kcoccia's review
5.0
I don't know how to review this book...yes I gave it 5 stars..it was great. The story was great, the characters were great, the drama was great...everything was great. I feel like my soul has been crushed a little, but that's what I was expecting when I bought this book. If you read this, I promise, you will hate the main character for most, if not all of the book. Expect it, but don't let it stop you from reading it. Its that good. Her husband...when I put this book on the wonderful men shelf its no joke....Ben is the most wonderful man I have ever read about. He is perfection. Theres not much else that can be said about him. Arsen....mixed feelings; interesting character. I shouldnt say anymore.
digitlchic's review
5.0
This was such an emotional read and masterfully done. Aestas review perfectly captures my feelings towards the book. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/704495258?book_show_action=false&page=1
margsvault's review
1.0
This book in a summary: KARMA IS A BITCH.
That one star I give is only dedicated to Ben.
Yes, Ben only. Not Cathy. And definitely not Arsen because he's a dick.
Wait, have I mentioned how much I despise and loathe Cathy? I pray to god that me myself, my children, my great grand children, and all women in this whole earth don't turn out to be someone like her.
If killing isn't illegal, I would choke her to death (yeah that's how MUCH I LOATHE HER)
Oh my god this book is unbelievable that I found myself laughing so hard when the "karma is a bitch" part came up. Yeah, she deserved it. Sorry not sorry.
That one star I give is only dedicated to Ben.
Yes, Ben only. Not Cathy. And definitely not Arsen because he's a dick.
Wait, have I mentioned how much I despise and loathe Cathy? I pray to god that me myself, my children, my great grand children, and all women in this whole earth don't turn out to be someone like her.
If killing isn't illegal, I would choke her to death (yeah that's how MUCH I LOATHE HER)
Oh my god this book is unbelievable that I found myself laughing so hard when the "karma is a bitch" part came up. Yeah, she deserved it. Sorry not sorry.
thenerdymom's review
5.0
I decided to sleep on it before writing this review.
As much as I thought it would help, it didn't.
^^The perfect representation for how I felt about this book.
**SPOILERS**
I am still so very torn apart from this book. Poor, poor Ben is all that is resonating in my head.
It is actually possible to hate the majority of characters in a book and still love the storyline? I I hated Catherine. I hated Arsen. I loved Ben. The entire time I was in Ben's corner. I thought maybe there was going to be a point in the story when I could understand why Catherine did what she did. But there was not. I wanted so badly to feel sorrow for what she was going through but for me, there is absolutely no excuse for cheating. Ever. Especially if you have a husband like Ben. I was hoping and praying in the end that Nadia was Ben's. Everything in me wanted the good guy to get what he wanted. So, THANK YOU MIA for leaving us without a clear answer. (dripping with sarcasm) Many people may argue that she is in fact's Arsen's daughter..but no. No, no, no. Not in my heart, that's for damn sure.
As much as I thought it would help, it didn't.
"I hate you as much as I loved you."
^^The perfect representation for how I felt about this book.
**SPOILERS**
I am still so very torn apart from this book. Poor, poor Ben is all that is resonating in my head.
It is actually possible to hate the majority of characters in a book and still love the storyline? I I hated Catherine. I hated Arsen. I loved Ben. The entire time I was in Ben's corner. I thought maybe there was going to be a point in the story when I could understand why Catherine did what she did. But there was not. I wanted so badly to feel sorrow for what she was going through but for me, there is absolutely no excuse for cheating. Ever. Especially if you have a husband like Ben. I was hoping and praying in the end that Nadia was Ben's. Everything in me wanted the good guy to get what he wanted. So, THANK YOU MIA for leaving us without a clear answer. (dripping with sarcasm) Many people may argue that she is in fact's Arsen's daughter..but no. No, no, no. Not in my heart, that's for damn sure.
kandisteiner's review
4.0
I really don't know where to begin.
I have never put off a review because I literally didn't know what to rate the book, but that's the case with Arsen. Originally, I put 3 stars and held off on the review, but the more I thought about it, I bumped it up to 4 stars. I'm still not sure if that's where I am, so screw the star rating, let me try to explain my feels.
First let me say, I DNF'd this book about a month ago and moved on to a different book. I just could't get into it. I was around 20% and was so severely annoyed with Cathy and not the least bit interested in either guy so I just said meh and moved on. But after I finished two other books, I felt bad for abandoning it, since that's not my typical style. So, I picked it up again.
I was still annoyed and really not interested until around 40%. For me, that's when it picked up. Now let me say this - I LOVE triangles. I'm one of those rare readers who actually enjoys being tortured, the forbidden romance, the guilt and the anguish over decisions being made. So, when this was highly recommended in a book group I'm in, I figured it had to be just what I was looking for. But, I went in expecting something like Thoughtless and found myself in a completely different world.
To me, the writing just wasn't strong *hides from brick throwers*. Now, hear me out. I respect anyone brave enough to put their words out there for others to read. However, I just couldn't ignore the poor writing throughout this book. When I say "poor writing", I don't mean it in a way that the book was complete crap, but rather in a way that there was a lot of eye rolling going on on my part. I didn't find the romance believable, the sex scenes made me feel awkward more so than hot, and I felt like a lot of it just had me like skim skim skim skim.
