Name: Noelia Abreu's review of Beautiful Oblivion by Jamie McGuire
Item: Beautiful Oblivion
Rating: 5
Author: Noelia Abreu

Jamie McGuire

The Beautiful Disaster phenomenon continues in the first heart-pounding new adult romance in The Maddox Brothers series. Fiercely independent Camille "Cami" Camlin gladly moved on from her childhood before it was over. She has held down a job since before she could drive, and moved into her own apartment after her freshman year of college. Now tending bar at The Red Door, Cami doesn't have time for much else besides work and classes, until a trip to see her boyfriend is cancelled, leaving her with her first weekend off in almost a year. Trenton Maddox was the king of Eastern State University, dating co-eds before he even graduated high school. His friends wanted to be him, and women wanted to tame him, but after a tragic accident turned his world upside down, Trenton leaves campus to come to grips with the crushing guilt. Eighteen months later, Trenton is living at home with his widower father, and works full-time at a local tattoo parlour to help with the bills. Just when he thinks his life is returning to normal, he notices Cami sitting alone at a table at The Red. As the baby sister of four rowdy brothers, Cami believes she'll have no problem keeping her new friendship with Trenton Maddox strictly platonic. But when a Maddox boy falls in love, he loves forever - even if she is the only reason their already broken family could fall apart. In the first instalment of The Maddox Brothersseries, readers can experience the rush of reading Beautiful Disasterfor the first time, all over again.

Beautiful Oblivion

Fiercely independent Camille "Cami" Carlin gladly left behind her childhood before it was over. She's had a job since before she could drive, and moved into her own apartment after her freshman year of college. Now tending bar at the Red Door, Cami doesn't have time for much besides work and classes, until a canceled trip to see her boyfriend leaves her with her first free weekend off in year. Trenton Maddox was the king of Eastern State University, dating coeds before he even graduated high school. Guys wanted to be him, and women wanted to tame him, but after a tragic accident turned his world upside down, Trent left campus to come to grips with the crushing guilt. Eighteen months later, Trent is living at home with his widower father, and working full-time at a local tattoo parlor to help pay with the bills. Just when he thinks his life is returning to normal, he notices Cami sitting alone at a table at the Red Door. As the order sister of three rowdy brothers, Cami believes she'll have no problem keeping her new friendship with Trent Maddox strictly platonic. But when a Maddox falls in love, he loves forever-even if Cami is the only reason his already broken family could fall apart.

A Novel

“Trenton loves you, kaibigan. Like, the deep, forever kind.“

“I never tried with you, either. My brother has always been in love with you.”

“I’m not trying to be pretty, either.” 

“I was just thinking now was as good a time as any to acknowledge that you’re perfect and it wouldn’t suck if you fell madly in love with me anytime soon.”

Noelia Abreu

This wasn't my first time reading this so I knew the plot twist already. It's a lot easier to be understanding of Cami's situation when knowing who TJ is. I’ve always loved this series but this isn’t my favorite of the stories, still good though. 

Lauren Grey

Although I do not particularly like the “New Adult” genre, I randomly picked up Beautiful Disaster last year and have been hooked on the bad boy persona ever since. There were things I liked and disliked about this book, but I thought it was much better, more focused and believable than the prior two.

Beautiful Oblivion happens to be about Trenton Maddox whom I never really cared for, but I grew to like him. He didn’t seem to be as out there and ridiculous as the youngest brother which I prefer, but he was extremely clingy and possessive which I find repulsive. Women have a right to their own life and they don’t belong to a guy just because they are seeing him. I will admit that some of the one-liners that came out of Trent’s mouth were funny, but I would have wished they were less vulgar. My personal favorites: “Comfortable? I’m f***ing cashmere” and “I have a bad case of awkward as f**k”.

I do not condone cussing and using so many expletives in one book, but I felt that a few made since with Trenton’s character with his background and current situation. The cursing in this book was excessive and absolutely ridiculous. It is one of the reasons this book did not receive 5 stars. It was extremely entertaining and I finished in a few days, but it was giving me a headache and made me want to throw up at times. There were certain words exclaimed that I know would never come out of anyone’s mouth.

