Friday, August 17, 2012

BOOK REVIEW - BEAUTIFUL DISASTER by JAMIE McGUIRE - BEAUTIFUL # 1 - 5 STARS! 10 HEARTBREAKING TRAVIS STARS!


By: Jamie McGuire

Published By: Simon & Schuster

Available : NOW!! WOOT!! 

Details: Paperback, 416 Pages, For Review

RATING: 5 STARS! 10 HEARTBREAKING TRAVIS STARS!!



After seeing the awesome review Cimmaron did at Talk Supe back when this book was self published in April 2012 I knew I had to read it. Then Simon & Schuster picked up Jamie and then I begged ...I am not beneath begging people.... then my lovely publicist contact sent me a copy.



I had it on digital but I knew I had to hold this book when I read it. A bit like there are movies that are dvd worthy and movies that are big screen worthy. I had to hold this puppy when I read it.



Blurb: Goodreads


The new Abby Abernathy is a good girl. She doesn’t drink or swear, and she has the appropriate percentage of cardigans in her wardrobe. Abby believes she has enough distance between her and 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 needs—and wants—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.


BOOK REVIEW by Michelle :

Jamie I bow down to you. What you did to me. What you will do to most readers who read about Travis and his ‘Pidge’.

What you are doing to me now. * face plant*

My head is just racing at the moment. I have been sitting here trying to figure out how to express this book in words. I want to just drop the ‘f bomb’ all over the page and the word ‘WOW’. Just splatter it all over the page and leave it at that.

5 Stars for the review and 10 Stars for writing a character soooooo achingly, heartbreakingly raw in Travis Maddox.

I loved Pushing The Limits, by Katie McGarry..... Beautiful Disaster will do that and so much more to you. Pushing The Limits is YA genre , and Beautiful Disaster, in my personal opinion only, leans towards NA = New Adult, older, more mature due to the content. I heard this term a while back and thought NA really does need to be used more with some books.

I will try to express this masterpiece of flawed characters and story into a review. I am going to talk mainly about Travis ‘Mad Dog’ Maddox. This story could not be without a character like Travis.

Daniel Conn - Aussie - Ex Rugby Player
A nice idea for Travis Maddox
Addictive, honest, fearless, thoughtful, over protective, smexi, funny, dangerous, intense, complicated, tattooed, fighter, HEARTBREAKING, whiskey drinker, ladies man, jealous, damaged, confident, eighteen year old, smart, tutor, insecure, caring, FLAWED, consumed by love for his ‘Pidge’ ,are words that describe Travis.

Oh, and that smexi, Harley Night Rod motorbikeJ


The minute Travis laid eyes on Abby Abernathy, his ‘Pigeon’ , his ‘Pidge’ the rules he had set out for himself changed.

He became at odds with this world he had made for himself.

Travis brings home a girl nearly every night. The skanky couch gets a work out. They never stay overnight. He never takes phone numbers. He never dates. He is honest with the girls. He uses protection. He never makes promises.


“She’s someone’s daughter, Travis. What if, down the line , someone treats your daughter like that?” 

“My daughter better not drop her panties for some jackass she just met, let’s put it that way.”

~~~~

 "Did you rob the health clinic?” 

 “No . Why?”

 I pulled the cap off the pen, unable to keep the sickened expression from my face. “Your lifetime supply of condoms.” 

“Better safe than sorry, right?”



The girls NEVER sleep in his bed...... until Travis makes a bet with Pidge.


“Which is more unsanitary than the couch, I’m sure.”

“There’s never been anyone in my bed but me.”

I rolled my eyes. “Give me a break!”

“I’m absolutely serious. I bag ‘em on the couch. I don’t let them in my room.”

“Then why am I allowed in your bed?’

One corner of his mouth pulled up into an impish grin. “Are you planning on having sex with me tonight?”

“No!”

“That’s why. Now get your cranky ass up, take your hot shower, and then we can study some Bio.”



Travis is an underground fight club style fighter. He is tattooed, handsome, and built like a ‘brick sh*t house’ as we say here in Australia, ( muscley and strong)

He never loses a fight. He didn’t lose his bet with Abby.

Abby must live in his apartment for one month. Sleep in his bed. No hanky panky.

A friendship with a girl, Travis does not do. It is the couch or nothing.

Rumours are flooding the cafeteria on campus. Cashmere cardigan wearing Abby and Mad Dog are a talking point. The girls don’t understand this new Travis and the guys think Abby spreads her legs easily. If only they knew......


“Have you ever had a girl - that’s a friend - stay with you? Have you ever given girls rides to and from school? Have you eaten lunch with them every day? No one knows what to think about us, even when we tell them!”

