Title: Beautiful Disaster
Series Info: Beautiful #1
Author: Jamie McGuire
INTENSE. DANGEROUS. ADDICTIVE.
Abby Abernathy is a good girl. She doesn’t drink or swear, and she has the appropriate number of cardigans in her wardrobe. Abby believes she has enough distance from 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 wants—and needs—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.
4 1/2 HEARTS!
POINT BREAKDOWN
Plot: 45 points
The first part of the book, when Abby and Travis started to get to know each other, was probably my favorite part. This is the BEAUTIFUL part. It was clean cut and simple, with cuteness and flirting and... "not flirting" ... or whatever their friendship was. After awhile, everything started getting complicated, and that's when the DISASTER comes it. Not to mention the fact that both Abby and Travis have messed up pasts...
I had a couple pet peeves about the book, but nothing too serious. First, throughout most of the book, Abby is pretending to be indifferent about Travis (what a freakin' snob!), and Travis is going crazy over Abby (and when I say crazy, I mean CRAY to the ZEE to the power of 4!!!!) . I hated the parts when Abby seemed like she couldn't care less, and I hated the parts when Travis went Ape Crazy because Abby didn't give him the love and attention he wanted. I mean, a healthy dose of self-respect would have served well for the both of them! Abby had too much, and Travis had too little.
But now that I got that out, I have to say that if you haven't read this book yet - and most of you probably have, since I'm like the 3,600th reviewer on amazon - YOU NEED TO READ IT!!!
Just when I though, "Whew...OK they got that mess figured out. Everything should be fine now and the book will slowly come to an end,"....everything blew up again! And again...and again...and AGAIN!!! I was actually very surprised how long this book was! Abby would do something wrong, then Travis would, then Abby would...etc, etc. Over and over again.
In the end, I think my high plot points are due to Travis and America. Travis, although a little too obsessed at times, really gave Abby his all. He handed his heart and soul to Abby in a beautifully wrapped, self-sacrificial package. Abby took a crap on that package a couple times, but eventually she came around. And at her defense, Travis' aggression did get a little out of hand at times. I mean, I'm not sure I could go back to someone who did some of the things he did, although just to be clear, he never hurt Abby (physically anyways).
America wins points because she is just a great best friend! Abby calls America her "conscious," and with good reason. When Abby couldn't think for herself, America knew exactly what was going on in Abby's life. She even stood up for Abby a couple times, and it was totally awesome! She's got the whole, "Don't mess with my best friend!" thing figured out perfectly :)
There was definitely a lot of fighting going on in this book - both fist-fighting and plain ol' relationship fighting - but most of it wasn't unbearable. It felt like a little too much at times, but I still couldn't keep the book down, so it obviously wasn't that bad. I'm mean, I stayed up late two nights in a row just to keep reading, and I had work the next day! It's one of those plots where everything seems wrong, but it's all written to seem so right. I will give my kudos to McGuire in a bit ;)
Abby: As I mentioned before, my only pet peeve with Abby was her "I don't care" attitude. In the beginning, she tried to convince herself that she didn't care about Travis. Then in the middle, she was selfish because she DID care about Travis, but she wanted to have her cake and eat it, too. Then by the end, well, she figured everything out I guess (trying not to spoil anything here!).
Travis: Again, my only pet peeves were his temper (which was understandable at times, and maybe not so much at other times), and his obsession with Abby. I'm not a big fan of male characters who follow their girl around like a puppy dog and go crazy when they aren't there. I still found 90% of the things he did for, and said to Abby, adorable!!! I didn't mind his tattoos, although buzzed hair and smoking are kinda not-so-hot for me LOL. Oh and Pigeon as a nickname for Abby? Hm...I'll have to think about rather or not that bugged me...After awhile I got used to it, but the first time he uttered the words, I'm like, "Oh great...that's it...the nickname for Abby I'll read through the whole book...fan-freakin-tastic!"
America: Like I said before, she's awesome! A truly great best friend that any girl would want!
Shepley: Eh...he had his moments. He didn't stick out much in the book. At least not to me.
Parker: OK, at first I was like, "Get the heck away from Abby! She's not yours!" Then I felt sorry for him by the end. Like, really sorry for him. He's a good guy in a lot a ways, and no more of a douche than Abby or Travis.
Finch: We don't see a WHOLE lot of him in the book, but he seems pretty cool, too. Another good friend of Abby's that any girl would want to have.
Writing/Depth: 29 points
OK McGuire...this is for you: YOU ARE AN AMAZING WRITER!!!! Oh em gee....
McGuire must have put her whole heart, her whole soul, tears, sweat, and sleepless nights into this book!!! She is a downright AMAZING writer! To have written a book THAT long and for me to NOT get bored...you know she has to be good. Not only was I not bored, but I just couldn't get enough! Like I said...I stayed up until 3:30am when I had to get up at 7:00am just to finish the book. I tried to set it down...I really did. My mind would just not allow it.
There was only one word in the book that I didn't really like... acerbically. Could have done without it, although it IS a creative way to say "bitterly" I guess LOL.
KUDOS TO MCGUIRE! AUTHOR OF THE MONTH! :)
Just a side note: There IS some sexual intimacy and violence in this book, so I would label it more New Adult than Young Adult. I'll give it both labels though, with a caution.
Your review is interesting and honest! I bought the book on impulse but haven't got to reading it yet. Hope I won't stay up till 3.30 to read it coz I have to wake up at 6 on weekdays!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your review! :)
Michelle