Review: Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire

TITLE: Beautiful Disaster                       SERIES: Beautiful #1 AUTHOR: Jamie McGuire                     PUB DATE: 8/14/12 PUB: Simon & Schuster                     FORMAT: eARC SOURCE: Netgalley

The new Abby Abernathy is a good girl. She doesn’t drink or swear, and she has the appropriate percentage of cardigans in her wardrobe. Abby believes she has enough distance between her and the darkness of her past, but when she arrives at college with her best friend, her path to a new beginning is quickly challenged by Eastern University's Walking One-Night Stand. Travis Maddox, lean, cut, and covered in tattoos, is exactly what Abby needs—and wants—to avoid. He spends his nights winning money in a floating fight ring, and his days as the ultimate college campus charmer. Intrigued by Abby’s resistance to his appeal, Travis tricks her into his daily life with a simple bet. If he loses, he must remain abstinent for a month. If Abby loses, she must live in Travis’s apartment for the same amount of time. Either way, Travis has no idea that he has met his match

This is a long one, Cupcakes. I had A LOT to say...

THREE WORDS: No Me Gusta -__-


MY REVIEW: So, yet again it seems I was late to the drama-llama party surrounding a book (how lame am I?!). I didn't realize there was any drama or such strong feelings surrounding this book until after I got it from Netgalley and started reading it. After I finished reading this book I honestly wasn't sure if I was going to even post my review, knowing it would be a negative one. I suppose I was hesitant to get mixed up in any of the drama. But then I said to my self "Hey self, you sexy smart beast you, you took the time out of your busy schedule to read this book so you totes deserve to put your two cents out into the world. So what if your review offends someone?" Well how could I argue with me being all smarticle like that, right?!


Abby Abernathy, running from her dark and mysterious past, ends up at Eastern University with her BFF. At EU, Abby reinvents herself as the cardigan wearing good girl who avoids trouble. But uh-oh! trouble finds her in the form of super hot Travis Maddox. Travis "Mad Dog" Maddox earns money as a fighter in the underground fight club at EU and spends the rest of his time being the big man-slut on campus. The two meet and frustrating sparks fly and when Abby loses a bet against Travis and must live with him for a month, things get cray-cray (like seriously buckets of crazy!).


Ok, so you can already obviously tell that I did not like this book (and for good reason). But why? For so, so many reasons. But before I get to those, I will say that the actual writing isn't horrible, nothing mind-blowing or tattoo worthy, but not bad and the author isn't an ineffective storyteller either. I just really didn't like the story being told. The book is 361ish pages, but felt much l o n g e r. The last quarter dragged on in a way that had me asking "Isn't it over yet?!"...yeah, that's never a good thing *sigh*.


My biggest issue, and not necessarily for the reasons you may think, with Beautiful Disaster is unfortunately the most important aspect of the whole book: the relationship between Abby and Travis. Where do I start? Well, first the the actual event that brings these two together, the "bet", is incredibly contrived and unrealistically convenient. Then there's the fact that several times in the story Abby considers leaving but doesn't because she never backs out of a bet...again, this is too convenient. And Travis is oh, so conveniently in one of Abby's classes, which she just one day suddenly realizes O_o


Then there's the actual relationship these two have, from being friends to becoming lovers and more. Seperately, these two characters are each unlikable enough, but together they are a hot mess. Before dating Travis, Abby is a contradicting jumble of sweet one moment and completely bitchy the next. Her sarcastic-I don't care-I'm so tough-I can take care of myself attitude is laughable and fails to make her relatable or worth rooting for. And of course after Hurricane Travis blows into her life she transforms into One Of Those girls who makes unbelievably stupid descsions because of her BF and turns into a mere puddle of lovesick goo. 


