Book Review: Beautiful Disaster- Jamie McGuire

Warning: SPOILERS in this review!!!!

Apparently, this book is not about an abusive relationship. The author does not condone abusive relationships and seems to think the main character, Abby, is not abused. In alternate universe world. I don't know what the point of this book is. If the author doesn't condone abusive relationships, why write a book that seems to glorify them? 

Abby meets a boy named Travis and they become friends. They make a bet that she loses and because she loses, she has to stay at his apartment for a month. During this time, he loses his shit everytime a boy looks at her, talks to her, dances with her, etc. He tells her not to accept drinks from boys and he gets angry if she goes anywhere alone with another boy. He has rage fits over the simplest things. He is jealous and controlling before they even have a relationship.

Abby makes the mistake of sleeping with this psycho on the last night of the month. It's her first time and afterwards he says something like, "that was your last first time" or something CREEPY AS FUCK as that. She decides to leave and go back to her dorm while he's asleep and when he wakes up to find her gone, he goes insane and scares his roomate and roomate's girlfriend with his behaviour. 

Eventually they get back together and he goes and gets two tattoos in her honour, one which is his creepy, sickening nickname for her, Pigeon. He also gets even more controlling and obsessive. He might as well just pee all over her and tattoo her forehead to say "Travis Maddox's property". He also makes her change her clothes at one point in the book because he's afraid of the attention she'll get. He also says they should take the same classes next semester because "it'll be easier". What the fuckkkk?! Easier to stalk your own girlfriend and make sure other boys don't breathe near her? You're a real piece of work, Travis Maddox.

They end up going to Vegas to make money to pay off a debt her father owes. While there, Travis agrees to fight in a fight for some criminal/mobster type(yeah, he's a fighter). On the way back, he tells Abby that the guy offered him a job doing more fights for lots of money and that he's doing it. Abby doesn't want him to do it and decides to leave him.

When she leaves him, she's so scared of his reaction that she sneaks out and when he follows her and asks her where she's going, she lies and says she's going to do laundry. When she gets in the car, she starts crying and he knows something's up so he starts following them screaming that a freaking maniac. 

She then HIDES somewhere he won't look for her, while he goes crazy looking, screaming at her dorm mate. 

More creepiness ensues until they get back together again. I think they get back together not long after she almost gets raped at one of his fights. A fight he asks her to go to because he "needs her there". He asks her to go to this fight while she is on a date with another, more sane boy. Too sane, obviously.

So they get back together again and he wants her to go to another fight with him, even when she says she'll stay home and wait for him. His reply to this? "I'll be worrying where you are and what you're doing." So she ends up going and almost DIES. In a FIRE. Then what does she do? Asks him to MARRY her! In VEGAS! So they do and she gets a tattoo that says "Mrs. Maddox". The book ends with him happy that she is officially his property.

It's not an abusive relationship. Even though his behaviour scares her, is uncontrollable, controlling and completely pyschotic. A few signs of an abusive relationship are jealousy, mood swings, possessiveness, control and manipulation. Travis had all these traits in a major way. I find it disturbing and disgusting how many women write that they love Travis and wish they had a Travis. It's actually scary. I'm not even joking.

This book is about an abusive relationship. This is the kind of relationship that ends in death. You know those news stories about men who shoot women because they moved on with their life? I'm sure those stories start something like this. Maybe Travis wouldn't be capable of killing Abby but I think he'd be capable of killing himself or someone in the wrong place at the wrong time. He is insane. 

What else? I'd actually written a better review but when I was almost done I decided to save it and pressed ctrl+v instead of ctrl+c and it disappeared! How many times have I lost reviews for simple reasons? So many times.

Oh yeah, there were a few errors in the book as well. Simple things like "of" instead of "off" or "you're" instead of "your". I didn't make notes of them because I was reading an ebook and it's difficult to keep track of errors but they were there. I hardly ever see errors in books. So it was definitely noticeable. 

I only gave it two stars because it was readable. Saying this book was "ok" seems weird because the things Travis does is NOT okay. His behaviour is scary and not okay. Simples. Really, this rating was a tough call because I don't understand what the message of this book is. What could be a good message? 

It's not Y.A but many people think it is. I thought it was and it kind of reads like a messed up version of a Y.A book. Really, this book sends the wrong message to anyone who reads it, whether they are a teen or an adult. It makes no difference. Ending a story about an abusive relationship with the couple getting married is a weird message. I honestly don't get it. Really, if the book had ended when she left him after they got back from Vegas, that would've made sense. 

I don't get it I don't get it I don't get it. Just because Travis says romantic things now and then doesn't make up for the crazy things he does. 

I can't say I'd recommend this book because I don't approve of the message. Travis Maddox scared me and pissed me off. Abby aka Pigeon didn't do much to help matters. 

Lisa x