Beautiful Disaster (Beautiful, #1)

by Jamie McGuire

Intense. Dangerous. Addictive. Meet your next obsession…

Abby Abernathy doesn't drink or swear and she works hard. Abby believes she has created enough distance between her and the darkness of her past, but when she arrives at college, her dreams of a new beginning are quickly challenged by the university's walking one-night stand.

Bad Boy Travis Maddox, handsome, built, and covered in tattoos, is exactly what Abby needs - and wants - to avoid. He spends his nights winning money in a floating fight club, and his days as the notorious college Lothario. A disaster waiting to happen…

Intrigued by Abby's resistance to his charms, Travis tricks her into his life with a simple bet. If he loses, he must remain celibate for a month. If Abby loses, she must live in Travis' apartment for the same amount of time. Or the start of something beautiful? Either way, Travis has no idea that he has met his match. Or that this is the start of an obsessive, intense relationship that will lead them both into unimaginable territory…

• ISBN10: 1471115046
• ISBN13: 9781471115042
• Publish Date: 13 July 2012 (first published 1 October 2011)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster Ltd
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 432
• Language: English

Reviews

[Molly J(Cover To Cover Cafe)]

This is a re-read for me. But, just the same as the first two times I read this book, McGuire captured me instantly. She created these characters full of beautiful flaws, and their romance was full of burning passion. I loved Abby’s POV. I saw a lot of conflicting emotions in her, but I loved watching how she battle those beautiful, disastrous demons so she could find the love she was meant to have. And Travis Maddox. Oh Lawd, don’t get me started on him! He was so beautifully chiseled and his pain and trust issues really popped for me, making me want to comfort him! So, it’s safe to say, I give this novel a fully charged, high flying 5 star recommendation. You won’t be sorry you picked this one up for sure!

*𝐼 𝑝𝑢𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑦 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛. 𝐴𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠, 𝑛𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒, 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑦 𝑜𝑤𝑛.*

[ellieroth]

todavía no lo termino, pero como se publica un capítulo cada mil años, ya me desesperé (pero lo voy a seguir leyendo e.e )

[Sam@WLABB]

Beautiful disaster -- that's what Abby and Travis are together. They are beautiful, in that they love each other passionately and they complete each other. They are a disaster, because when there is that much passion, it is bound to boil over and cause a mess. Yes, this story can be intense at times (or so you may have heard), but I was not shocked after becoming acquainted with Travis, his personality and his quirks.

I must admit, I was late the this Beautiful series. I actually picked it up after reading Trent's story (Beautiful Oblivion) and I had to know more about Travis and his pigeon. I have to say, I fell in love with Travis and Abby. I cared so deeply for each of them and for their relationship. I cheered and rooted for them, I got angry when either of them slipped up, I was frustrated when other people tried to interfere. I was a mess of emotions and I loved it.

[thebookdisciple]

Enjoyable but be warned. The guy (Travis) is a drunken a-hole. Reading what he does is beyond what happens in college to most people. People who act like him have criminal records. And at times, he comes off kind of stalker-ish. And its not at all romantic. But, that being said, its not a bad story, I enjoyed it, and it was an easy read.

[boghunden]

This book is so god damn stupid that I can't express myself without some minor spoilers. Consider yourself warned!

My problems with this book:
1. Insta-love.
2. Travis, the MMC, is an ass.
3. This book is called "Beatiful Disaster," and that's a very precise title. And here's why: They're out of condoms, but since Abby is a very impatient virgin, she just counts the days since her last period, and decides that they're good to go. Because you can't get pregnant that way!
4. This book hints that there's a huge difference between sex with and without a condom. I'm sure this will help teens use condoms.
5. Travis gets a tattoo with his nickname for Abby.
6. They've been together for two weeks, when Travis starts talking about marriage.
7. They're drinking a lot of whisky, because that's just the way they deal with everything.
8. Travis thinks he owns Abby.
9. Abby can't have a drink, if the bartender is a guy.
10. This is like [b:Fifty Shades of Grey|10818853|Fifty Shades of Grey (Fifty Shades, #1)|E.L. James|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1385207843s/10818853.jpg|15732562], but with less sex.

