Beautiful Disaster (Beautiful, #1) in The Indie Bookshelf

May 23, 2012 Cindy rated it did not like it

Shelves: bored-now, dnf

The *dies laughing* Vegas trip was my limit. I'm not wasting any more time trying to make this book happen. It's NOT happening.

The writing is weak. The characters thin & cliched. The settings are completely unrealistic. I see nothing that even gives me a hint as to why everyone loves this book. I gave it more of a shot that I wanted to hoping it would turn around and it only got worse. I have quit reading better books long before now, but I tried to give this one the benefit of the doubt. In the ...more

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May 04, 2012 Nikoleta Katsiouli rated it it was amazing

Το μόνο που έχω να πω για το βιβλίο της Jamie McGuire είναι πως είναι άκρως εθιστικό! Ειλικρινά δεν έχω λόγια που να μπορούν να περιγράψουν το πόσο πολύ λατρεύω αυτό το βιβλίο. Θα προσπαθήσω, αλλά σας προειδοποιώ μπορεί και να μην τα καταφέρω. So, there you go…

Συνήθως όταν υπάρχει τόσο μεγάλη διαφήμιση γύρω από ένα βιβλίο, έχω πάντα τις αμφιβολίες μου και πάντα εύχομαι να καταφέρει να φτάσει τις προσδοκίες μου. Ωστόσο, το Γλυκιά Καταστροφή είναι χωρίς αμφιβολία ένα από τα καλύτερα βιβλία που έχω Το μόνο που έχω να πω για το βιβλίο της Jamie McGuire είναι πως είναι άκρως εθιστικό! Ειλικρινά δεν έχω λόγια που να μπορούν να περιγράψουν το πόσο πολύ λατρεύω αυτό το βιβλίο. Θα προσπαθήσω, αλλά σας προειδοποιώ μπορεί και να μην τα καταφέρω. So, there you go…

Συνήθως όταν υπάρχει τόσο μεγάλη διαφήμιση γύρω από ένα βιβλίο, έχω πάντα τις αμφιβολίες μου και πάντα εύχομαι να καταφέρει να φτάσει τις προσδοκίες μου. Ωστόσο, το Γλυκιά Καταστροφή είναι χωρίς αμφιβολία ένα από τα καλύτερα βιβλία που έχω διαβάσει. Είμαι εντελώς συνεπαρμένη από αυτό. Και όχι απλά κατάφερε να φτάσει τις προσδοκίες μου αλλά τις ξεπέρασε κατά πολύ.

Η Άμπι έχει μετακομίσει σε μια νέα πόλη για να κάνει ένα νέο ξεκίνημα. Φοιτήτρια πλέον θέλει να αφήσει πίσω της τα πάντα και να κάνει το βήμα προς την νέα της ζωή. Έχει δημιουργήσει την εικόνα καλού κοριτσιού. Προσέχοντας το ντύσιμό της που είναι πάντα συντηρητικό , μέσω της προσπαθείας της να μην τραβάει την προσοχή και φυσικά με το να μην μπλέκει με τα λάθος άτομα. Ο καιρός περνά και ενώ προσπαθεί να προσαρμοστεί στις απαιτήσεις της καθημερινότητας, στη ζωή της μπαίνει ο Τράβις Μάντοξ.

Εκείνος είναι όμορφος, σκληρός και πολύ πολύ επικίνδυνος. Είναι όλα αυτά από τα οποία εκείνη πάντα προσπαθεί να ξεφύγει, είναι το «λάθος» άτομο. Έχει πάντα κορίτσια να τον περιτριγυρίζουν, βγάζει χρήματά σε παράνομους αγώνες, έχει προβλήματα διαχείρισης θυμού, και είναι γνωστό σε όλο το πανεπιστήμιο ότι δεν κοιμάται με το ίδιο κορίτσι δεύτερη φορά. Αλλά γρήγορα ο Τράβις θα συνειδητοποιήσει ότι η Άμπι δεν μοιάζει με καμία από τις άλλες του κατακτήσεις και ότι δεν φαίνεται να υποκύπτει στην γοητεία του, τον τρελαίνει ακόμα περισσότερο. Έτσι αναπτύσσεται μεταξύ τους μια ιδιαίτερη φιλία η οποία θα αλλάξει τα πάντα.

