Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire Audiobook Review

Beautiful Disaster by Jamie Mcguire, audiobook read by Emma GalvinBook: Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire, Simon & Schuster Audio, July 24, 2012

Book Info: New Adult / Contemporary Romance. Audiobook purchased at Audible.com. Running time: 10 hrs, 30 mins. Read by: Emma Galvin

Rating: 3.5 / 5 Stars

More Info: Goodreads | Audible | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound

Beautiful Disaster is a book that has been on my radar for a while.  I’ve heard some things about it, both positive and negative, that made me wary to read it.  But, I’ve been exploring the New Adult genre lately, and I decided to check out the audiobook. Though I didn’t think the book was perfect, I was entertained. Beautiful Disaster is intense and over the top but it’s certainly a gripping story.

In Beautiful Disaster, Abby and her BFF America go to college together at Eastern University. Abby is trying to escape from her dark past and start a new life, and America fully supports her. Abby doesn’t want any drama, and works toward being a model student. When she attends the local fight club with America and her boyfriend Shepley, she meets Shepley’s cousin, Travis “Mad Dog” Maddox, fight club champion, and just the kind of trouble she wanted to avoid.

Travis has a reputation as a lady-killer, and is a tattooed, smoking, drinking, motorcycle riding badass with a volatile personality. And, he’s set his sights on Abby. He’s exactly what Abby doesn’t want in her life right now.  But, he’s relentlessly persistent, and she decides to give friendship a try.  When Abby loses to Travis in a bet, she has to live with him for 30 days, which fast tracks their relationship.

A lot of the book is about the dysfunctional, crazy relationship between Abby and Travis. He is obsessive, jealous, and possessive and Abby alternately loves it or runs away from it. Part of the mystery is her past, and once we understand where she’s coming from, her reluctant attraction to Travis makes sense. Though if this were real life, I think her friends would say, “Run away, Abby!” because their relationship is very unhealthy. I was strangely fascinated by the back and forth relationship though, and absorbed with each dark turn. I wasn’t crazy about Travis’s nickname for Abby though – he calls her pigeon constantly.

The secondary characters America and Shepley help to keep the story grounded.  Both are very good friends to the couple. And Travis’ dad and brothers also entertain. The tumultuous twosome even get a dog, Toto, who I found myself worrying about due to Travis and Abby’s frequent absences.

Audiobook narrator extraordinaire Emma Galvin reads the audiobook. I swear she’s a chameleon, and can transform her voice to suit any character. She brings sass and personality to the characters, and delivers a spot-on reading for the Travis and Abby characters.  Galvin reads with intensity that ramps up the drama of the story. Though the story is crazy at times, I was addicted to the audiobook.

I can’t say this book will be for everyone, and the mature content may offend some readers. But if you like edgier, new adult, or contemporary romance, I think it’s worth a read. And, there’s even a movie adaptation on the way, with Warner Bros. snapping up the film rights. A companion book, Walking Disaster, due out in April 2013, tells Travis’s side of the story, and I don’t think I’ll be able to stay away.

Emma Galvin talks a little about the audiobook here:

Ornament

15 thoughts on “Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire Audiobook Review

  1. BermudaOnion says:

    Once you mentioned romance, you lost me. I don’t think this is for me.

    1. Lucy says:

      I have been reading a lot of romance lately, but there are some interesting memoirs I have my eye on so hopefully they will catch your interest 🙂

  2. This is a book I found difficult but I can totally understand why others would like it..kinda reminds me of a more adult version of Alice and Cole from Alice in Zombieland.

    1. Lucy says:

      Interesting! I don’t know much about Alice in Zombieland, but I’m intrigued. BD does seem to inspire strong reactions.

  3. bookgoonie says:

    The audiobook sounds great. I’m going to cross my fingers and hope my library has it.

    1. Lucy says:

      It looks like the audiobook is hard to find in libraries, but maybe you can request it. I’d loan you mine if I could! I’m curious to hear what you think of this one.

  4. Hmm, this book is also on my radar! My list of ‘to read’ just seems to get longer and longer! It’d be great to be able to just read for days at a time! 😀

  5. veganyanerds says:

    I’ve heard such mixed things about this book but it’s great that despite the crazy, the fantastic narrator made you want to keep going!

  6. I was pretty disgusted with Travis and their relationship, but I totally get the “strangely fascinated” part… that’s what kept me reading, and why I liked the book at all. It’s oddly compelling, and despite hating a lot of the subject matter, I do like her writing style a lot.

  7. […] the book for you. Thoughtless is a good crossover book for New Adult fans (especially if you liked Beautiful Disaster) as well as contemporary romance readers.   I’ve already read the second book in the trilogy, […]

  8. […] Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire. Narrated by Emma Galvin. From my review: She brings sass and personality to the characters, and delivers a spot-on reading for the Travis and Abby characters.  Galvin reads with intensity that ramps up the drama of the story. Though the story is crazy at times, I was addicted to the audiobook. […]

  9. […] 2. College – I didn’t really have a typical college experience of living in a dorm, and think books with a college setting bring up a lot of interesting situations. New Adult books are starting to fill that void with more books set in college, such as Easy, Love Story, and Beautiful Disaster. […]

  10. […] re-read (listened) to Beautiful Disaster (review here) as a refresher before diving into this book. Not sure if it was necessary, but I wanted Abby’s […]

  11. […] Disaster (my audiobook review) is about Abby Abernathy, a college student with a dark past, who gets involved with Travis […]

  12. […] Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire […]

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