Synopsis:
The summer is winding down in San Diego. Veronica is bored, caustically charismatic, and uninspired in her photography. Nico is insatiable, subversive, and obsessed with chaotic performance art. They’re artists first, best friends second. But that was before Mick. Delicate, lonely, magnetic Mick: the perfect subject, and Veronica’s dream girl. The days are long and hot―full of adventure―and soon they are falling in love. Falling so hard, they never imagine what comes next. One fire. Two murders. Three drowning bodies. One suspect . . . one stalker. This is a summer they won’t survive.

Review:
I wanted to love this so much. There were parts of this that I genuinely did love, there were some fantastic twists.

I think that a lot of people will find no fault in this one, but for me, the writing style was just VERY dramatic. I don't think that's a fault to the book, per se, but it just didn't fit my personal preference.
Anyways, there may be some spoilers ahead :)
Things I liked:
- Veronica and Mick as characters! Wendy Heard wrote them so so well, and I loved them!
- The twistiness, most of the time!

Things that were not for me. when I say 'not for me' I don't mean BAD! Just personal preferences here! :
- I did not really like the whole Nico thing. I think that it was even a tad irresponsible to not put in the synopsis that would be some pretty disturbing STALKING stuff! I was shocked and very much unprepared. This kind of thing can be triggering!
- I didn't love the way that, at the end, in a book all about girl power, queer empowerment, etc, etc, the book ended with both of the girls absolutely terrified and the male character happy to be manipulative. That felt a little off to me.


All in all it was alright, I'm a little disappointed, but I suppose you can't win them all.

Too romancey for me. I was skipping through parts just to get to the thriller parts and it wasn’t worth it to me.

There is a niche for this kind of book and I feel like YA is starting to get cheesier the more “unique” authors are trying to get

This was a great book. I was initially pulled in by the cover but I love the story line! Such a fun and strong read for young girls!

This was fun fast and everything teenage me would have loved! I definitely understand the negative complaints with this book, because this relationship is in no way one for the books, but I think its okay to let young queer girls have fast and all encompassing love sometimes. It happens in real life, it happens in books about heterosexual couples and mlm stories, so let the sapphics be a little too much to handle too. I really did enjoy this book and did not want to put it down, so if you are looking for something a bit ridiculous and a lot of gay, I recommend.

This book started out very contemporary and moved into a “messy” thriller. The writing style was okay and flowed well however this just wasn’t it for me. I don’t think I enjoy YA thrillers. The girls in this novel had no common sense and made lots of mistakes that landed them in situations that could of been avoided. I also didn’t enjoy that the author uses California fires as a thriller plot point.

Actual star rating 3.5

If you love YA thrillers, with a bit of LGTBQ flavor intertwined, you'll enjoy this one a lot. I was super into the audiobook version of this one for a while and unfortunately lost interest with the characters and storyline. I appreciated the photography and art aspects of this book, but was ultimately looking for some more!

This was a hot mess. I really have no desire to give a long review but I will say this was poorly written and the characters were some of the most dramatic characters I have ever had the displeasure of reading about. I'm glad so many others seem to love it though so take my thoughts with a grain of salt.

"Inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray" is what got my attention so I was kind of let down to find out it's a very loose inspiration.
That being said; it's a great story on it's own basis. I never knew what to expect and couldn't get to the next chapter fast enough. It's been so long since I've been this caught up in a book.

To me, this came across less Dorian Gray and more Heathers, but I hadn't read Dorian Gray before reading this book so I didn't feel like I was missing out on much.
Veronica was dynamic, fun to read from, and intense. She was great, but the focus was mostly on Mick which I was disappointed by. Mick was kind of just too boring for me.
I liked the romance, but it was a very quick moving.
As far as the thrilling aspect goes, it did surprise me but the motivation behind it was a little confusing.

I am not quite sure how I feel about this book, She’s too Pretty to Burn was good but it also wasn’t. As much as I wanted to like the first half of the book, it felt like a typical YA novel. I was expecting a thriller which kind of threw me off. The second half was most definitely a thriller, and I just didn’t like how it felt like two separate books.

The characters were okay, I did like Mick, but I had a hard time liking Nico and Veronica. A lot of the relationships in this book felt very toxic, so I wasn’t a fan of any relationships. There were a bunch of red flags going off right from the start.

While the story did keep me invested, I did not like the ending at all. I would have preferred more answers, and things wrapped up better. If it had a more solid ending, I think I would have liked it more.

This realistic reimagining of The Picture of Dorian Grey is one not for the light at heart. This was graphic and had graphic predictions of animals, children, and more. So fair warning if you choose to read this one. The time line for this entire story was over the corse of 10 days which seemed a little weird. I cant say that I really enjoyed this one and I think maybe this should have been redone for the adult crowd as it was just a little to much for this reader.

This has been one of the most disappointing books I've read in a long time.

The plot's entire basis was extremely weak. I found multiple inconsistencies throughout the writing. The characters were all unlikable without any redeeming qualities in the end. Each relationship was superficial, beyond toxic, and lacked basic chemistry. And don't even get me started on the "art installation" events that were so far from rooted in any contemporary-style reality.

The villain of this story was also made painfully clear from the very beginning. It's as-if the author wanted to spell it out for you and lack any surprise. In a mystery/thriller book that's not really what I'm looking for...

