Publisher: Atria BooksReleased: August 2012 (Available on Kindle now)
Plot: Abby Abernathy is the good girl, she's moved away to college with her best friend America in the hopes of escaping her past but when Abby meets the college campus-charmer at his fight one night they both can't seem to stay away from each other.
Travis makes a bet with Abby, if she wins he'll remain abstinent for a month, if he wins she lives with him for a month.
Let the game begin...
Quick note: This book is not really suitable for young teenagers despite some book sites grouping it in this genre.
Good Points: The book started off okay, I was thinking Abby was an all right character, she seemed nice. And then well... she met Travis didn't she. (See bad Points).
The only couple of people that seemed actually sane were her friends and the odd supporting character.
So maybe both the main characters do truly belong together....
Bad Points: Well as I've already suggested Abby's character goes downhill after meeting Travis. She seems more volatile and I just could not stand some of the things they both do to each other. It was like a yo-yo going back and forth and after a while it was just tiring to read about.
If one wasn't about to sleep with someone, the other was going to flirt their way into thinking they were over the other.
Yes, you may in your dreamlike state think that Travis is the perfect being, handsome, loving, protective- a statement which is so understated that he's actually borderline stalker and believe everything in this book is perfect. But it's not.
Travis is a fighter. And his anger is way out of control. Combine this with his over stalky protectiveness and you are left with him basically beating up anyone that touches or talks to Abby. There's even a part where he's about to kill someone because of a snowball.
Abby doesn't help either, egging him on to 'teach a guy some manners' to which Travis brutally kicks and punches this guy repeated. What. The. Hell.
Don't even get me started on the ending! For one why would she go back to Vegas when all through the book she's whined about how she hates it there and knowing Travis doesn't react well there!!??!!
To Sum Up... Basically this book is frighteningly wrong. You get sucked into the relationship which you know is wrong and yet for some reason still read on. The book is filled with violent outbursts and sickening scenes that sort of desensitise what you are reading and make it seem okay by tying a nice big bow on top called 'love'.
Like I've already said though. If these two characters think this is okay then maybe they do belong together. But to be honest I don't see it lasting.
Wow, this sounds like something I wouldn't recommend to anyone, even people who like Fifty Shades or Twilight. I was actually considering reading this, so I'm glad I read your review. :)
ReplyDeleteI hated this book. I read it because I loved the Fifty Shades trilogy and this book kept appearing on the same lists. But, it was a big mess from start to finish. Beautiful Disaster is the only book I've rated 1 star this year, and I've read almost 200 books-that says something about how much I disliked this book lol.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for putting my exact thoughts about this book into words!! I was totally duped by the cover - I picked this as a giveaway win. At the beginning I liked it, I remember some of the dialogue being really fun. Then it all went to hell. There are o many contradictions within the book (like Travis'family... first they seem like an abusive bunch, but when he&Abby go visit everything's peachy?!). And yeah. The ending. Whenever I thought the worst was over it got even more extreme.
ReplyDeleteI'm really glad someone else shares my opinion on this one - I've been seeing tons of praising reviews of it lately, and something within me just recoils at reading how some people obsess over Travis.
Well thought-out review!