As you can see, I wasn't too fond of this book. In fact, I kind of hated it. I have to say though, that the writing was okay and the book was a very easy read. This really is a beautiful disaster.

[Leah]

Of all the popular New Adult books to burst out once this genre took off, the one with the biggest fandom is probably the “Disaster” series (I actually don’t like calling it that because it is far from a series about any sort of disaster, so I will call it the “Beautiful” series). People go CRAY-CRAY over Travis Maddox. And I’ve been waiting and soaking up all the hype, while the novels sit on my Kindle and sit on my real-life shelves (yes, incidentally, I do have e-copies and paperback copies) and I’ve waited until I’ve wanted to read it. (Which sounds silly now that I’ve finished because why the hell didn’t I read it sooner?!) Because, I can sort of see why everyone LOVES Travis Maddox. Swoon. Like BIG MASSIVE SWOON. *Insert swoonworthy gif here of someone doing something swoonworthy* I wasn’t even sure at first that I would LIKE Travis, never mind love him, but he’s got something to him that even though he’s a total skank (or was) you still really love him. Bizarre.

What I love about New Adult is it’s so refreshingly honest! Chick Lit books are no where close to being as honest. If two people are meant to be together, they don’t get together til the end, but with New Adult, you just get the rambling, unconscious ramblings of the characters and it’s ace because if anything is going to endear me to characters immediately it’s hearing all their thoughts and seeing them in action! It just sort of has an edge I sometimes feel Chick Lit lacks. And that is true with Abby and Travis. Somehow they just seem to click, right from the off, even though Abby is dressed how I imagine a grandma would dress – in pearls and a cardigan (what kind of self-respecting 19-year-old wears pearls unless you’re a member of royalty?). Even though Abby is wildly out of place at the underground fight she’s attending, she catches Travis’s eye and that, folks, is HISTORY. Except, it’s not because Travis is a skank who will sleep with anyone that moves or breathes or just basically has female anatomy, and Abby does not want to be another statistic. But she’s good, cos Travis doesn’t want to sleep with her… So they settle into a friendship. But ya know that old saying? Girls and boys can’t be friends. SO TRUE. And ESPECIALLY so when your “friend” is Travis Maddox. Just sayin’.

I really, really loved Beautiful Disaster. The push and pull between Abby and Travis, the back and forth, the fighting to not give into temptation. It was just bloody awesome. You totally knew they dug each other, and you just totally wanted them both to admit it, but the lead up was worth it because they’re so sweet together, totally proving that Travis isn’t a total dog. Because he wasn’t. Sure, in the beginning of (and at some parts during) the book he did things I wouldn’t really agree with, and things that I felt he probably shouldn’t have done if he was serious about Abby and I may not have wanted to touch him with a ten-foot barge pole, he really grew on me, especially since he did seem to want to change and not be a skank any more, which is what every girl wants to hear really, isn’t it? Just me and Abby? Oh, OK then. There’s just something about him that made him so irresistible and whenever he was with Abby, or around Abby, he just seemed better, and their interactions were so awesome. And I loved Abby, despite the fact she seemed shy initially, I liked how Travis pulled her out of her shell, and that she had some hidden depths to her that were unexpected, but totally cool. I like a heroine who can stick up for herself, and I felt Abby could do that.

I can’t actually believe I waited so long to read Beautiful Disaster, it was fantastic! I finished it in about 5 hours and I could barely put it down because I was desperate to get to the end to see what happened. I loved the characters, I loved getting to know Abby and Travis, but I also loved meeting Abby’s friends America and Finch, and America’s boyfriend and Travis’ cousin Shepley. I’m quite excited now to dive into the sequel, Walking Disaster, although I do fear it’s going to be the same story just from a different point of view, and I wasn’t a fan of it when I read Wait For You and then read Trust In Me, in fact I was quite offended to have had to pay full price for a novel that was the same as what I’d already read! But I think with Travis it could be different, he’s a different type of character, with a hot head but with (seemingly) a heart of gold. I can totally see now why Jamie McGuire is such a popular author, and Travis Maddox such a popular character, he has stolen my heart, let me tell you and I cannot wait to read more!

[Jack]

2.5

Sometimes this book made me so angry. There's no reason for these two people to be together. They are a messed up couple and Travis has so many issues.

