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A review by sammy234
Tragic Beauty by Iris Ann Hunter
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