Getting tattoos isn’t an activity that I partake in, so that part of the story was a bit difficult for me to relate to. I don’t have anything against tattoos or people who give them or get them, but it was hard for me to grasp the way it was described as being a very intimate thing. Also I found the fact that she tattooed his nickname for her across her fingers a bit odd and dramatic.

I love how they discuss and talk about their family. I love that although they are two completely messed up people with horrible backgrounds, they still defend their family no matter what. They still love them, care for them, and want what is best for them. That really hit home for me and I love how much it came across in this book. I also like how family wasn’t just blood relatives, but it also was their roommates and co-workers. It is so true that those people can be just as much your family as your actually relatives.

Like I said previously, “New Adult” books really rub me the wrong way. I don’t understand why there has to be so many graphic sex scenes in one novel… why can’t that just be insinuated instead of spelled out. I appreciated that this book only had one scene like that. I feel like if your book is good, then it will succeed by its storyline alone and doesn’t need so much graphic content.

So all in all, I enjoyed this book. Minus all the cussing and tattoos and sex, it had a sweet love story and a definition of family that I just couldn’t resist. I would definitely recommend it for females who are late teens and twenties. I found it entertaining and I will admit that I am looking forward to the next installment– which is about Thomas Maddox.

Zaira A 

The book started good. I think because of the fact that Trenton is a little closer to Travis you see a lot of overlap from the main story. Since I have been reading them back to back it was very repetitive for me. Honestly I did skip some of the dialogue because I already read that in the other two books. As far as the characters goes, Camille was very charming and relatable at the beginning. However, as her character continues to develop in the story I found her being very whinny and uninteresting to me. Trenton and Camille relationship had chemistry and spark but it felt like a crappy version of Travis and Abby relationship. They even had the troubling family and past that keeps her from continuing her relationship. Such a pity I felt like this book had potential but it did not live up to the expectations I had for it.

Abby Champion

Anna Ureta

I am literally writing this review, maybe a minute, or some seconds after finishing this book.
 
At first I was EXTREMELY CONFLICTED when starting this book. I hadn’t read any teasers, knew nothing about it, I just knew that I had to pick the next book that had to do with the Maddox Brothers. At first, I felt weird… I tried to read it and not compare it to Beautiful Disaster but it was really hard. Somewhere in the back of my mind I was secretly comparing it to Travis and Abby which wasn’t right. For the longest time I didn’t know how I felt….
and then it got better…
and then I was confused….
and then the end came…
And my brain exploded.
 
Camille Camlin has never had an easy life. Lucky for her she has a good job, good friends and a good work environment to keep her going. She’s been working at the Red Door for years, and doesn’t have much time for a personal life outside of school. It just so happens that the first time in a long time that Cami’s taken time off work, who comes and sits beside her? Trenton Maddox, one of the infamous Maddox brothers. She knows he’s trouble. She knows he’s slept with more girls than she could count, but she’s sure she can keep their new friendship strictly platonic. But Cami has a secret, something she’s not telling Trent or any of her friends. A secret that could ruin a happiness that she never knew existed.
 
I sincerely don’t know how I feel about this book. I hate to be part of that 1% that dislikes something…but there it is. I’m not saying I hated Beautiful Oblivion, I just feel like it had a lot of hype, and even though I didn’t buy into the hype my expectations were still sort of up there. I picked it up because I enjoy Jamie McGuire’s books – she hasn’t let me down before. Plus, it was a Maddox boy. The book was still everything I thought it would be. Bad-boy with a hard exterior finally finding a girl to love with all his heart and settle down… who wouldn’t want that? Who doesn’t want that? Hell, even I want that. I want someone to love me as hard as a Maddox boy does, and that’s what I like about these sorts of romances.
 
The biggest thing that irked me the most about this one was Trent.
I just…I couldn’t….
TRAVIS WASN’T EVEN THAT BAD!
I guess there are…multiple degrees…of…being a bad-ass?
I’m sorry, I love Trent, I really do, but….honey.
You are EXPELLING DOUCHEBAG ALL OVER THE PLACE and I feel like I need to take a shower immediately after leaving your presence.
 
There’s being persistent, and there’s just being plain, downright douchebag. Multiple times in the beginning Trent crossed that line. It’s a good thing Cami took a shot, but if that were me I’d be like….”Uh uh…no…back up Jersey Shore.” Like, please stop calling, or texting or being so damn persistent, IT’S NOT ALWAYS ATTRACTIVE! Might have almost filed a restraining order, or at least ignored his texts…something.
 
