Author: Jamie McGuire
Publisher: Simon & Shuster
Publication Date: August 2012
Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance/YA
Series or Stand Alone: Series, Book One
Synopsis can be found here.
NetGalley review.
Review:
Abby is finally at college, determined to make a new life for herself and get away from her old life. Travis is the ladies' man, strong, aggressive and a fighter. When he encounters Abbey, he's surprised to see her resist his charms and this intrigues him. A bet, a month of vulnerability and Abbey and Travis seem to know each other better than anyone else. But they're only friends, right?
I don't know what I can say about Beautiful Disaster that has not already written. I started reading it and couldn't put it down. There are many scenes through the book that had me cringing, heartbroken and sad. There were many scenes where I was in love with Travis, felt sorry for Abbey, couldn't wait to see what happened next.
Travis and Abbey are very damaged people, but they find something genuine and warm in each other. The first part of the book is a strong roller-coaster of a ride, and there were some twists in there I didn't see coming. The second part dragged for me a little bit. There were a couple of things that happened that didn't seem very likely. The mob. The last few rounds of Travis fighting.
Reading Beautiful Disaster is just like it sounds- watching two people collide into each other over and over again, a wreck in slow motion, hoping each time they'll come out of it with new realization and appreciation for each other.
Yes, Travis is a brute when it comes to Abby. He's possessive, over protective and is maybe showing some very concerning signs about his obsession with his best friend. I'm particularly thinking of a scene when he won't let Abbey out of the house because of what she's wearing. There's a few other instances that make Travis less than a stellar male lead.
But honestly, it didn't bother me. Wait, wait, I'll tell you why-
It had already been established that this kid was very detached from everyone except his family, so for him to encounter some very real, raw and strong emotions for this girl, it wasn't surprising that he didn't know how to behave. And Travis's journey through the book is a steady climb in the right direction. His character grows slowly, trying to deal with a lot of pent up emotions he's never had to deal with before. Maybe I'm just too forgiving of Travis but to me, he's a redeeming character who is deeply flawed and troubled.
However, that said, I think the ending was too extreme for me. No matter how far Travis journeyed, I still didn't feel like they had gotten to the place they should have been, emotionally, by the end of the book to have that kind of ending.
Overall, I enjoyed reading Beautiful Disaster. It was a book I couldn't put down.
Rating 8 Cookie Worthy
I really enjoyed this book as well. It was so gritty and the characters were so damaged. I was sucked in from the moment after Abbey watched Travis fight in the ring when he walks up to her and calls her Pigeon.
ReplyDeleteHi Kristin! I totally agree! I couldn't stop reading.
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ReplyDeleteI really want to read this book. The cover is very intriguing. I like 'damaged' characters because hopefully at they end everything turns around for them! I also like that the main character is in college and not in high school.
ReplyDeleteHi WinterFaerie! I liked that too. I'm glad that the characters were older and in college. It was different, and gave them a little more freedom instead of the characters having absentee parents, which is a usual theme in a lot of YA.
DeleteThanks for stopping by!
Thanks for the helpful review :D! I have been wanting to read this book for sometime now, because of all the wonderful reviews it has been receiving. Definitely going to buy this book :).
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