What reading level is The Beautiful and Damned?

The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald is at a Level 7-8 reading level. Recommended for Upper Grades readers (Ages 13+).

What age is The Beautiful and Damned appropriate for?

The Beautiful and Damned is recommended for Ages 13+. HootRating: 12ME (Moderate — Emotional). Content flags: Divorce & Family Change, Loss & Grief.

What genre is The Beautiful and Damned?

The Beautiful and Damned is fiction — Inheritance and succession.

Does The Beautiful and Damned have any content warnings?

The Beautiful and Damned has a HootRating of 12ME (Moderate — Emotional). Content flags include: Divorce & Family Change, Loss & Grief. On HootRated, every book is rated across four dimensions — emotional, physical, social, and thematic — to help parents make informed choices.

How many pages is The Beautiful and Damned?

The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald is 464 pages (approximately 122,045 words).

Reviewed by HootRated editorial · Last updated May 18, 2026

The Beautiful and Damned

F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Beautiful and Damned

Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide

by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Reading Level 7-8 12ME Ages 13+ Balanced Read Rich Discussion

The text is written at a 7th 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

Gloria Gilbert and Anthony Patch begin their marriage full of hope and glamour, but their dreams slowly unravel as greed and aimlessness take hold. Over six years, their dazzling life fades into a story of decline and lost purpose. This classic tale explores the highs and lows of love and ambition in a changing world.

Themes

ClassicsComing of Age Family Social Justice

Quick Assessment

This is a Level 7-8 book with moderate content intensity. Content themes include divorce & family change, loss & grief. Written for readers ages 13+.

Why we rated The Beautiful and Damned 12ME

The Beautiful and Damned is written at a Level 7-8 reading level across 464 pages (approximately 122,045 words). Strong independent readers around grade 8.7 can typically handle this book on their own; with parent or teacher support, The Beautiful and Damned works for readers up to grade 9.7.

Read aloud, The Beautiful and Damned runs about 13.6 hours — long enough to span several bedtime sessions.

We rate The Beautiful and Damned 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, Loss & Grief.

Thematically, The Beautiful and Damned explores classics, coming of age, family, and social justice — 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.
✓ Family book clubs, classroom read-alouds, and parents who want a strong conversation hook.
✓ Kids drawn to stories about classics, coming of age, family.

Maybe not for

! Readers who get easily upset by emotional or moderately dark scenes — the conflict here is real, not just background flavor.
! Children currently coping with grief — the themes may hit close to home.
! Reluctant readers who need a fast hook — the pacing here rewards patience.