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A review by pamgodwin
Arsen: A Broken Love Story by Mackenzie Cartwright, Roger Wayne, Mia Asher
4.0
In this drama of deceit, the main narrator is the antagonist. You only need to read the blurb to know what you're getting into. She's a liar. A cheater. A vile monster. One that will make you vibrate with seething hatred. You will NOT enjoy reading this. But if you dare, it will leave something inside you, something penetrating and thought-provoking.
As Cathy's emotional affair transitions into a physical one, you'll feel the weight of the wrecking ball heaving closer, building momentum, and the impact to your heart is as unavoidable as it is irreparable. You'll want the book to end--Just make it fucking stop!--but you'll be so pulled in, you won't be able to escape this endless loop through hell. This is owed to MA's potent writing and talent in constructing despicable characters.
What I loved about this story is that it's crushingly and frighteningly plausible. Cathy's POV is deeply excavated, exposed, rode hard and willingly unlovable. Her narration invites you to abhor her with vehemence. And oh, the whore of desperation and attention, how I loved to hate her!
She magnificently demonstrates how to destroy a perfect marriage with neither reason nor care. Her mantra might as well have been: Don't be honest. Don't communicate. Cut off sexual intimacy. Hurt him, break him, that man who adores you.
What's her motivation? I struggle to define this, but I think it is simply that she's unhealthily fixated on the only two things she can't have--a baby and a celebrity man-slut.
Amidst the suffering, the lesson is mighty. Marriage is work. Adultery destroys. Cathy is the cheater, the self-serving villain, the example of what not to do. And here's where the plot doesn't work for me. The moral of the story is genuine and demands an equally tenable conclusion, a detonation of justice. But, the consequence of her treachery is overlooked, and the message, the lesson so painstakingly laid, loses its purpose. The villain gets what she wants in the end! No, no, no! The villain isn't supposed to win! Did she learn anything? Did she find absolution? Not if her last fucking thought is anything to go by.
Other than the profusion of unneeded flashbacks and scenes out of chronological order, the writing is riveting. MA tackled a plot that is unpalatable and agonizing to digest, and wrote it spectacularly from the antagonist's POV. A damned difficult feat. Out-fucking-standing.
As Cathy's emotional affair transitions into a physical one, you'll feel the weight of the wrecking ball heaving closer, building momentum, and the impact to your heart is as unavoidable as it is irreparable. You'll want the book to end--Just make it fucking stop!--but you'll be so pulled in, you won't be able to escape this endless loop through hell. This is owed to MA's potent writing and talent in constructing despicable characters.
What I loved about this story is that it's crushingly and frighteningly plausible. Cathy's POV is deeply excavated, exposed, rode hard and willingly unlovable. Her narration invites you to abhor her with vehemence. And oh, the whore of desperation and attention, how I loved to hate her!
She magnificently demonstrates how to destroy a perfect marriage with neither reason nor care. Her mantra might as well have been: Don't be honest. Don't communicate. Cut off sexual intimacy. Hurt him, break him, that man who adores you.
What's her motivation? I struggle to define this, but I think it is simply that she's unhealthily fixated on the only two things she can't have--a baby and a celebrity man-slut.
Amidst the suffering, the lesson is mighty. Marriage is work. Adultery destroys. Cathy is the cheater, the self-serving villain, the example of what not to do. And here's where the plot doesn't work for me. The moral of the story is genuine and demands an equally tenable conclusion, a detonation of justice. But, the consequence of her treachery is overlooked, and the message, the lesson so painstakingly laid, loses its purpose. The villain gets what she wants in the end! No, no, no! The villain isn't supposed to win! Did she learn anything? Did she find absolution? Not if her last fucking thought is anything to go by.
Other than the profusion of unneeded flashbacks and scenes out of chronological order, the writing is riveting. MA tackled a plot that is unpalatable and agonizing to digest, and wrote it spectacularly from the antagonist's POV. A damned difficult feat. Out-fucking-standing.