But despite all that, Trent was a good guy. 90% of the time. That 10% is for that thing that I can’t mention. And I mean yes, Maddox boys are pretty clingy…but maybe that’s not so bad. He respects her personal space and gives it to her when she needs it. Besides, Cami needs him just as much.
 
Trenton took a step and I held out my hand. “Not you.”
“What?”
“You don’t get to come in.”
“But…I’m watching Olive.”
“You can watch her from the window.”
Trenton crossed his arms across his chest. “You think I won’t?”
“No, I know you will.” I grabbed the white sack from his hand, and then slammed the door in his face, locking the door. I tossed Olive the sack. “You like bagels, kiddo?”
“Yep!” she said, opening the sack. “Aw you weally going to make Twent stand outside?”
“Yes, I am,” I said, walking back to my room, and falling into my bed.

As for Miss Perfect, I don’t know. I have respect for her, and I feel for her, but I don’t know. She’s okay in my books let’s just leave it at that. No further commentary. I have a lot of respect for her, but sometimes she just doesn’t seem to make good moral decisions, and that’s not necessarily her fault. Let’s just not talk about one specific university girl who falls in love with a rock star, while she’s in a relationship with a loving boyfriend, coughThoughtlesscough. But, I’ll hand it to her that she does what she does with what she knows. She’s trying to keep her family together while trying not to ruin anyone else’s. Cami is a good, strong, independent woman, who really doesn’t take s*** from anyone, and that’s a quality to be respected.

Most of the book as its ups and downs, its romance and its falling out. Those moments where you want to pull your hair out, the moments where you wish that was you, and the moments when you’re like “WTF ARE YOU DOING!?” It definitely is never a dull moment with the Maddox boys. I may have been disappointed most of the beginning and a bit angry the rest of the way, but the end is definitely worth waiting for! I look forward to reading this book again. and then I’ll look forward to the adventures of the next Maddox brother. God, why can’t I have one of these for myself :P
 
4/5 Hearts of Love 
**almost just barely a four 

Check out the rest of my reviews at http://www.akiikomorireading.com

Sally Salinas

This is a wonderful story about Trenton & Cami. Another story about the Maddox brothers. It was a cute love story...loved the twist at the end. It makes more sense if you read the second book to Beautiful Disaster because the twist isn't just the relationship. Good Story.

Missy Zuber 

"He was wearing fuzzy slippers and royal-blue basketball shorts, his arms crossed over his bare torso."

"Trenton was lying on top of my covers in a pair of navy-blue boxer briefs . . . and socks."

Twice I was left questioning Trenton's sense of fashion but the scenes left me with a chuckle.


Trenton and Cami's story is definitely more interesting and attention holding then the stories of Travis and Abby. 

Liked the way the relationship progressed with the pair of them. 

The relationship between T.J and Cami was too secretive and sneaky at times, even when it ended. I had a feeling though who he actually was and guessed his occupation before learning who he was.

Both were realistic characters and the story was believable which is a big thing for me since I can't stand things that seem too far fetched to really happen.

Ana Matti

I kind of expected more from this book since I was so excited to read more about the Maddox brothers. Guess it just didn't live up to my expectations.

Carley Whitehead

Samantha 

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
<3 <3 <3 
Maddox boys!!!
Jamie McGuire did it again!!!

Lysha Taynish

Camila 

OH.MY.GOD. 
Debo decir que disfruté mucho este libro. Adoré a Cami y Trent, eran mucho más fáciles de leer y de adorar de lo que fueron Abby y Travis. Aún así no me gusta leer un libro con mi nombre en el jajaj. 
De verdad me encantaría que Jamie sacara un libro con la continuación de Cami y Trent porque fueron mucho mas interesantes que los personajes de Beautiful Disaster 

COMIENZA LA RESEÑA CON SPOILERS : 



