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I read this (and several others in the series) as a middle or high schooler, and I remember liking it well enough.

But that's all I remember. (I'm lying. One scene from one of the sequels stuck with me. But my point is that I forgot the plot, entirely, as I do. It's a terrible super power.)

I wanted to re-read this first book, at least, before the upcoming movie. And then I learned that the movie will apparently take place after all of the books, which increased my todo list significantly.

Honestly? It's been a slog. I am out of practice at reading books entirely by, about, and (it seems to me) for men. I used to take it as a matter of course, but now I'm spoiled by books in universes where I could be a protagonist. It took up until the last few pages for me to get really into this book, this time, even with the newfound freedom to imagine the Gunslinger as Idris Elba.

I remember that there's at least one woman whose viewpoint matters to the story in the upcoming books, and the last chapter did hook me; so I'll keep at it, with breaks for books in other genres.

So much not my thing.

This book, which is nominally "BDSM erotica"—I have yet to determine whether BDSM erotica might be my thing or not, because so much of it is so bad—is really just a series of extended rape scenes, interspersed with violence. Some of the scenes of violence are probably legitimate depictions of BDSM scenes, give or take the concept of "consent"; but others are outright beatings. Much of what is described would lead to serious injury, and some of it would lead to permanent disfigurement.

I really did not enjoy [b:The Marketplace|125466|The Marketplace (The Marketplace, #1)|Laura Antoniou|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1366550095s/125466.jpg|120835], which people point to as the other foundational book/series in the genre, along with this one, but at least the participants in that story have all agreed to be there, and the depictions of their brutalization are realistic. As a contrast, every submissive in Beauty has been captured or given by their kingdom as "tribute"; none of them are volunteers. None have given consent. It's disgusting and deeply upsetting, not erotic at all.

I wanted a formulaic romance, and I had this on my Kindle after buying it on sale some time ago. It was, indeed, a formulaic romance: girl is amazing-looking but has low self esteem and some kind of emotional baggage/history to overcome. Boy 1 is amazing-looking, too; he seems like "the nice one" but is really a big jerk, and it seems like he will get the girl. Boy 2 is his even more amazing-looking brother, has darker hair, seems like "the mean one"; but he and the girl develop chemistry through hijinks.

There's a sex scene.

Then more hijinks.

Then a happy ending that was telegraphed from page one.

But, this is a three-star review, because the book went through the formula pretty well. I didn't always like the characters (they all seemed immature and each had at least one totally unbelievable hangup, like the hunter who is afraid of bears, even on TV), but I did laugh when I was supposed to and generally have a good time reading it.

My $1-2 were well spent.