Love Seen From Hell

Love Seen #1

by John Emil Augustine

This rare and honest first-person account looks at 21st century romance, marriage with children, and divorce from a regular guy’s perspective. The colorful and addictive narrative delves deep into spousal abuse, the hopeless place in which a father finds himself during divorce, new beginnings, and his ordeal’s significance in retrospect. John Emil Augustine’s insight throughout, the result of his own tragedy and redemption, is nothing short of eloquence itself written in a very down-to-earth, casual way. This heart-jerking, wisdom-flecked story is a must read for lovers of fiction and non-fiction alike.

113 pages, ebook

First published June 22, 2012

About the author

John Emil Augustine grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota and toured in his twenties and early thirties with local and national acts; writing, arranging, and performing with notable jazz, blues, gospel, reggae, post funk, prog rock, and folk groups. John has also been a landscaper, mail carrier, forklift operator, and English professor with Master's degrees in Adult Education and Communications. He currently lives in Minneapolis with his wife and four boys. John is writing the From the Abyss book series and has recorded the albums Chants for Renewal, Presence and Awareness and Postcards From the Abyss. John is also in the planning stages of "Write Is Right" workshops for abuse survivors.

Reviews

[Lynelle Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Humbleness, Honesty, Courage and a good measure of wisdom revealed a world of abuse and bullying from a man's view. Mistakes was made on both sides but yet not once I saw a man that said this was your fault. He first started with him self where he could change, not only for himself but his son. His main concern. At the end it cost him heaven on earth but yet it only was a shadow with what he end up with. John's life is an open book for those who is seeking answers with their own questions, their own struggles. I saw a lot of myself in both John and Cindi. It brought me to tears.
"Your life is a process to be enjoyed." he has learned the hard way. Sometimes we miss that lesson in our own trails. It is easy to say Cindi was manipulative[and she was, no doubt] a bully but yet John never blamed her and moved on. With each step he came closer to where he is right at this moment. Tricked? maybe into a marriage the woman knew where this was headed but what stood out the most was John's strong character of responsibility towards his son. To be there for him even if it cost him. He was willing to lay down his own desires and needs to make it better for Charles. What a Blessing to have great grand parents and grand parents that instilled this in him fro a young age. As if he was prepared for this. To learn life's lessons at such an early stage in life and still speak about it without any bitterness. Just seeing the process as it is. Thanks for sharing your life story.
I will give a more detailed review on my blog.

[Brenda Perlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the minute I started reading Love Seen from Hell by John Emil Augustine I was hooked. I wanted and tell EVERYONE that I knew to read this book! From the first paragraph I was in love and that is how fast I was pulled in. I was totally captured by the main character and could relate to some of his problems and circumstances. I love that this book is from a man’s point of view which makes this a very refreshing read. I admire his honesty and raw vulnerability. I really could not and did not want to put this book down. I had to know how things turned out. This book reads well from the beginning to the end. I love the author’s smooth and clever writing style. It is so well written that as an author I have a little bit of writer envy. I can’t help it...that is just the way I feel!

I was only checking this book out because I was going to be doing a blog radio interview at the same time with John. I had never heard of John or his books. I did not have high hopes for this as I have read many disappointing books recently that came highly recommended.

Well, I was pleasantly surprised and so thankful there is a book two, Love Seen from Heartache. There are just some books that move you, stick with you and change you for the better. I would say this book is one of them.

[Chasity · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was very raw and real. It discusses John’s life at an in-depth level, from all his failed relationships, to his children, to his jobs. I thought this book was very sad but a very good read, it was clearly John being very vulnerable and open about his life.

It also touches on spousal abuse from a male point of view. She was very mentally abusive and it was a lot to absorb for me so it took me a while to finish the book. I found it very interesting to read about these subjects from a male’s perspective. Divorce, failed relationship and abuse, even though in this case it was mental it didn’t make it any lesser form of abuse for me, usually I see a lot of books that are about these subjects from a woman’s view. So it was a fresh look for me.

You could see that mistakes were made on both sides but it seemed as if John really tried to make it work but it just didn’t. At the end I just really felt sad for him. I really enjoyed reading about his teaching techniques though. Those were very intriguing.

I think John has been through a very long journey and I am glad that he is writing and letting go of all of this sadness and heartbreak. Hopefully now he can have a happy and fully life.

[Kristen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can't believe I made it through this book. It was free on my nook and the only unread book I had during a vacation with no wireless to download something worthwhile. It is true tale of one man's trip through a nasty marriage and lots of failed relationships with girlfriends. I couldn't help often thinking that his reflections were quite adolescent. He was self-berating, but he conveniently failed to reflect on his cheating behavior, and I felt that there was a big piece of the story missing that would shed light on why his wife was so angry at him. I felt like I was walking through a blockheaded guy's struggle to build up his own floundering ego. Even the act of writing his story and publishing it seemed to be part of his scheme to manipulate others to sympathize with his side of the story. I found myself tiring of the writing at times. His reflections at the end were painfully cliche. The only interesting part was his description of his teaching style as an English professor, but overall thumbs down from me. This is the first time I get to write a review for a book I thought was poorly written...my first time as a harsh critic.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

the writing really ran on andon. it seemed to repeat itself often but it was a good story. it left me with a few questions unanswered. it was a good read granted it was for free. I don't think I would have been happy had I paid for it.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel like 2 is a little bit on the generous side. I think that if I had known this man, I'd like it. But here I am a random stranger to the author, not knowing him, I can't help but be a little judgemental. Pretty horrible right? He does have some redeeming qualities that made me give it a 2

[Judy Brekke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book in one sitting. Excellent journey with a male individual and his journey through several years of his life. Emotional, entertaining, and articulate.

[Amadeo M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very sad story.