Thursday 12 September 2013

Review ~ Arsen by Mia Asher

Reviewed by Donna ~ 5 emotional, angry stars!!

“Falling in love with the wrong person is easy. Falling in love with the right person is easier. But falling in love with your soul mate is easiest.”

Well, this book certainly did a number on me and that is testament to Mia Asher’s writing skills. I have never been so angry whilst reading a book, I am not sure that this is the emotional reaction that the author was trying to convey but any emotion is a good one!! Not all characters are going to be written and loved by all, whether the intention for Cathy was to be loved I don’t know, but whilst I felt compassion for her, her choices only made me angry, extremely angry!! So much so, I had to stop reading and take a breather because I was liable to do some damage!!

I am not one of these people that hates books about cheating, I can read them and I review them with the same open mind as I do any other book. My personal problem with the cheating in this scenario was that the husband (Ben) did not deserve it. He was the epitome of a perfect husband, he adored her, he worshipped her, he was always there for her, their emotional and physical relationship was amazing. SO WHY CHEAT?? This is the million dollar question. I could understand her pain, even more so than most and whilst we all react to certain events that happen to us in different ways I can honestly say hand on heart the route that she took never entered my head once. If anything it made my relationship a lot stronger. Ben was there for her, he tried to make her see the positives, but Cathy just saw this as him skating over the hurt and Ben not being affected by what they were going through. This was far from the case, he was just trying to bring his wife back, from that dark place that she gotten herself into.

Ben – “I am so sorry. I am so f**king sorry for not being able to give you…but you are enough. You are more than enough for me. You’re my f**king world, babe. And I need you back. Please stop shutting me out, I can’t take it anymore.” He tightens his grip, bringing our bodies closer together as he continues to whisper fiercely in my ear, “Own me, fill me, break me, repair me, complete me. Do whatever you want to me. Just stay with me. I need you. I need to be able to live. I need my life back, I need you back.” I die a slow death with every word he whispers in my ear. His words are like daggers to my heart. They cut me. They tear me open. His words destroy me. Not knowing what to say, and feeling like shit, I continue to pretend I’m sleeping.

Taking the characters one by one I will start with Ben, I loved him, in fact I adored him. The way they started their relationship, throughout their relationship, their marriage he was just perfect. He was thoughtful, caring, loving and he worshipped the ground that Cathy walked on. They were soul mates, 2 halves that literally bumped into each other one day, the planets realigned and the rest is history, they were truly perfect for each other. He loved her unconditionally, she made him whole, she was his air, he needed her to live and breathe.

Arsen, what a complete and utter twat, I’m sorry, I know we have a lot that are Team Arsen but he was not the good guy in this story. He was a player, we know why and that does go some way into explaining the reason he was that way and we did begin to see the true Arsen come out, but then he goes and spoils it. I do believe that he did actually love Cathy, although this was never actually confirmed throughout the story and we did see the “other side” in the epilogue. After reading the epilogue I did actually feel something for him, I did feel sorry for him and I do wish he gets a HEA. I am sure there must be another book coming out for him as I am sure his story is far from over.

Cathy, Cathy, Cathy where do I start??? Well, I hated this woman with a passion, there has only ever been one other female character that I have hated in a book and I think that Cathy tops that one and that is saying something. I know that hate is a strong word, but such are the emotions that this character evoked from me I have to use it. Perhaps this story was a bit too personal for me, I don’t know. I have been in Cathy’s shoes and whilst this is hard to admit, I felt the same, I felt a failure, I was heartbroken, I thought I was less womanly as I couldn’t do what my body was designed to do, but one thing I never did was give up, if anything I became more determined, I had an end goal and I was willing to do anything to achieve it and I did eventually. If anything, this testing time made me and my husband stronger, we went through it together and we never gave up hope. I could understand her pain, even more so than most and whilst we all react to certain events that happen to us in different ways I can honestly say hand on heart the route that she took never entered my head once. Ben was there for her, he tried to make her see the positives, but Cathy just saw this as him skating over the hurt and Ben not being affected by what they were going through. This was far from the case, he was just trying to bring his wife back, from that dark place that she gotten herself into. She did not just make a one time mistake, it was premeditated, she did it over and over again, she was willing to sacrifice everything that she had, everything that she and Ben had built together for the fact that another man made her forget. WTF!!! I just found her extremely selfish and down right evil. The things that she said to Ben, well, I cried for him, my heart broke and I sobbed.

Ben - “What about me? You think I wasn’t hurting just as much as you? Every f**king time I close my eyes, I can still hear the blood-curdling screams from that day. Sometimes I’m afraid to fall asleep because of images of you covered in your own blood haunt me even in my dreams. You miscarried and lost the babies, Cathy. Well, I lost those babies too and I also lost my wife. I was left with nothing but memories.”…”But that’s not my job anymore. I’m done. Just remember, Karma is a b***h.”

Cathy – “Karma may be a b***h, but when he came inside me I didn’t care because I came so f**king hard that I saw stars.”

Well, that just about sums her up, she may have been saying that to get a reaction or to somehow make Ben hate her so that she would feel better about leaving him, but darn, that is evil, I said EVIL!!!!

Well, I could prattle on forever about this book, but then I would spoil it for you all, as you can see it is thought provoking and emotional but it is an amazing read. I could not put it down. I devoured it. Mia Asher, you have some awesome skills there, I could have killed you but hey, I survived, I came out the other side, may have been puffy eyed and snotty nosed but I made it. All my love for this books goes to Ben, he truly was an awesome character, why he did what he did at the end god only knows, if it was me, I never would have gone there. Cathy, well, I can’t even say how I feel about the ending, just that, it is not what I wanted, or felt she deserved. Arsen, I do feel sorry for you, but I hope you get your HEA in another book, but this story was never gonna be a HEA for you.

Mia, super talented, I can’t wait to read what comes next. Go and 1click peeps, this book will either get you raging or loving, whatever the emotion, the book is amazing.

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