Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire

Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire
Pubilsher: Atria Books
Publication Date: January 1st, 2013
Pages: 448
Song I Played While Reading: Don't by Ed Sheeran
Rating: 1 star

Can you love someone too much?

Travis Maddox learned two things from his mother before she died: Love hard. Fight harder.

In Walking Disaster, the life of Travis is full of fast women, underground gambling, and violence. But just when he thinks he is invincible, Abby Abernathy brings him to his knees.

Every story has two sides. In Beautiful Disaster, Abby had her say. Now it’s time to see the story through Travis’s eyes.

My mom was the one who introduced me to Beautiful Disaster while at the book store. She thought the cover looked pretty. I thought the story sounded awesome so I bought it and quickly raced home, eager to crack it open. I didn't realize it was New Adult. Hell, I didn't even know New Adult existed. But that wasn't my issue with the book. 
You know how you read the blurb on the back and then read the book and realize they only skimmed the surface of the story and decided to keep most of it a secret? Thats how BD was. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. For me, it didn't. The blurb only mentions them making the bet, but theres so much more that happens after that that I was caught of guard. It was not at all what I expected and it kinda pissed me off. 
But when I saw this book and realized it was from Travis's POV I thought I might enjoy the story more. Girls are more dramatic and I figured Travis would be more of an easier head to slip into then Abby's was. Sadly, it wasn't
It was almost worse in his head because he was so hung up on Abby that whenever they were would get into a little argument, or really duke it out, he would mope around and complain and literally think of nothing else. His entire world revolved around Abby and it got boring after a while (and super annoying). I felt no sympathy for either of them because they were bringing it on themselves. They never talked, and the few times they did, they skirted around the issue and made themselves completely miserable. Like I've said before I hate drama, and these two are that couple that fights hard and loves harder and blows things completely out of proportion. It's exhausting to me. 
I was surprised at some of the things McGuire chose to omit from the story and found that to be one of the reasons why the story felt so rushed. You definitely need to read BD before this one so their conversations and quick transitions from scene to scene make more sense. 
I enjoyed parts of the book and would find myself jumping back to BD to see it from Abby's POV. The contrast between them was amusing, but they lacked the depth for me to emotionally relate to them. They weren't flushed out well enough and were very flat, which is ironic because I also found them to be completely outrageous. 
One thing I absolutely loved about this book was the epilogue and thought it was the perfect ending to this story. It wrapped things up perfectly and put to rest some lingering issues. This was definitely an interesting read and I recommend it if you enjoyed Beautiful Disaster!

Quotes
"Becky put her soft, warm hand on my shoulder, just like Mommy used to when I was upset. "Your mom wants to be here with you. She wants that very much. But Jesus wants her with him right now."
I frowned. "I need her more than Jesus does."

"I headed to my bedroom, and slipped on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. Wallet, phone, keys. I couldn't imagine being a girl. The bullshit routine they had to go through just to get out the door consumed half their lives."


(Image and synopsis from Goodreads)