I was really thrilled to be granted a #netgalley eARC of She's Too Pretty to Burn by Wendy Heard. This tale is fundamentally 1 POV thriller, 2 girl's that fall in love and their male friend Nico. The two girls couldn't be more different - Veronica an artist and photographer who likes to take risks, which to some maybe considered almost criminal. Veronica has very connected relationship to her mom whereas, Mick, has a very caustic relationship. Mick is a swimmer with a horrible home life, she doesn't like parties nor does she like to photographed. I loved the different female relationships - not just the edgy, intense romantic relationship that goes on between Mick and Veronica, but the mother-daughter relationships with both girls. Having the same age teenager now, I really appreciated how Wendy developed these relationships.

While these girls and their adventures start of like many typical coming of age adventures, it really takes a twist when the art takes a dark turn and then we are on a roller coaster ride to the last page ... and beyond. The idea of what part of ourselves are we comfortable with, that scare us and what that part that drives us to do things out of character - really begs the question of how well does one really know themselves. It is a much darker read than I imagined, and it really did a great job with both the intensity of the plot and the characters. At certain points, I could not put this down. I thoroughly loved it and can't wait to read more from this author. I gave it 5 stars because I loved the characters and even though we went down the rabbit hole a few times, it was a wild ride. Thanks to #netgalley and MacMillan Children's Publishing Books for this ARC. #shestooprettytoburn

I loved this book so much! I read it in less than 24 hours because it was just so good and easy to read. The alternating perspectives of Mick and Veronica were perfect for this story. As a reader I could easily shift between the two, making their characters that much more dynamic. I wish their relationship wasn't just over the course of ten days, but can also see how this highlights how quickly things can spiral and develop for young adults. This book also made it feel incredibly normal and common place that the two would be together and I really appreciated how it didn't feel like the focal point of the story. It was just who they were. I appreciated the ending as well, but it also definitely left me wanting more. I cannot wait to revisit this closer to its publication date and to recommend it to all of my students.

She’s Too Pretty to Burn immediately caught my eye with the premise of a sapphic thriller, inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray. When Mick and Veronica meet for the first time, Veronica is fascinated by how Mick hates being photographed. Mick is focused on the swim team and helping her mom pay the rent, while Veronica is focused on her photography and art. A photo that was never supposed to be taken goes viral, creating very different consequences for Veronica and Mick. The photo sends both girls down dangerous paths and they’ll need to fight for their lives before the last page...

Wendy Heard does a fantastic job with incorporating elements from Dorian Gray, along with a murderous stalker and twisty social media exploits. The plot builds until you feel that you can’t possibly look away. She’s Too Pretty to Burn addresses what it means to be a muse, image ownership in a digital age, jealousy, and falling in love! This book was a breath of fresh air. I loved the LGBTQ rep, clever side characters, and masterful unraveling of the menacing climax. Both Veronica and Mick were compelling characters, together and apart, so to see their love story unfold was beautiful.

She’s Too Pretty to Burn is the perfect book for those looking for a thriller and intense romance in one story. A glorious and fast-paced adventure, this is not one to miss. This is my first book by Wendy Heard, but it won’t be my last! You do not need to have read The Picture of Dorian Gray to enjoy this book. I highly recommend She’s Too Pretty to Burn! She’s Too Pretty to Burn releases on March 30, 2021. Thank you to Wendy Heard, Henry Holt and Co., and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ok, I admit it. I moved this ARC up from #18 to #1 as I just couldn't wait! I love Wendy Heard's books as they are everything I like in a thriller: they're dark, they're edgy, they're chilling, and they're intriguing! It's an unlikely love story set in San Diego; Veronica is outgoing, adventurous, and a budding photographer. Mick is her opposite; she is shy and unassuming, throwing all of her efforts into the swim team at her high school. So when they meet accidentally at a party, the chemistry flares and they begin to explore. But Veronica's friend, Nico who loves performance art is also an activist and as he lures the girls into his schemes, things get dicey very quickly. And if you've read Heard's others, you know you are in for plenty of surprises that keep you on the edge of your seat until the end! And this one begs for a sequel (and if not, I"M begging for a sequel)!

