BOOK REVIEW - WALKING DISASTER by JAMIE MAGUIRE - BEAUTIFUL # 2 - SIMON & SCHUSTER - 5 STARS!!!!

By: Jamie Maguire
Published By: Simon & Schuster
Released : 2nd April 2013
Details : ARC from Publisher, Thankyou!! , 433 Pages

RATING : 5 RAW TRAVIS STARS!!!

Blurb: Goodreads

Finally, the highly anticipated follow-up to the New York Times bestseller Beautiful Disaster. Can you love someone too much?
Travis Maddox learned two things from his mother before she died: Love hard. Fight harder.

In Walking Disaster, the life of Travis is full of fast women, underground gambling, and violence. But just when he thinks he is invincible, Abby Abernathy brings him to his knees.

Every story has two sides. In Beautiful Disaster, Abby had her say. Now it’s time to see the story through Travis’s eyes.

BOOK REVIEW by Michelle:

“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.”

Travis has kind of consumed my brain for the last few days since finishing Walking Disaster to the point I had to reread this book. Travis consumed me in Beautiful Disaster and he and Abby did it again.

Booyah!

My book looks like a rainbow of sticky note flags vomited on it. Travis’ character ensnares me every time I read about him. His passion for his ‘Pigeon’ and his actions leap off the page.

That Prologue..................whahhhhhhh!!

It will bring you to your knees.

Beautiful Disaster had me face planting with Trav’s behaviour, gripping the book and often shaking my head with his actions.

It did not stop me loving him.

Walking Disaster had me face planting with Abby’s reactions.

I saw everything through Abby’s eyes in Beautiful Disaster, even though I thought she was hard on Trav, his behaviour kind of balanced her behaviour.

Walking Disaster has us inside Travis’ head. We are looking through his eyes at how he sees his Pigeon and his actions make more sense. I am not saying he isn’t a guy with a temper, but he is a very, very passionate guy. He knows what he wants. He shows us that much more about his feelings and how deep they run for Abby, his Pidge.

Men are from Mars 

Women are from Venus 

That is how I felt with these two characters in Walking Disaster, both books really. These two had to make their own planet to coexist.

“It seems like we take one step forward and two steps back, Pidge. Every time I think we’re on the same page, you put up a wall."

Trav very much had his boundaries with women, with his life. He ‘bagged them on the couch’, he let them know where they stood with him and that didn’t stop them coming back for more.

His inner manwhore thoughts are hilarious.

Damn. I was either working at a turtle’s pace, or this woman was the female version of me.



“It’s not funny. Do you want the whole school to think I’m one of your sluts?”

My sluts? They weren’t mine. Hence them being sluts. 

Abby was on another plane to these girls. She had her own set of rules to keep her happy due to her childhood and what she had been through.

I brought in Prudezilla’s things to be a nice guy, and she was freaking out. Not like I was going to find anything interesting in her bag, anyway. She was about as naughty as a Sunday school teacher. 

Trav was invading this plane and even he didn’t know how to handle Abby. We see that in Walking Disaster.

“You’re not sleeping with me. I get it.”

That was it. She smiled, and in that moment, a whole new world of possibilities opened up. My brain flashed like channels through Pigeon porn, and then the whole system crashed, and an infomercial about nobility and not wanting to screw up this weird friendship we’d just begun appeared in its place.

I smiled back. “You have my word. I won’t even think about your panties....unless you want me to.” 

He tries. Oh dear lord, does he try. Insecurity, jealousy, confusion and PASSION are what pour out of him. He is a fighter by nature. Always has been with his brothers. His women rules got tangled up and he had to work out how to love somebody.

And do it right.

Admitting that to myself was like a jagged pill to swallow, but at the same time, a familiar voice whispered from the dark corners of my mind that I needed to fight for what I wanted. Fighting seemed much easier than the alternative.



“I don’t understand you, Pigeon. I thought I knew women, but you’re so fucking confusing I don’t know which way is up.”


Abby really had me face planting in this book.

Walking Disaster is this 10,000 piece jigsaw puzzle of pieces that fall into place as we read through Trav’s eyes. We know what is coming up, but we see how Travis handles it. In my mind I was referring back to Beautiful Disaster as I watched through Trav’s eyes and listened to his reasoning’s and thought pattern on how he was reacting to Abby and what she was doing in his life.

In the back of my mind I had the scenes merging from both books, with Beautiful Disaster in my head at the same time as reading Walking Disaster. Both books connecting and the pieces fitting into place, making a more complete picture as we read. Jamie didn't just flip Beautiful Disaster into Walking Disaster from Trav's pov, she made it a little different so that the two books merge in our mind. We get scenes from when Abby wasn't around him in Beautiful Disaster.

Trav had me on his side, rooting for him. I know those of us who have already read Beautiful Disaster know the storyline.

It was quite a different reading experience for me. I had to go back and reread Walking Disaster before I could write my review. The first time through was this crazy excitement. The second time through I had calmed down and could soak the words in more and I took it slowwwwlllyyy. Really paying attention to Travis.

This is a highly anticipated read and I think Jamie took on an enormous thing bringing Trav’s pov to us. She executed it well.

She also threw in something that I TOTALLY DEVOURED.

Shepley and Mare are the most loveable couple. Mare is fiercely protective of Abby.

“Night, Abby,” America called from Shepley’s room.

“Night, Mare.”

I had to laugh. Nightmare was right. Shepley’s girlfriend had introduced me to my very own form of crack. I couldn’t get enough, and I didn’t want to quit.


Shepley is fiercely protective of his relationship with America. I love how he can talk to Trav. He has such a deep connection with Travis and a loyal one. He also knows how to talk him down. I love Shepley. The guy rocks in the matey department. He is the voice of reason that Trav so desperately needs to hear.

Shepley’s eyebrows shot up. “Date? Trav. What are you doing? Because if this is just a game to you and you fuck this up for me, I’m going to kill you in your sleep.”

I fell against the couch and grabbed the remote. “I don’t know what I’m doing, but I’m not doing that.”



“Shut the fuck up, Shep,” I said, glancing over to him. “Just this one time, don’t be reasonable. Don’t try to save me. Just be my friend, okay?”



“Wh--Why are you doing this to me, man? do you think I’m not suffering enough, because I promise you, it’s too much.” 

Shepley’s mouth pulled to the side. “Just when I think you can’t get any more insane, you do something else to remind me that you are far beyond bat shit crazy.”


The readers that had a hard time understanding Travis Maddox in Beautiful Disaster, I recommend reading Walking Disaster. He will melt your heart. He only has the best intentions. His passion runs deep, his heart has fiercely been stolen by his Pidge and his distress will break your heart.

I found myself reliving those scenes in Beautiful Disaster, the ones that tore our hearts out and it is even worse watching it through Trav’s eyes.

I love Travis’ family. I am so looking forward to Trenton’s book. I hear that may be on the cards. But don't quote me. Woot!!

Michelle