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daphx00's review against another edition
1.0
Final rating: 1.5 stars.
Okay. So I don’t really know how to write this review. This book hadn’t really captured my interest because of the synopsis or anything, but the hype surrounding it made me curious. Even though it was compared to books I thoroughly disliked and/or books I wouldn’t poke with a stick, I decided to give it a try. It was like watching a train wreck. Disaster? Yes. Beautiful? Not so much.
Abby is the so-called good girl in this book, who tries to evade the flirting of Travis Maddox, Bad Boy Extraordinaire and Womanizer Deluxe. With a simple bet, Travis tricks Abby into moving in with him for a month, and the story unfolds.
Okay. So where do I start? Let’s start with the bad news. Abby is a bland main character. Of course, she doesn’t know that she’s pretty and of course she doesn’t know Travis has the hots for her, oblivious as she is. Travis is the typical womanizer; dangerous, hot, muscular, popular and of course incredibly charming. He’s never had a girlfriend, and doesn’t have any interest in getting one, until he meets Abby. They get into some kind of mating dance, denying they like each other for the first half of the book and obsessing about each other in the second half. That also means there is a lot of arguing, fighting, drinking and destroyed doors, which of course results into Abby thinking that’s sweet.
In my world, that’s called a dysfunctional relationship. And while Abby seems to realise that once or twice in the book, she doesn’t act on it, besides a half-hearted attempt to escape him by going back to the most obvious place known to man; the dorm room. This was the point that I was seriously considering throwing my Kindle across the room.
However, there were sparks in some of the dialogue, which was funny in odd places. I liked their bickering, until it turned into jealous rage and the whole thing started up again. Travis is obsessed with Abby, whom I’m pretty sure he considers his property, and it hurts to look at. He calls her Pidgeon or Pidge about fifty billion times in the book and no, I’m not over exaggerating. Which leads me to another problem I had with this book; the storyline and the characters were so predictable, so obvious that I was so damn annoyed with this book. It’s like this book really knew what got on my nerves and then just did exactly that.
The weird thing is, McGuire can write. I mean, seriously write. The book read quickly, and easily, and it pretty much had me hooked. Like I said, it was like watching a train wreck and not being able to look away, no matter how hard you try. Which is exactly what the problem was with Beautiful Disaster for me. It was terrible, and awful, but I read it faster than books that I actually enjoyed reading. It’s disturbing.
I’m terribly sorry for this rant. I really am. I don’t like talking about books like this, but I feel like I had to get it out of my system.. So to conclude this review; I won’t be reading the sequel, Walking Disaster. I’ll be running.
Find this review and others on Loving Books.
Okay. So I don’t really know how to write this review. This book hadn’t really captured my interest because of the synopsis or anything, but the hype surrounding it made me curious. Even though it was compared to books I thoroughly disliked and/or books I wouldn’t poke with a stick, I decided to give it a try. It was like watching a train wreck. Disaster? Yes. Beautiful? Not so much.
Abby is the so-called good girl in this book, who tries to evade the flirting of Travis Maddox, Bad Boy Extraordinaire and Womanizer Deluxe. With a simple bet, Travis tricks Abby into moving in with him for a month, and the story unfolds.
Okay. So where do I start? Let’s start with the bad news. Abby is a bland main character. Of course, she doesn’t know that she’s pretty and of course she doesn’t know Travis has the hots for her, oblivious as she is. Travis is the typical womanizer; dangerous, hot, muscular, popular and of course incredibly charming. He’s never had a girlfriend, and doesn’t have any interest in getting one, until he meets Abby. They get into some kind of mating dance, denying they like each other for the first half of the book and obsessing about each other in the second half. That also means there is a lot of arguing, fighting, drinking and destroyed doors, which of course results into Abby thinking that’s sweet.
In my world, that’s called a dysfunctional relationship. And while Abby seems to realise that once or twice in the book, she doesn’t act on it, besides a half-hearted attempt to escape him by going back to the most obvious place known to man; the dorm room. This was the point that I was seriously considering throwing my Kindle across the room.
However, there were sparks in some of the dialogue, which was funny in odd places. I liked their bickering, until it turned into jealous rage and the whole thing started up again. Travis is obsessed with Abby, whom I’m pretty sure he considers his property, and it hurts to look at. He calls her Pidgeon or Pidge about fifty billion times in the book and no, I’m not over exaggerating. Which leads me to another problem I had with this book; the storyline and the characters were so predictable, so obvious that I was so damn annoyed with this book. It’s like this book really knew what got on my nerves and then just did exactly that.
The weird thing is, McGuire can write. I mean, seriously write. The book read quickly, and easily, and it pretty much had me hooked. Like I said, it was like watching a train wreck and not being able to look away, no matter how hard you try. Which is exactly what the problem was with Beautiful Disaster for me. It was terrible, and awful, but I read it faster than books that I actually enjoyed reading. It’s disturbing.
I’m terribly sorry for this rant. I really am. I don’t like talking about books like this, but I feel like I had to get it out of my system.. So to conclude this review; I won’t be reading the sequel, Walking Disaster. I’ll be running.
Find this review and others on Loving Books.
noesbookishthings's review against another edition
3.0
This book was trashy and I was embarrassed to tell anyone I was reading it, but also I couldn’t stop reading it.
jol69's review against another edition
1.0
I finished reading this book purely to see where the author went with it - a very predictable scary road. I agree with many of the other reviewers this book is about an abusive teen relationship that tries to sell itself as the angst ridden bad boy making good because he finds the girl that 'belongs' to him and makes him better. It's scary - in real life if your friends were in a relationship like this you'd be incredibly concerned.
muretski's review against another edition
5.0
I love the story! I can't seem to stop reading after I started on the first chapter :) I hope they'll make a movie out of this one :)
Walking Disaster - to be out next year - its Beautiful Disaster in Travis' point of view - i cant wait!!
Walking Disaster - to be out next year - its Beautiful Disaster in Travis' point of view - i cant wait!!
clues_and_courtship's review against another edition
5.0
amazing amazing book!!! can't wait for the companion book :)
sashapasha's review against another edition
1.0
It's admittedly been over a decade since I read this, but I saw the trailer for the movie recently and this is the first time that I've ever hoped for a book-to-film adaption to only vaguely follow the source material. Fingers crossed that they've taken a lot of liberties and made the story less problematic.
llamyllama's review against another edition
-DNF-
Regret to buy this book so much. Beautiful? No. Disaster? Heck yes.
Regret to buy this book so much. Beautiful? No. Disaster? Heck yes.
melissa_bookworm's review against another edition
2.0
I'm sure if I read this when it was initially recommended to me in 2011 I would have LOVED it - it's definitely ideal for a new-adult audience. The overprotective nature of the MMC was bordering on codependent and coercive, and the FMC was 'not like other girls' so you sort of see the style of 'love' this book circled around. There are plenty of other reviews on here that go into very helpful granular detail with all the issues so I won't recap. I gave 2 stars because I know I would have been a sucker for it when I was younger but it didn't fly with me as an adult.
EDIT: I think Helena Hunting's Clipped Wings series does this trope of a damaged duo getting together a little better, its high drama but I was hooked. But then again, it might be just as problematic!
EDIT: I think Helena Hunting's Clipped Wings series does this trope of a damaged duo getting together a little better, its high drama but I was hooked. But then again, it might be just as problematic!
karr's review
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Love love love, read it multiple times
reneerubiano's review against another edition
4.0
exactly as i remember it from middle school. better than i expected and hilariously toxic.