I thought the description of this book sounded great and original so I was immediately interested. The descriptions of the art installations and photography were really well done and I was easily able to conjure up images to match the descriptions. However, I felt that the characters (especially Mick) fell a little flat. There was a lot of back and forth between Veronica and Mick that felt very childish, which makes sense given their ages but I thought it kind of dragged on a bit. The best character was that of Nico and I loved reading the parts with him in them. I wish that were more action parts than scenes of them talking about the art stuff though. I felt hat the ending was a bit rushed and would have liked it drawn out a bit more

This book had a few things going for it. One Wendy Heard is an amazing writer that engulfs the reader into wanting to finish the book immediately. The storyline for this book was intriguing and characters were interesting together as a whole and individually. One thing that disappointed me was the ending, hoping she turns it into a series because I need more.

Mic tends to shy away from the public eye, which gets in the way of her new relationship with her girlfriend Victoria. As they begin to emerge themselves in a friend’s reality art project

I enjoyed the friendship and romance between the two main characters. Although they didn’t really seem right for each other it was enjoyable watching their relationship grow. The action for this book didn’t really get started until the end, and it felt a little far fetched to me. I think it would have been nice to have a bit more character development for some of the secondary characters who ended up affecting the ending a lot. Overall, slow throughout but a big bang of an ending that felt a bit out there for me.

Holy—F—Wow!

Guys, this is officially my first ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in MONTHS.

She's Too Pretty To Burn was pitched as a wlw modern re-telling of The Picture of Dorian Gray, and let me tell you, it delivers. This book is true to it's core inspiration. It's a story of love, of fear, of obsession, of murder. All the trappings you'd expect to find, but done in a fresh and delightful way that will had me absolutely devouring it every step of the way.

We follow Micaela "Mick" a swimmer from a troubled home with a true fear of being photographed and Veronica, the girl who can't help but see the world through the lens of her camera. They fall fast and hard for each other, despite their differences, and Veronica enfolds Mick into her world, her family, and her friends. Introducing Mick to her best friend Nico seemed like just the thing to do, but when they get involved in Nico's not-quite-legal artistic endeavors things go from the frying pan and into the fire when someone turns up dead. Can Veronica trust the people she loves? Can Mick trust herself?

Let's take a second to talk about unreliable narrators and how using that trope well can just make the entire book: We spend a lot of time wondering if Mick is any kind of stable. She goes through horrible thing after horrible thing and you watch it chip away at the very core of her each time, only to come back as something —darker. I ate it up every time. Fantastic usage.

Meanwhile, Veronica is a refreshing blend of flawed and truly kind. Her art is everything to her and that often makes it hard for her to remember that there are feelings outside of her own. But honestly, she was sweet, funny, brave, and kind of an asshole. I adored her.

There are times when they are both destructive to each other, but these instances are not ignored. This is was a realistic love story for their age group. Messy, flawed, even destructive at times, but they were also loving, supportive, compromising. A love story for the girls in that wacky place between teen and adult. I was initially worried that the relationship was going to remain toxic and self-serving, but as we persevered, so did they, and I enjoyed when they were honest with each other and not dismissive of the other's feelings. Lovely.

The complicated situation surrounding Nico was *chefs kiss* wonderful conflict in so many ways. You don't need a love triangle to bring up these types of emotions, no. Jealousy and obsession can come in many forms. And the ending? My gosh, every time I thought it had ended we had another peak into the madness and I am a SUCKER for this entire thing.

LISTEN, if you are a fan of books that explore the dark side of the human heart while showcasing what makes it beautiful — you've got to pick this up when it hits the shelves 30 March 2021. I will be pre-ordering it myself, because I need it on my shelf.

*my thanks, as always, to the Publisher and Netgalley for gifting me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

She’s Too Pretty to Burn is a fast-paced dark, artistic thriller/love story. It’s told in dual-POVs from Mick and Veronica’s perspectives and because the characters are so well developed it’s feels like you’re living vicariously through them. Heard perfectly captured their individual character voices, wants, needs, and fears. I could easily connect with the characters, but fair warning, their relationship is intense. The setting is vivid and the story is expertly plotted, dynamic and moving. Heard is a master of prose and her words had my heart aching and racing at so many points. This is a rare gem I’m still thinking about. 100% would recommend!

I was interested when I read that this was an adaptation of Dorian Gray but with WLW. This was a great read that left me on the edge of my seat several times. It is a little slow to start, but once it gets going, it doesn't stop.

