Beautiful Bad starts the reader off immediately with a murder, but we aren't given much information, rather Ward weaved us through time with each chapter, going back to the beginning, and then various parts of the relative present. Our main characters, Maddie, Jo, and Ian are well-written. I loved Maddie and Jo's lifestyle of living and working abroad, even if it does get them into some sketchy situations. Ian suffers from PTSD and I appreciated that the author incorporated that into the book. His suffering plays a large part into how he treats Maddie, and I'm slightly amazed that Maddie puts up with as much as she does from him because I don't think we can attribute all of his flaws to PTSD.
I thought the writing and storytelling were great if I was let down by anything it was that what I felt should have been the ending lent way to more of a rabbit hole. Which could lead the readers to believe there's always room to add a book 2. Overall it's a compelling story that grabs you from the get-go and keeps you reading well into the night.
I thought the writing and storytelling were great if I was let down by anything it was that what I felt should have been the ending lent way to more of a rabbit hole. Which could lead the readers to believe there's always room to add a book 2. Overall it's a compelling story that grabs you from the get-go and keeps you reading well into the night.