Okay. So, if that were my entire review, it would be a 2 star read - maybe.
But here's the thing.
As much as there were sighs and eye rolls going on, I was so very intrigued by the story. And, I connected with Cathy and her gut wrenching situation. So, the plot had me pulled in and I did want to keep reading. In fact, I stayed up until 2AM finishing this book because I couldn't STOP reading.
And, two parts of the book made me cry (these aren't spoilers): "Your lipstick is smudged" (OMG TEARS SO MANY TEARS BREAKING POINT OMG BEN BEN BEN and "Please, Cathy... not tonight. Not tonight. Let us... let me just kiss you." GAH MORE TEARS.
Okay, so do you see why my feels are all over the freaking place? I mean seriously what the heck am I supposed to think? I was on the same team from the beginning, which frustrated me because I wanted to feel the pull the way Cathy did - Arsen or Ben? But I just didn't. I was happy with the way the book ended, in a sense, though the epilogue made me feel weird. I don't know. I really just can't explain it.
So, would I recommend this book? Gah... I don't know. Maybe. If a reader was looking for an emotional read, probably, but not necessarily if they asked me for a good triangle book. I definitely think Mia Asher did a phenomenal job connecting with my emotions, but as a romance, it just kind of fell flat for me.
Okay, there it is. An honest review. Please don't stone me. *hides*
I have never put off a review because I literally didn't know what to rate the book, but that's the case with Arsen. Originally, I put 3 stars and held off on the review, but the more I thought about it, I bumped it up to 4 stars. I'm still not sure if that's where I am, so screw the star rating, let me try to explain my feels.
First let me say, I DNF'd this book about a month ago and moved on to a different book. I just could't get into it. I was around 20% and was so severely annoyed with Cathy and not the least bit interested in either guy so I just said meh and moved on. But after I finished two other books, I felt bad for abandoning it, since that's not my typical style. So, I picked it up again.
I was still annoyed and really not interested until around 40%. For me, that's when it picked up. Now let me say this - I LOVE triangles. I'm one of those rare readers who actually enjoys being tortured, the forbidden romance, the guilt and the anguish over decisions being made. So, when this was highly recommended in a book group I'm in, I figured it had to be just what I was looking for. But, I went in expecting something like Thoughtless and found myself in a completely different world.
To me, the writing just wasn't strong *hides from brick throwers*. Now, hear me out. I respect anyone brave enough to put their words out there for others to read. However, I just couldn't ignore the poor writing throughout this book. When I say "poor writing", I don't mean it in a way that the book was complete crap, but rather in a way that there was a lot of eye rolling going on on my part. I didn't find the romance believable, the sex scenes made me feel awkward more so than hot, and I felt like a lot of it just had me like skim skim skim skim.
Okay. So, if that were my entire review, it would be a 2 star read - maybe.
But here's the thing.
As much as there were sighs and eye rolls going on, I was so very intrigued by the story. And, I connected with Cathy and her gut wrenching situation. So, the plot had me pulled in and I did want to keep reading. In fact, I stayed up until 2AM finishing this book because I couldn't STOP reading.
And, two parts of the book made me cry (these aren't spoilers): "Your lipstick is smudged" (OMG TEARS SO MANY TEARS BREAKING POINT OMG BEN BEN BEN and "Please, Cathy... not tonight. Not tonight. Let us... let me just kiss you." GAH MORE TEARS.
Okay, so do you see why my feels are all over the freaking place? I mean seriously what the heck am I supposed to think? I was on the same team from the beginning, which frustrated me because I wanted to feel the pull the way Cathy did - Arsen or Ben? But I just didn't. I was happy with the way the book ended, in a sense, though the epilogue made me feel weird. I don't know. I really just can't explain it.
So, would I recommend this book? Gah... I don't know. Maybe. If a reader was looking for an emotional read, probably, but not necessarily if they asked me for a good triangle book. I definitely think Mia Asher did a phenomenal job connecting with my emotions, but as a romance, it just kind of fell flat for me.
Okay, there it is. An honest review. Please don't stone me. *hides*
bgilvaja's review
5.0
“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.”
What can I say about this book…honestly it made me sick.
I had heart palpitations…
…Bouts of nausea…
…Feelings of depression and at times full on hopelessness.
Arsen is the prefect name for this novel, because after reading it, I feel like my heart and my brain have both been shredded in to a million pieces tiny pieces by a dull bladed blender, while Mia Asher joyfully saturated them in gasoline, then dropped a match into her masterful concoction, and laughed while I burned alive in it.
Arsen: A Broken Love Story starts out with our heroine, Cathy, letting us in on one of the worst things a woman can ever experience. The failure of her body in regards to safely encasing a child in her womb until they are ready to come earth side. Its gut wrenching to read and feel the heartache that Cathy has been through, while continuing to mourn her latest loss, and see that her feelings of depression and hopelessness are foreshadowing of worse things to come.
