#PaperbackFriday Review: Real Beast: Abused by Brian Arthur Levene

Title: Real Beast: Abused
Author: Brian Arthur Levene
Publisher: Gully Gods Publishing
Published: November 14, 2013
Pages: 244
Genre: Real story
Review: Paperback won via GoodReads

What becomes of a marriage to someone who has been sexually, physically, and emotionally abused for fifteen years by their own father? Real Beast: Abused is a gripping and compelling true story of two people whose love becomes corrupted by their past, family ties, cultures, and their Muslim and Christian religion.
The strikingly beautiful Laila, a Pakistani Muslim’s life is plagued by every type of abuse from a young age, which leaves her distorted, conflicted, and questioning her sexual identity. Her husband Arthur, falls victims to Laila’s attempts to replace her own culture and religion with a material and carnal way of life. Soon he realizes there's a hidden side to Laila's long term agenda which may not involve living a heterosexual lifestyle.


Real Beast: Abused is a must read for anyone with an urge to observe the long term effects of abuse and the melting of different and often opposing culture's ideals on Sexuality, Loyalty and Love.


From The Editor: Brian Arthur Levene’s fifth book, Real Beast: Abused, is the true story of the marriage between a beautiful young woman, who struggles to break free from her own middle-eastern religion, culture, and ethos of sexuality and an American who has different ideals. The conflict transforms the couple’s capacity to love, nearly destroying each of them in the course of their lives together. The immersion of Laila into the materialistic and carnal ideals of the western world is also her escape from an abused past.


Neither her striking beauty, the purity of her husband’s devotion and love, nor the birth of a son is enough to overcome malicious desires to consume her adopted culture and its trappings. Money, and her submission to sexual deviance cultivates this insightful story of the inescapable and inseparable psychological realities of abuse, love and culture—vices that bring out the Real Beast.

I won this book via Goodreads. When I read the blurb I was like wow this is going to real, and heartbreaking.

It took me a while to get to this book as I had others to read so when I actually sat down to read it as part of my new Paperback Friday post #PaperbackFriday I knew I needed to get busy reading it.

The book started off okay but by the middle of the book I literally felt lost as to what was happening. Even though this book is based on real events, the author jumped around so much that it was hard to even know what year we were in half the time. 

In books like this it is always hard to get upset at the choices the person or persons make because we haven't gone through what they have, but some of the stuff I just was shocked at why Arthur stayed. Half the time I wondered where their young son was during all of this because he seemed to be there sometimes but other times he wasn't. 

You can tell Arthur loves Laila but sometimes when there is more hate and physical violence and you have a way out you should take it. Arthur learns over the years what Laila went through with her family it was not normal. Being sexually abused by those that are called family is wrong on so many levels and you can understand why Laila acts the way she does. But when things start happening in his own home and he is questioning half the time what his daughter and Laila are doing you have to wonder where the heck was Arthur's mind at in all of this.

It was heartbreaking to read that people all around Arthur and Laila were not for their relationship because of their religions, it goes to show that sometimes you can not break the tradition no matter how much you love someone. 

Even though like I said the book is real and raw, it just was hard to really get into. Not only with the decisions Arthur was making but the timeline of things that would happen from time to time, along with some grammar issues that were found within the story.

Thanks for stopping by my page! I try to make sure that my books entertain even when writing about true events so hopefully you will enjoy. I like nonfiction more than fiction but try to write both. It all depends on the mood and what’s transpiring in my life at that particular time. I am a Jamaican born, New York-bred writer who has completed six books so far and another that I am currently writing. The next book will be out in February 2014.
Not Easily Washed Away was my first offering, which details the abuse of a young woman who is very close to me. The traumatic events that occurred within her life and my education in psychology moved me to write books which give voice to individuals who have suffered from mild to extreme trauma, detailing how their psyche changes during and after abuse.

My new book, Real Beast: Abused, chronicles the behavior that someone exhibits after they suffered through a crisis or a traumatic event. What makes a Real Beast? Mental trauma, addictions, and radical fundamental beliefs cause a complex multi-dimensional cascade of brain reactions that start immediately after acceptance that can lead to primitive behavior, causing someone to be perceived as a Real Beast.
I’m pretty sociable and easy to find. I’m on twitter at @B_RealBeast, on Facebook athttps://www.facebook.com/brian.levene1 and on my website at http://www.gullygods.com I am always interested in meeting new people from around the world so please don't be shy and give me a shout!



Bio: Brian Arthur Levene was born in Kingston, Jamaica, on October 24, 1973. He grew up in Back Bush, one of Kingston’s roughest urban ghettos. His mother taught kindergarten until leaving Jamaica in 1983 for the United States, leaving Brian and his older sister behind.
Two years later, Brian passed his sixth-grade exams and earned a place at Jamaica College, one of Kingston’s top five high schools. In 1988, before he graduated, one of the most powerful hurricanes ever ripped through Jamaica, displacing hundreds of Kingston’s citizens, including Brian. He reunited with his mother in Mount Vernon, New York, where she lived. In the States, Brian’s interests shifted from academics to writing poetry and songs, producing music, and playing semi-professional golf.
In 2001, Brian moved to Palm Beach, Florida, to focus strictly on semi-professional golf, traveling to tournaments throughout the United States. In 2007, he relocated to Yakima, Washington, after deciding to pursue a career in the health field in order to benefit others. After receiving an Associate’s Degree in Science at Yakima College, he started school at Washington State University, in January 2008. He transferred to Southern Connecticut State University in August, where he studied public health. He started to write his first and second novels in his senior year.

Graduating in December 2010 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Health and Epidemiology, Brian published this first novel, Not Easily Washed Away, in April of 2011 while pursuing his Master’s Degree in Forensics Psychology. Brian’s co-author is his wife, whose pen-name is Anon Beauty and whose life inspired this book.