Walking Disaster

Fans of Beautiful Disaster know that Travis is volatile. Quick to anger and even quicker to react, he appears to be the type of boy about whom one would warn one’s daughter to steer clear. He is dangerous, playing fast and loose with his life as well as with the affections of the women he takes home. While fans already know how Abby changes all that for him, they do not know the path Travis takes to change or the fact that Travis is not necessarily the bad boy he appears to be.

In Walking Disaster, readers get to see Travis at his most vulnerable – at the side of his dying mother. It is a scene so poignant and beautifully simple that it underscores just how much of an impact it had on his life. Her final words to him change show more everything for him, which has direct consequences for relationships with women and especially with Abby. While readers may have questioned his actions towards Abby, or at least his motives, in the first novel, in the sequel, from the moment he meets her, no reader doubts the depths of his feelings for her. What follows is a crystal-clear picture of the cruel joke of poor timing and even poorer communication that besets them.

Surprisingly, Abby does not come across as completely innocent in Walking Disaster. In fact, one could make a compelling argument that Travis becomes so unhinged specifically because of her behavior towards him. Even with knowing how the story ends, some readers will still become upset at what she essentially puts him through while she tries to make up her mind about him even though they know the reasons why she does so. It’s a fantastic twist that explains so much about the first book and Travis’ crazy behavior.

One of the best explanations to come out of Walking Disaster is a better understanding of Travis’ behavior towards violence, gambling, woman, and alcohol. One sees his relationships with his brothers and father and realizes where those tendencies originate. One can neither approve or disapprove of behavior he learned from his family and may be the only way he knows. As for his rather uncouth behavior towards women, Ms. McGuire puts forth one of the most fascinating arguments supporting it. No longer is Travis the bad boy poster child but rather someone who verifies every lesson about self-respect and appearance that parents can ever teach their daughters.

Dan Bittner does a fantastic job channeling Travis and his intensity. Travis’ emotions are raw and passionate and could easily come across as melodramatic if performed incorrectly. Rather, Mr. Bittner uses that forcefulness to create a performance that is just as powerful and gut-wrenching than Abby’s version, if not more so. Travis’ devastation, his terror, his awe and overwhelming love for Abby are visceral in Mr. Bittner’s hands, something that makes certain scenes so difficult to experience. Still, it is an audiobook worth experiencing for the amazing nuances Mr. Bittner adds to Travis’ already complex voice.

Fans of Abby and Travis will absolutely adore the chance to watch their relationship unfold all over again. However, Walking Disaster is more than a rehash of their courtship but rather a touching story of growth as Travis learns that for which it is truly worth fighting. Ms. McGuire deftly balances key scenes and dialogue with fresh scenes, some of which come as a complete surprise to readers. There is never the sense of repetitiveness because the tone of the novel is completely different. The adorably charming epilogue ends his story with the perfect sense of closure, and the contentment readers feel upon finishing the story is proof positive that Walking Disaster is a damn good story, one that makes bad boy Travis Maddox just about ideal. show less

It's going to be hard to review this without repeating what I said about Beautiful Disaster. This companion novel, told from Travis' point of view, brings to light the side of Travis we never got to see in the previous book - his sensitivity and unique view on life.

Travis has spent his whole life trying to live by the advice his mother gave him before he died, and he's always taken the edicts of his father and brothers to heart. He wants to be with the perfect woman one day, the one who's going to be everything to him, the one he can take home to his family, but right now he feels he's surrounded by women of loose character who aren't worth his time. If they let him 'bag' them on the first day, how can they be worthy of his time?

Jamie show more McGuire has tried valiantly to make me like Travis, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. He's still violent and volatile, except now we know why. It doesn't help that he suffers from mind blanks and frequently has no idea how he ended up beating the crap out of someone who mildly annoyed him. He's instantly fascinated by Abby, becoming increasingly enamoured as she defies his expectations again and again. I hated how dependant he became on her once they finally got together. While his behaviour was frightening in Beautiful Disaster, in this book he bordered on pathetic, literally losing his ability to function without Abby by his side (not brushing his teeth for days? Yuck).

While in Beautiful Disaster I was frequently throwing my hands in the air at Travis' actions, in this book I was doing the same because of Abby's reactions. Travis is so blissfully unaware that anything is wrong that it really throws him off when Abby leaves - and she leaves him multiple times without trying to talk to him or work anything out. It seemed so reasonable in the first book, but I found it frustrating and rude throughout this one. Walking Disaster throws light on exactly how dysfunctional this couple really is, and again, I am struck at the author's gritty view.

I think it took a lot of guts to write a book like Beautiful Disaster, but it took something extra to write it from Travis' point of view. Walking Disaster dovetails well with the previous book, and the two, when taken together, tell and raw and unflinching story of a couple that really should have avoided one another like the plague, but somehow ended up with their own version of happy ever after.

You can read more of my reviews at Speculating on SpecFic. show less

I was beyond ecstatic to learn that there is not only a sequel to Beautiful Disaster, but also that it is told from Travis' point of view! I loved this book even more than the first one because Travis appears to be someone who has only one emotion really, and that is anger. But as you delve deeper into the book you can see how Abby truly affects him and you can see the change in him come from the inside out. With the first book, Abby seemed to think that Travis was perhaps rude or mean when he just didn't know how to express his feelings properly. And now we finally get to know what he was thinking and feeling through those encounters.

