ARSEN: A BROKEN LOVE STORY

by Mia Asher

contemporary // dark // infidelity // adult

 

 

Oh. My. God.  How do you write a review when you’re dead inside?  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ughhhhh this one hurts.  This one hurts a lot.  A LOT.

This book is about adultery.  It says so in the book description and I knew what I was getting myself into but oh. My. God.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My heart aches for poor, loving, innocent Ben.  Sweet angel Ben.  He was the single most wonderful person in this whole entire mess.  But somehow I’m also left feeling sad for Arsen??  I can’t even think straight right now.  I think I’m trying to write this review too soon.  The wounds are too fresh.  My heart is still bleeding.

I’m also trying to figure out what to rate this as I type.  I did not enjoy this.  It was painful and vile and vicious.  Every paragraph was like a shiny new dagger— larger and sharper than the last, made to cut deeper and deeper until there was nothing left but hollow aching and misery…

Not exactly the most enjoyable of reading experiences, but good reading isn’t always enjoyable.  There were also times when I was needled by some of the dialogue and the abundant Arsen/fire metaphors, but I overlooked those petty details because I was so intrigued by the pulse of the story and the characters themselves.  And anything that can wield words so powerfully, with so much force and gut-wrenching emotion deserves 5 stars.  Also, Ben.  Ben deserves five stars just for existing.  Yes.  Decision made.  Moving on.

Cheating is deplorable.  It sickens me.  It is the one thing I personally would never be able to forgive, but I have a penchant for intimate looks into troubled literary marriages.  They fascinate me, and I am amazed when they are written so strongly you can feel the pain and frustration, the longing for the way things used to be, for the love they used to feel, the fear that this is it for the rest of their lives.  This one person.  Every day. Forever.  They start to feel trapped, bored, alone.  And their eyes begin to wander…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My first real glimpse into this type of book was Revolutionary Road, a story in which neither husband nor wife is satisfied anymore.  They’re bored.  They blame each other.  They fight incessantly.  They cheat.  And through it all, they stay together because they’re afraid to do anything else.  But what if the desperation and hopelessness was not equally shared?  What if it all fell on her shoulders while he remained passionately in love with her and their life together? 

 

 That’s what Arsen gives us:  A beautiful, loving husband and a woman utterly broken by her inability to have a baby.  She lets it fester and eat her up until it bleeds into her self-worth and her feelings for her perfect husband.  It wedges between them, slowly cracking their foundation until it shatters completely and drives her into Arsen’s bed… errr, Arsen’s kitchen counter, and floor, and shower… and bed.  I can’t even talk about Catherine.  I loathe her.  She disgusts me.  She does not deserve Ben.  I should loathe Arsen, too, but I just… I can’t.  He wasn’t exactly a victim by any means but he did have real feelings (and probable RIGHTS) that Catherine played around with like meaningless toys.  That epilogue destroyed me.  What am I saying?  This whole book destroyed me.  

And I’m so glad it found me.