Might do a full review when this crazy book has sunk in.

[Mercy]

Antes de leer este libro, me encontraba muchas reseñas en las que lo ponían por las nubes y las que no llegaban a eso, decían que era un buen libro, que la escritura, que Abby es una chica lista, que me muero por Travis y quiero uno para mí y blah blah blah y sumado a este, las hordas de fans que tiene este chico en todos lados. La cosa es que no me llamaba la atención, pero un día vi una reseña de alguien en quien confío y le gustó y pues caí y lo leí y me enojé conmigo misma y con el mundo y con los que publican esos libros y con quienes los leen y les gustan y... bueno, tampoco eso, pues respeto gustos... pero es que xDDD

En fin, que me voy por las ramas. Maravilloso desastre es de esos libros que hoy en día abundan por montones, pero, a pesar del 'Maravilloso' que tiene el título para mi se quedo sólo en 'Desastre'. Con personajes tópicos hasta decir basta, luego de leerlo, así de milagro, empecé a encontrar reseñas negativas y gente que decía querer sus neuronas de vuelta. Los entendí perfectamente. Maravilloso desastre es una historia en donde nos presentan a un chico y una chica universitarios y lo que les sucede luego de conocerse.

Abby es un personaje que, a pesar que en los primeros capítulos se muestra como una chica fuerte, que sabe lo que quiere y conviene y no está dispuesta a enredarse con el chulo de turno, poco después, su personalidad, si es que tiene, da un giro completo y se nos muestra como alguien sin amor propio, que no sabe lo que quiere o quizá sí, pero al rato, no está segura, luego sí, ora no y un bucle infinito de indecisiones y malas decisiones. Ella es una chica con un terrible pasado oscuro, el cual, a pesar de todos los esfuerzos que hace para dejarlo atrás este parece seguirla a donde sea y tarde o temprano tendrá que enfrentarse. Meh. Es una Mary Sue a toda regla, guapa, inteligente, con un secreto muy gordo. Ajám. El mundo gira alrededor de Abby Abernathy. Pero ella, se pasa el 95% del libro haciendo todo al revés.

Travis... Ufff Travis. Es el personaje más odioso que he encontrado en la vida, codependiente, celópata, obsesivo, amante de los golpes y las peleas, el chico tenía siempre una necesidad de marcar territorio. No podía ningún hombre estar a menos de 5 metros de Abby porque ya se le iba encima. Los grandes problemas de manejo de ira, violencia y dependencia que sufre Travis desde el inicio hasta el final de la historia fueron lo que más me desagradó. He leído libros de este género, en donde esta la chica buena que quiere y espera 'componer' al chico malo. Y pensé, ilusa de mí, que en algún momento del libro eso sucedería, que Travis arreglaba sus problemas y el final iba a ser uno en el que estos dos se conocen, tienen confianza uno en el otro y saben bien lo que quieren en la vida. Pero no. Y ahí está el problema. No hay viaje, en ningún momento se ve el cambio en Abby y menos en Travis, es una historia enfermiza, me duele y me da pena que sea 'adorada' una historia y un personaje como Travis. Me duele que un libro así, sirva de ejemplo a adolescentes, que debido a lo que muestra la historia 'en nombre del amor' acepten una relación así, quizá este exagerando, no todo el mundo se deja influenciar por lo que lee, pero los hay y ahí esta el problema. Ya me cansé que en la literatura, si es que se le puede llamar así a esto, se ensalza de una manera tan gloriosa a los que en realidad serían unos violadores, delicuentes y maltratadores de primera. Travis es un personaje irritante, asfixiante, desagradable, violento, celoso y obsesivo. El Sr. Grey parecería dulce a lado de él. En serio.

