Tender Is the Night (Reissue)
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Tender Is the Night (Reissue)
Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The text is written at a 8th grade reading level, the subject matter is intended for teens (ages 13+), and the content has moderate intensity with some emotionally heavy themes.
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About This Book
A gifted young psychiatrist's bright future dims as his troubled marriage leads him down a path of personal decline. Amidst the glamour and complexity of their lives, struggles with love and identity unfold with emotional depth. This tale explores the challenges of relationships and self-discovery against a backdrop of societal expectations.
Themes
Quick Assessment
This is a Level 8-9 book with moderate content intensity. Content themes include divorce & family change, emotional: identity & self-discovery. Written for readers ages 13+.
Why we rated Tender Is the Night (Reissue) 12ME
Tender Is the Night (Reissue) is written at a Level 8-9 reading level across 336 pages (approximately 104,375 words). Strong independent readers around grade 9.8 can typically handle this book on their own; with parent or teacher support, Tender Is the Night (Reissue) works for readers up to grade 10.8.
Read aloud, Tender Is the Night (Reissue) runs about 11.6 hours — long enough to span several bedtime sessions.
We rate Tender Is the Night (Reissue) as 12ME ("Moderate — Emotional") because the content sits in the "Moderate" range — moderate conflict that may involve loss, scary scenes, or interpersonal stakes. The strongest signals come from emotional weight — these are the dimensions parents should evaluate against their reader's tolerance.
Specific content flags noted by reviewers: Divorce & Family Change, Emotional: Identity & Self-Discovery.
Thematically, Tender Is the Night (Reissue) explores coming of age, romance, family, and emotional struggle — these threads give the book room to mean different things to different readers. Each of these themes is concrete enough to seed a real conversation, not just a moral lesson.
Good fit for
- ✓ Children in the Ages 13+ range — the maturity and attention span match the story's pacing.
- ✓ Patient readers who enjoy slower, character-driven stories.
- ✓ Readers ready to talk through themes after they finish — there's enough substance for a meaningful conversation.
- ✓ Kids drawn to stories about coming of age, romance, family.
Maybe not for
- ! Readers who get easily upset by emotional or moderately dark scenes — the conflict here is real, not just background flavor.
- ! Readers whose emotional readiness lags behind their decoding skills — this book's intensity outruns its reading level, a classic "gifted kid" mismatch.
- ! Reluctant readers who need a fast hook — the pacing here rewards patience.
For Parents
Content Intensity
12ME — Moderate — EmotionalReal stakes and emotional weight. May include sustained danger, loss, or bullying.
Content Flags
Was our "Moderate" content intensity rating accurate for this book?
Reading Insights
Hook Factor
1/10A steady, thoughtful read that rewards patient readers.
Discussion Potential
5/10Good conversation starter with themes worth exploring together.
Book DNA
Multi-dimensional content fingerprint
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Details
Book Length
- ISBN
- 0020199309
- Pages
- 336
- Publisher
- Macmillan Publishing Company
- Published
- May 1, 1988
- Type
- Fiction
- Word Count
- 104,375
- Read-Aloud
- ~11h 36m
- Text Density
- Dense