~~~~

“First of all...... I have standards. I’ve never been with an ugly woman. Ever. Second of all, I wanted to sleep with you. I thought about throwing you over my couch fifty different ways, but I haven’t because I don’t see you that way anymore. It’s not that I’m not attracted to you, I just think you’re better than that.”

~~~~

“I don’t want to date her; I just want to be around her. She’s ....different.”

“Different how?” America asked, sounding irritated.

“She doesn’t put up with my bullshit, it’s refreshing.



America, aka Mare is dating Shepley, Travis’ cousin, and the boys room together in an apartment. America is Abby’s best friend, loyal to the core and keeps all Abby’s secrets.

Abby plays by Travis’ rules. She is his friend. Travis’s own rules have become blurred and he is falling for his Pidge. Abby is checking out Parker and Travis is getting all belly up about it.... Travis style.

Shepley is a great character. I really loved his loyalty to Travis but at the same time he was the meat in the America and Travis sandwich. He has his own intense love for America going on and he sometimes gets his loyalties wrong.... according to Mare.

Poor Parker gets a bit of a working over in this book. I did feel sorry for him.


“Abs’? What are you, a workout video?’ he sneered.

“Pigeon’?” I said with the same amount of disdain. “An annoying bird that craps all over the sidewalk?”

“You like Pigeon,” he said defensively. “It’s a dove, an attractive girl, a winning card in poker, take your pick. You’re my Pigeon.




Abby was a character that I sometimes got frustrated with how she treated Travis. Her ability to make up her mind , even though she has her reasons, had me wanting to shake her sometimes. She is shielding her heart and the mistakes of her past. At a great cost to Travis' heart.

“It’s over. Go home.”

His eyebrows pulled in. “You’re my home.”

( grabs a tissue...Jamie you are killing me here.)

I LOVED! Travis’s brothers and father, Jim. The boys are all great value.

Finch is the wonderful gay friend that all girls should have. He is funny and loyal.

Your heart will trip over itself many times with Travis. I highly recommend reading this book in paperback format. I found myself just gripping this book so many times with the intense scenes.

Travis’ raw pain literally explodes from the pages. You have to hang on tight to your book. He makes so many mistakes with Abby. You just want to hug him and hold him tight. You will 'feel' his pain too.


A pained look shadowed his face. “You know why I want you? I didn’t know I was lost until you found me. I didn’t know what alone was until the first night I spent without you in my bed. You’re the one thing I’ve got right. You’re what I’ve been waiting for, Pigeon.”



This song from Aussie Guy Sebastian and Lupe, it just kinda feels like Travis and Abby??
What do you think?
Not the book but what goes on between them?



I found myself hugging the book or holding it to my forehead with some of the mistakes he makes. Travis will drain your heart and then fill it back up and then drain it again. He will make you smile , cry and sob. Your hand will go over your heart at the helpless situations he puts himself in and the way he tries to dig himself out. This guy just screams at you from the pages. Jamie’s words will tear you apart and then put you back together, over and over....... and over.

I don’t think I have ever read a character like Travis. 


By the end of the book, you will have witnessed Travis's soul bleeding, crying, begging.....

Lordy knows what Jamie has instore for us in Walking Disaster ,# 2 in the Beautiful series. I personally can’t wait .





Michelle

20 comments:

  1. You did a fantastic job on the review. Each time I read a new review of this book it makes me want to read it all over again. You know I was annoyed by Abby because she was hot/cold and always running away and indecisive. but then when I think back about when I was that age I KNOW I would have acted like Abby or close to it. At 19 I didn't know what I wanted and a lot of my decisions were emotionally based. I'm not ashamed to say I was irrational at that time. While I read this book I kept thinking about my own college experience and I did a lot of things these kids did. The book was such a wonderful emotional roller coaster and I was so glad I got on the ride. I would have paid extra for it go go on and on. Can't wait to read Walking Disaster. I'm just curious what else it is we can learn about Travis.

