Tragically Beautiful by Tori Alvarez

(Book 2 of the Graffiti Hearts series)

Genre: New Adult Romance

Rating: 18+

Formats: Ebook (both Kindle Unlimited and full-price) and Paperback

Reviewed by: ImTheGirl

Tragically Beautiful is the second book of the Graffiti Hearts series by Tori Alvarez. Each book in the author's series are standalone, meaning you can read each book out-of-order. The first book is titled Beautiful Collision, and there will be a third book coming soon. This series is available on Amazon. The genre is New Adult Romance.

This book is about a guy, Alex, who is from the "bad part of town," or the "barrio," of a large Texan city; and a girl, Lola, who comes from a privileged way of life. Lola is attending college and is part of a sorority. Alex is a high school drop-out. He had sacrificed everything to give his brother, Javie, and his cousin, Toni, a chance to live better lives.

Lola and Alex meet in a hospital where Toni's grandmother was in. Lola felt drawn towards Alex, but he kept trying to push her away. At the same time, he gains feelings for her. They eventually start being an item, but not without obstacles. Jealous men and women. A drug gang that Alex had dipped his toes in previously is trying to pull him back in as a full-time member. Two very strong personalities are sometimes at odds with each other in regard to class and gender expectations.

Both Lola and Alex are very strong, yet stubborn, people, but they make their relationship work. Alex is marketed by the author as the "swoony, protective alpha," but the true alpha in this entire book is Lola. Alex is trying to be the leader in everything and everyone when he's clearly tired. Lola won't take "no" for an answer, and will challenge the notion of men wanting to "save" her from everything. In my opinion, she's a much stronger character than Alex. In the end, she is the knight in shining armour who will save Alex.

For all of this, I do like this book. It's different from your typical romance novel where the alpha guy saves his girl. It flips that on its head, making the girl be the saviour. I'm here for the girl power, something that is lacking in romance novels.

It's grounded in reality as Alex is a much more relatable character. Anyone of any gender can relate to him in some way. He's not untouchable like a billionaire CEO, and he's not as glamorized as the Italian mafia mob boss. He's someone you might run into in a grocery store. The relationship of two distinct classes is possible, and it most likely has happened in real life.

Also, this is a plot-heavy story with substance. There are sex scenes, but they're spread out throughout the story. You're not going to get a never-ending sex scene that lasts for ten chapters. You're going to get a story.

On the other hand, I realized there was a problem with this story. I'm all for girl power, but Lola, who is a white character, saves Alex, who is Mexican-American, who doesn't have money attached to his name. Lola has money. It's another example of the White Savior Complex. It's a similar situation that happens in the previous book, where the rich white guy saves the poor Mexican girl.

This is problematic, especially as the author is a Latina herself. At the same time, the author does live in my state, and our state isn't that great. It also brings into light that a lot of romance novels, especially the indie ones, have predominantly white characters.

It would be hypocritical for me to criticize this as my own series has a mainly white cast with two of them being the lead characters; or white-passing for one of the leads. In regard to this issue, especially since I'm part-white myself, I'm in no position to criticize all of this. The most I can do is do better as an author, be more aware of the need for diversity in romance novels, and how to respectfully approach non-white characters.

Would I recommend this book? If you can put aside the White Savior Complex within this book, I would recommend this book, especially if you want to dip your toes into romance. Like I said, it's grounded in reality; you got a girl who is a knight in shining armour; and a guy that you might run into in your everyday life. All of them are great, but be aware of the issue that a rich white girl saves the "poor Mexican boy." The romance genre still has ways to go to be better in everything, from diversity to sexual consent.