Los personajes secundarios, tampoco son mejor que los principales, más bien sirven como relleno. América es igual de contradictoria que Abby, ahora esta molesta porque anda con Trav, luego le ayuda a estar con él y después se enoja porque sigue con el o porque le rompió el corazón. Además, es la protagonista de una de las peleas de pareja más memorablementes ridículas que he leído, Junto con Shep, su novio, quien a su vez es primo de Travis, tienen una relación, que, no llega al mismo nivel que la de Travis/Abby, pero de igual forma, me pareció enfermiza. Y también está el tercero en discordia, Parker, el chico bueno, que todo hace bien, que se muere por Abby, el dueño de las burlas de todo el mundo. El que en un principio hasta me cayó bien, pero la autora se encarga de destriparlo porque sí. Y claro, el simpático chico gay (que solo sabemos su condición porque lo dice, si no, ni enterados). Y así, otra serie de personajes que solo sirven de relleno y no aportan nada esencial a la historia. La única 'agradable' aquí fue Kara, pues se dedicó a pasar olímpicamente de todos.

La trama (sí es que la hay) es tan solo un bucle infinito de: ahora te rechazo, luego te quiero, te dejo, me ruegas, te acepto, nos peleamos, volvemos, nos amamos, te metes en problemas, te perdono, vuelves a joder todo y así en las casi 500 páginas. Y luego, hace aparición las subtrama más desconcertante de todos los tiempos, en dónde Abby nos arrastra a su pasado oscuro, el cual tiene como telón de fondo a Las vegas y una pseudomafia que, (acá les digo que no estoy muy informada acerca de mafias y esas cosas) pero se nota bien que fue solo para agregarle drama a la 'historia' pero lo hace de una manera inverosímil, forzada y ridícula y que decir del padre de Abby, bfff... si no lo odié como a Travis, fue por lo que hace Abby por él, pues hizo que la aborreciera más a ella.

Y lo peor de todo, como dije antes, es que no hay evolución, los personajes no tienen ningún cambio, en vez de mejorar, involucionan, Abby en el primer capítulo es todo un prototipo de personaje femenino perfecto, pero luego empieza el declive, conjuntamente con Travis, no hacen más que bajar y quedarse estancados. No hay mejora, no hay cambio, no hay lo que pasa en otros libros de este tipo, en el que el monstruoso chico del inicio, se vuelve dulce y bueno o, por lo menos, controla sus problemas. Acá no, si Travis luego de lo que pasa al final del libro trata y supera sus celos, ira y violencia, no lo sabemos. Algo bueno es que, debido al final que tiene, es menos probable que haya una segunda parte, está el libro contado desde la perspectiva de Travis, imagino que eso es peor :s y bueno, si en algún momento aparece por ahí un libro que vaya acerca de la vida de Abby y Travis después del final de este, es realmente improbable que me acerque a él.
Edito: Hoy, viernes once de noviembre se ha anunciado que saldrá el libro 'Beautiful weding', sí, acerca de Abby y Travis en su boda. PPPPFFFFFTTT!

En fin, este libro es un desastre pero le falto lo maravilloso que nos dice el título. Personajes sosos, sin desarrollo alguno, inestables, historia pobre, se pudo haber aprovechado más si hubiese habido evolución. Otra cosa, primera vez que encuentro a un protagonista que es chico malo, caliente y ¡es bueno estudiando! Trav sólo saca A+ y se especializa en Justicia Penal, algo paradójico considerando sus constantes peleas y agravios, pero bueno, se han visto cosas más extrañas.

Una última nota ¿que tienen los escritores norteamericanos que escriben libros que se desarrollan en un ambiente universitario o en una institución educativa, que siempre hacen parecer todo tan fácil y que los estudiantes hacen lo que quieren, etc? Y yo que pensaba que la educación en mi país está mal...

(show spoiler)[
¿Quién se casa a los diecinueve? ¿Es en serio? Y peor aún ¿Quién se casa a los 19 con Travis Maddox? ¬¬ ¿Qué le ven a Travis? ¿De verdad querría alguien una persona así en su vida? Ugh... O ¿Quién se tatúa el nombre de su pareja para demostrarle su amor infinito? Yo desde luego que no lo haría. Vale, esto tal vez no es para tanto, pero igual, es ridículo.
] (hide spoiler)

[EBookObsessed]

Abby Abernathy has come to Eastern University get away from her parents. Her mother is a drunk and her father is a gambler and a drunk. She found a school far away from her home in Kansas and she wants to re-create herself. She doesn’t want to follow in her parents’ footsteps. She wants an education and to meet a nice boy from a stable home and become someone else.