    P.S - I loved his family. At one point Jamie was going to write a book about each brother but I don't know if she still plans on doing that. I did read months ago she had planned for Trent to have a book after she wrote Travis' book. I'm crossing my fingers that still happens.

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    1. I would buy a book about each brother...but then when I was thinking about that, it would be a lot of work making them different. Trent , I thought he was singled out a bit more and we were left with some knowledge about Trent that maybe that was heading somewhere??

      I get why Abby behaved as she did, but she frustrated me in a certain area of the book. I thought she could have handled that a lot better, but then we would have lost a piece of the book.

      I was a bit of a nerd ... some things never change lol!! So my sister I think made up for what I didn't do, lol!!

      I kept fretting every time I turned a page when I was 3/4's way through as I did not want the book to end...but it did *sniff*

      I'm wondering if in Walking Disaster the Abby side of family raises it's head and the Vegas side?? Maybe Walking Disaster is Trent's book?

      I am curious how Jamie slid that little bit of Trent info at the end.....hmmmm.... my brain is curious georging:D

      Ok , 1.35pm I must shower like seriously I look like I have stuck my hand in a wall socket!

      I will read this again as I need to, it's one of those books. I need a Travis fix every now and then:D

      Thanks for dropping by Cimm
      xx

      Mich

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    2. p.s. Just think of a house full of Maddox boys...Trenton, Taylor, Tyler, Thomas and Travis......all those T's.....and Jim, ha!

      :D:D

      Michelle

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  2. MMMMMmmmm that is a yummy pic of a Travis to be! Thanks for the awesome review! I must read this NOW! Thanks!

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    1. Hi Elizabeth ,

      Thanks for dropping by:D

      It is rather a nice visual of a Travis idea:D
      Enjoy!

      Michelle

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  3. I've heard some good things about Beautiful Disaster but you've made me want to read it even more!!!

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    1. Hi Meg,

      I do recommend this read, there is SOoooooOOoo much I have not said in this review as I did not want to spoil. Travis is a very intense, but......for some reason we will all want to take him home, go figure?

      LOL!!

      Michelle:D:D

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  4. Great review Michelle.. I didn't bother with the digital version, I got the paperback like you said, it came this morning and.. uh..! You know when you're reading and you get to a point in the book, you have to slip your glasses off and sort of hold your eyes and forehead?!.. Travis Maddox, Oh that boy!

    I love it when a book brings back memories, especially of my younger high school days, I was a bit wild ;-) We say brick shit house here in the UK too lol!... must get back to reading then I probably should do some motherly things ;-)

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    1. Just read Braine's comment below and wanted to say that I do LOVE this book! My, Oh that boy, moment, was more of a 'Oh Travis, Le Sigh' :-)

      I do agree how this book could be like marmite for some.

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    2. Hi TBZ,

      Oh yes Travis! Travis Travis!! What are you doing!! ???? The boy makes mistakes!!! But when he says sorry..... * weak knees *

      :D

      Thanks for dropping by :D

      Enjoy!!!

      MIch

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  5. This book seems to be, like Abby, hot/cold. I saw people Irving about it and a couple putting it on their DNF pile. There doesn't seem to be an in-between.

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    1. Hey Braine,

      I think it's a case of this book is a tornado of a ride and you have to start at the start and make it through to the end. I personally think it is one of the best YA/NA reads of 2012 for me. It is what Jamie did with Travis, she makes the reader 'feel' anger, frustration, love, pain, sadness.....the emotions go all over the place and that is what I love. A writer who can do that to me, is good value for spending your $$$:D