Και φυσικά η ισορροπία που με κόπο προσπαθούν να διατηρήσουν, θα ανατραπεί όταν ο Τράβις θα την προκαλέσει σε ένα στοίχημα. Ένα στοίχημα του οποίου, αν είναι εκείνος ο νικητής , θα πρέπει να μείνει στο σπίτι του η Άμπι για ένα μήνα ενώ αν είναι ο χαμένος θα απέχει από το σεξ για το ίδιο διάστημα. Με τη νίκη του Τράβις η Αμπι μετακομίζει στο σπίτι του, όπου εκεί βλέπουμε σιγά σιγά τα όποια συναισθήματα φιλίας είχαν δημιουργηθεί να γίνονται πολύ περίπλοκα , βαθύτερα , πρωτόγνωρα και πρωτόγονα. Τα βλέπουμε να τους οδηγούν σε μονοπάτια που δεν πίστεψαν ποτέ πως θα διανύσουν. Έτσι δημιουργείτε ανάμεσά τους μια καταστροφική σχέση που δεν παύει να είναι απόλυτα γλυκιά.

Η Γλυκιά Καταστροφή είναι ένα από εκείνα τα βιβλία που μπαίνουν βαθιά κάτω από το δέρμα μας. Με την απλή γραφή της η συγγραφέας μας ταξιδεύει. Οι χαρακτήρες είναι αξέχαστοι και η χημεία μεταξύ της Άμπι και του Τράβις είναι αυτό που κάνει την ιστορία τόσο φοβερή. Μια ιστορία τόσο έντονη και μερικές φορές τόσο σκοτεινή που μας δίνει κάτι το τόσο αναζωογονητικό σε σύγκριση με πολλά άλλα βιβλία στις μέρες μας. Και σε προσωπικό επίπεδο μπόρεσα να συνδεθώ πραγματικά με τους χαρακτήρες , διότι ένιωσα σαν να ήμουν μέρος του βιβλίου και όχι ένας απλός αναγνώστης.

Το συμπέρασμα όλων αυτών, αν δεν έχετε διαβάσει ακόμη τη Γλυκιά Καταστροφή μόνο αυτό μπορώ να σας πω, τρέξτε!

Το βιβλίο Κυκλοφορεί από τις εκδόσεις Μεταίχμιο.
...more

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Jul 14, 2012 Keighley rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

Read this in two days, loved it! Not gonna overthink it and start tearing apart the teen angst and questionable actions of the main characters, simple fact is this book put a huge smile on my face :D

After reading quite a few 'intense' romance series like Bared to you and 50shades... was a relief to read something funny and sweet without anything too sinsiter lurking in back ground.

A guilty pleasure maybe, but arent those the best kind? ...more

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Aug 08, 2012 Claire Riley rated it really liked it

Shelves: kick-ass-female, contemporary-romance, damaged-characters, hot-male

Im not quite sure what it was about this book that i liked so much. Travis is such a violent thug and Abby was a bit of a wet lettuce but i simply could not put it down! She annoyed me so much by keep running off every 5 minutes and 'breaking up' with him or not realising how in love with her he was- such an idiot! But deep down she was a bit of a bad ass too and gave him a run for his money. I normally don't like books when the guy goes all sappy on the girl but i really liked it in this book f ...more

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Jul 14, 2012 Nina rated it it was amazing

Beautiful Disaster was a book I picked up when it first came out and hadn't got around to reading. I have that big a reading list. What did make me pick it up was the constant discussion about the MC Abby - or Pigeon as she's called by the male MC Travis - and her co-dependent relationship with him. I'd also heard Travis was abusive, too possessive and was just a horrid character.

Here's the thing. I've read horrible characters in many books. Can anyone say Healthcliff and Cathy from Wuthering He Beautiful Disaster was a book I picked up when it first came out and hadn't got around to reading. I have that big a reading list. What did make me pick it up was the constant discussion about the MC Abby - or Pigeon as she's called by the male MC Travis - and her co-dependent relationship with him. I'd also heard Travis was abusive, too possessive and was just a horrid character.

