Beautiful Disaster (Beautiful, #1)

by Jamie McGuire

[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!