{Review} Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire

11:21 AM

Title: Beautiful Disaster

Author: Jamie McGuire

Publisher: Jamie McGuire

Publication date: May 26, 2011

How I got the copy: Netgalley (In exchange for an honest review. Thank You!)

(4.5 there were a few things I didn't like)

The new Abby Abernathy is a good girl. She doesn't drink or swear, and she has the appropriate percentage of cardigans in her wardrobe. Abby believes she has enough distance between her and the darkness of her past, but when she arrives at college with her best friend, her path to a new beginning is quickly challenged by Eastern University's Walking One-Night Stand.

Travis Maddox, lean, cut, and covered in tattoos, is exactly what Abby needs-and wants- to avoid. He spends his nights winning money in a floating fight ring, and his days as the ultimate college campus charmer. Intrigued by Abby's resistance to his appeal, Travis tricks her into his daily life with a simple bet. If he loses, he must remain abstinent for a month. If Abby loses, she must live in Travis's apartment for the same amount of time. Either way, Travis has no idea that he has met his match.

- Read in a day

- Like a car crash...you want to look away, but you can't

- New Adult Genre: Characters in college

From the summary, I thought the book would be all about the bet between Abby and Travis. It's not. The bet happens right away and halfway through the book the month of the bet is over. The book is more about the two trying to date and how dysfunctional they are together, yet how they can't be apart.

I couldn't put this book down. It was so fast paced and so much happened in one book. The emotions were infectious; I felt like I was on the journey with Abby. I think because I dated someone emotionally abusive like Travis, it really hit home. I've been in that type of situation where you know you're not good with someone, but you're not ready to say goodbye yet. Abby and Travis's relationship was like ten times worse than my experience though. When they fought it was like an explosion going off. Travis was scary when he was drunk and mad. It almost made me mad that Abby still wanted him (even if she was pretending she didn't want him at times) after what he kept doing. I think because Abby's childhood with her dad kind of being possessive and telling her she ruined his life she was kind of used to that verbal abuse and mistook it for love. We tend to gravitate towards what we know...what is "comfortable".

I thought Abby's friends America and Sheply were enablers. When Abby wanted to run away from her problems instead of talking it out, America would give her a ride. If they hadn't been there Travis and Abby would have had to work things out. Finch, her friend, was really fun and I wish he had been in the book more. What was he doing in all those scenes that he wasn't in?

We also never really know why Travis nicknames her Pidgeon, or Pidge.
It's kind of explained in this quote, but it still doesn't really make sense to me:
“Abs? What are you, a workout video?" he sneered.
"Pigeon?" I said with the same amount of disdain. "An annoying bird that craps all over the sidewalk?"
You like Pigeon," he said defensively. "It's a dove, an attractive girl, a winning card in poker, take your pick. You're my Pigeon.” ― Jamie McGuire, Beautiful Disaster
I guess because she was her dad's "lucky charm" the author maybe was trying to show how she has become Travis's "lucky charm" when he boxes. It was just a weird nickname and I'd be pissed if someone called me that.

After rereading my review it sounds like I didn't like this book. I don't condone this type of relationship, but to be honest it was really entertaining and enlightening. It was like a soap opera where every five seconds someone was screaming or proclaiming their love or beating someone up. The ending was crazy action packed which I didn't expect. I think everyone should give this book a try. When the characters are being peaceful and in love it's really cute and when they're fighting it's really intense.

Note: If you do not like reading about drinking, sex, or cursing you might want to skip this one.

“It's dangerous to need someone that much. You're trying to save him and he's hoping you can. You two are a disaster." I smiled at the ceiling. "It doesn't matter what or why it is. When it's good, Kara... it's beautiful.”
― Jamie McGuire, Beautiful Disaster