Walking Disaster
Beautiful Series, #2
by Jamie McGuire
Publisher: Atria Books (April 2, 2013)
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary Romance
Format: eARC (448 pages)
Source: NetGalley & Publisher
Purchase: Amazon Print | Amazon Kindle | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
Rating: ★★★★½ (4.5 stars)
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.
At A Glance
Though I didn’t love Walking Disaster as much as Beautiful Disaster, I was still blown away by how much I came to love Travis even more. His side of the story really changed my outlook on his and Abby’s love story.
The Good
Let me warn you that Walking Disaster is not a standalone. It’s imperative that you read Beautiful Disaster first to understand Walking Disaster. Now that that’s out of the way, OMG, I loved this book so much. I could not put it down. Walking Disaster broke my heart then glued it back together, and I still wanted more.
It’s hard not to love Travis and all his faults. But we see in this book it’s not all about faults; it’s about defense mechanisms. He lost the only woman he ever loved when his mom died when he was a kid. Now, as an adult, he doesn’t want to give another woman a chance to leave him. I loved Travis so much more after just the first scene of the book. He has so much more depth than I first thought. Every choice and action he made made more sense this time around. We still see him as rough, possessive, and determined like we did in Beautiful Disaster. But after Walking Disaster, we see a sweeter but more intense Travis. We see his rages up close and personal. His depression and downward spiral after he lost Abby. It was all so magnified it was hard to take sometimes. But that’s what makes a book so amazing, the emotions it makes you feel. And though his love for Abby still bordered on obsession, it was still exciting as hell to watch them together. OMG, and when it comes to why Travis calls Abby Pigeon: Perfection. It was so romantic, cute, and goofy all at the same time.
This book does not make Abby look good but it was fascinating to see her actions interpreted in Travis’s eyes. They are such very different and very similar people, it’s insane. I loved seeing what it was about Abby that made Travis fall in love. He didn’t even know what hit him until it was too late. He was caught by her uniqueness, her strength, and her reserved but occasional wild side.
I also came to love Travis’ sfamily. Even though they aren’t perfect, they really are a close-knit unit that help each other every step of the way. I can’t wait to learn more about them in future books.
Sweet Baby Cheeses, The Epilogue. That was some crazy crap. At first I didn’t like this new insight into Travis and Abby’s future, but after thinking about it, it makes things so much more interesting. I swear, I read that part of the book with my jaw on the floor. CRAZY! I also loved the Prologue with Travis’s mom. The best parts of this book are the Prologue and Epilogue.
If you loved Beautiful Disaster, I don’t see how you couldn’t love Walking Disaster. It’s more intensity, more heartbreak, and more Travis. And more Travis is always a good thing.
The Bad
Though I loved this book, I felt more of a connection with Beautiful Disaster. I actually found myself hating Abby through Travis’s eyes, and I almost wanted him to get rid of her for good. So I guess I didn’t feel like this book really captured their relationship like Beautiful Disaster did. Plus, Abby was very absent in this book. A lot of her dialogue was passed over. So you have to remember a lot of Beautiful Disaster to love Walking Disaster, because it was like this book was more of an add-on than a separate entity.
Though I was happy to see Jamie skip over some scenes and conversations so that the book wasn’t a copy of Beautiful Disaster, I found myself annoyed at the same time. It was like some vital things were taken out and the overall feel of the story was changed.
The Snuggly
This has new adult type of sexual content. So, yes, there are mild sex scenes. We even get a peek at Travis with other girls, which made me a little sad, but I knew it was necessary. But through Travis’s eyes, his and Abby’s love seemed so much more stronger when they were together. I really liked that.
Final Thoughts
I couldn’t put this book down. It may not have been quite as good as Beautiful Disaster, but it was still one hell of a book. I straight up love Travis, in all his crazy glory. Highly recommended.
“I decided a long time ago I would feed on the vultures until a dove came along. A pigeon. The kind of soul that didn’t impede on anyone; just walked around worrying about its own business, trying to get through life without pulling everyone else down. With its own needs and selfish habits. Brave. A communicator. Intelligent. Beautiful. Soft-spoken. A creature that mates for life. Unattainable until she has a reason to trust you.”
“Even though we’d put each other through hell, we’d found heaven. Maybe that was more than a couple of sinners deserved, but I wasn’t going to complain.”
“I was now in a situation where I didn’t have to prove myself, because the one person that fully accepted me, my best friend, was now a permanent fixture in my life.”
Beautiful Series:
Book #1: Beautiful Disaster
Book #2: Walking Disaster
Ashley
I am SO glad that you loved this book! Not even joking. I feel like such a horrible, lost soul for not having loved it this much. The way you felt about it is how I so desperately *wanted* to feel. I do like some of the details we learned like why Travis calls Abby Pigeon. I remember in Beautiful Disaster when he first called her that and I was like, “Where the heck did that come from??” LOL. And yes, the epilogue! I did love the epilogue. Awesome review girly!
Jennifer Bielman
LOL, it’s okay not to like a book, silly.
That epilogue was epic!!! I swear, my head is still spinning.
Jaclyn Canada
This isn’t one I have read…Beautiful Disaster either. I am a big fan of reading from the guy’s point of view so I’m sure this one was a great experience. I agree that it must have been sad to watch him with other girls but at least you could see how much he cared for her. I don’t know why Pigeon, but now I am definitely curious LOL. Wonderful review! Seems like a great book. Jaclyn @ JC’s Book Haven
Jennifer Bielman
I would be very interested to see what you think of this series. It’s a hate or love sort of thing.
JenM
Since I didn’t really like Abby in the first book, I think I’m going to love this one. All Travis, all the time sounds just about perfect to me.
Jennifer Bielman
LOL, then this might just be perfect for you. hehe
Elisa
I am on the fence about reading this one. I think I might just be too irritated with the characters. I don’t know. I do like the guy’s perspective though.
Great review and I am so happy you enjoyed it. 🙂
Jennifer Bielman
Yeah, if you are irritated with the characters overall, this might not be your cup of tea.
Ashley Montgomery
Awesome review! You have really gotten my curiosity going about the epilogue. And I really want to know why he calls her pigeon. I’ve been wondering why from the first time he called her that.
Jennifer Bielman
I know. I was wondering if the author was ever going to explain the Pigeon thing.
Giselle
Is this like, Walking Disaster review day? I’ve seen it all over >.< And it’s fun bc you all took different takes on it and it’s getting me kind of curious to see how I would like it, let alone book 1 that is still unread. I like getting to know other characters I find it’s great for a series especially and often done through novellas where you see the other perspective. I should get in on this series soon! I even have the first one sitting all abandoned on my shelf lol
Jennifer Bielman
Wow, I haven’t met one of you yet. You know, the ones who HAVEN’T read this series. lol. I would be interested to see what you think. Not many people are liking this one though. It makes me sad.
Melissa (My World...in words and pages)
Sometimes seeing the otherside makes things all different. Thanks for sharing about this one.
Jennifer Bielman
Very true. 🙂