Here's the thing. I've read horrible characters in many books. Can anyone say Healthcliff and Cathy from Wuthering Heights? Trust me, Travis is a walk in the park compared to Heathcliff and some of the other character's I've read.

I admit I was worried about the amount of times the character drove drunk and some of the fights were fairly volatile. But here's the thing, they're two kids in college. Drink driving happens - in fact, from my memories of my time at College, it happens a lot. As does the underage drinking. It's part of what some would call the college experience. Personally, I always thought it was stupid, but I knew it was a reality.

And who hasn't had screaming fights with your college boyfriend, who you love and hate so passionately because it's your first real 'adult' relationship. I know I have.

I really enjoyed this book. Yes, there are disturbing elements in this novel - but the reality is, they're elements that are real and this is what makes the novel so refreshing. It's a no holds bar description of two people tottering on the edge of adulthood who are in love but who are still young people trying to work out what their relationship actually is. Reading the way the two of them fought and some of the irrational behavior played out between the two of them I found Jamie McGuire wrote an accurate description of teenagers in love. They're never rational in their fighting or reasoning.

It's passionate, it's scary, and it's authentic. I actually saw Travis differently to the way other people have described him. Instead of seeing him as a bully who is abusive and possessive I saw him as a guy who is falling in love for the first time and it's terrifying him. He didn't know how to react to situations (hence his trashing room and he didn't understand his vulnerability or like it).
Yes, he is possessive. But guess what? So is Pigeon.
I kind of like that aspect about him as well. I found his character refreshing because right from the start it's obvious he is a wounded character, who is vulnerable and in some ways damaged.

Yes, he likes to talk with his fists - maybe, sometimes too much. People may see that as being a bully, but I saw it as a guy standing up for the girl he loves and not letting her be bad-mouthed. Yes, he could have talked his way through it but let's be realistic, they're college boys and since when do college boys not beat the crap out of each other?

Travis is a boy who is rough around the edges, but he has a good heart and he truly loved Pigeon. I loved the emotions that flooded through him because it made his character that more realistic to me.

I also liked Abby or Pigeon because her character has issues of her own. She manages to fight through them while resisting Travis at every turn. I didn't always agree with the way she fought, but at the same time I understood her struggle to have a normal life and that her fears were pinning her down. It was only when she let go of her fears of who she would become or who Travis was, she was able to embrace life and love more.

The story is very much based on the whole I want to be friends and friends only line with the obvious fact that they're never going to be just friends and they have a passion that is so intense, so tumultuous that they will only be happy with each other.

Overall, it's very well written. I saw a few grammar errors in the novel but nothing major and I was swept away with the love story.

I'd recommend it to anyone wanting to read a refreshingly honest love story, ...more

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Jul 30, 2012 Charlotte Kelly rated it it was amazing

Ok, I'm a gluten for punishment! These damn YA Romance Novels get to me, so bad! I could not put this book down! Abby really aggravated me in this book, which made me feel sorry for and love Travis more. I mean how many times was this boy gonna tell her how much he cared and wanted her?? Don't get me wrong, I mean his behavior was crazy to say the least, but I still loved him! I was a roller coaster of emotions throughout! I have heard alot of good reviews about this book, and a lot of people ...more

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Sep 14, 2012 Shawn Baker rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ya

One of the best reads of all time. I loved it even though it was a college romance, Worth the time to read. I have read it twice so far and will read again and again.

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Oct 11, 2012 Tarah Hodges-Wilkins rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorite, series, bad-boy, 5-stars, made-me-cry, highly-recommend, college, sports, must-read, all-the-feels

"That’s not true. I love you more than my life, Pigeon," he said, hurt. “That’s exactly what I mean. That’s crazy talk.” “It’s not crazy. It’s the truth."
My absolutely hands down favorite book boyfriend.
No matter how many new book boyfriends I get I all was have to come back to Travis! ...more

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