I just love how these two books, although they take place during the same period of time, are still show more different. I haven't read a series of books like that before, even though there are tons of books that I wish could have done that. Most nowadays just do a short little ebook version of a main character, and that is normally only about one significant incident from the main book. As great as that is, this is just so much better and I think Jamie McGuire proved that even though you already know the story, it changes completely when it's told from a different perspective. However, it's not all the same. You do get different scenes and conversations with different characters because Travis wasn't with Abby all the time, and he did have friends before he met her.

The epilogue was just fantastic! I let out an audible "aw" at the end because everything about the epilogue was truly wonderful. show less

3.5 estrellas.

Seguramente se preguntaran: ¿Por qué no 4 ó 5?

En [b:Beautiful Disaster|11505797|Beautiful Disaster (Beautiful, #1)|Jamie McGuire|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1358259032s/11505797.jpg|16441531] Abby nos cuenta todo desde su perspectiva, de manera muy detallada, haciendo todo muy fácil de imaginar, en cambio en este libro faltan detalles. Tal vez sea porque Travis es un hombre y los hombres no se preocupan por tantas tonterias, pero sentí que faltaron muchas cosas. En algunas partes las escenas saltaban de unas a otras sin sentido. Yo lo entendía porque, debo admitirlo, me sé practicamente de memoria todo [b:Beautiful Disaster|11505797|Beautiful Disaster (Beautiful, #1)|Jamie show more McGuire|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1358259032s/11505797.jpg|16441531], pero para otras personas puede llegar a resultar confuso.

Desde el POV de Travis, realmente no entiendo como se enamoró de Abby. En [b:Beautiful Disaster|11505797|Beautiful Disaster (Beautiful, #1)|Jamie McGuire|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1358259032s/11505797.jpg|16441531] podemos simpatizar con ella porque leemos sus pensamientos, pero aqui: se convierte en uno de los seres más inexpresivos de la historia. De hecho, creo que la odie un poquito mientras leía.

En definitiva, éste no es un libro que pueda leerse sino han leído antes [b:Beautiful Disaster|11505797|Beautiful Disaster (Beautiful, #1)|Jamie McGuire|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1358259032s/11505797.jpg|16441531]. A menos que quieran arruinar la experiencia.

El epilogo. Lo único que puedo decir del epilogo sin hacer spoiler es que todos los sueños de Travis, todas las metas que se había propuesto, se vuelven realidad :) Sin embargo, sentí casi como si Jamie nos dejará un final abierto. ¿Será que vienen nuevas aventuras de la nueva vida de Travis? Supongo que el tiempo lo dirá. show less

I was so excited last night because I knew this morning I'd have Walking Disaster to wake up to and a day off work booked with one job to do - read Walking Disaster!

Yes, its the same story as Beautiful Disaster so no surprises about the content but we get to learn a whole lot more about Travis and what goes on in that gorgeous head of his!

I loved seeing his relationship with his father and brothers but especially Shepley, they have some lol conversations!

I'm sure there will be some moaning about the fact that its no different from the first book but it was never expected to be in my opinion but I was more interested to find out what he thinks, says and feels when it comes to his Abby!

I loved it but I that's nothing short of what I show more expected! Thank you Jamie McGuire for bringing this to us, I have literally counted down the days and was not disappointed! :) show less

I completely and totally fell in love with Travis Maddox in Beautiful Disaster, and didn't think it could get any better than that until I was able to get into his mind and emotions in Walking Disaster. If you haven't read Beautiful Disaster, make sure you do that first before picking this one up, or you won't be able to appreciate it as much. Walking Disaster is Travis' side of the story, and no, it isn't like you're reading the same book again.....far from it. Some of the same events are referenced, but Jamie McGuire has written the book in such a way that it is truly like reading the story afresh and anew. I loved Beautiful Disaster and I loved getting to know Abby and experience the story from her point of view, but there was just show more something extra special about getting to see things from Travis' side.

If you were one of those who were skeptical or didn't like Travis in Beautiful Disaster, then you might want consider giving Walking Disaster another chance, because you will get to connect with Travis and understand him and the things he did and does so much better, and you just can't help but love him, or at least I couldn't. Is Travis messed up? Yes he is. Does he have anger issues? Yes he does. Is he emotionally unstable? He can be. Does he maybe have a bit of a codependency problem regarding Abby going on? Absolutely.

Travis started out as a precious and broken little boy who grew up the youngest in a house full of men, channeling his hurt, his anger, his abandonment issues, his loss, and his fear the best way he knew how, and it was far from perfect, but perfect isn't always that great anyway. Jamie McGuire couldn't have named this book any better, because that is exactly what Travis was, a Walking Disaster, but oh was he also a beautiful one. I loved Travis and Abby's story. I love the raw emotions, the undeniable chemistry between them, and the love that can't keep them apart. As a matter of fact, the prologue and epilogue of this book were probably the best parts and I would totally buy it for just those two things alone. Well done Jamie McGuire, well done. show less

Just as good as Beautiful Disaster, Travis Maddox has a hot temper and bad attitude and it was a great time reading the same story from his perspective. Less conservative and more aggressive with his words Walking Disaster was well worth getting.