Jamie McGuire ~ "Beautiful Disaster"

When I first read this book I was going around telling everyone that it was a 5 star experience.

Why, you gasp?

Because I thought of it as a parody.

(and really, it had those AWESOME covers!)
Now, after so many people wispering to me about how I am plain delusional and that this book is in fact VERY MUCH LITERAL, I am grudgingly writing a confused little review.

First off, well... if it is literal, then - OMG, SOMEBODY GET ME A FLAME THROWER SO WE CAN FRY THIS FREAKING DUDE!

On a personal note, I will state that I seem to have a glitch in my personal programming. I am unable to NOT LAUGH at most YA novels, be they contemporary or PRN.

My reasons for this are:
a) A contemporary romance where the hero and heroine are going to be happy and TOGETHER FOREVER at 16-18?
Yeah. What a grand example for fool’s paradise.
And afterward you listen to people going ‘How come there are so many divorces?’…There are so many divorces because most young'uns think "Romeo and Juliet" is a romance novel.

It was not. Look up Juvenalian satire and tragical satire. Maybe you will learn something.
b) The constant overflow of YA novels with ridiculous premises. Like a prn YA romance that has all the evil sluts, the nice virgins, the la-la land viewing of everything… and Zeus that cares about moral standards… heh …Zeus… that ... hehehehe …think "Goddess test". Nothing more to be said.

The bottom line is… if this is indeed a romance story, a literal romance story, that was supposed to make me feel fuzzy and warm - then it should end up on my AVOID and RISK TO YOUR MENTAL HEALTH shelves and get 1 sickly little star.
Seeing as how deep in my heart I still hope this is NOT a romance novel… I am unable to rate it either 1 or 5 stars.

Be warned: Even when thinking of this book as a great drama, I did not see it as romantic, and reviewers saying that it was leave me dumbstruck.

I saw it as dysfunctional. I saw Trev, the hero, as scary. I thought about the fact that if he, as a person, happened to me, I would have gotten a restraining order.
With this, the idea of the hero and heroine being married in the end, stopped being nice and sweet and started looking like a death sentence.

I could see them having problems just around the corner. I could see him flipping out one day, and becoming one of those people that kill their partner and themselves because of jealousy.

So.
What did the author really want to tell me?
Did she write a sappy ending and hoped we would buy it?
Or was she a lot smarter and wrote the escalation of a disaster?
Did she know that it will never be sweet? Only bitter?
Did she want us to see that even thou at first it is endearing at a second look Trev and his obsession – that – he – dares - calls - love are plainly sick?
I do not know.
Some of the sentences in the novel bring me to the conclusion that the marriage at the end of the book was not a mushy YA happy ending but a stop sign that tells me I do not even wish to see what happens next…

What are your thoughts? Could it be? Is this YA author really a big philosophical potential in disguise?
I am still not sure. Maybe I never will be.
But I wish to believe it is true. Because deep writers that don’t sound uppity and pretentious are that rare a breed.