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whatthekink's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
kellyyoungbl's review against another edition
5.0
Holy crap this book. First off, it was SUPER dark. Nothing was done “off page”. That being said, it was very well-written. All the characters. You know an author is talented when she writes a character who is so unspeakably horrible, yet you can’t help but feel some pity. I don’t know how to describe it. As long as you like your books DARK, I definitely recommend.
thefictionfreak's review against another edition
3.0
3.25 stars
I have so much thoughts about this book, I just don’t know how to put them into words. But I know one thing for sure, I need the next book right now.
I have so much thoughts about this book, I just don’t know how to put them into words. But I know one thing for sure, I need the next book right now.
weezbereading's review against another edition
5.0
Holy smokes. This made me FEEL. The rush of her one night of freedom before the dread, sadness, fear, just overwhelming ick of her captivity, the ending! Ooft. The second book better get released or I'll be very sad.
staceyhust88's review against another edition
5.0
Whoa
This was my first time going this dark. It was so dark. And brutal. And heartbreaking. I really have no words. But it was good, so good.
This was my first time going this dark. It was so dark. And brutal. And heartbreaking. I really have no words. But it was good, so good.
edresa's review against another edition
1.0
Worst book I've ever read since Handbook of Mortals.
Did a lot of telling instead of showing. Failure to write about abuse, obsession, BDSM, rape, depression, trauma, abuse, Stockholm Syndrome, manipulation. Sht, every-fvcking-thing. It's like a book written with every possible trigger topics just for the sake of being edgy and dark, which like I've said, it failed miserably to do so. I've read my fair I share of even far more disturbing, messed up, fvcked up sht but none of them is as bad as this. This book is just trying so hard. There's even a chapter where a whole paragraph from another chapter was lifted and copy pasted as a means of flashback (because we don't get enough of those reminiscing moments) to increase the word count.
The female main character has no personalty other than being so insanely gorgeous men just couldn't help themselves but go crazy over her and do bad things because of her or for her. She looks like a child, she has that Lolita allure with her youthful appearance and stature but with curves at the right places, and that right there just borders on pedophilia when it comes to the male characters who get aroused by those attributes of her. I swear this book just vomited out all sensitive topics without much of a development on the plot nor the characters. One of the male main characters lived in the shadows of the other one and we got his point of view even though he's not present most of the story. His chapters are just retelling of what the readers already know through the female MC's POV and doesn't really add that much to the progression of the plot. Yeah, his POVs are during essential moments of the story but the other male main character didn't get sht and he's pretty much the one who carried the whole lot behind his back imho despite his unnecessarily long but dramatic (eye roll) monologues. He's my favorite character even though he's also the worst character of the book and that is because he has shown the most depth and development (no matter how it steers to the darker side, it's still development in my book) even though his lines, like I've said, consists mostly of lengthy paragraphs expositions that the chapters just have too much of and too tiresome to read for me to enjoy. This book is also filled with, "Remember that time... blah, blah, blah... and I did that and you did that, didn't you?" IT'S FVCKING FULL OF EXPOSITION.
Does this book even have an editor? Because there are a lot of grammatical errors here and there and it's forgivable if you're reading from one of those free apps that you have to wait for a day or two for the next episode to unlock like Galatea or Dreame, I'll let it even slide when I read from Wattpad, because authors there are just starting out and they don't have the means or a team of people like proof readers or, I don't know, EDITORS, to work with them. And those are free platforms where their works are free and they can let their imaginations run wild and crazy, no shame in that at all. But this book. IT'S FOR PURCHASE. I FVCKING PAID FOR THIS BOOK. IT HAS A PUBLISHER AND SHT. It feels like a self published book. I would've understood if that's the case. I'd have let it slip and been easy on it. But the author is not some aspiring writer trying to figure out her style and needs a little bit more practice. The author of this book is a published author with a whole team behind her. Don't tell the emperor his new clothes rock just to get quick profit. You're doing nothing but feeding into his ego. Some of the books from those free platforms are undeniably much better than this one. And that ending? Is the author friends with Lani Sarem?
