Book Review: Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire

Title: Walking Disaster (Beautiful #2)
Author: Jamie McGuire
Genre: Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Romance, New Adult 
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: March 2013
Pages: 448 
Rating: 3.5 stars

Synopsis (from goodreads):
Finally, the highly anticipated follow-up to the New York Times bestseller Beautiful Disaster. Can you love someone too much?
Travis Maddox learned two things from his mother before she died: Love hard. Fight harder.

In Walking Disaster, the life of Travis is full of fast women, underground gambling, and violence. But just when he thinks he is invincible, Abby Abernathy brings him to his knees.

Every story has two sides. In Beautiful Disaster, Abby had her say. Now it’s time to see the story through Travis’s eyes.

My Review:

After reading Beautiful Disaster in 2012, I was rather curious to read Walking Disaster (even if every time I see the name the Babysitter’s Club book Kristy and the Walking Disaster comes to mind).

Travis “Mad Dog” Maddox has a reputation on campus. He’s notorious for bagging chicks and then taking out the garbage as soon as he’s sated. But when he first spots Abby Abernathy from across a crowded bare-knuckle fight, there’s just something about her that’s different from all the other girls at school. She’s not throwing herself at him and there’s something in her eye that reminds him of himself.

Never one to turn down a challenge, Travis sets out to make Abby his friend. His first non-sexual female friend. But as he gets to know her, he finds so much more than a potential buddy. Abby makes him nervous, anxious and agitated. Maybe, just maybe, Travis has met his match – and mate – in the quiet little Kansas pigeon.

I get the appeal of a bad boy. Not the just psychological phenomenon that explains women are attracted to bad boys as a primordial urge to help them procreate and further their race. But also the devastatingly sexual being that is a bad boy.

So I see why so many readers adore Travis Maddox. I’m just not one of them. However – with this companion novel I do see some redeeming qualities that weren’t present in the first book. He’s got some insight to his behaviour – he even goes as far to admit that he knows he’s a terrible person when it comes to his treatment of females.

But his jealousy just irritated me. Not just the depths of it but also the frequency of his outbursts. His violent tendencies stopped being sexy and were just plain scary.

The plot was well done. It was long enough since I read the first book that seeing the same discussions, interactions and actions didn’t feel repetitive but rather a warm feeling of deja vu that you get when you get to mix with characters you find comforting in their familiarity. The extra scenes that we didn’t get to witness last time as Abby wasn’t currently on-screen were fantastic – the ending made reading this whole story worthwhile.

After reading this book, I’m fully on board the Abby + Travis = 4EVA bandwagon. Not just because I think they’re perfect for each other but because I’m not sure I’d wish either one of them upon anyone else…

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the digital ARC.

Amazon / Book Depository 


2 Comments

  1. I think this is a really honest review of this book. I was really taken in by both of the novels and I’m still not sure why but I agree Travis jealousy was infuriating to read. I’m glad this book kind of redeemed him a bit for you 🙂

    • Thanks for the compliment! I was a bit concerned that I was coming across a bit too sarcastic but for you to say that it was honest – that means a lot!

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