Review: Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire

Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire
Expected Release Date: August 14, 2012
Publisher: Atria Books from Simon & Schuster
Source: eARC from NetGalley

*I received this egalley from Simon & Schuster through NetGalley but it did not influence this review in any way*

My Rating: 1 out of 5 stars

Summary (from Goodreads): "The new girl 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."

Let me start off with the fact that I have heard mixed reviews on this book but my curiosity got the better of me, so I decided to try and judge for myself.

It was just a hot mess. Abby is the good girl, Travis is the bad boy and it was just too predictable, cliche and cheesy at time and it had no redeeming parts for me.

Abby or as Travis likes to call her, Pigeon or Pidge. 

I know. I can't believe it myself. Travis nicknames her on their first meeting and he later compared it to Abby being beautiful like a swan, a being bird like, but I'm not exactly sure since I kept rolling my eyes at it. Beside the nickname, Abby has no sense of self-worth and no backbone. She goes back and forth in her relationship with Travis, never able to decide what the hell she wants and has freak outs over anything but not over something worth freaking about. Instead she just sit there and justify Travis's crazy stunts and stalkerish ways. There were so many times I wanted to shake her, knock some sense into her and to run the other way. She made no attempt for redemption and for that, I have no respect towards her.

Travis and his over-protectiveness drove me insane. I understand the need to protect your girl, and done well is can really sweet and swoony but HOLY crap did he took it to another level. Abby couldn't even cough without him rushing into her personal space, or talk to another guy without him questioning the motives. And his jealousy and anger? For the love of all that is good and holy, the boy need to calm the fuck down and trust his girl. He initiated a fight at a party because some guy asked Abby to dance and even though she turned him down, Travis decided the poor guy needed to be taught a lesson. 

The only characters that I liked were: Abby's gay friend, Finch; Abby's roommate, Kara; and Travis's cousin, Shepley. They were the most reasonable and tried for Abby and Travis to see that their relationship wasn't healthy and to calm down and talk to each before causing drama. One of the lines that summed up Abby and Travis's relationship was said from Shepley and he said that when Abby and Travis were happy and in love, everything was sunshine and rainbows. But when they weren't, they bring down the whole with them. Which is true considering that whenever they were angry with each other, their friends had to play peacemakers and choose sides.

Now, I realize that there are real relationships that are exactly like Abby and Travis's or even worse than theirs. They are unhealthy, volatile, jealous, codependent, and just a plain disaster. But I just couldn't deal with this book. The only reason why I finished the book was because I had invested too much of time to it and I just had to find out how this walking disaster was going end. And, I admit, I was also hoping that the characters would redeem themselves by the end. No such luck.

To end this never-ending rant, I just wish I never read this. I need some brain bleach and forget this book ever happened.

Unfortunately, this book has a companion novel, if you could call it that. Ms. McGuire is writing a book from Travis's perspective on Beautiful Disaster and it called Walking Disaster. Knowing myself, I will somehow end up reading this book just so I can read his reasoning and excuses. That should be fun.

About the Blogger

Jenn is a 23 years old, avid reader and who decided to try her luck on blogging. She enjoys reading Young Adults novels with swoony boys and with a twist. When she is not reading, she can be found watching The Big Bang Theory or watching old episodes of Gilmore Girls and Friends. Books and Swoons is her baby.
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