The first few chapters of this book rotate back and forth between present day happenings and flash blacks of significant moments of the past. I loved reading the flash backs because I could literally feel the love that Ben and Cathy had for one another.
Which is why Arsen, aka bad boy millionaire, immediately rubbed me the wrong way; I knew he was trouble from the minute he first stepped off his daddy’s private jet, and laid those deceitful eyes, on our girl Catherine.
There were parts of this book where I loathed Catherine and her indecisiveness, but upon further reflection: I get it.
I get why she felt torn between these two beautiful men.
Each one of them had something to offer her that she was missing her in life; a void that she eventually figures out how to fill properly without hurting others in the process.
I started out wanting to give this book 5 stars then switched to 3 stars, and almost gave it a 1 star rating at one point, because it affected me THAT much. As you can see I settled with 5 *out of this world* fucking stars because this book was worth EVER penny that I spent on it and probably more.
I think what really hit me the hardest is that I've been in Cathy’s shoes before, in regards to marrying young and finding yourself moving out of the “honey moon phase” and into the more challenging parts of marriage. It fucking sucks sometimes, and Mia does a wonderful job of depicting how you can fall out of love with your soul mate, and just as quickly realize that you can’t breathe without them.
“Arsen became the air I needed to breathe, but Ben was my lungs. What good would air be if I didn’t have lungs to begin with?”
Being that I could ramble on for days about this book, here’s my quick notes version review:
This book hurts.
I hated Catherine.
I despised Arsen.
I felt sympathy for Ben.
I cried for Catherine.
I still fucking despised Arsen.
I prayed for Ben.
And eventually I rooted for Catherine.
Miracles ARE the consequences of daring to believe.
Oh and Amy is kickass.
The.End.
GIFalicious review can be found on my blog, since Photobucket is a bandwidth blocking bitch >.>
http://thisbitchheartsbooks.blogspot.com/2013/08/arsen-broken-love-story-by-mia-asher.html
What can I say about this book…honestly it made me sick.
I had heart palpitations…
…Bouts of nausea…
…Feelings of depression and at times full on hopelessness.
Arsen is the prefect name for this novel, because after reading it, I feel like my heart and my brain have both been shredded in to a million pieces tiny pieces by a dull bladed blender, while Mia Asher joyfully saturated them in gasoline, then dropped a match into her masterful concoction, and laughed while I burned alive in it.
Arsen: A Broken Love Story starts out with our heroine, Cathy, letting us in on one of the worst things a woman can ever experience. The failure of her body in regards to safely encasing a child in her womb until they are ready to come earth side. Its gut wrenching to read and feel the heartache that Cathy has been through, while continuing to mourn her latest loss, and see that her feelings of depression and hopelessness are foreshadowing of worse things to come.
The first few chapters of this book rotate back and forth between present day happenings and flash blacks of significant moments of the past. I loved reading the flash backs because I could literally feel the love that Ben and Cathy had for one another.
Which is why Arsen, aka bad boy millionaire, immediately rubbed me the wrong way; I knew he was trouble from the minute he first stepped off his daddy’s private jet, and laid those deceitful eyes, on our girl Catherine.
There were parts of this book where I loathed Catherine and her indecisiveness, but upon further reflection: I get it.
I get why she felt torn between these two beautiful men.
Each one of them had something to offer her that she was missing her in life; a void that she eventually figures out how to fill properly without hurting others in the process.
I started out wanting to give this book 5 stars then switched to 3 stars, and almost gave it a 1 star rating at one point, because it affected me THAT much. As you can see I settled with 5 *out of this world* fucking stars because this book was worth EVER penny that I spent on it and probably more.
I think what really hit me the hardest is that I've been in Cathy’s shoes before, in regards to marrying young and finding yourself moving out of the “honey moon phase” and into the more challenging parts of marriage. It fucking sucks sometimes, and Mia does a wonderful job of depicting how you can fall out of love with your soul mate, and just as quickly realize that you can’t breathe without them.
“Arsen became the air I needed to breathe, but Ben was my lungs. What good would air be if I didn’t have lungs to begin with?”
Being that I could ramble on for days about this book, here’s my quick notes version review:
This book hurts.
I hated Catherine.
I despised Arsen.
I felt sympathy for Ben.
I cried for Catherine.
I still fucking despised Arsen.
I prayed for Ben.
And eventually I rooted for Catherine.
Miracles ARE the consequences of daring to believe.
Oh and Amy is kickass.
The.End.
GIFalicious review can be found on my blog, since Photobucket is a bandwidth blocking bitch >.>
http://thisbitchheartsbooks.blogspot.com/2013/08/arsen-broken-love-story-by-mia-asher.html
ammc's review
5.0
This is a tough book to review. Feel like I need to be clear. I did not like the story or two of the main characters, in fact, I despised them. I will have to say I was rooting against them the whole time and I am little disturbed at the ending. The 5 stars goes straight to the author and her excellent character development. I had lots of feelings while reading this and a lot of them not good, so kudos to the author for invoking lots of feelings in this girl. This is not a book I would ever read again, but is one that I will think about a good bit. If you are considering reading this book, this is your warning. It is gritty, extremely graphic and sad.