by Jamie McGuire
What is the most fabulous character?
Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire is exactly as the title says. It's a beautiful disaster. The characters can be abrupt and violent and codependent and you know some of the things they say or do are totally wrong. But at the same time they're sweet and somehow make you fall in love even despite all of their issues. There were so many things I loved and hated about Beautiful Disaster, I'm pretty sure the internal conflict it presented me just made me enjoy it even more.Abby was a really cute character at first. Don't get me wrong, I still liked her as the book got into the swing of things, but she was pretty hypocritical. She was mad at Travis for playing games with her and accusing her of playing games with him, yet she really did play with him the whole time they were friends. The second he started to have real feelings for her she used them against him every chance she got. Either she's got really bad timing, or she is a queen of manipulation. Still, I liked her, but I can see how some people might get annoyed with her.Travis is super sweet and sexy... for most of the book. Somewhere around the middle he gets almost violently obsessed with his relationship with Abby. He's super jealous of everyone and Abby does little to help things. He's got issues. And I'd just like to warn anyone thinking of reading Beautiful Disaster of these issues, because this book will not be for everyone. I can see a lot of people getting so fed up with Travis's behavior that they refuse to finish the book. But you have to know he means well. I'm not saying it's right for him to be so possessive of Abby or to get mad at every little thing (personally I'd never have put up with that sort of thing), but he has his issues and he does try to work them out throughout the book. I think he comes a long way from the beginning of the book to the end. Beautiful Disaster is about Travis and Abby's love, imperfections, stupid decisions and all, and I enjoyed reading every second of it.Travis and Abby's relationship was so sweet, yet completely frustrating. But that's what made them so awesome to read about! It was like watching a girl date one guy, but then come home to her husband every night. And both guys know what's going on. It could be amusing at times, and sometimes just plain old cruel. Let's just say, this girl takes playing hard to get to a whole new level. Their whole relationship was like watching a train wreck. No matter what kind of horrors you see, you can't seem to turn away. If nothing else, it hooked me in and kept me reading to the very last page. Beautiful Disaster goes places I never expected when reading the synopsis. It was completely addicting!Beautiful Disaster is a book that I'm sure many people will love. I loved it. I had some issues with the characters behavior toward one another (the irrational possessiveness, and dependency that bordered on stalking mostly), but that's who these characters are. That's how their story goes and I appreciated that. I definitely recommend Beautiful Disaster to anyone who likes contemporary or romance, but this is definitely a book for the older YA crowd. It's not too explicit, but it has it's moments. 