Review: Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire
 |
| AMAZON | KINDLE |
Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire
Contemporary / New Adult
Atria Books (April 2, 2013)
Heroine: Abby Abernathy – College Student, Secretive
Hero: Travis Maddox – Fighter, Passionate
Review:
I knew going into Walking Disaster that it was a companion novel to Beautiful Disaster, for which I absolutely adored. I also knew that it was the same story but from Travis’ POV and I wanted to read this book. Bad. And I desperately wanted to love it. But, as I began reading it, I realized the book was missing something. I will get to that ‘something’ in just a moment.
“Travis, I need you to listen to what I’m going to say, and even more important, I need you to remember…..One of these days you are going to fall in love son. Don’t settle for just anyone. Choose the girl that doesn’t come easy; the one you have to fight for, and then never stop fighting….Never stop fighting for what you want….”
The beginning of this book starts off heartbreaking. My heart went out to young Travis. Losing his mother at such a young age was tough. Then his father mentally checks out after her death. That had to be hard on any boy growing up. The prologue helped me understand why Travis had a hard time opening up to love. He didn’t have a mother to nurture him during his youth. All he had was a distant father and four brothers. And, as we all know, most men hide their feelings and show their love differently than women. I completely understood why Travis had a lot of pent up anger. He has a hard time expressing himself. Instead of dealing with his problems in a normal, rational way, he becomes enraged and ready to use his fists. What this story showed me is a fiercely passionate man who was completely misunderstood.
There were times when being inside Travis’ head was hard, painful. Seeing straight to the core of his vulnerabilities showed us who Travis Maddox was beyond the bad boy persona. But he was so very hard on himself. He never once felt like he was good enough to have Abby. So he made a ton of mistakes. He had a hard time coming to terms with his feelings and telling her was even harder. I felt for Travis. I really did.
Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, I grew a little less immersed in the book. I don’t think reading this story from Travis’ POV was gripping enough to hold my attention. I wasn’t as enthralled with it as I was with Beautiful Disaster. I put the book down several times. Then I realized this book was missing something. I couldn’t put my finger on it, at first, but then I realized what it was… knowing what Travis was thinking kind of took the magic out of the sexual tension, the buildup with the romance, and the anticipation for when Travis and Abby would finally get together. I highly enjoyed those titillating feelings as I was inside Abby’s head during Beautiful Disaster. I missed Abby’s confusion over Travis. I missed not knowing what Travis was going to do next. Being inside Travis’ head took away those strong, emotional feelings.
The writing was definitely great. I give the author kudos for rewriting a story from Travis’ POV. I can’t imagine how hard that was, or how time consuming it had to have been to get the story just right from a different POV. I can’t imagine how difficult it was to be inside Travis’ head either. The man is all kinds of complicated. He has a raging temper that borders on psychotic. He has a big heart but he also has no idea how to express himself. There are so many things that make up Travis that I’m sure it was difficult to capture. Ms. McGuire does a wonderful job capturing his emotions in a realistic way. The epilogue at the end of the story shocked me in a good way. It made me very happy indeed.
All in all, I really did like this book. But I missed the mystery behind all the crazy that makes up Travis Maddox. Do I recommend Walking Disaster? Absolutely. Just keep in mind this is the same story only viewed differently, with some scenes added and deleted. I really think there are going to be a lot of mixed opinions about this book. My opinion falls in the middle category. I’m glad I read it but my rating is based on how engaged I was with the story, how it made me feel. With that said, not only was this book too easy to put down but it didn’t impact me emotionally like Beautiful Disaster did.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteLoved the book. I would recommend this book for others to read.
ReplyDelete