22 March 2013

Beautiful Disaster (Beautiful, #1)Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I've read enough reviews for this book to know that there are those who really loved it and there are those who really hated it. No middle ground. Either you love it or you hate it.

Personally, I loved it. There's something about the story of Abby and Travis that resonated with me. They both equally frustrated me at and was frankly appalled by some of the decisions they made throughout the whole book which made me want to smack them both in the head. But I still fell in love with these two very flawed characters anyway. Yes, I feel no shame whatsoever in admitting that fell hook, line and sinker for their love story.

At the very beginning, the odds are stacked against them. Abby is running from her past, trying to deny who she is when she meets Travis. He was all wrong for her of course. He's the epitome of the past she was running away from. She resisted but before long she was thoroughly and utterly in love with him. Her denial for her feelings for Travis frustrated me a bit but I can certainly understand where she's coming from.

I loved Abby. She's tough and vulnerable at the same time, and while she had her moments of indecisiveness, I can't help but root for her. I mean, come on, she's supposed to be 19 years old. She's allowed to have those moments. I can totally see why she did what she did considering her back-story -- alcoholic mother and a father who humiliated and rejected her publicly. It's no wonder she was fighting tooth and nail against her feelings for Travis.

As much as I loved Abby, I wasn't quite sure about my feelings about Travis at first but I have come to love him as well. But there are things that he did in the book that were just a no, no for me but like Abby, I find his character totally irresistible. He is crazy intense, crazy passionate, crazy impulsive, and yes, just plain crazy sometime but he can also be so sweet. Love him or hate him, Travis is a complex and interesting character and I can't wait to get into his head in the next book.

I like the pacing of this book. No dull moments for me. The secondary characters just add to the whole appeal. Overall, Beautiful Disaster delivered a satisfying love story that I will not soon forget.

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