Book Review – Walking Disaster – Jamie McGuire

I will start with a warning for those who haven’t read Beautiful Disaster. Walking Disaster is the story of Travis and Abby first told to us in Beautiful Disaster only this time we get it in Travis’ point of view. You can’t read this book without having read Beautiful Disaster. There’s a lot in here that is schemed over to avoid repetition so to have the complete experience you have to read them both.

Now to my review… I’ve read Beautiful Disaster 3 times so I was very excited to get my hands on the Walking Disaster ARC! I had initial reservations as I thought I’d be re-reading the same book but was surprised at the many differences and how much I loved them. And I of course fell in love with Travis Maddox all over again!

The book however starts on a sad note. With her dying breath, Travis’ mom gives him one last piece of advice.

“One of these days you’re 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”

And with that, it’s easy to know why Travis was the way he was. I loved getting into his head. Seeing how he fell for Abby, how hard he fought for them, keeping his promise to his mother and reminding me yet again why he’s one of my favorite fictional men. It was like he couldn’t breathe without her, we saw him hurting for her in Beautiful Disaster but in this one we see it, feel it.

I pulled her arms around me without apology  tight enough  that it was difficult to expand my chest enough to fully inhale, but for the first time all night, I felt like I could breathe.

I admit that the first 30% felt like ‘tell’ not ‘show’. I felt like someone was narrating to me what Travis felt and did. After that however I started connecting with him, felt his anguish, understood his motives, sympathized with him… I even hated Abby for putting him through it all which is completely unfair since I’ve read her POV and knew why she did what she did.

But back to this wonderful story. Who could forget this scene?

“I know we’re fucked-up, all right? I’m impulsive and hot tempered, and you get under my skin like no one else. You act like you hate me one minute, and then you need me the next. I never get anything right, and I don’t deserve you… but I fucking love you, Abby. I love you more than I’ve loved anyone or anything, ever.

I didn’t quote it in my Beautiful Disaster review but had to now 🙂 Travis Maddox is it for me when it comes to fictional men. Such a tough guy on the outside but with the most beautiful heart.

All in all if you’ve read Beautiful Disaster you’ll find some bits of Walking Disaster repetitive. It is the same story after all, though for a lot of reasons it can’t quite compare to how Beautiful Disaster made me feel. But I loved their story so much I couldn’t resist getting into Travis’ head.

3.5 stars.

Amazon: Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire

Finally, I would like to thank NetGalley and Atria Books for providing this ARC for my review.