SPOILER SPOILER 


En el momento en que vemos a TJ me sonó extraño que su nombre fuera con una T y tuviera tanto misterio pero después simplemente lo dejé pasar. 
Me hubiera gustado saber más sobre Mackenzie y el trasfondo de eso en Trent. 
Me gustó como esto se adecuaba a la storyline de Abby y Travis. 
Trent era mucho más tranquilo que Travis pero aún así llevaba la actitud Maddoxx en él. 
Quería saber más sobre la familia de Cami. En general creo que tenían una historia de fondo que no se desarrolló mucho y quizás debió ponerle más énfasis para explicarnos soñé los personajes.
La relación de Cami tu Trent era muy real, ellos eran de veras una pareja. Por el otro lado tenemos a Reagan y Brazil a los cuales quería matar porque me tenían desesperada al igual que la tenían a Cami. Me alegra que Reagan finalmente acabara con Kody. 
Pero lo mejor de todo fue....
ESE FINAL !!!!
No puedo creerme ese final, no se me pasó en ningún momento por la cabeza, ósea en realidad lo relacione mucho con Thomas todo el tiempo pero nunca pensé que Cami podría estar saliendo con Thomas .... Pero me alegra que eso no haya arruinado la relación de hermanos con Trent. 

Ay estos libros ni si quiera son un gusto culpable porque no me siento para nada culpable de que me gusten

Olivera Mitić

Bleh. 
I feel like Jamie McGuire doesn't really think her books through, but she just goes with it and puts a really big twist in the end that kinda works but also not really. Truthfully, I didn't see that ending coming, but except for the shock factor, it really had nothing else. 
As far as the writing goes, it was pretty bad. Some of the things these people say, like, come on. Most of the dialogue was just so plastic and most of the descriptions were unnecessary. For example, there's a part where she just talks about all of the people who work in the Red Door, but in such a way that she really tries to add quirk and background to them without realizing that she's miserably failing at it. Plus I really didn't care about any of them.
The thing that bothered me the most was the way Trenton behaved towards Cammy. So possessive and boarderline psycho. Cammy kind of tried to stop him in some parts, but it never really got through in my opinion. 
I don't know. I guess I could rant about this for an hour or two, but I don't have the energy to write it all down. 
If anyone is up for some ranting, tho, be sure to send me a message.

Anastaciya

So... this is the first book of a trilogy that follows another trilogy. Is it ok if I don't read all the other books?
I don't say it was bad, it was just a bit weird. Sort of incomplete... Ugh, I'm confused. Even if I decide to read the other books, it won't be soon.

b.andherbooks

This was not for me. All of the tension between the main characters was driven by lies and anger. I also didn't like how flying into a jealous, possessive rage that often led to physical violence equaled love.

Cat Nunez 

** spoiler alert **
           Me encantó este libro, sin duda se nota que Trent es hermano de Travis, la historia es hermosa y la relación de él con Cami me encanta.

Este libro no era como me lo esperaba, es mucho mejor, y lo mejor del libro fue el epílogo. Nunca me imaginé que la última frase me dejaría en shock y que el ex de Cami sería la persona menos eaperada.

Me gustó que hablaran de Travis y que él con Cami sean "amigos".

Lisa ✩ @lifeinlit

3.5 stars! 


  “I was in trouble. Big, disastrous, Maddox trouble.” 


Wow, where do I even begin with this one. I finished this book last week and have been reeling ever since, completely clueless on what to rate this book and how to formulate all of my thoughts (without spoilers) into words coherent enough for a review. Ugh. Not an ease task. But here I go... so wish me luck!

This review is near impossible for me to write without some spoilers, so I apologize in advance for the spoiler section. I just had to get out my feelings about this book, and adding spoilers seemed like the only way.

Beautiful Oblivion basically takes place at the same time as 
  Beautiful Disaster
. At first I thought this was kind of cool, but after a while I felt like there were way too many references to the other books. We heard it all twice already in Beautiful Disaster AND Walking Disaster, so the references a third time were just quite redundant. (Don't take this the wrong way - I really enjoyed Beautiful Disaster. Just didn't think hearing the story again was really necessary.)

I absolutely LOVED the story of Cami and Trenton. Their personalities worked perfectly in this story. I fell hard for Trent immediately. His cockiness and overly-confident attitude was so much fun. He seemed like someone I would definitely be friends with (I actually have a friend that's very similar to him.) and kept me giggling throughout. I liked him a lot more than I liked Travis in the other series, so I was so excited about this. Trent was definitely a fun Maddox!


