Review: Beautiful Disaster - Jamie McGuire

 

New Adult : What is it you may ask ? New Adult is a category that lately has been making headlines and splashes all over the world wide web. It is a title given to those books that are not quite suitable for teens with the sex , edgy content etc but not aimed towards the older adult audience ( though that of course doesn't stop them reading them).  The New Adult audience is 18-26 yrs old and the characters in the books are between that age group as well.

To get the ball rolling here today on The Phantom Paragrapher is the beginning of a new picture and category - the "New Adult".

 

 

Review: Beautiful Disaster - Book #1 Beautiful Disaster Series - Jamie McGuire - May 2011

Have you ever read a book that has actually blown you away and one that in its weird way has left you filled with a variety of emotions and all you can do is scream OMG this was awesome. I have had the Beautiful Disaster sitting on my Kindle for a long time and as people who know me my TBR list is like miles long. When I went down to Wellington for a holiday, I was lucky enough to find on my way to the library which by the way I got so lost - I saw a sign that said "The Bookmark" and I thought to myself hmmm , that might be a second-hand bookshop. I walked down the escalator and imagine my delight when I discovered it was a second-hand bookshop filled with floor to ceiling books galore. It was like heaven. Among my finds to my extreme delight and I think I may have squealed a bit too was a paperback copy of Beautiful Disaster - if you wondered why I squealed it was because it is not available for purchase in New Zealand shops. So of course I brought it and started reading it and reader's I can tell you that this is definitely one book that once you pick it up , you honest to god won't be able to put it down as there is something about the characters tat draw you in and leave you gasping for more.

 

Now this book , I decided to check out the reviews on Goodreads and it has had it's fair share of Onesies and I after reading the book cannot believe it but then it got me thinking that they were so focused on the fact that he was a "so-called violent obsessive boyfriend" that they missed the real essence of the book. See I am one for the Byronic Hero - to me the Byronic Hero symbolises the epitome for the Romantic guy.  Think Heathcliff , Edward Cullen , Edward Rochester , Caleb from Captive in the Dark and even Christian Grey. Each of these guys have one thing in common they are all based on the characteristics of the Byronic Hero and Travis Maddox was no different. So he might have been a bit obsessive , have the occasional violent outburst but he would never hurt Abby and he loved her with all his heart , he opened himself up to a side that no-one else had the privilege to see.

Whereas Abby Abernathy, the main female lead I found was to be in a way a strong character - in the way that she is not OTT like Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games but she is strong in spirit and she knows what she wants and is not afraid to stand up for what is right - think America from The Elite series by Kiera Cass crossed with Addy Davidson from First Date by Krista McGee . You could feel yourself relating to Abby as you read the novel and going through the predicament that she had found herself in.

 

In Beautiful Disaster , without giving too much away we meet main characters Playboy "I sleep with a different girl every night" Travis Maddox and Straight and I'm trying to change my life "Abby Abernathy" . These two meet at a boxing match and from then , their friendship blossoms into something that no-one has seen before and though they try to understand it - they can't. Beautiful Disaster follows these two on their bumpy journey of a love/hate friendship that always holds the possibility to becoming something more but not quite reaching that point ? Will they become a pair by the end of the novel or will Abby and Travis discover that they are better off staying close friends than lovers ?

 

This is one book that I think everyone should read and as you can tell by the reviews you will either love it or hate it and readers if you did love or find it too your liking then stay tuned and add to your watchlist "Walking Disaster" which is Travis's POV.