Travis is just an absolute unbearable, eye-roll inducing, not swoon-worthy in anyway character. He treats girls like crap, has a huge ego, is terribly violent and any vulnerability or softness the author tries to give him failed to make me care about him one bit. I honestly do not understand his appeal at all. And Oh. My. Gerwd. the way EVERY single female within a ten foot radius of this guy turns into a eye-lash batting, hair flipping, flirting puppet is just absurd! I kept imagining either cats rubbing against his leg or very eager puppies humping his leg...that's seriously how absurd it got. And of course, once he fell for Abby he became scary obsessvie and abusive...


 I want to briefly discuss that word: abusive. I've seen other people argue that Travis isn't abusive because he never hits Abby, and he doesn't. But he does tell her what she can wear, who she can see, where she can go and he's manipulative and dangerously obsessive and possesive (he gets her name tattooed on him, as well as admiting that he wants other guys to know that she "belongs" to him)...that's emotional/psychological abuse. Whether he was created that way intentionally or not, doesn't make it any less true. And worse, after being with Travis for a while, Abby actually encourages his violence, prompting him to beat up another student in the cafeteria...and after just one (there are a few) brawl in the caf, you'd think Travis would be expelled, but no he never is.


Now, to avoid being accused of just not "getting" this story, let me say that I do "get" it: this is a story about two dysfunctional, emotionally scarred, kinda effed up people who fall in love and fall into an equally dysfunctional, hard, totally effed up relationship. I have no problems with effed up characters or relationships; there are plenty of screwed up, scary, broken, violent, dangerous and complex characters that I've loved and been absolutely captivated by.


My main issue is not their effed-upness; I don't dislike them as characters because of this, I dislike them because they are flat unlikable characters who have no real layers, dimension and who aren't particularly well developed. And my issue isn't even with their violtile, violent, effed-up relationship...No, my main issue is with what this relationship and these characters lack: depth, meaning, growth, poignancy or anything profound.


(I'm almost done, I swear)


A few other things I want to briefly mention are the supporting characters and all the girl-on-girl hate.


Abby's BFF, America, is another unlikable character. She's over the top dramatic, whiny and really kind of all over the place in terms of personality; one minute she's telling Abby to dump Travis, the next she's telling Abby she's a bitch for breaking his heart.


One of the supporting characters I actually liked (and who was the one sane, rational beacon of light) is Kara, Abby's dormmate. Kara has one of the only insightful and rational lines in the book: "Do you know what codependency is, Abby? Your boyfriend is a prime example, which is creepy considering he went from having no respect for women at all to thinking he needs you to breath." Yes, yes! A thousand times yes! Unfortunately, this one sane character was created to come across as an unlikable bitch, something America is always willing to point out.


Which leads me to all the girl-on-girl hate in this book, particularly done by America and Abby. These two are constantly calling soriety girls or ANY girl who flirts with or sleeps with Travis a whore, slut, stupid, vapid, bimbo, STD-infested, bitch, etc. Basically any girl other then the two of them who ever has sex, flirts or dresses sexy is obviously trash...PUH-lease! Can you say jealousy and insecurity? And of course these are issues never explored or mentioned.


I won't spoil any of the main plotpoints, but let's just say there's an unnecessary trip to Vegas, an out of nowhere fire, another trip to Vegas and a cheesy, disappointing end.


MY FINAL THOUGHTS: I don't think there's anything more I can say that I haven't already covered. Beautiful Disaster is certainly a disaster but far from beautiful. This is obvioulsy a book that will evoke strong feelings in readers, unfortunatley all my feelings are negative. (Oh, and I should mention that this book isn't technically considered YA)

MY RATING

Author: Site / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook

Purchase: Amazon

Jamie McGuire was born in Tulsa, OK. She was raised by her mother Brenda in Blackwell, OK, where she graduated high school in 1997. Jamie attended the Northern Oklahoma College, the University of Central Oklahoma, and Autry Technology Center where she graduated with a degree in Radiography.
Jamie now lives in Enid, OK with her three children and husband Jeff, who is a real, live cowboy. They share their 10 acres with four horses, four dogs, and Rooster the cat.
Books published by Jamie include the Providence trilogy, and The New York Times best seller Beautiful Disaster, a contemporary romance. When she’s not writing, Jamie spends her days letting her four dogs in and out.