PLOT
-very intriguing
-fast-paced, no dull moments
-the ending was a little rushed
-I wish we had gotten chapters from Nico’s POV earlier on
-Art is a main theme throughout the book, but some elements of Veronica’s photography (and Mick’s swimming) dwindle out near the end

CHARACTERS
Mick
-swimmer
-hates having her picture taken
-very relatable fears/anxieties
Veronica
-photographer
-knows who she is
Nico
-very 〜chaotic〜
-his manic energy is OFF THE CHARTS
-I wish we understood more of his motivations

RELATIONSHIPS
Veronica and Mick
-their relationship was SO realistic (every relationship has its flaws)
-lots of manipulation at the beginning
Veronica and Nico
-we’re told so often that Veronica and Nico are best friends, but we didn’t really it
Mick and Nico
-I wish we had gotten more of Nico’s motivations and WHY Mick was so important to him
(FAMILIAL RELATIONSHIPS)
Mick and her mom
-very tumultuous
-I wish we had gotten more closure on their relationship
Veronica and her mom
-it seems perfect, but later on we get to see the flaws it has

WRITING
-Ms. Wendy did a FANTASTIC job of capturing the manic energy that is so present in this book
-during the super intense parts my heart was RACING

OVERALL
-5/5 stars
-best thriller I’ve ever read
-I’m SO excited to own this once it comes out

All I can really say is wow. As soon as I saw this on Goodreads I knew I wanted to read it and I was so lucky to get an ARC from Netgally. I honestly wish this came out sooner because I want everyone to be able to read this. I read this 336 page book in less than two hours in one sitting. It was just that compelling.


We read half of A Picture of Dorian Grey in my 12th grade lit class before we had to stop, which is a long story, but it left me in a position of being somewhat familiar with the plot but quite familiar with the writing style. Dorian is firmly rooted in aestheticism and that style is reflected so well in this book. It was part of why this book was so fun to read, even with a grim subject matter. It definitely is YA but I still thought it reflected the stylistic elements of Dorian very well.


This is not a book about nice people. All the characters in this book take from each other, some in more extreme ways, some in less. I loved reading through the different perspectives of Mick and Veronica. I expected certain things from their characters based on how they were presented at the beginning but was very surprised with what I actually got. There are some things about these characters that I didn't find suprising at all when they were revealed. I was kind of anticipating other things just because I felt some answers would be too obvious but I think with this book it didn't matter if I anticipated events. A surprising factor was not essential to making this a good story.


I loved the dynamic between all the characters. Like I said, these are characters that are not great people. Nico and Mick especially come from very complicated backgrounds and all the characters are very complicated people. I think this book tells you a lot about the characters using their environment which I really appreciated. Even though there are some things about the lives of the characters that seemed glossed over, I still felt like I had a good sense of them as people.


I loved the setting of this book as well. It takes place in Southern California and I think the gilded opulence that I associate with that region was very effective in this story. If you're looking for a setting that mirrors the aestheticism of Wilde's work, it's a great one.


I thought the progression of the plot worked really well and from what I can remember of the half of Dorian I read, it mirrors that book very well. I thought the environmental aspect was really interesting and played really well against the parts of this book dealing with natural elements. There's a lot of play with water and fire especially in this book and I think there is some really interesting imagery when it comes to how those play off each other in this book in relation to the characters and seeing when water dominates vs when fire dominates.


I hesitate almost to call the relationship in this book a romance when really it is more about obsession, just as in Dorian. It really is a dynamic that seems like it could never be healthy because of how they react around each other. The tipping point is the need to capture a person in an image because of their beauty and the sort of challenges that obsession with preserving someone brings about. The picture never changes but the person does.


I loved the feeling that this book created of someone being in the background controlling elements of your life. I really did like the ending, though I was a little surprised it ended like that, because it seemed to play into this idea of pieces of your life being controlled and manipulated by the actions of others. I don't know how Dorian ends, maybe someday I'll go back and read it, but this books ending was to me satisfying and unsatisfying at the same time because I wanted to know more, but it also seemed like the perfect ending to this book. Yes, there are many parts to this book that seemed very unrealistic but I never felt the need to interrogate any one particular choice in this book for realism because that's not what I saw as the aim of this story. I would encourage people to look past realism to see a possible bigger story element.

We can forgive a man for making a useful
thing as long as he does not admire it. The
only excuse for making a useless thing is that
one admires it intensely.

All art is quite useless.

