Review: Beautiful Oblivion (Beautiful #3) by Jamie McGuire

Disappointed and angry. Sort of.

Title: Beautiful Oblivion
Series: Beautiful
Author: Jamie McGuire
Publisher: Simon and Schuster, UK
My ratings: 2 out of 5 stars
Released: 1st July, 2014
The wait for this book almost slayed me. I had been waiting for Beautiful Oblivion since the day I finished Beautiful Disaster which I absolutely loved. I finished it ans started rereading it straight away. Yes, that's how much I loved this book and since then have been looking high and low amongst the New Adult title but in vain.

When I picked up Beautiful Oblivion I was not expecting a Beautiful disaster. In my mind that book is difficult to surpass but regardless I wanted something explosive. Something which will blow my mind nevertheless. And blow it did. More on that later.

So the premise goes like this, Cami is fiercely independent after being smothered by her large family of brothers and a difficult father but her waitressing job is paying for her tuition and she has carved a life for herself. Trenton suddenly seems to be interested in Cami but she already has a boyfriend but even she is slowly struggling to ignore her attraction for the handsome devil.

Beautiful Oblivion had the characteristic charming writing that sets t apart. There is tension, sexual attraction, chemistry, connection and wonderful, wonderful banter. While it is no beautiful Disaster and Trent is no Travis, he was still a compelling character. I may not love him as much as I loved Travis, who was volatile, angst and ready to explode at any minute but Trent made it up with his charm and complexity. He is older than Travis so it makes sense that he was mellow and resolved which was why Beautiful Oblivion lacked the explosive and intensity compared to its predecessor. I enjoyed how this story was set in the same timeline as Travis and Abby's story and I loved how Travis would make small appearances and reminds you of the crucial turning points in his story.

Now, let's put the ghost of Beautiful disaster behind and talk about Beautiful Oblivion on it own merits. Cami was strong and fierce and I respect the way she dealt with the fact that while she already had a boyfriend and still fought her attraction for Trent. She tried to be as honest as possible with both he parties until she realised she was stringing both of them around. Her family was full of scum and she had my sympathy. The romance between Trent and Cami was sweet at first and intensely sexy towards the end. The angst was tuned at just the right frequency and the chemistry and banter which Jamie McGuire is well known for made up for the rest until the last page.

I cannot tell you how much the last page annoyed me. I don't understand the point of it. all the angst about the 'secret' and the relationship hurdles which was set around the secret was this?. I liked Came but after the secret was revealed I don't know who disgusts me more Cami or TJ. I sort of do understand how they tried to resolve the matter in a mature fashion but it was still sneaky and underhanded and I am surprised that Trent was OK with it in the end. I cannot say much about this more as I don't want to spoil the book for anybody else but after this new fact came to light the story took a completely different shade for me and even after a few days, it only made me angrier.

While this is a great story with excellent character, which will keep any New Adult reader fixated to their seats, immersed in the captivating story of Cami and Trent who find each other after facing so many difficulties. This has got everything you could ask of a well written New Adult title. I'd recommend it to all Beautiful Disaster fans and New Adult readers. Alas, this book was not for me.

ARC received from Simon and Schuster, UK via NetGalley