Kindle Edition- 361 Pages
Published May 26, 2011
Purchased
Abby and America have been best friends since childhood and with the many obstacles life has brought including an alcoholic mother, a gambling father and a dangerous childhood, college is Abby's first independent choice. The girls originally leave so Abby can get away from her low life parents and change her surroundings and connections to make the best out of a new start. Abby has sworn off anything that could lead to a scandalous life, so she lays low and enjoys college for it is......well until she meets Travis and her plan gets blown to bits.
One night while accompanying America and her boyfriend Shepley, Abby go's to see Shep's cousin and roommate Travis, a local hero and underground fighting champion {aka...the elusive sexy man-whore of Eastern U} fight live in the ring. Standing out in her little pink cardigan sweater, Travis is taken by the pretty, fresh faced girl who looks nothing like the average bimbos who crawl all over him 24/7 and is immediately drawn to her sparkle. Travis is determined to know her and Abby at first does not fall for his sexy charms and good looks or even the cute name he calls her {Pigeon} no matter the try, he cant change her mind. While a tad awkward due to the physical chemistry between them, Abby and Travis strike up a very snarky and playful friendship that begins having a dramatic effect on Travis, and Travis being Travis, the proud cant share my feelings type, never tells Abby how he truly feels and winds up acting out in some not so gentlemanly ways.
Abby and America wind up staying at the guys apartment for awhile and due to a lost bet Abby winds up moving in with Travis for a month. While Abby tries to date Parker, Travis begins to stray from the one night stands and begins fighting for the one thing he really wants. With all the shared nights of sleeping in the same room, growing close and the escalating sexual tension, Travis and Abby fall in love. Things aren't perfect though, both are immature and stubborn and the pieces of their past come to haunt both of them, making the complicated relationship if you can imagine, even more complicated.
I read Beautiful Disaster due to the controversy it sparked and I cant say enough how much I liked this book, while going into it I was expecting to read about this awful horrid psycho named Travis, but what I realized by the end was that I really liked McGuire's style of writing and grew to care about bad-boy Travis. Was Travis a prince charming? Absolutely not...Travis was an emotional wreck and a product of his childhood, the boy lost his mother, was abused and had a ton of self esteem issues. He protected himself by placing a wall around his heart, most of Travis's behavior {the fighting, sleeping around} were defense mechanisms, he used people before they could use him, pretty much a classic case of an abandoned or neglected child. This complaint about Travis being a domestic abuser...I just don't see it. What I saw was a macho tough guy who's creator indulged him in a fantasy world of being too hot, too tattooed and able to make girls go stupid in their pants. An in depth analysis would say McGuire created him to be the unattainable bad boy who uses his penis like a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Sale- only to be tamed by the love of his life, showing us that even the most whorish of men can settle down.
Abby takes Travis by surprise, the real emotional connection brought true intimacy that in itself was too overwhelming for him. It scared him, unsettled him, made him a codependent nightmare that sometimes turned to jealousy, fits of violence against guys who would dare take a crack at Abby's boobs and trashing his apartment. This doesn't scream danger to me, it screams grow the hell up. Fortunately that's exactly what all these issues amount to, stepping stones in Travis's maturity and the big boy pants he would eventually put on. Granted his character was prone to douche-baggery but thank goodness the Travis in the end was not the Travis we met in the beginning. Before we put all the blame on Travis, let me tell you, Abby was no saint in this book, yes she was virgin and tried to maintain a somewhat wholesome lifestyle, but like Travis, she too came from a very rough childhood and escaped a life of crime, gambling and neglectful/abusive parents. It made sense that the first real intimate relationship she would have was with a potentially dangerous guy. Intimacy and emotional connection was overwhelming for her too and she used that against Travis to manipulate him, stringing him along throughout most of the book.
While Abby's emotional level was much more stable, in the end they both were guilty of hurting and obsessing over each other. Neither one knew how to handle the relationship, compounded by the emotional scars of their pasts, its easy to see why things were so intense. I never thought the author had any intentions of making this an evil or murderous love story, or making Travis a domestic abuse hero. Travis was guilty of jealousy, temper tantrums, telling Abby she couldn't wear skimpy clothes to his underground fights and being an emotional tool. However Travis never hit Abby, he never threatened her or even contemplated violence against her, he never isolated her or tried to cut her off from her friends, he never called her names, nor did he ever make Abby feel scared or trapped. Im not condoning or justifying Travis's behavior but I think after reading the book and knowing his love for Abby, I was left with an ending that painted a happy future I can hope the characters receive.
Together in a world of no sense, they made sense and taking her characters through that dark fiery hallway, McGuire showed us how brokenness can heal and how even the disregarded can be redeemed. I wanted to see these broken characters find happiness and romance and find love that stands the test of time. Beautiful Disaster is fiction, so enjoy it for what it is, a guilty pleasure liable to make you blush. Despite a few minor typos, its sure to be an Indie stand out among readers.
Defiantly gritty, defiantly unconventional but nonetheless, still a love story.
Rating
Beautiful Disaster is recommend to readers 18+{think college crowd and adults}and contains violence {boxing and male on male violence} gambling, drinking, smoking, strong and crass language, illegal activites and graphic sexuality.
