Scan barcode
A review by happi_mess
Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire
1.0
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
✨ There is nothing beautiful here. Just disasters ✨
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
✨ A literal representation of Abby in this book ✨
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Rating: ★
Where do I even begin with this book? I mean seriously? My best friend loved this book when we were in high school and was dying to get her hands on a physical copy. Finally, after years of searching high and low, I was able to secure a set and decided to try the book before handing them to her.
It just goes to show how one's perspective about love changes over the years. If I had been in high school, I think I would have loved this. Travis is very manly, muscular, overprotective, and goes to a lot of fights. But guess what? Now I just see him as an obsessed, toxic, manipulative, and borderline psychotic boyfriend.
Please, just get out.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
The things that I like
☽ We're not even going to dive here because I didn't like anything from this book. Okay, cutie? ✨
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
The things that I DID NOT like
I have a million questions to myself right now, but the first would be: why did I fucking read this book? I knew that there was a 70% chance that I would not like it, but still, I pursued thinking that it was somehow going to be worth it. But boy, I. WAS. SO. WRONG.
☾ The writing. It's very much like a narration of day-to-day life. I would say that it felt flat for me, but the effort that was exhausted with the SPG scenes and tension-building scenes could have been applied to the rest of the book. Thankfully, this was pretty fast-paced so I reached the end sooner than I thought. I was dying by the middle of this book.
☾ ✨Let's talk about the characters✨
Let's start with America. I should not be even exerting this much time talking about a side character but I just have a few things to say about this girl. If this girl tossed a coin in the air, it would land on the floor upright. Seriously, there is no in-between with her. You are going to see her siding with Abby one time then in the next blink of an eye, she's pushing for her to get back together with Travis. Her friendship with Abby was kind of great if we're talking about their past. But in the present? She was not that much help.
Sheply I don't have that much problem with aside from the fact that he was supporting his crazy cousin on everything. Which is already a lot wrong with him, so I'll just leave it at that.
Now we get to Abby. Of course, she was the girl whom the reckless guy goes soft for. Of course, she was the girl who everybody would love to have on their bed. Of course, she was the girl people would be gossiped about. Of course, she was the girl with the mysterious past. Of course, she was the girl who was going to get harassed and had to be saved and her boyfriend would beat the crap out of anyone. Of course, she was going to be the girl who would break up with her boyfriend but get back with him in the end. Of course, her knees would go weak when he started chasing her. Of course, she could not get enough of a bad thing. Of course, she loved the trouble.
You know, she's THAT girl who tolerates and lets herself be manipulated into staying in a relationship. Need I say more?!
I'm so frustrated with the message this character is giving to the readers. It's never going to be okay to be in this kind of situation. Choosing to stay with Travis despite all of the red flags IS NOT LOVE. It is just plain ✨stupidity✨. If she had known better, she would have already left and not fall for every trick that he was pulling out of his sleeve. She could not damn commit that she no longer wanted him. She's a masochist! I want to bang her head on the wall for all the stupid decisions that she was making. Don't let a man control decisions in your life, okay? STOP TOLERATING ABUSE. PERIODT.
Travis. If you think that this boy is romantic, please get help. I am begging you. Please.
There is nothing romantic with the way Travis was treating Abby. There is nothing redeeming in this boy. Full of toxicity and he's very controlling. Why are we even romanticizing boys like this? HE'S ABUSIVE. Okay? It's not very healthy for his part and Abby's. There is nothing healthy with their relationship. It might come off as an 'I jump, you jump' situation but damn... there has to be a limit with the shit that you should put up with.
You think he's cute? What about when he's so paranoid and angry that he wrecks furniture because he woke up with you not there? What about when Abby got spooked by the water temperature and let out a small scream and Travis came pounding at the door demanding if she was okay? How about when he refused to let her out of his house? What about when she was out on a date with a half-decent guy and he pulls you out of the car because he thought you were having sex? And oh, after you broke up he just somehow manages to be where you are and stop the other guys from getting to know you by pulling them by the collar from the dancefloor and threatening them. Guess what, he's very stalkerish. THE DUDE IS SCARY. if you meet somehow like this, STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM THEM.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
In sum:
I get it, okay? Romance books published around when this book came out were almost doing the same thing. A bad boy, a somewhat good girl relationship. But I'm done. If you're going to read this in 2021, you should not find this romantic.
Boys and girls, please do not read this book. If you will be reading, you should only see this as an example of the people who you should NOT grow up to be. Do not be an aggressive person. Do not manipulate your future partners in life. Do not tolerate toxic people!
We need to talk about abuse, abusive relationships, and abusive people. Some don't notice that it is already happening to them (just like Abby who was oblivious to everything). We need to create more awareness on this subject matter because we want a better and safer environment for everybody. It is horrifying how this book ended. People are not objects to be owned and possessed. They are to be treated right and with respect.
This book IS NOT OKAY. The characters are NOT OKAY. If you are looking for an example of a bad relationship, then please do read. But if you're looking for romance, go look somewhere else. SKIP THIS ONE.