Review: The Selection by Kiera Cass

TITLE: The Selection                   SERIES: The Selection #1 AUTHOR: Kiera Cass                  PUB DATE: 4/24/12 PUB: Harper Teen                         FORMAT: e-ARC SOURCE: from Edelweiss for review

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in the palace and compete for the heart of the gorgeous Prince Maxon.But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself- and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

WATCH THE TRAILER

THREE WORDS: WTF

MY REVIEW: I feel the need to emphasize the fact that I was not aware of any of the drama llama-ness surrounding this book and/or author that took place a few months ago, until after I began reading it. My review and thoughts are based solely on the book itself…okie dokie? Oh, and there will probably be slight, general spoilers throughout…

The Selection is every girl’s dream. Every girl except America Singer. In the country of Illea (a future, dystopian USA), the young Prince Maxon will select his future wife from a selection of 35 lucky chosen girls, and this process will be televised for the citizen’s entertainment. America wants nothing to with the Selection, she wants only to marry her secret love, Aspen. But Aspen is a Six and America is a Five and in this world, that is divided into numbered castes, their love is all but impossible. Urged by her mother and Aspen himself, America enters the draw and is chosen. After a heartbreaking break-up with Aspen she’s taken away to the palace and dropped into a lavish, cut-throat world of love and power.

I’m not even sure where to begin with this review except to be honest and say that it was a complete disappointment and not an enjoyable reading experience. There are so many things in this book that I have issue with and I’m going to try and cover a few of them efficiently.

The Selection has been compared to the television show The Bachelor, which is a fair comparison, and The Hunger Games, which is kind of a “you wish” comparison. The only things these two books have in common is 1) a dystopian setting, 2) a competition 3) starving people. I’d call The Selection dystopian-lite and this is my first big issue. Author Kiera Cass has laid out an intriguing premise with the potential to be grand and complex, but it never gets there. I don’t know about y’all, but I like my dystopian settings/worlds to be somewhere in the realm of plausible or at least logical…this story is neither.

The dystopian setting Cass creates makes no sense because no real explanation is given. From the few pages in the middle of the book, I’ve gathered that there was a WWIII and/or a war with China, the US lost, then more fighting, then the US was refigured and renamed Illea, then our republic became a monarchy….I think. There’s no explanation given as to why the country was divided into castes or who/how the purpose of each caste was assigned. At one point during this very brief history lesson, one of the handlers tells the girls “Dear girls, history isn’t something you study. It’s something you should just know.”….The heck is that supposed to mean? 


If this were some fantasy taking place in another world or sci-fi taking place on another planet then I’d be okay with being dropped right into the middle of this cultural/political setting and just accepting it for the way it is. But Cass has chosen to place her story in an altered, but familiar setting and she’s boldly taken the US apart, rearranged; renamed and redesigned it completely, and I would have appreciate at least some detailed backstory/history. Or at least a few simple details: how big is Illea or is there only one royal family? Then there’s the way the author simply combines names of real countries (i.e Swendway, Honduragua): what is this supposed to signify?

There really is absolutely no real world-building as far as the political/social/cultural aspects of this so-called dystopian setting go. And what world-building there is, is vague or confusing. The main focus of the story is clearly on the Selection and America’s story, but Cass insists on interjecting brief subplots, such as the rebel attacks; the plight of poorer castes; and Prince Maxon’s sudden realization that not everyone lives like royalty, throughout the main story, but these subplots feel forced and contrived. It’s as if the author tried too hard to make her story meaningful or thought-provoking, and instead created a disjointed story whose subparts do not mesh or flow coherently.