5/5- Contemporary Romance
Great Review!
ReplyDeleteI wasn't aware of this book till now. It doesn't sound like domestic abuse to me, either. My mom was in a domestic abuse situation (not with my dad) and it didn't play out like that at all. In fact with an abuser, it isn't the house or boxing in the ring that gets it first--it is the object of their frustration. It does sound like it is a story of young adults learning to be adults. Learning to deal with their upbringings. Learning to realize that those upbringings can't be their excuse forever for their actions.
Love your frank review, Tina! It's clear that you really enjoyed this book and thought long hard about it. I wonder if those who struck the controversy ever really finished the book. Most of the time, it's based on a particular section and taken out of context.
ReplyDeleteTravis doesn't seem like an abuser, but an immature male who needed to wake up and grow up. And I'm glad you point out that Abby wasn't an angel either, but someone who slowly comes to her own terms.
I don't read indie much, but I'm willing to give this one a chance.
":An in depth analysis would say McGuire created him to be the unattainable bad boy who uses his penis like a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Sale- only to be tamed by the love of his life, showing us that even the most whoreish of men can settle down."
ReplyDeleteDude. I choked on my soda when I read this. *dies* I was unaware of such controversy - but I agree with you, this is a work of fiction. I just think back to Edward's behavior in Twilight - he watched her sleep people! And I loved that book and loved Edward because he wasn't real and I was able to separate reality from fantasy.
Gosh I already wanted to read this book so much. I didn't realize there was such controversy! Mixed reviews only make me want to read a book even more, and to top it off it sounds like a fantastic story.
ReplyDeleteGreat review.
This is an incredible Review! Truly! Thank You!
ReplyDeleteFor some reason I though this was going to be the sequel to another book I cannot recall the name right now!
Anyways, I'm glad I read your review and realized that this is a book I would really really like to read!
I love emotional tight and touching books and this one sounds amazing!
@Felicia- One of my friends dated a guy who used to push and smack her...he was HORRID, I also sat on a jury once of a domestic abuse case, oh my gosh it was the creepiest stuff Ive ever heard, the things this guy did to his wife, it made my skin crawl, I cried for days after seeing the pictures, listening to the all the testimony......this book nothing like real abuse cases.
ReplyDeleteJenny- you are right reality is different from fantasy....there is one guy in YA that I hated...Patch from Hush Hush, he creeped me out but Ive never heard of anyone meeting a fallen angel and being stalked by them and making out with them in the same day...
Asheley and Danny- I think you guys would enjoy it, based on liking the whole emotional twisted books...:) And thanks for the compliments...:D
@Rummanah- I know you dont like going to dark, but I think you might enjoy this one.....Ill be interested to see what you think of Travis.
"able to make girls go squee in their pants"
ReplyDeleteLMAO! You are referring to me, aren't you T! And I snorted, like Jenny, over that particular section of your review.
I think the most important thing to keep in mind is the difference between someone who abuses other and someone who abuses themselves. Both cause pain, and both are serious, but they are not the same, and you illustrated that perfectly.
I'm surprised to hear about the manipulating on Abby's part. I wasn't expecting that. I though it was all on Travis.
The only thing I have heard about this book is that is it another good choice after reading Fifty Shades of Grey, hmmm. I was one that enjoyed Fifty but this doesn't sound like what others have portrayed at all.
ReplyDeleteWhat a thoughtful review, I have it on Kindle and look forward to reading it.
I read this book and loved it. I read Fifty Shades of Grey afterwards upon recommendation from this book. This book was hands down a much better book. But that's just my opinion. My review is here: http://justbookinaround.blogspot.com/2012/02/book-review-beautiful-disaster.html
ReplyDeleteI DNFed this book because I thought they both were a part of a horrible relationship where they both were bad for one another and I could just not get over it! Like you said, they both were the wrong ones, not just Travis like I think many would assume.
ReplyDeleteI did enjoy the writing style, but I was just bothered too much about everything else. I wanted to love it and I loved it at first, there was just a cycle of abuse and using with the characters that drove me crazy and I couldn't get over.
But still, I am happy that you enjoyed it :)
@Jacinda- I didn't think it was abuse..more so just a very toxic relationship on both parts, but the end did get better....they both see the wrong of their behavior and realize they love each other...:)
ReplyDeleteYou should skip to the last 3 chapters and read them...lol...
@Missie- the squee was just for you friend....LOL...I think you'll like it, I made Jen read it and she wound up liking....:)
ReplyDelete@Marce-Oh no, Abby did some crappy crap to Travis and played some games....it was an intense read but I still loved it.
@Lori- I have not read 50 Shades yet, Im on the fence about that one due to it being an erotic, I normally dont read those....:)
I hadn't heard of this book or the controversy but I'm definitely going to look into the book after this review:)
ReplyDeleteTina, very nice words. I have to say that I haven't enjoyed reading a book this much for quite a while, and that's saying something considering I devour over 3 books a week. Also, I never would've thought that I'd enjoy "Maroon 5" but I heard one of their songs once and it made me think of Travis and Abby. The song's called "One more night". I could actually picture Travis singing the song himself. Just thought I'd mention this.
ReplyDeleteTry it out. Again, looooved this book so I'll definitely be reading it again.