- The Preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

I requested this book because I loved the cover. I mean, that girl just suggests there is going to be an adventure involved. Granted, the adventure wasn't always fun but there was an adventure :) It starts in a pretty confusing way and then we go backwards to find out WHY it was happening. Essentially it is about two teenage girls who don't really fit in finding each other. One is into swimming, super introverted and despises her picture being taken. Oh yeah, and her mother doesn't seem to give a crap about her. The other happens to be a photographer who takes photos of her best friend doing illegal things all in the name of art. One night, the photographer takes a picture of her just kissed new friend and all Hell breaks loose. The story is about what happens after that. Literally, all you have to do is be yourself and the right people will come into your life and shake it up. I loved the book and did not want to put it down. :)

This book is a slow burn (heh) in the beginning as we begin to meet the characters--Mick is a swimmer with a troubled home life and the desire to get as far from her San Diego hometown as possible, and best friends Veronica and Nico are both aspiring artists--Veronica with her dad's 1980s film camera and Nico with installation art and sculpture.
Veronica and Mick meet at a party Mick is dragged to at the beginning of the summer, and Veronica and Nico quickly envelop her in their world of art--Veronica's candid picture of Mick goes viral unexpectedly, and Nico drags her along to help with is installation art. Things quickly go wrong, and they go very, very wrong. Fires, rip tides, rock climbs, if you can think of trouble teens can get into, they get into it (well, except for drugs and alcohol, which is a refreshing departure). Veronica is offered more and more lucrative options for her photography, leaving Mick on her own to deal with Nico's increasingly more dangerous installations.
I really enjoyed that the lgbtq storylines are presented as normal--no one, not parents or friends, bat an eye at Mick and Veronica's budding relationship. When asked if she minded her daughter being gay, Veronica's mom laughs, she's just worried about what all moms are with their kids' significant others, and Veronica tells reporters to focus on her art, not her sexuality.
I really enjoyed this book, and the ending was just *bonkers*.

She's Too Pretty to Burn is a whirlwind read with unexpected twists and turns. The story revolves around Micaela, Mick, who has a turbulent home life, and Veronica who has a talent with photography. They help each other and might be falling in love, but also have secrets from one another. Veronica's friend, Nico, is a couple years older and an activist artist. His new installation makes a bold statement and they all find themselves in danger. Cops get involved and it takes murder to find the truth. This psychological thriller plays with fear being fun, taking & giving, and the courage to be seen.

This book is chaos and pure fire. It was artistic, romantic, and thrilling. The story starts off as a romance but then takes a turn into a thriller. It went from zero to a hundred and I did not see that coming. I was expecting a romance and a story about two people who were not good for each other falling for each other and their ensuing chaotic relationship, but this book completely surprised me with that and an added thriller/ art murder mystery plot thrown in. It was exhilarating to say the least. The story revolves around Veronica, a photographer who wants to make it big, Mick, a swimmer who hates being photographed and is starting to self destruct, and Nico, Veronica’s friend who is an artist and does disruptive art installations. Wherever you think this story is going to take you, it definitely takes you somewhere else. I found myself completely wrapped up in what was going to happen next. The relationship between the three characters is intriguing and unique. They each take from each other but in varying ways, but they also give each other a sense of relationship and friendship. I absolutely had a blast reading this story and I don’t want to spoil any of the fun twist in this story. I really hope you give this amazing book a chance because I can honestly say, I was completely blown away and I absolutely loved how this book ended.

* Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

A binge worthy read, gripping from the first page. Classic love triangle trope entwined within a murder mystery. Engaging; plenty of twists. The author does a great job developing the complexity of the characters and their relationships. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to review this novel.

I super wanted to love this because of the awesome premise, but the writing style is just not clicking. Wouldn't be fair to the book if I finished and rated it lowly. DNF.

Was this book meant to be predictable? I am not entirely sure, but off of the summary, within the first page as Veronica mentioned a guy looming over her, I figured out that Nico was to blame. Finding out later that he was not just someone who liked Veronica, but also the murderer was a bit tad sad, but his chapters made him such a nice villain! Even if I figured it out since the beginning. I think it shouldn't have been this obvious.

The crazy performance art would look really nice if it were adapted into a movie... but I found that to be the intriguing part of this book
Mick: I didn't like her at first, but over time... she wasn't too bad. Personally, I think Veronica should've fallen in love with her murderer.... since it would've been an interesting turn to the "picture of dorian gray" trope, but overall it did deliver on suspense, and it did trip me up at times. Definitely a good choice if you're into suspenseful thrillers.
Veronica- I think as the artist, she would've made a great basil indeed. Both were painters, had some beauty and definitely seemed to portray a likable protagonist. There were times I disagreed with her, and although her demise fell a bit flat (at least for me), I still enjoyed the book!
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for granting my wish!

'Inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray, this sexy psychological thriller explores the intersections of love, art, danger, and power' a truly intoxicating read that you wont be able to put down! I look forward to more from wendy heard!