The Arc by Tory Henwood Hoen was a fun take on finding the one for you. I enjoyed the depth of the characters and the background that was provide about them. It felt like you were one of their friends as well, which made this a unique read.

Ursula meets Rafael after being part of The Arc. It is a different type of dating service that promises to find your ideal mate. Ursula isn't sure this is for her, but ends up deciding to go anyway. When things with Ursula and Rafael don't go as planned they have to decide if this really is true love.

St. Martin's Press and NetGalley sent me a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

2.5
I'm not really sure where to start with this book. I liked it for the most part; the concept was cool and I (initially) liked the main character. But there were a lot of moments I didn't like because they didn't quite land. The pacing in this book was.. bad and I found it detrimental to the novel overall.

The pacing itself actually ruined the main character for me. I really liked Ursula; I thought she was fun, quirky in a not-annoying way, and funny. Unfortunately I felt like that was all lost when the relationship started. It was like how she mentioned to her friend that she "lost" herself in relationships, and a perfect one would be one where she was herself the whole time. And that relationship is supposedly what hers with Rafael is... But it wasn't. I found the author lost the grasp on Ursula's character once Rafael was introduced and never quite got it back.

Another thing that I felt was detrimental was the unending descriptions and info on things that DID NOT MATTER! At all! There were pages of info on the Stake and for what? Me to wish I could be in a lavender mist room that played Prince music? For me to yearn for an adult crying pod that played original-for-the-experience Maggie Rogers songs???? It was not necessary to the story - and that's truly just the tip of the iceberg. There were just too many outside (of the romance) things going on that it really stole the spark from the story.

There was a line in the major fight between Ursula and Rafael (not a spoiler, this is a modern romance novel) that I felt was really cruel and it was never talked about. I didn't like that. If someone said that to me we'd absolutely be having a whole conversation about it.

I found the ending really boring, actually, because I thought it was incredibly obvious what was happening. Instead of being like "oooh, that's clever!" I was more like, "okay? I knew that. And?"

If I'm being honest, I would have preferred this novel as a coming of age (I know she's 35, but she was still really coming into her own skin properly). Like a contemporary novel about Ursula having a mini life crisis and trying to figure it out. Cut the Arc out of the book and have her meet Rafael at a work thing or whatever, etc.! I think I personally would have enjoyed it a lot more as a contemporary novel with a romance or two, than a romance novel.

TW fatphobia. The sentence was something along the lines of: "She had a bad break up after college and lost 15 pounds, and never gained it back. Small miracles." I am paraphrasing as I did not write the line down anywhere. I hope this is caught and deleted before the pub day, but I won't hold my breath.

I did not enjoy the dark sense of humor. This read was not one I would typically read. Perhaps others would prefer it more that I did.

I found this book to be entertaining & pleasantly surprising. I thought Ursula was a feisty, intelligent, spontaneous, & fun female character. She is struggling to figure out exactly what she wants from lie. Rafael is a strong, steady, reliable, & thoughtful counterpart to her. He is happy in his balance of work & home life. They meet through an extremely expensive but interesting concept for dating. It's called the ARC & they promise finding your perfect match, guaranteeing you will be together 18 months from first date. The concept of this book is great as there are so many dating apps currently out there for people to try to meet their true love. The concept that you can spend a week somewhere taking tests, performing athletic endeavors, & being interviewed in intriguing. I highly recommend reading this book.

Thanks to the publisher & NetGalley for advanced copy in exchange for my honest review

A new look at finding romance ....when 35 year old successful Ursula has had no luck in finding a life long husband after trying many different ways to meet eligible men she is given a business card for The ARC. After much consideration she decides to check it out ....an intense look at everything in your life including how you sleep, how you handle stress , what tuns you on for a mere 45,500 dollars. Rafael is a lawyer who is also seeking The perfect one to fit in his life. The two are presented with an envelope after screening stating they are a perfect match....they meet and everything seems over the top amazing ......until they are called in and to,d The Arc made a mistake.

This story is about ones journey to find yourself and look at your habits and lifestyle and figuring out if you are the one sabotaging your future by not dealing with your past, your outlooks on life and your ideal vision. It’s quirky and funny at times . I found about two thirds in it got a bit long but kept reading and enjoyed the journey of these two and their friends , the characters are very likeable

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

I would recommend this book to friends and family and to my book clubs

Sometimes I crave a quick, light book in between my lofty goals of reading long, brooding classic novels, and The Arc was the perfect choice. I also couldn't get over how amusing it was to have an ARC of The Arc - thanks NetGalley!

This novel centered on a high-tech matchmaking service that's guaranteed to find your perfect partner based on thousands of factors. It involved a week's worth of blood tests, questionnaires, therapy sessions, meditation, and a hefty pricetag - $50,000 for men, and $40,500 for women (to make up for the gender wage gap, naturally).

Ursula, a quirky 35-year-old VP of Strategic Audacity (seriously) was matched with Rafael, a perfectly perfect 42-year-old lawyer. As predicted, it's a love connection right away. The witty banter! The cute nicknames! The immediate chemistry! But then, months later, The Arc confessed there was a glitch in their analysis and their relationship is utterly doomed.

