Bossy Italian Book Review: Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire

Image from Jamie McGuire.com 

After reading, Beautiful Disaster, I was really excited to read this book. It's basically the other side of the story, from Travis' perspective. What was great was that I got all those juicy details from Travis' side and it filled in a lot of blanks, which was great!!! Written in the same great style McGuire used in the first book, this expanded their love story even further.

I enjoyed hearing Travis' voice instead of Abby's and hearing how he fell in love with his Pigeon. I also really enjoyed the little twist at the end that gave even more insight into their lives....can't spoil that one for you, sorry, you'll just have to read it.

One thing that really hit me in this book was why both the books are so popular, and why they resonated with me in particular. When we fall in love, there is so much of that feeling of love that aching, even painful, and wrought with uncertainty. ultimately, I think a lot of women fantasize about a 'Travis' in one way or another. What I mean is that in the book he falls so utterly and completely for Abbey and she, as told by him, "tames" him.

He wanted to give up any and every thing he needed to in the name of love and that is the romantic picture that we enjoy when it comes to these love stories. He is devoted to her--he even says it in both books--how he belongs to her. One of the most basic psychological needs a human has is to feel that belonging....whether it is to a group or another person, we spend most of our lives seeking just that.

It's all part of the appeal in both of these books because it is the theme: how do we, as people, fall so completely that we belong? We long to experience it, and yet, we screw it up. That is kind of where realism and fantasy collide in the book to give it the sense of romance that allowed me to dive fully into the story.

These two books were great reads. Really. I highly recommend them because the concept of the two perspectives, especially read back to back was a great exploration. I enjoyed that as a writer and as a spectator to this romantic, thrilling love story!