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
Title: Walking Disaster (Beautiful Disaster, #2)
Author: Jamie McGuire
Publisher: Atria Books
Expected Publication Date: April 2,2013
Brooke's Review:
AN ARC AN ARC, I GOT AN ARC!
As you can see, I was pretty excited to have gotten an ARC for this book. I had heard such great things about this series that I pretty much dove right into the fist book and ran through it. And, while not being a huge fan of contemporary romance, I could see the draw to the book for sure. So, when the opportunity to read this one came along, I jumped at it. I had to see what was going through Travis "Mad Dog" Maddox's mind!
Just a warning, if you have not read the first book in this series, I don't suggest that you read further than what I have wrote so far because I cannot guarantee that I will not give away things you don't want to read about! So, yes, there might be spoilers if you don't know the story and you might want to just turn right back around now and grab the first book to read.
This cover is totally amazing. I am still not seeing the connection to the butterfly though. I can only extrpolate that the butterfly is something that has been freed from it's cocoon after having been cramped up for so long, letting itself spread it's wings and fly into new territory. I can also see how the guy with the tattoos would fit in, since Travis has a ton of tattoos himself.
The blurb right there, without giving much away, makes this book look like an interesting read. I didn't actually read the blurb for this book, but had heard from friends that it was the same story from Travis's POV. While I thought it might be a little boring to read the same story from a different perspective, I was still curious to see where it would go. I needed to see how the author would turn the story to make it interesting enough to read a second time.
Travis is, well, pretty crazy, which is not much different than the first book. He pretty much becomes totally obsessed and possessive of Abby. But we saw this in the first book. He is controlling and violent, and not in a "I want that bad boy" kind of way. In this book it's a bit heightened considering it's from his POV. I have to say that It was certainly eye opening to seeing things from his perspective. We get a deeper look at the relationship between him and his family (mother, father, brothers, cousin).
The secondary characters are what they appear to be in the first book, although we get to see how Shep and America interact with Travis when Abby is not around. Basically they continue to tell him over and over again that he should let her know how he feels and give her time.
I was very annoyed with the prologue of the book. It is from the perspective of a three year old child. Having a three year old living in my house at the current time, I can tell you right now that there is no way a child that age could remember what Travis does or even understand it the way he appears to understand it during the chapter. I don't care how advanced that child is, such a young child cannot process and understand what his mother asked of him, or what was even going on at the time.
I can also say that I did find myself a bit bored during the book. I was hoping this wouldn't happen, that McGuire would make things different enough from Travis's POV that I would be pulled through the book wanting to see how it ended all over again. But that just was not the case. His scenes were certainly interesting, but because I knew what was going to happen, there really was not anticipation for me. And I still cannot wrap my mind around such young kids having an apartment and living off campus. Again, when I was a Freshman and Sophomore people just did not do that.
I also did not like the epilogue. I understand it is quite a while later and we are to assume that Travis and Abby have matured and grown, but the voice just didn't ring true to me. And the story line, while understandable with what Travis was studying in school, just seemed to easy.
I do enjoy McGuire's writing. I think she has a great grasp on language and she's great at having banter scenes and making you laugh.
All in all this was enjoyable enough, but just didn't grab me like I thought it might. I did like Travis's POV much better than Abby and I still wanted to throttle Abby through this entire book. I felt, as I did in the first book, that she was selfish, rather than selfless as she thought she was being.
So, I am giving this book, as I did the first, a three, although I am really on the fence with it almost falling over to a 2. Fans of the first book will definitely enjoy seeing things from Travis's perspective.
3/5 stars
As you can see, I was pretty excited to have gotten an ARC for this book. I had heard such great things about this series that I pretty much dove right into the fist book and ran through it. And, while not being a huge fan of contemporary romance, I could see the draw to the book for sure. So, when the opportunity to read this one came along, I jumped at it. I had to see what was going through Travis "Mad Dog" Maddox's mind!
Just a warning, if you have not read the first book in this series, I don't suggest that you read further than what I have wrote so far because I cannot guarantee that I will not give away things you don't want to read about! So, yes, there might be spoilers if you don't know the story and you might want to just turn right back around now and grab the first book to read.
This cover is totally amazing. I am still not seeing the connection to the butterfly though. I can only extrpolate that the butterfly is something that has been freed from it's cocoon after having been cramped up for so long, letting itself spread it's wings and fly into new territory. I can also see how the guy with the tattoos would fit in, since Travis has a ton of tattoos himself.
The blurb right there, without giving much away, makes this book look like an interesting read. I didn't actually read the blurb for this book, but had heard from friends that it was the same story from Travis's POV. While I thought it might be a little boring to read the same story from a different perspective, I was still curious to see where it would go. I needed to see how the author would turn the story to make it interesting enough to read a second time.
Travis is, well, pretty crazy, which is not much different than the first book. He pretty much becomes totally obsessed and possessive of Abby. But we saw this in the first book. He is controlling and violent, and not in a "I want that bad boy" kind of way. In this book it's a bit heightened considering it's from his POV. I have to say that It was certainly eye opening to seeing things from his perspective. We get a deeper look at the relationship between him and his family (mother, father, brothers, cousin).
The secondary characters are what they appear to be in the first book, although we get to see how Shep and America interact with Travis when Abby is not around. Basically they continue to tell him over and over again that he should let her know how he feels and give her time.
I was very annoyed with the prologue of the book. It is from the perspective of a three year old child. Having a three year old living in my house at the current time, I can tell you right now that there is no way a child that age could remember what Travis does or even understand it the way he appears to understand it during the chapter. I don't care how advanced that child is, such a young child cannot process and understand what his mother asked of him, or what was even going on at the time.
I can also say that I did find myself a bit bored during the book. I was hoping this wouldn't happen, that McGuire would make things different enough from Travis's POV that I would be pulled through the book wanting to see how it ended all over again. But that just was not the case. His scenes were certainly interesting, but because I knew what was going to happen, there really was not anticipation for me. And I still cannot wrap my mind around such young kids having an apartment and living off campus. Again, when I was a Freshman and Sophomore people just did not do that.
I also did not like the epilogue. I understand it is quite a while later and we are to assume that Travis and Abby have matured and grown, but the voice just didn't ring true to me. And the story line, while understandable with what Travis was studying in school, just seemed to easy.
I do enjoy McGuire's writing. I think she has a great grasp on language and she's great at having banter scenes and making you laugh.
All in all this was enjoyable enough, but just didn't grab me like I thought it might. I did like Travis's POV much better than Abby and I still wanted to throttle Abby through this entire book. I felt, as I did in the first book, that she was selfish, rather than selfless as she thought she was being.
So, I am giving this book, as I did the first, a three, although I am really on the fence with it almost falling over to a 2. Fans of the first book will definitely enjoy seeing things from Travis's perspective.
3/5 stars
Jamie McGuire was born in Tulsa, OK. She was raised by her mother Brenda in Blackwell, OK, where she graduated high school in 1997. Jamie attended the Northern Oklahoma College, the University of Central Oklahoma, and Autry Technology Center where she graduated with a degree in Radiography.Jamie now lives in Enid, OK with her three children and husband Jeff, who is a real, live cowboy. They share their 30 acres with four horses, four dogs, and Rooster the cat.
Books published by Jamie include the Providence trilogy, and The New York Times best seller Beautiful Disaster, a contemporary romance. When she’s not writing, Jamie spends her days letting her four dogs in and out.
Very tastefully put, I thought. Great review. :o)
ReplyDeleteI am really curious about this one - I was so indifferent about Beautiful Disaster so I'm curious what I'd think of this one
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