Even though I've read books with simiar concepts, this was still a ton of fun to read. Both characters were charming and easy to root for, and there was a very cute cat involved. Always a plus.

I am so torn on how to rate this one! I mostly enjoyed my time spent reading The Arc, but I struggled quite a bit engaging with the first half of the story, it just seemed to slow for me. I also wish this book focused on the romance rather than trying to create a lot of other plot lines that fell flat. However, I loved the setting & loved the characters. The Arc is a very unique book that I would recommend to everyone looking for a quick, enjoyable read.

Thank you to @smpromance for a copy of The Arc. This was a story of high end match making service. This story centers on Ursula and Rafael as they start their dating journey. I thought the pacing was a bit slow with just Ursula’s POV the first 25% of the book. I like the idea of the pressure being off for them as they were perfectly matched by the Arc and they could be themselves. I enjoyed the dual POV and the pacing of the narrator.

The Arc by Tory Henwood Hoen is a unique story. It definitely has you thinking. It was nice to read a imaginative story as this one was and I think it will appeal to many readers. I felt the narrator did a really nice job in this as well. I can’t say that this was one I could totally relate to and did find it was dragging out a little for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martins Press for the opportunity to read this book for an honest review.

✨Book Review✨
The ARC by Tory Henwood Hoen
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
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This book was SO surprisingly good. I almost never read books without someone recommending them first, but this was one that I saw on Netgalley and was strangely drawn to. And I am SO glad I was.
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I enjoyed this book way too much. I don't even know why. The concept of this book just immediately intrigued me. I loved following the ARC of Ursula and Rafael's relationship. I loved their chemistry. I loved their deep conversations. I loved watching them talk about their feelings and work their way through their past relationship traumas. And I loved the ARC. I wish it were real!
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I started off reading the e-book and then switched to the @libro.fm audiobook, and I would definitely recommend the audio. This book comes out on February 8th, and I highly recommend reading it if you want an enticing story that deals with navigating romantic relationships.

A futuristic, bougie "match.com" story about two quirky individuals who will do anything to find the "one".

The Arc is a matchmaking service for the privileged. Spend $50k (or $40.5k to account for the wage gap if you're a female) and the Arc guarantees they will find you your perfect match.

Tired of the single life, professionally well established, ready to start a family, and suddenly into some unexpected funds, Ursula decides to seize the opportunity to partake in the Arc after it is recommended to her at The Stake - an upscale gym and wellness center. The Arc is unique in that they require you to move in to their facility for one week where they poke, prod, and monitor you inside and out in order to find your perfect match.

Almost immediately, Ursula is paired with Rafael, a lawyer in his early 40s. The chemistry between them is undeniable and because they are supposedly destined to be together, their relationship moves at a rapid pace.

But, just when everything seems like it couldn't be more perfect, the Arc admits to making a mistake. Are Rafael and Ursula truly destined to be together? Or are they destined to fail?

There were a lot of aspects to this novel I really liked. For one, the pacing was well done. Just when I was fed up with Ursula whining about being single she meets Rafael; when I was tired of the lovey dovey-ness between Rafael and Ursula, a wrench was thrown in; etc. Also, I liked that we got to know Rafael and Ursula so well. Often in romance novels, I feel like the entire story is about the romance but here, the author really made an effort to empower women and tell Ursula's story above and beyond her relationship with Rafael.

I listened to this novel on audio and the narrator was fantastic. Normally, when there are multiple narrators in a story, I like the audio to use different narrators as well, which wasn't the case here. However, Mary Elizabeth Kelly did a really great job tweaking her voice just enough to differentiate between characters without sounding silly or overproduced.

My gripes with this novel are fairly minimal. I feel like this storyline has played out several times in the last couple years with futuristic dating services (John Marrs' "The One", Christina Lauren's "Soulmate Equation") and while this was unique compared to those, it fell a little flat in some ways and was also just too unrealistic for me.

First off, the Arc was exclusive, secretive and really expensive. That in and of itself would seemingly limit the number of matches. So I took issue with the fact that Rafael and Ursula were instantly matched and so well matched at that. Second, for an advanced dating service (and a progressive novel as far as its stance on feminism (which was almost too much, but I digress)), I was disappointed in the lack of non-hetero relationship possibilities. When Ursula went to the Arc for the week for her testing, it was never even suggested that she may match with anyone other than a hetero male. This just felt like a bit of an oversight to me and it really should have been more inclusive.

I will say, the ending to this novel was ON POINT. My jaw hit the floor and I absolutely loved it. So, well played Hoen!!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Libro.FM, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this novel.

To be posted on my blog on 2/8/2022.

Unfortunately this book wasn’t for me and I put it down a few pages in. I thought it was a bit cheesy and it didn’t catch my attention. I also felt it was moving very slow and I was waiting for the story to go somewhere.