I am going to recommend this to people who want to find a book that would make them so mad, they want to throw the book on the wall. ✨
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
✨ There is nothing beautiful here. Just disasters ✨
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
✨ A literal representation of Abby in this book ✨
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Rating: ★
Where do I even begin with this book? I mean seriously? My best friend loved this book when we were in high school and was dying to get her hands on a physical copy. Finally, after years of searching high and low, I was able to secure a set and decided to try the book before handing them to her.
It just goes to show how one's perspective about love changes over the years. If I had been in high school, I think I would have loved this. Travis is very manly, muscular, overprotective, and goes to a lot of fights. But guess what? Now I just see him as an obsessed, toxic, manipulative, and borderline psychotic boyfriend.
Please, just get out.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
The things that I like
☽ We're not even going to dive here because I didn't like anything from this book. Okay, cutie? ✨
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
The things that I DID NOT like
I have a million questions to myself right now, but the first would be: why did I fucking read this book? I knew that there was a 70% chance that I would not like it, but still, I pursued thinking that it was somehow going to be worth it. But boy, I. WAS. SO. WRONG.
☾ The writing. It's very much like a narration of day-to-day life. I would say that it felt flat for me, but the effort that was exhausted with the SPG scenes and tension-building scenes could have been applied to the rest of the book. Thankfully, this was pretty fast-paced so I reached the end sooner than I thought. I was dying by the middle of this book.
☾ ✨Let's talk about the characters✨
Let's start with America. I should not be even exerting this much time talking about a side character but I just have a few things to say about this girl. If this girl tossed a coin in the air, it would land on the floor upright. Seriously, there is no in-between with her. You are going to see her siding with Abby one time then in the next blink of an eye, she's pushing for her to get back together with Travis. Her friendship with Abby was kind of great if we're talking about their past. But in the present? She was not that much help.
Sheply I don't have that much problem with aside from the fact that he was supporting his crazy cousin on everything. Which is already a lot wrong with him, so I'll just leave it at that.
Now we get to Abby. Of course, she was the girl whom the reckless guy goes soft for. Of course, she was the girl who everybody would love to have on their bed. Of course, she was the girl people would be gossiped about. Of course, she was the girl with the mysterious past. Of course, she was the girl who was going to get harassed and had to be saved and her boyfriend would beat the crap out of anyone. Of course, she was going to be the girl who would break up with her boyfriend but get back with him in the end. Of course, her knees would go weak when he started chasing her. Of course, she could not get enough of a bad thing. Of course, she loved the trouble.
You know, she's THAT girl who tolerates and lets herself be manipulated into staying in a relationship. Need I say more?!
I'm so frustrated with the message this character is giving to the readers. It's never going to be okay to be in this kind of situation. Choosing to stay with Travis despite all of the red flags IS NOT LOVE. It is just plain ✨stupidity✨. If she had known better, she would have already left and not fall for every trick that he was pulling out of his sleeve. She could not damn commit that she no longer wanted him. She's a masochist! I want to bang her head on the wall for all the stupid decisions that she was making. Don't let a man control decisions in your life, okay? STOP TOLERATING ABUSE. PERIODT.
Travis. If you think that this boy is romantic, please get help. I am begging you. Please.
There is nothing romantic with the way Travis was treating Abby. There is nothing redeeming in this boy. Full of toxicity and he's very controlling. Why are we even romanticizing boys like this? HE'S ABUSIVE. Okay? It's not very healthy for his part and Abby's. There is nothing healthy with their relationship. It might come off as an 'I jump, you jump' situation but damn... there has to be a limit with the shit that you should put up with.
You think he's cute? What about when he's so paranoid and angry that he wrecks furniture because he woke up with you not there? What about when Abby got spooked by the water temperature and let out a small scream and Travis came pounding at the door demanding if she was okay? How about when he refused to let her out of his house? What about when she was out on a date with a half-decent guy and he pulls you out of the car because he thought you were having sex? And oh, after you broke up he just somehow manages to be where you are and stop the other guys from getting to know you by pulling them by the collar from the dancefloor and threatening them. Guess what, he's very stalkerish. THE DUDE IS SCARY. if you meet somehow like this, STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM THEM.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
In sum:
I get it, okay? Romance books published around when this book came out were almost doing the same thing. A bad boy, a somewhat good girl relationship. But I'm done. If you're going to read this in 2021, you should not find this romantic.
Boys and girls, please do not read this book. If you will be reading, you should only see this as an example of the people who you should NOT grow up to be. Do not be an aggressive person. Do not manipulate your future partners in life. Do not tolerate toxic people!
We need to talk about abuse, abusive relationships, and abusive people. Some don't notice that it is already happening to them (just like Abby who was oblivious to everything). We need to create more awareness on this subject matter because we want a better and safer environment for everybody. It is horrifying how this book ended. People are not objects to be owned and possessed. They are to be treated right and with respect.
This book IS NOT OKAY. The characters are NOT OKAY. If you are looking for an example of a bad relationship, then please do read. But if you're looking for romance, go look somewhere else. SKIP THIS ONE.
I am going to recommend this to people who want to find a book that would make them so mad, they want to throw the book on the wall. ✨
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.