  “Anything to do with the Maddoxes is never boring.”


And here's where the problem with this book lies for me. I loved this book. Like, really, really loved it. Throughout most of the book I was thinking 4.5 to 5 stars. Then came the ending. And immediately I hated the book. So let's delve into that a bit, shall we? (view spoiler)[ The end was just... ugh. What a letdown. I hate to say that, but it's just so true. All that build up... and then THAT?! I just don't get it. Why was that such a huge secret? Why did that take the ENTIRE book to get revealed? I just felt entirely disappointed when I read the last chapter. After loving it SO much throughout most of the book, it ended like that. Blah. Not a fan of that ending... AT ALL! 

Another part I hated was Raegan's relationship with the two guys. So let me get this straight... she leaves the "good" guy, totally breaking his heart, tearing it out and stomping all over it, just to go back to the asshole ex? Why, exactly? This part just really irked me. Then, THEN, the good guy takes her back?! WTH. I get that he was the "good" guy, but really, I was hoping he was going to stomp on her heart after what she did to him.  (hide spoiler)]

Since I LOVED parts of this story and HATED others, I thought it was only fair to give this a middle-of-the-road rating. I went with 3.5 seeing as though I enjoyed a lot more of the story than the parts I didn't like. I'm just so thrown that such an awesome book with so much promise just got so ruined by the end. I'll probably continue on with this series, simply because I'm dying to hear Thomas' story in 
  Beautiful Redemption
.

Okay, I think I'll conclude now. I've said my peace, and feel that I really have nothing else to say about this. I can definitely see why there are so many 5 star ratings, but at the same time I can totally see where a 2 or 3 star rating would come from. If you're a McGuire fan and you enjoy reading about these Maddox guys, I would say you should give this one a try. Just don't go in with the expectations I went in with, or expect an outstanding ending. I fear you'll be disappointed as I was.

(Thanks to Atria Books for the review copy!)


  Find this review and others like it at Lost in Literature!

The Beautiful Disaster and Walking Disaster phenomenon continues in the first heart-pounding new adult romance in The Maddox Brothers series. Fiercely independent Camille “Cami” Camlin gladly moved on from her childhood before it was over. She has held down a job since before she could drive, and moved into her own apartment after her freshman year of college. Now tending bar at The Red Door, Cami doesn’t have time for much else besides work and classes, until a trip to see her boyfriend is cancelled, leaving her with a first weekend off in almost a year. Trenton Maddox was the king of Eastern State University, dating co-eds before he even graduated high school. His friends wanted to be him, and women wanted to tame him, but after a tragic accident turned his world upside down, Trenton leaves campus to come to grips with the crushing guilt. Eighteen months later, Trenton is living at home with his widower father, and works full-time at a local tattoo parlor to help with the bills. Just when he thinks his life is returning to normal, he notices Cami sitting alone at a table at The Red. As the baby sister of four rowdy brothers, Cami believes she’ll have no problem keeping her new friendship with Trenton Maddox strictly platonic. But when a Maddox boy falls in love, he loves forever—even if she is the only reason their already broken family could fall apart. In the first installment of the Maddox Brothers books, readers can experience the rush they felt reading Beautiful Disaster for the first time, all over again.

Gretchen Gomez

3.5 stars

I don't know where to start. I was loving this book till I read the last sentence and it confused me for life. I feel like I need to re-read it and understand more because it just doesn't make sense to me. Like parts were missing or something. I don't know, I don't know, I don't know.

I hope there's another book to explain all this madness cause truthfully I'm sort of disappointed.

A relationship develops between fiercely independent bartending college student Camille "Cami" Camlin and Big-Man-On-Campus- turned-tattoo-parlor-employee Trenton Maddox.

Tending bar at The Red Door, Cami doesn't have time for much besides work and classes. On her first weekend off in almost a year, she's sitting alone at a table at The Red when Trenton walks in. He left campus after an accident left him with crushing guilt, and now lives at home with his widower father, working at a local tattoo parlor to help with the bills. The new friendship is strictly platonic. But when a Maddox boy falls in love, he loves forever....

Noelia Abreu &
Beautiful Oblivion by Jamie McGuire

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