Review: I've NEVER had my emotions in so much turmoil by reading a book before
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 15, 2013
Cruel reality has a way of always catching up to you, no matter how fast or how far you run; reality has a way to destroy one's hopes and dreams.Where to begin? I guess I should begin with giving everyone a little warning before they start reading Arsen by Mia Asher.CAUTION: Make sure to have a very protective case for your phone, computer, nook, kindle, etc- whatever device you plan on reading Arsen- because it's possible that you will find yourself throwing it across the room. Yes, this almost happened to me, but I stopped myself by just throwing my phone on my bed.Now let's get back to my review :). Arsen by Mia Asher has been one of the most raw, heart-wrenching, original, and emotionally intense books I have read this year. I've NEVER had my emotions in so much turmoil by reading a book before- that is until I read Arsen. I seriously had to put Arsen down for one day, because I just needed to take a breather. But here is the thing with Mia Asher's writing. That one day I took off, I couldn't stop thinking about her story and her characters. Again. something that has not happened to me before. I would be reading a book for my class, and I would find my mind wandering back to Arsen. Yeah, that is how captivating, enticing, and addictive her writing is. Asher's story and her character's take center stage on your mind 24/7.No one said cheating was pretty but hell, it's down right disgusting.I just thought that it's better to get this out of the way. Yes, Arsen by Mia Asher contains cheating- not the boyfriend and girlfriend type, but the marriage type. What do I personally think about cheating? If you don't like that person anymore, then just end it. Yes, you will hurt them and what not, but it is much worse to cheat on them. Now, I hate reading about couples cheating in books, but with Arsen it was different. I really don't know how to explain this. In Arsen there is really no cheating until further in the book, and when I say further in the book I literally mean that it is almost towards the end. But once the cheating started it really got on my nerves, because Ben didn't deserve to be cheated on.My heart is broken, my dreams and hopes shattered alongside it. Even though the healing process has begun, and I know I will heal eventually, I will never be the same.Right from the beginning of the story, Cathy Stanwood is broken, lost, and hollow from inside. She doesn't know how to express how she is feeling to her husband, Ben Standwood, which leads Cathy to withdraw herself from Ben. I had a hate and love relationship with Cathy's character. Well it was more like a hate and sympathy and like relationship. Why? Well for starters Ben doesn't deserve what Cathy and Arsen do to him, and she is just so selfish! OMG! These were the moments when I felt like throwing my phone across the room. How could Cathy do that to Ben? He is the most amazing man. Ben literally worships the ground she walks on, and he is always there to support her. I pretty much hated Cathy for most of the book. But then I felt sympathy for her character, and I began to understand her actions. This girl just needed professional help from the very beginning.******SPOILER ALERT*****Cathy's character has gone through three miscarriages, and this has left her broken. I can't imagine someone going through this mentally alone, because Ben is always there for her physically. The problem is that Cathy never let's Ben know how she truly feels with these miscarriages. I just felt sympathy for her character, because she couldn't open up to let someone close know how she truly felt. In these moments I cried with Cathy's character, because Mia Asher's writing gets to you deeply.******SPOILER ALERT END*****By the end of Arsen I understood Cathy's actions, and I learned to forgive her character for what she did to Ben and their marriage....this love, this madness has become the cross I bear on my back, pulling me down to my knees. My living purgatory. I can't keep living a life where I question every word, every action of the person I should trust unconditionally.My heart broke and bleed for Ben Stanwood. He didn't deserve what Cathy and Arsen did to him. From all the character in Arsen, Ben was the one that held my heart from the beginning and all the way to the end. I feel in love with Ben the moment Cathy meets him. I will admit that been is a little to blame with Cathy not being open with how she felt through all the loss she went through. Why? Because Ben just wanted Cathy to think positive and to not let the loss that they both go through get her down. At the beginning it doesn't seem bad, because it just seems as Ben trying to be supportive and make everything better. By the end when you hear Cathy's thoughts on this, you really understand that yeah he has a little blame on their marriage life problem. But he still deserve to be rejected, cheated, and thrown to the side by Cathy. Like I said at the beginning my heart broker for Ben. I cried when everything comes out in the open.This guy exudes confidence and sex. I bet that if I got near him, trying to catch a whiff of his scent, I would be able to breathe in what pure sex smells like. Even his leisurely walk is sexy as hell.Arsen Radcliff is bad news from the moment he walks out of the plane he arrives. I usually fall for the hot looking, amazing body, bad boys- not the case with Arsen. I did not feel any pull or emotion towards his character at all throughout the whole story. Even with the first glimpse Asher provides from his POV, I felt nothing. I just hated him so much, because he knew what he was doing to Cathy, and he knew that she was married. How messed up can that be? When Arsen and Cathy become "friends," I knew that it wouldn't work. I don't even know how to describe my anger and hate towards Arsen's character. I will admit that I started to feel something towards Arsen at the end, when Asher provides his POV in the Epilogue. I felt sorry for Arsen, because he is just as broken as Cathy. Is it possible that Arsen might get his own broken love story?? I would be open to reading more about Arsen's character, as long as there is another love interest for him :). I will give Arsen another chance, because he got to me in the Epilogue."There never was a choice for us, was there?"Arsen by Mia Asher has taken a spot in my list of 2013 Favorite Reads. Her writing is raw, intense, heart wrenching, original, and unforgettable. This is one of those books that will have you on a book hangover, because you won't be able to stop thinking about it.~Kassie @ Kassie's Book Thoughts