      It also felt very real, not ficitonal:D

      Mich

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  6. Wow, what a great review! There has been so much hype and drama (about the author) and even thought I bought the self-pub'd Kindle version, I put off reading this. Now I wish I hadn't so thanks for the reminder, I will have to read this asap!

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    1. Hey Mandee * waves*

      Oh this is a tornado of a read for sure, but that is why I love it. It is very 3D this read and very powerful and feels real:D

      Mich

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  7. Hey there! So glad you loved this book too oMG! Is Travis hot or what? And also Shepley! I really do love him too, he is a calmer version of Travis right? eeep. I cant wait for Travis POV on Walking Disaster! eeep. Great review girl! x

    Ƹ̴Ӂ̴ƷFICBOOKREVIEWSƸ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ

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    1. Hi Lalaine,

      I loved Shepley. Travis and Shepley were kind of at different ends of a set of scales.

      Thankyou:D

      I am still on a Beautiful Disaster high!

      :D

      Mich

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  8. EEEEEEEEE! I really enjoyed Beautiful Disaster too! It was extremely addictive and I just couldn't help but enjoy Travis and Abby's relationship even though it can be quite intense sometimes! The ending was extremely sweet but I still can't wait for Walking Disaster since it's written from Travis' POV! I want to know what is going on in his head throughout the events of Beautiful Disaster! I really liked America too since she is such a supportive best friend ;) Plus, Travis' family is AWESOME!

    Awesome review, Michelle! ♥ So glad you enjoyed it!

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    1. Hey celine,

      EEEeeEEE!!! It was a great read wasn't it!

      I have done my snooping and all I could come up with was the first draft of Walking Disaster was completed, but obviously much more work to do.

      I got this off Jamie's page ( her words I just copied and pasted)

      It’s true. I’ve finished the first draft of WALKING DISASTER. What the crap? You say. Why do we have to wait until next year? I know! Trust me, I know. I am just as anxious for you to read it!
      A completed first draft is not the same thing as a finished novel. I have revisions, and then I submit, and that’s when the real work begins. Not to mention production, distribution, etc. It takes some time. If you’re anything like me, patience is not something you want to exercise, but I know what my readers expect, and more importantly, what they deserve. I won’t settle for anything less than you to walking away from these two books with your hair all a mess, dark circles under your eyes, and a deep, cleansing breath saying, “Damn. That was good.”
      In summation, I FEEL YOUR PAIN! I hate waiting for things! I don’t like waiting until November for Breaking Dawn II or the Catching Fire movie, or the casting news for Fifty Shades of Grey. I loathe waiting! But when it gets here, when the day finally arrives, it’s so much sweeter. I want WALKING DISASTER to be this for you! And, as we all know, Travis is worth the wait!

      So the question I ask is..... is Walking Disaster whole book from Trav's POV?? I can't find a blurb or anything....snoopy ..snooppy:D

      Oh yes Trenton, Taylor, Tyler, Thomas and Travis and Jim...hehe!! I don't get tired of rattling them off. They sound like a lot of fun:D

      Thanks for dropping by:D

      Mich

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  9. UGH. I picked this up and just wasn't... feeling it. I SO need to give it another go, especially after your amazing review! ♥

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    1. Sarah,

      This is a tornado of a read, but WOW!! When you get to the end of the storm or maybe the calm before the next storm ?? (Walking Disaster)...wow!

      I loved the rawness and flawed and everything of Travis. He isn't perfect, he makes loads of mistakes but that is what I loved. I would love to see good or bad what you thought by the end of this book. I do like your honest reviews <3

      Mich

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