So the last thing Abby needs in her life is a big guy with a violent temper like Travis Maddox. He fights for a living. He’s a real womanizer. He doesn’t even take them to his bedroom. He just does them quickly on the couch and sends them on their way. Abby’s relationship with Travis is different. Their–friends. She likes him. She knows deep down he is a nice guy, but she also knows a future with Travis will just lead her to heartbreak and pain. But Travis makes her smile. So why does she want to spend her time with him, rather than the nice boy who wants to be her boyfriend.

When Travis decides he wants to take his fighting professional and Abby can’t convince him of the mistake he is making, she knows that any hope she might have had for a relationship with Travis is impossible. She won’t let Travis drag her down like her father did, or let him blame her if things don’t go his way.

Why is the one man who might be so right for her, so absolutely wrong?

THOUGHTS:
This book also came highly recommended to me so I grabbed an audiobook copy of both this and book 2, Walking Disaster. I cannot tell you how much I dislike these two people.

First of all, although the description tells you that Abby is a good girl who doesn’t drink, she gets drunk A LOT in this book. She does 15 shots of Tequila for her 19th birthday. (I am so stopping my daughter’s college funds.) Travis is also a heavy drinker. When Abby goes on date with Parker, Travis drinks a 5th of whiskey. When he overhears Abby tell her friend, she could never date him, he goes out, gets fall down drunk and comes back to the house and has sex with two women and can’t even remember it all right away. Travis and Abby chug beer at frat parties and do shots at every opportunity. For two people with alcoholic parents and they both hated their upbringing, you would think they would avoid alcohol and getting stick-my-face-in-a-toilet drunk, but no, Travis holds Abby’s hair back while she pukes up her 15 shots and he wakes up many times with no memory of the night before.

I thought Abby was just a bit confused, but as I started Walking Disaster and Travis says she’s “a bit of a bitch,” I realized she really is a bit of bitch. Travis is confused of her feelings for Abby. His mother died when he was three and his father crawled into a bottle until only a few years ago, he doesn’t understand love or why Abby is different to him and why he wants to be with her and will do anything just to be with her. Abby thinks being with Travis will leave her trapped in the same world she grew up and that she was running away from.

Abby and Travis’s relationship whether they are together or just friends is very volatile. There is always drama and yelling and Travis has a tendency to go into a violent rage. On more than one occasion, Abby walks out on Travis behind his back. The first time Travis finds Abby packed her things and left him, he goes into a rage and destroys everything in his house. You might think, “Oh, he loves her.” or like me, you think, if they were real people that I knew I would be avoiding them at all costs. “Oh, Travis and Abby are coming…I forgot, we’re busy.”

Abby walks out on Travis and justifies her actions to the audience, but she never discusses her whys with Travis. He is literally on his knees crying and begging her to take him back. She is crying because she loves him and wants to be with him. But instead of explaining to him what she just explained to us, and giving him one last chance not to mess it up, she walks away, and we have many, many chapters of watching them be miserable.

As one of the characters describes them to Travis, When you are together, it’s unicorns and rainbows, but when you’re not, you want to take the whole world down with you.

Although I felt some sympathy for Travis while he tried to work through these foreign feelings toward Abby, his rages and violence and her bitchy attitude turned me off. I absolutely sped through the audiobook, even listening to it while I could have been reading a book instead, but it was less enjoying these characters and more like watching an accident happen type of fascination.

I am currently listening to Walking Disaster, which is the same story told from Travis’s point of view. I am listening to it only because I purchased both at the same time so I might as well since I paid for it.

Some may say they are passionate. I just feel they are freaking annoying.

[reveriesociety_]

Just a few things:

*I like the writting in general
*Travis scares me something. He's cute and has his moments but I don't like when he goes all ape shit on people, even if it's for love or whatever.
*One issue with Abby.
"Teach him some manners." No, just no, girl.
*I liked the book and recommend it for people that like to be on the edge of their seat while reading and like to experience all kind of emotions.


My emotions with this book:






This is about the blood. I mean, EW Abby had it splattered on her clothes (This is just my opinion though)


About the drama



And this one too...



And this one above



About Travis' girls....


A weird but happy ending for this first book!