Review: Scarred Souls by T.T. Kove (Scarred Souls #1)
Note: This ebook was provided by Less Than Three Press in exchange for an honest review.
Eighteen-year-old Joshua Slater endured more than a decade of sexual and physical abuse at the hands of his stepfather. An eight-year sentence doesn't seem enough for what that man did to him and the only way Josh knows how to deal with it all is by cutting and the countless scars marring his arms and legs are a testament to how long he's suffered. When he's rescued by a stranger who's the same age as him one rainy night, Josh thinks the guy's doing it simply to be repaid in sexual favors. But Damien Fielding is anything but typical, and soon, these two find themselves forming a friendship that neither of them ever expected.
Scarred Souls is the first book in the series with the same title from author T.T. Kove. The book I'm reviewing is the expanded and revised edition and is not the prequel to Reunited it was originally set out to be when it was first released a little over three years ago. My previous reading experience with the author's More Than Anything series prepared me for the heaviness and angst-driven drama in this book and its sequel, which is up for review next. If you're looking for a sweet M/M romance or even one with a fair amount of sex, you won't find either here, but it is certainly an intense story I think is worth reading.
Josh Slater has been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder as well as brain damage caused by years of abuse who has viewed sex as an integral part of his life. Damian Fielding is asexual, so you can just imagine how different of an experience Josh is about to have when he becomes a part of Damian's life. There's something in Damian's past that I did not see coming and surprised the heck out of me, but it does somewhat explain why Damian isn't very touchy-feely, not just with Josh but with family and friends as well. These two are scarred souls, but finding each other is the beginning of a journey they take together.
While there is cutting both here and in T.T. Kove's More Than Words, Josh's psychological issues appear to be far deeper and more complex compared to those of Alex Eknes, one of the lead characters in the aforementioned book, though I'm not diminishing Alex's issues by any means. Josh's being a sexual abuse survivor who falls in love with the asexual Damian presents an interesting situation that both the main characters have to tackle along with a host of other challenges. Overall, Scarred Souls was a novel that some may not be entirely comfortable with but it's one that makes you think and feel. This gets five stars. ♥
Date Read: 02 September 2015
Learn more about T.T. Kove here.
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