Beautiful Disaster (Beautiful, #1)

by Jamie McGuire

Emma Galvin (Narrator)

• ISBN10: 1508285012
• ISBN13: 9781508285014
• Publish Date: 6 October 2020 (first published 1 October 2011)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Format: Audiobook (CD)
• Duration: 10 hours and 30 minutes
• Language: English

Reviews

[Chelsea]

I’ve got some mixed opinions about this book. As I was reading it I liked it, but when I was finished and thought back on it I decided it was a little weird. I love a good romance book and that’s what this was. I loved Travis, the typical bad boy and I loved everything about Abby’s past. It added a twists to everything seeing she wasn’t the perfect good girl. I didn’t like how scary violent Travis was sometimes. I wouldn’t stay with a guy that crazy! And the whole we’re gonna be together forever thing was a little unrealistic.

The plot wasn’t bad. It keep you wanting to read but mostly because you wanted to find out more about Abby’s past and whether or not she was gonna die at some point during the book. Some parts were a little intense at times and you thought no way would that ever happen like that. Who goes back to the same guy 20 different times? Really though. But I give it more points for being different. You don’t see a lot of creativity in books these days.

[nitzan_schwarz]

4.5 stars

Enjoyed every minute of it, you guys! :)

[catiebug]

Love love love love this!!!

[cornerfolds]

See more of my reviews at Cornerfolds!

This book... I really wanted to love it. I loved the synopsis and the cover. Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be.

The first half of Beautiful Disaster was tolerable, but then I got to part two. I found myself cringing every time Travis spoke. Seriously, no one in real life says the name of the person they're speaking to after every single sentence. In fact, nothing about Travis is okay. Going around beating the hell out of everyone who looks at a girl you aren't even dating yet is NOT normal. And attempting to control the people she hangs out with, the clothes she wears, the places she goes... None of this is normal.

The relationship between the two main characters is completely dysfunctional and bipolar. Seriously, who loses her virginity to someone just so he'll leave her alone? If some guy got my name tattooed on his wrist immediately after we got back together, I'd be out the door. Furthermore, there is no way a normal woman would get back together with her psycho ex-boyfriend and five minutes later book a trip to Vegas to get married. Basically, this book is a mess. I am seriously hoping no YA readers pick this up and think this relationship is normal or romantic.

By the way, someone who never trains would not be able to take out two guys in the mob. This book is ridiculous.

[Cocktails and Books]

I'd heard a lot about this book. Some loved it, others not so much. I'm glad I finally picked this one up. It had all the teenage angst you'd expect in a New Adult book, but jamie McGuire was able to balance all the teenage "stuff" with two young people forging their path to the future.

Abby Abernathy was hoping the anonymity of being a college freshman would allow her to start a new life, one not tainted by the past with her father. But Abby soon discovers that the anonymity she craved will be hard to keep when she catches the eye of Travis Maddox. Travis is the guy on campus that all the girls want and the guy wish they were. He doesn't apologize for the one night stands he has or the fights he participates in. When he meets Abby, everything changes.

Some people may not like Travis because when we first meet him he is a complete man-whore. But the more exposure you have to Travis, the more you start to fall for his charms. I think his father summed him up best:

You have to be patient with him. Travis doesn’t remember much about it, but he was close to his mom, and after we lost her he was never the same. I thought he’d grow out of it, you know, with him being so young. It was hard on all of us, but Trav… he quit trying to love people after that.

Travis doesn't know what to do with his emotions, how to deal with what he feels or hot to express them. Because of that he continually fumbles and stumbles when it comes to Abby. He tries, poor thing...he does, but he tends to go a bit overboard. Whether it's being overly demonstrative with his affection or over protective, he just can't seemed to find the happy medium that would help ease Abby into the relationship with him. Lucky for us, Travis eventually does understand his flaws and gets his act together.

Abby isn't without her own set of issues. She's hiding out at college hoping to get out from under the shadow of her father. So starting up anything with Travis, even a friendship, puts her directly back in the limelight. She doesn't handle that well or her relationship with Travis. She publicly fights the assumptions that something more is going on with Travis, while she continues to spend all her time with her under the guise of friendship. I couldn't figure out if Abby was really that naive and couldn't tell how Travis felt for her or if she was just truly ignoring it because she didn't want to be one of his "girls". It take a long time for Abby to finally figure things out. It means letting go of the past and all the preconceived notions she has about what a relationship should be, but she gets there.

I enjoyed the book, angst and all. It brought back what it was like to be nineteen and having to deal with all those emotions and trying to have that first adult relationship. I can't wait to read WALKING DISASTER, which is this same story but from Travis' point of view.

[anastasia]

omg! i love Travis!! :)

[violetpeanut]

I am so torn about this book. As other's have noted, this book is like crack - or maybe a bad car accident. There are so many horrible things going on but you just cannot help but keep watching - or reading - and despite ridiculous actions on the part of the main characters I just could not help but go back for more. I found myself totally and completely enthralled by Abby and Travis.