I was absolutely excited by the whole premise of arc and how it curates "the one" for its clients. I can actually see it would be an interesting movie or series that I would watch. But the start was really slow for me and the role of Ursula as VP of Strategic Audacity was really weird. I get that firms can have whatever roles but it was a bit too much. I like the feministic part of main character. It's for readers who are interested in finding soulmate in dystopian times kind plots. Another issue for me was the main character felt very unlikeable and was even annoying at times. Overall, interesting premise but the writing style did not workout for me.

Thanks for the advanced reader copy!

""I think the real issue," said Ursula, "is that I'm weird - very, very weird. Not in a cute, quirky, rom-com way, but in a slightly disturbing way. Not like, "she crinkles her nose when she laughs! Wacky!" But like, 'She walks down the street with her cat in one of those bubble backpacks,' or 'She uses a vibrator as a face massager.'"

This book was really not it for me. Between the overtly embarrassing nicknames and cringe dialogue and a ridiculously annoying main character, I couldn't stand this book. In my opinion, she was trying too hard to be woke and feminist and it just made me uncomfortable. There were so many random plots that went nowhere and made no sense. Honestly, I would've preferred for this to have been just about Rafael or from this perspective because I did appreciate his character.

But Ursula's outbursts, neediness, and inability to process her own emotions seriously needed some therapy. While I found the actual idea of The Arc and the lab tests and science to be fascinating, the author didn't go anywhere with it. The conflict around the halfway mark truly interested me, but the author sunk that ship in the ending. The ending in my opinion felt rushed and not fleshed out fully.

Also, can we talk about her job position being, Vice President of Strategic Audacity? I'm sorry but WHAT IS THAT!

Overall, I wouldn't recommend this book unless you can't get enough of that specific brand of occasional Colleen Hoover cheesiness. Definitely a forgettable read for me!

I've had this book on my shelf for months and months and no matter how much I slug along I don't think it's going to be the book for me. I liked the premise and the main character was both likeable and unlikeable but I just don't think the writing style was for me. Maybe another day soon I will be able to give this book another go and actually enjoy it but for now I think I need to focus on books I actually want to read. Sorry :(

Thank you NetGalley for the review copy!

This was an incredibly smart, well written, fun and thought provoking book. Ursula's character was perfectly unique and yet somehow felt very relatable. I liked the alternating perspectives, though at times they felt a bit hard to follow when they were within the same chapter. It felt like she went through some great personal development and I really enjoyed how The Arc (though it felt silly at times) wove itself throughout the story. Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

A lot of people have written about how much they enjoyed this book, but I am not one of them. I have picked it up repeatedly, yet can't get past that 10% mark. I'm done. Too boring, long paragraphs with no end in sight and no interest in going any further.
Thank you NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest opinion.

The Arc is such a clever thought provoking romance that really makes you think.⁣
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How far would you go to find love ? Would you be willing to put all of your eggs in one basket in hopes for a new system, that’s fairly expensive to find your true love without having to go on multiple dating websites, awkward dates, and awkward conversations to find the one for you? ⁣
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This story wasn’t your typical trope. It was funny, feministic, creative and interesting. It really makes you sit back and think, if I were single would I do something like this?⁣
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Could I go through a 7 day retreat essentially and spill all my deepest feelings to specialists in hopes that they would match me with someone and take out all of the questions and awkwardness out of finding one because if someone else is paying for this, they’re in it 100% too right? No concerns? It’s legit?⁣
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Ursula and Rafael take the leap. Are so quirky and cute and awkward and endearing. Did the ARC get it right or will they fail them? Such a clever debut novel!⁣
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Thank you for an ARC for my honest review! @stmartinspress #netgalley

There is a lot to like about this novel, in which Ursula Byrne, a VP of Strategic Audacity at a branding company in Manhattan, goes to extremes to find her perfect mate.

I liked Ursula—I understand the challenges of both needing to make money and also being a feminist. How much can of rabble rouser can you be when most of the people who can pay for her company’s services are men?

The pacing at times was a slog, and a couple things bothered me. For a man to use this service of The Arc, which using seven days’ worth of testing to determine who is the best match for you, costs 50K, for a woman, 40.5K (because of the gender wage gap). Ursula is doing fine economically, but she doesn’t have an extra 40K lying around, but conveniently a billionaire likes her skills and hires her to do contract consulting for a year for 100K. Let me be clear: She’s the VP of a company and picks up a 100K SIDE GIG. So, now she has the money to try out this service, but she can only be matched with a man who uses this service, meaning another male who can afford to throw around 50 nonrefundable thousand dollars. Who happens to live in New York City. Despite this relatively small pool of potential suitors, when she meets Rafael, they really do seem blissfully happy together . . . at first.

The other thing that bothered me was that we’re told that Ursula and Rafael had to sign non-disclosure agreements about how The Arc’s process works, and twice Rafael explains to his friends/sister in detail how it works, one of those times right after explaining he can’t say anything because he signed an NDA.

I’m not sure if the ending was meant to be a twist, but it definitely wasn’t.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this novel, which RELEASES FEBRUARY 8, 2022.

A funny love story filled with a great amount of satire. Dystopian look at relationships.
Possibly the first love story with unlikeable characters I have ever read - and I kinda loved it.