydi?
Ama güzeldi bence.