Dark romance has always been such a pufferfish genre for me and there are only a few done right I found myself enjoying. If you're looking for a good dark romance novel, check out K. Webster, Jordan Silver, Penelope Douglas, Ann Rice. Tragic Beauty is the first dark romance novel that I didn't like and I'm glad it's not the first one of the genre I've read or else I would've hates dark romance all together and miss out on such a great experience. Not quite as bad as Handbook for Mortals, that's takes the cake of the worst book I've ever read in my life, but still not worth your time not your money. And ohmygod it has a freaking sequel. This book has a continuation and dam it if I read it. I probably will because let's face it even with begging they'd still publish it and just to get full closure and I like to torment myself like that. Oh oh just an idea. Instead of Tragic Beauty the title of this book should be Torture Porn!
Did a lot of telling instead of showing. Failure to write about abuse, obsession, BDSM, rape, depression, trauma, abuse, Stockholm Syndrome, manipulation. Sht, every-fvcking-thing. It's like a book written with every possible trigger topics just for the sake of being edgy and dark, which like I've said, it failed miserably to do so. I've read my fair I share of even far more disturbing, messed up, fvcked up sht but none of them is as bad as this. This book is just trying so hard. There's even a chapter where a whole paragraph from another chapter was lifted and copy pasted as a means of flashback (because we don't get enough of those reminiscing moments) to increase the word count.
The female main character has no personalty other than being so insanely gorgeous men just couldn't help themselves but go crazy over her and do bad things because of her or for her. She looks like a child, she has that Lolita allure with her youthful appearance and stature but with curves at the right places, and that right there just borders on pedophilia when it comes to the male characters who get aroused by those attributes of her. I swear this book just vomited out all sensitive topics without much of a development on the plot nor the characters. One of the male main characters lived in the shadows of the other one and we got his point of view even though he's not present most of the story. His chapters are just retelling of what the readers already know through the female MC's POV and doesn't really add that much to the progression of the plot. Yeah, his POVs are during essential moments of the story but the other male main character didn't get sht and he's pretty much the one who carried the whole lot behind his back imho despite his unnecessarily long but dramatic (eye roll) monologues. He's my favorite character even though he's also the worst character of the book and that is because he has shown the most depth and development (no matter how it steers to the darker side, it's still development in my book) even though his lines, like I've said, consists mostly of lengthy paragraphs expositions that the chapters just have too much of and too tiresome to read for me to enjoy. This book is also filled with, "Remember that time... blah, blah, blah... and I did that and you did that, didn't you?" IT'S FVCKING FULL OF EXPOSITION.
Does this book even have an editor? Because there are a lot of grammatical errors here and there and it's forgivable if you're reading from one of those free apps that you have to wait for a day or two for the next episode to unlock like Galatea or Dreame, I'll let it even slide when I read from Wattpad, because authors there are just starting out and they don't have the means or a team of people like proof readers or, I don't know, EDITORS, to work with them. And those are free platforms where their works are free and they can let their imaginations run wild and crazy, no shame in that at all. But this book. IT'S FOR PURCHASE. I FVCKING PAID FOR THIS BOOK. IT HAS A PUBLISHER AND SHT. It feels like a self published book. I would've understood if that's the case. I'd have let it slip and been easy on it. But the author is not some aspiring writer trying to figure out her style and needs a little bit more practice. The author of this book is a published author with a whole team behind her. Don't tell the emperor his new clothes rock just to get quick profit. You're doing nothing but feeding into his ego. Some of the books from those free platforms are undeniably much better than this one. And that ending? Is the author friends with Lani Sarem?
Dark romance has always been such a pufferfish genre for me and there are only a few done right I found myself enjoying. If you're looking for a good dark romance novel, check out K. Webster, Jordan Silver, Penelope Douglas, Ann Rice. Tragic Beauty is the first dark romance novel that I didn't like and I'm glad it's not the first one of the genre I've read or else I would've hates dark romance all together and miss out on such a great experience. Not quite as bad as Handbook for Mortals, that's takes the cake of the worst book I've ever read in my life, but still not worth your time not your money. And ohmygod it has a freaking sequel. This book has a continuation and dam it if I read it. I probably will because let's face it even with begging they'd still publish it and just to get full closure and I like to torment myself like that. Oh oh just an idea. Instead of Tragic Beauty the title of this book should be Torture Porn!
sammy234's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars.
