As we pick back up our Bestsellers List reading challenge, Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire is the first book to review. For a summary of Beautiful Disaster, please check out its introductory post.
This post might contain spoilers.
Beautiful Disaster* by Jamie McGuire
It’s All In The Title
“Beautiful Disaster” is the perfect title for this Bad-Boy romance. It is obvious that Abby & Travis have an immediate connection the very first time they meet. Whether they can overcome their pasts and find their happily-ever-after future is what compels the reader to keep reading to the end of the book.
As Roberta mentioned in her Writer’s Review, within the first few pages it felt like I was back reading Fifty Shades of Grey, only with better language and a slightly more believable situation. I say “slightly” because there were many aspects of this story I didn’t buy into – Abby and Travis remaining celibate while sleeping in the same bed for a month and Travis not getting hauled off to jail the second or third (or fourth) time he punched some random guy in the face are two prime examples. Of the two, Beautiful Disaster was better written, but both novels moved along quickly with the same roller coaster plot line dynamic.
Publishing Similarities
It’s interesting to note that both Beautiful Disaster and Fifty Shades of Grey were originally self-published in 2011, both were acquired by established publishing firms in 2012, and both became bestsellers. Beautiful Disaster didn’t have quite the massive success that Fifty Shades of Grey experienced, but I’d say a book that has been translated into over fifty languages worldwide didn’t do too badly.
Beautiful Disaster is told from Abby’s point of view, while the second book in the series, Walking Disaster, is the same story told from Travis’ point of view. I’ve noticed that this is a common way for self-published authors to sell more ebooks. McGuire concluded the series with a novella about Travis & Abby’s wedding, titled – are you ready? – “A Beautiful Wedding.
A Compulsive Read?
It’s always interesting to read the reviews that readers leave on Amazon and Goodreads. Those readers who were able to overcome the co-dependency and borderline abusive / stalker aspects of Travis and Abby’s relationship stated that Beautiful Disaster was a “page turner,” a “fun story,” and “a powerful love story.” Unfortunately for me, I found it was none of these. I couldn’t overcome my dislike of the negative aspects of their relationship. And then, on page 355, there was one more downward spiral, one more massive misunderstanding between Abby and Travis, and that was the last straw for me. From then on, I skimmed pages in an effort to finish the book. I ceased caring if they ever worked things out and made it to their happily-ever-after future.
We’ve read some romances in this challenge that I thoroughly enjoyed. The Marriage Bargain by Jennifer Probst was so good that I immediately read the other two books in that series. Needless to say, I won’t be looking for rest of this “Disaster” series.
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- The full list is now posted on GoodReads
Have you written about Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire? Feel free to add a link to your review in the comments.
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What are we reading next?
If you ever have questions about what we are reading next or when we’re starting the next discussion, check the 100 Book List tab in the navigation bar at the top of the blog. Links in the list go to the landing page from this blog where the discussion starts. However, this is an open-ended challenge so feel free to jump in with any of the books at any time.
The next book is number 52. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer (2005) – Discussion begins December 17, 2018
Literary Fiction