And the actual Selection portion of the story felt like one long meandering episode of Who Wants To Marry A Prince? And by the ending of the book, the Selection wasn’t even over! From the moment America arrives at the palace to the end of the book, nothing substantial or remotely exciting happens. There’s a whole lot of playing dress-up, catty girl fights, awkward dates, a few rebel attacks and childish behavior, but no real story/character development.  Most of the story literally takes place in  America’s room, the dining room, the Women’s Room, the garden and a brief stint in a basement…for reals! By the end, even I was going stir-crazy.

Unfortunately, the characters are really no more exciting than the story. America is kind of a mess of a character. I think she’s supposed to come across as humble and compassionate, but ends up sounding superior and at times, a little dumb. Her humor falls flat, her obsessive observations of how plain she is and how much prettier the other girls are make her sound shallow and vapid. Her little ‘strong-willed’ and ‘independent’ outbursts of “I’m not gonna change myself for some Prince” or “No one’s gonna tell me what to do/say/wear!” are unconvincing and childish.

Aspen is bad-tempered, easily angered and a bit controlling. Prince Maxon ended up disappointing me greatly because I actually liked his awkward honesty and sincerity when we first meet him, but then he gets all “Me Prince, you silly girl. You listen to me! Nananananana *sticks tongue out*” and turned into a d-bag. There’s a love triangle (as if you hadn’t already guessed) and it’s trite and boring and I could care less who America ends up with.

There are other characters of course. I mean there’s 34 other selected girls, but don’t worry about learning their names because only a handful actually matter. America’s mother acted more like her pimp than her mom (Oh, America you must do this! Think about all the money we’ll receive! Just do whatever they ask you to and don’t scowl and don’t talk back and be a lady and don’t screw this up because our family desperately needs the money. If you love us, you’ll win.  Moneymoneymoney).

 Then there are America’s three maids (why does each girl need three maids?! Sheesh, I get anxious when I have more than one pillow on my bed; I’d have no idea what to do with three maids!). I’m still perplexed as to just what point Cass is trying to make with these three maids. America spends a great deal of time with them (oh, how glorious of her, uh?) and laments on their poor situation, yet constantly thinks things such as “…they were so eager to serve”, “They were just so excited to be so helpful…”, “I’m sure they just live for this”. So which is it: are they poor, disadvantaged things or content, happy gals who are simply ecstatic to live to serve? The way Cass describes them all I can think about is three eager puppies, longing for nothing more than approval and cuddles from their owners. Cass took an opportunity to take three characters and make a really poignant point about the country’s lower castes and instead turned them into something ridiculous and laughable.

The writing in this book is far from spectacular. With the very vague to no world-building and Cass’ habit of telling rather than showing, the book is full of lazy writing (and I hate to use that term). And I don’t want to get nitpicky, but there are some sentences and word choices that just left me baffled:

·         “He was tall, but not too tall. Thin, but not too thin”…really, America? You mean he was average height and average build? This makes her sound smart, but not too smart.

·         “You idiot!” I whisper-yelled at him…how does one whisper yell exactly? Wouldn’t that just be whispering angrily?

·         “…the helpful shelf near the doors..” …man, ya gotta love those selfless, giving shelves. I would have gone with “handy” or “convenient” shelf, but that’s just me.

·         “It was a bizarre mix of rigidity and calm”…why is that a bizarre mix? Technically those two are not opposites or exclusive to one another

I hate to end this review without one positive note, so I’ll admit that the cover is gorgeous.

MY FINAL THOUGHTS: There were a few times when I considered just DNFing this book, and maybe I should have, but I kept trudging on in hopes that it would get better. It never did. The general premise is intriguing, but the execution is severely lacking.  With little world-building, unlikable characters, an illogical dystopian environment, a cliché romance, and ineffectual writing The Selection did not provide an enjoyable reading experience. I will not be continuing with this series, nor can I recommend it.

MY RATING

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