It took me some time to figure out how to rate this book. I was utterly absorbed with the story and characters, but at the same time found the writing to be unpolished and the dialogue at times extremely unrealistic.
While I was reading I could see Iris Ann Hunter's potential for greatness. Writers that are better than her have had a more difficult time keeping me engaged. I have this feeling that the more she writes, the better she's going to get.
So while I do definitely have some problems when it comes to her characterization (especially with Shane, who is all over the place emotionally), I'm still very excited for the sequel to Tragic Beauty and am eagerly awaiting any news of a release date.
I have a desire for the story to go a certain way and I hope Iris Ann Hunter goes the darker route and makes Shane Ava's main love interest. Even though I have problems with him, he's by far the most captivating character in this novel. I love the haunting backstory that Iris Ann Hunter provided for his character and his childhood with Ava. He has a complicated history with her that Gavin just doesn't have, colored by her wrong perceptions of him and his inevitable moral corruption due to his circumstances.
I should probably like Gavin more. He's a pretty decent guy, just very simplistic. He's Shane if Shane forced himself to be good and despised his own immorality. Gavin has a bit of "darkness" to his character, but he keeps it well contained and I feel like there's nothing deeper to him. What you see is what you get. He loves Ava, he had a rough childhood. Now he's a movie star. The end.
Shane, however, is constantly changing throughout the novel, because Ava's perception of him changes. And while she had a deep connection with Gavin after their one day together, I feel it doesn't compare to her lifetime connection with Shane, who's obsession with her colored her entire adolescent life.
Ava is an interesting heroine, sympathetic because she's had a hard life but she's kinder for it, almost feral and mute from trauma, but able to see the good in the worst of people. Her interactions with Shane give off major Beauty and The Beast vibes (and when I got to the library scene, I realized this was intentional), so I'm rooting for them and their captivating dynamic.
TW: Non-con, total power exchange
It took me some time to figure out how to rate this book. I was utterly absorbed with the story and characters, but at the same time found the writing to be unpolished and the dialogue at times extremely unrealistic.
While I was reading I could see Iris Ann Hunter's potential for greatness. Writers that are better than her have had a more difficult time keeping me engaged. I have this feeling that the more she writes, the better she's going to get.
So while I do definitely have some problems when it comes to her characterization (especially with Shane, who is all over the place emotionally), I'm still very excited for the sequel to Tragic Beauty and am eagerly awaiting any news of a release date.
I have a desire for the story to go a certain way and I hope Iris Ann Hunter goes the darker route and makes Shane Ava's main love interest. Even though I have problems with him, he's by far the most captivating character in this novel. I love the haunting backstory that Iris Ann Hunter provided for his character and his childhood with Ava. He has a complicated history with her that Gavin just doesn't have, colored by her wrong perceptions of him and his inevitable moral corruption due to his circumstances.
I should probably like Gavin more. He's a pretty decent guy, just very simplistic. He's Shane if Shane forced himself to be good and despised his own immorality. Gavin has a bit of "darkness" to his character, but he keeps it well contained and I feel like there's nothing deeper to him. What you see is what you get. He loves Ava, he had a rough childhood. Now he's a movie star. The end.
Shane, however, is constantly changing throughout the novel, because Ava's perception of him changes. And while she had a deep connection with Gavin after their one day together, I feel it doesn't compare to her lifetime connection with Shane, who's obsession with her colored her entire adolescent life.
Ava is an interesting heroine, sympathetic because she's had a hard life but she's kinder for it, almost feral and mute from trauma, but able to see the good in the worst of people. Her interactions with Shane give off major Beauty and The Beast vibes (and when I got to the library scene, I realized this was intentional), so I'm rooting for them and their captivating dynamic.
TW: Non-con, total power exchange
ingypingy2000's review against another edition
4.0
I'm not sure what I just read... I mean, I'm pretty sure I enjoyed it and I'm pretty sure I'll need to talk about it for a long time coming. Torture and depravity run rampant through this book, but it messes with your emotions while it does it until you aren't sure where you stand on any of it.
tab2004's review against another edition
2.0
The writing was good but so many disturbing things are done to Ava by Shayne that it was too much to enjoy. I also like when the MMC fights a little harder for his woman.