A review by hhudgens
Beautiful Redemption by Jamie McGuire
1.0
**I’m not hiding spoilers because there’s nothing to spoil.***
I was so looking forward to reading this book. I loved Beautiful Disaster, but everything after that had my expectations too high. Just as in Beautiful Oblivion, I wanted the crazy Maddox boy to knock me head over heels in angst, but just as in BO it didn’t happen in Beautiful Redemption. Once again I wanted to follow Travis and Abby out of the room and get back to the good stuff! You can’t make a character like Travis Maddox and tease that he has four older brothers just like him, then deliver Trent and Thomas as sane, rational, calm (except for the occasional bar brawl) people.
There was a complete disconnect from the very start on this one. Even though it was all told from the point of view of Liis I still feel like I don’t know anything about her. I couldn’t connect to her or Thomas. The main reason for that is Liis and Thomas were on an emotional seesaw. Every scene one of them was angry or sad or ignoring the other one. I kept feeling like I needed to go back and reread the last few pages. I kept thinking, “did I miss something?” All of a sudden one of them would be completely pissed off with nothing to set them off. There was not a good flow at all. I never understood their reasoning for their behavior. It was like the author decided that as long as they were fighting about something in each scene then it was angsty and dramatic and we would love it. I also didn’t enjoy the way everything was told instead of shown. Just because they were both FBI and “trained to read people” doesn’t mean that we should know every single emotion each of them is going through because it’s stated by one or the other of them. It went a little like this: “You’re mad.” “No, I’m not.” “Yes, you are. I can tell by your body language.” “Fine, I’m mad.” He glared angrily. Really? Does that sound entertaining? That was how the entire book was.
The synopsis of the story leads you to believe that this is mostly going to be about Liis and Thomas pretending to be a couple at Travis and Abby’s wedding. Then, once you get a little ways into the book another big plot point is going to be Thomas and Liis convincing Travis to join the FBI. That sounds really promising. However, the events from the time the plane landed to Travis agreeing to join are all about a ten minute read. I felt cheated. It was like I was gearing up for a big juicy 16 ounce rib eye and the author brought me an overcooked 8 oz filet mignon. We barely got to see any of them “pretending” to be a couple. I say “pretending” because they weren’t really pretending. They were actually a couple at that point right? Or wait…no, maybe not. They only acted lovey-dovey in front of other people. They stayed in the same room, but Thomas slept on the couch. They fought pretty much the whole time, but mainly about why they shouldn’t be a couple. Hm. There were no steamy scenes or even a point where they both just let go. Then the talk with Travis took about a minute and a half and we’re told that he finally agreed, but of course this makes Thomas an emotional wreck even though it was his plan. Gah. I’m getting frustrated just thinking through it all again. It was like Thomas and Liis could never make a decision and stick to it. They had to chew on their fingernails and cry and smash things because life isn’t the way they want it.
I could not get a read on either one of them. They couldn’t decide what they wanted, so I couldn’t hope either way. At least in BD, Travis wanted Abby and Abby didn’t want Travis until she did, right? Liis didn’t want Thomas and Thomas wanted Cami. Then Thomas wanted Liis. Then he didn’t. Liis wanted to be single the whole time until finally she died and decided that was a good reason to be with Thomas. It was confusing and ridiculous and I did not enjoy a single second of it.
I’m not sure I even want to read Taylor or Tyler’s stories. If they are anything like this one, I’ll pass.
I was so looking forward to reading this book. I loved Beautiful Disaster, but everything after that had my expectations too high. Just as in Beautiful Oblivion, I wanted the crazy Maddox boy to knock me head over heels in angst, but just as in BO it didn’t happen in Beautiful Redemption. Once again I wanted to follow Travis and Abby out of the room and get back to the good stuff! You can’t make a character like Travis Maddox and tease that he has four older brothers just like him, then deliver Trent and Thomas as sane, rational, calm (except for the occasional bar brawl) people.
There was a complete disconnect from the very start on this one. Even though it was all told from the point of view of Liis I still feel like I don’t know anything about her. I couldn’t connect to her or Thomas. The main reason for that is Liis and Thomas were on an emotional seesaw. Every scene one of them was angry or sad or ignoring the other one. I kept feeling like I needed to go back and reread the last few pages. I kept thinking, “did I miss something?” All of a sudden one of them would be completely pissed off with nothing to set them off. There was not a good flow at all. I never understood their reasoning for their behavior. It was like the author decided that as long as they were fighting about something in each scene then it was angsty and dramatic and we would love it. I also didn’t enjoy the way everything was told instead of shown. Just because they were both FBI and “trained to read people” doesn’t mean that we should know every single emotion each of them is going through because it’s stated by one or the other of them. It went a little like this: “You’re mad.” “No, I’m not.” “Yes, you are. I can tell by your body language.” “Fine, I’m mad.” He glared angrily. Really? Does that sound entertaining? That was how the entire book was.
The synopsis of the story leads you to believe that this is mostly going to be about Liis and Thomas pretending to be a couple at Travis and Abby’s wedding. Then, once you get a little ways into the book another big plot point is going to be Thomas and Liis convincing Travis to join the FBI. That sounds really promising. However, the events from the time the plane landed to Travis agreeing to join are all about a ten minute read. I felt cheated. It was like I was gearing up for a big juicy 16 ounce rib eye and the author brought me an overcooked 8 oz filet mignon. We barely got to see any of them “pretending” to be a couple. I say “pretending” because they weren’t really pretending. They were actually a couple at that point right? Or wait…no, maybe not. They only acted lovey-dovey in front of other people. They stayed in the same room, but Thomas slept on the couch. They fought pretty much the whole time, but mainly about why they shouldn’t be a couple. Hm. There were no steamy scenes or even a point where they both just let go. Then the talk with Travis took about a minute and a half and we’re told that he finally agreed, but of course this makes Thomas an emotional wreck even though it was his plan. Gah. I’m getting frustrated just thinking through it all again. It was like Thomas and Liis could never make a decision and stick to it. They had to chew on their fingernails and cry and smash things because life isn’t the way they want it.
I could not get a read on either one of them. They couldn’t decide what they wanted, so I couldn’t hope either way. At least in BD, Travis wanted Abby and Abby didn’t want Travis until she did, right? Liis didn’t want Thomas and Thomas wanted Cami. Then Thomas wanted Liis. Then he didn’t. Liis wanted to be single the whole time until finally she died and decided that was a good reason to be with Thomas. It was confusing and ridiculous and I did not enjoy a single second of it.
I’m not sure I even want to read Taylor or Tyler’s stories. If they are anything like this one, I’ll pass.