Abby is trying to escape her past and Travis is attempting to fill a void by sleeping with anything that moves. They meet and Travis is immediately drawn to Abby because she is the one girl who doesn't take his crap and doesn't want to sleep with him.

Except that she DOES take his crap! Over and over again! And he takes her crap - BEGS her for it, in fact. This relationship is the epitome of dysfunction. Travis has real problems with anger and jealousy and obsessive tendencies and if Abby were my daughter I would tell her to run in the other direction. Abby, on the other hand, while attempting to stay strong only ends up stringing him along.

Despite the dysfunction, I found myself cheering for the couple and wanted the obligatory Happily Ever After. I knew these bad things were going to happen and rip them apart and I knew that they would get back together. I knew it - yet I still wanted all the details. Ms. McGuire's writing is very good, pulls you into the story and doesn't let go. Once you start you have to keep going.

I would recommend this book to fans of contemporary romance who don't mind some mildly disturbing scenes (anger and obsession - nothing physical). I would not recommend this to young teenagers. I am shocked that this book is shelved so often as Young Adult. The characters may be young (they are in college) but the themes and situations here are not appropriate for many teens. This book includes lots of underage drinking, use of fake ID's, underground fight clubs, gambling, unprotected sex and other mature themes. Mature older teens who can tell the difference between reality and fiction may enjoy this but the themes here are not appropriate for many.

[Ashley]

booknook — Young Adult book reviews

Guys. I feel like I have read every amazing book on the planet this year. But this one.. this one tops the list.

I was terrified going into Beautiful Disaster. I don't know why I got so worked up over it, but I did. I was scared because Beautiful Disaster seems to be a "love it" or "hate it" kind of book.. and I so badly wanted to love it. All my worries ended on the very first page. I was totally hooked. I was in love.

I barely even know how to describe my reading experience. The physical experience was every bit as valuable as the story. I spent one entire day reading this book in extremely awkward positions (including laying on the floor with my feet up in the air on a chair..wtf?), I took this book with me to the bathroom because I couldn't possibly part with it, and I quoted every other line to my amazingly tolerant boyfriend. I laughed, I giggled insanely, and most importantly, I cried like a little girl. I think my eyes were in tears the entire last quarter of the book. I went from sad, to desperate, to happy, to insanely happy, and back to sad when the book ended and I had no more amazingness to read.

Jamie McGuire is a freakin' genius. I'm usually very picky about my bad boys, but Jamie set up Beautiful Disaster perfectly so that I would fall head over heels for Travis. Normally in stories like this there's the asshole bad boy and then there's the nice guy, and I always fall for the nice guy. Not this time! Travis had a great mix of bad boy jerk and sweet, sensitive, affectionate man. That way, when compared to Parker, Parker just looked like the boring, "safe" option, and Travis looked like the passionate, head over heels, to die for option.

I think a lot of people don't like this book because they look at Travis and they see a troubled guy who's a bit of an asshole and objectifies women. That's why I was scared going into this book, because I normally hate that kind of thing. But when I looked at Travis, I saw so much more than that. In the first scene he has a bimbo on his lap, but as soon as she insults his friend, he's like "Get the fuck out. Now." I knew right then and there that I would like Travis. He may have flaws but he is loyal. He's not a jackass. He loves his friends, he sticks up for them, and he'll go the lengths of the world for them. His relationship with Abby isn't perfect, but my god, it is passionate. I honestly think the title for this book is so perfect, because their relationship was absolutely beautiful.. but it was also a disaster. It was a little dysfunctional, and a little crazy, and there were definitely highs and lows. But that's what made this book an absolute delight of a roller coaster. When things were going badly, I was desperately clinging onto every page, waiting for things to get better again. I rarely get that invested in books, but I literally felt like my life would end if Travis and Abby couldn't make their relationship work.



Even the side characters were amazing and so full of life! America.. how I LOVED LOVED LOOOVED America! She is like the best friend I never had and always wanted. She's so fiercely loyal and always siding with Abby and always supporting her no matter what. I love how they always run to each others' sides when things get tough.

My only 'problems' with the book are two small things:

The blurb isn't exactly accurate. It says, "The new Abby Abernathy is a good girl. She doesn’t drink or swear.." Abby isn't as much of a "good girl" as the blurb implies. It clearly says, "She doesn't drink or swear," but Abby actually does drink and she has a fake ID. So if Abby is a "good girl" who has a fake ID and goes to clubs and drinks, what the heck am I? :P I don't drink, I never had a fake ID, and I don't go clubbing. I must be the virgin mary! I know that there is a big back story behind this, but I felt like there was never a point in the book where Abby was a good girl. Yes she was trying to start over with a new slate, but she was never ever innocent and never turned down a drink.

The other thing isn't really a problem with the book, it's just something that kept making me laugh. Travis always calls Abby "Pigeon" or "Pidge," and I could never keep a straight face. Lady and the Tramp, anyone? The Tramps calls Lady "Pidge" ALL THE TIME! I just couldn't help but think of those cartoon characters every time Travis said it! I immediately messaged my boyfriend and instructed him NOT to call me Pigeon. He pouted and asked if he could call me Archimedes instead.

Team Fortress 2: Archimedes

Archimedes is a miscellaneous item for the Medic. It is the Medic's white dove splattered in blood, as seen in Meet the Medic. It sits on the shoulder of the Medic just like Demoman's Bird-Man of Aberdeen. On BLU Archimedes does not have blood splatters. This item is awarded in genuine quality to those who purchase the real life version from the Valve store.
The Official TF2 Wiki

I said yes. I love my boyfriend to bits.

I feel like I've barely scratched the surface with this review. This book really shook me to my very core. Do you ever feel silly when you yell at characters in a movie for making a mistake? Because obviously they can't "hear" you and nothing you say will change the movie. But when I was reading this book I was yelling at the characters and wishing like crazy that things would work out.. despite the fact that obviously my yelling and wishing wouldn't do any good. But that's how much I fell in love with this book and that's how much it affected me. I know my boyfriend will vouch for all the times I pasted him quotes from the book over Skype, and my mom laughed at me for shrieking in delight over the exciting parts and for screaming, "I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!"

There is no doubt in my mind.. this is the best book I have read this year. Period. This is one of my all time favourite books. Danny: I first heard about Beautiful Disaster when I read your Bewitched Bookworms review. THANK YOU SO MUCH!! I'm so incredibly thrilled that I discovered this book and I have you to thank!

I can't think of a single guy I know that's good enough for you.

Your skin was three inches from my face, and you're beautiful, and you smell fucking awesome when you sweat. I kissed you! I'm sorry!

You're all I think about. You're all I dream about. You're all I want.

I was his exception, and as much as I had tried to fight my feelings, he was mine.

[kimbacaffeinate]

I grabbed a copy of Beautiful Disaster after seeing so many conflicting and passionate reviews. I had to know what within these pages was eliciting such feelings. Beautiful Disaster is a realistic look into the lives of two dysfunctional people who meet and fall in love. McGuire offers us a chance to get inside the complexities of this relationship and to understand what draws the moth to the flame.

The love story that unfolds takes place at a small Eastern University. It is here that we meet Abby Abernathy. She is dressed like Sandra Dee before she meets Danny Zuko in the movie Grease. She looks like a good girl; she doesn’t curse, drink and has a plan to escape her dark past. Her well laid plans are challenged when she meets the campus king of one night stands, Travis Maddox. He is a student by day and a fighter by night. Abby is drawn to this sexy, charismatic, intelligent, tattooed love machine. She is drawn to him like a moth to a flame even though she recognizes the danger.

The characters in McGuire’s world beautifully depict both the dysfunctional and those who enable them. Abby grew up in a dysfunctional family, where her parents put their own needs first. She lived in a home where she often played the parent. I liked Abby and all of her complexities. She appears so well adjusted on the outside, when really she lacks confidence, has low-self esteem, wonders if she is loveable and wants to be needed. I admired her attempts to forge a different life for herself. Travis Maddox is a character you will either love or hate. He has true attachment issues, is quick to temper and has difficulty expressing emotions. He is charismatic, and despite his tattoos and bad boy looks he is cute, smart and witty. Woman are drawn to him, they want to fix him; to be the one. Travis is traveling without a compass until he finds Abby. Travis’s cousin enables, protects and coddles Travis’s volatile personality. America, Abby’s best friend adds to the drama and is perhaps as messed up as Abby. Kara is Abby’s roommate and the only normal person in the book; she recognizes that the relationship is unhealthy. Parker represents the life Abby thinks she wants.

Beautiful Disaster gives us a rare look at a dysfunctional relationship. Abby and Travis's relationship is like a hurricane. It is beautiful, scary, deadly and uncontrollable. McGuire’s tale shows how two needy people are drawn to each other and how they feed off each other. A lot of people will struggle to understand why Abby is attracted to Travis or vice versa. The truth is each has what the other needs emotionally. We are all drawn to the bad boy; even the fictional characters we adore are often rogues in need of fixing. Most of us get a little too close to the flame, recognize the danger and flitter away. This book depicts the startling and harsh truth behind these relationships. The novel also shows some of the dark underbellies that exist on campus. The tale had a nice flow, with plenty of climatic scenes. I was disappointed the author didn't incorporate a message about seeking help, or at the very least a one eight hundred number in the back of the book. She had the perfect opportunity with the voice of Kara and failed miserably. I firmly believe this does not belong in the YA genre and should be shelved under New Adult. My emotions where all over the place while reading this and my feelings for the characters changed with each scene. This is a love story that you will think about and talk about. I love when an author is able to breathe life into the characters as she draws emotions from the reader.

I recommend Beautiful Disaster for those seeking a realistic look at a romance between two volatile and dysfunctional people who try to make the best of it in their crazy, messed up world. Walking Disaster is the second novel and will be from Travis’s point of view. It has an expected publication date of 2013.

I want to thank Atria Books and netGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for my unbiased review.

[leelu92]

I really enjoyed it. Intense and frustrating at times but I really enjoyed it. Loved Travis!!! Would totally read it again.