Aside from the content within this story, the pacing of this book was just so odd. Each event had such high stakes that it felt like the climax of the book which made reading this exhausting. Then, just when we started to get some resolution and began wrapping-up the story there was yet again ANOTHER climactic event. Maybe this just simply isn't the writing style I prefer in my thriller's but paired with the fact that it lacked any twists/reveals it just felt like it could've used some additional editing.

Even though I strongly disliked this book and found it to be an infuriating read, I still have to give it 2 stars since I was addicted to learning how it would all wrap up.

This book is pitched a sapphic reimagining of Dorian Grey. I really liked the story in the beginning but for me as the story went on the two girls’ voices weren’t different enough for me and the plot didn’t go in the direction that I had hoped. Still enjoyable but not what I was expecting.

**3.5-stars**

Veronica and Nico are best friends. They're both artists; she's a photographer, while he is into edgy performance art. As the summer days draw on, a girl enters their orbit, who will throw them both off course and away from one another.

Her name is Mick. She's quiet, serious and shy; a swimmer, who works as a life guard. She's also Veronica's dream girl. Mick's strained relationship with her mother forces her to seek sanctuary outside of her home. She finds it with Veronica first, and then secretly with Nico.

When Nico's artistic pursuits get riskier, both girls find themselves in over their heads. Events begin to spiral out of control. No one knows who they can trust. It's full on friendship chaos!

Described as being inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray, I definitely enjoyed the art scene aspects of this novel. Particularly, Nico's brand of subversive street art. While the themes made this feel like a subtle, modern interpretation of Dorian Gray, I feel like Readers anticipating more of a retelling, may be disappointed.

I definitely recognized opposing philosophies for Veronica and Nico; art for art's sake, versus art for a purpose. I also enjoyed how Heard framed the societal reaction to art in this narrative; capturing the idea that beauty and youth, through the viral photo of Mick, are of the utmost importance.

Regardless of any immoral actions taken by Mick, her beauty was what mattered. These were interesting characters. While the beginning took a while to take off, by the end, this narrative was wild as heck! It certainly went places I didn't expect.

Overall, I think this is a good story. I feel like if you can connect in anyway to the art scene portion of this book, you'll enjoy it, as I did. Thank you so much to the publisher, Henry Holt and Company, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I appreciate it!

I was so, so excited about this release. dorian gray is my second favorite book of ALL time so to see a sapphic inspired thriller(?) inspired by it was all you had to say to me.

I do think it needs to be stressed that it is LOOSELY inspired by the classic. it’s not by any means a modern retelling. I think if it was, I would have lowered the rating a bit. I would be lying if I say I didn’t want mick to be a bit more dorian-esque, veronica to have more basil-isms, & nico to have more nuance like lord henry. and if this was a direct retelling, the plot would certainly put it off the rails.

but the inspirations Heard took from the story made this YA thriller interesting and fun for me. I read it all in one sitting. is it dramatic and absurd? absolutely. could it have gone even further with a bit more polishing? definitely. but I enjoyed myself nonetheless.

my least favorite part is by far the ending. I almost knocked it down a half star for it because it just was not my cup of tea. but I guess I’m feeling generous today.

if you’re interested in this, I’d say give it a shot simply for the different (more toxic) side of a wlw relationship we don’t get to see much. just don’t get hung up on the source material.

WHY DID I LISTEN TO SHE’S TOO PRETTY TO BURN BY WENDY HEARD?
She’s Too Pretty To Burn by Wendy Heard initially was not on my radar. However, it was included in a digital reviewer box so I was all, what the hey, and picked it up. Upon closer examination, the premise really appealed to me. I also didn’t really know what to expect. So, I went into this book unaware which enhanced my experience listening to this audiobook. FYI, this audiobook is on Hoopla if your library participates in Hoopla.

WHAT’S THE STORY HERE?
Wendy Heard’s She’s Too Pretty To Burn is loosely inspired by The Picture Of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. I haven’t read that classic but would like to someday. Mick is a lifeguard and on swim team, she’s got big dreams. She also is extremely pretty but kind of lonely. Her mom wants her to do a mother-daughter modeling shoot with her. Mick refuses because she hates having her picture taken and feels so exposed and as though she’s giving parts of her self up with photographs. That pisses her mom off.

So, anyways, skipping around a bit, Mick goes to a party and meets Veronica who is a photographer. Veronica is attracted to Mick and it turns out there’s chemistry there. So, the two begin to date and Veronica takes Mick’s picture. Meanwhile, Veronica is best friends with Nico, who is an artist first and friends second. Nico has some controversial installations. Ultimately though, this book has a body count and some real drama is about to go down.

HOW DID I LIKE SHE’S TOO PRETTY TO BURN?
I didn’t expect to like She’s Too Pretty To Burn as much as I did! I was really invested in Mick as a character. You see, I got really mad when her mom was a terrible parent to her. When Mick was traumatized by a certain event, I felt that. Additionally, I thought the relationship between Mick and Veronica was pretty legit — although there’s parts where Veronica isn’t respectful of Mick’s boundaries with regards to photography. Alas. As for Nico, I felt one way about him but then my mind changed.

Overall, I liked that this book really was thrilling. I felt invested and on edge during certain parts. It was to the point where I was flipping ahead in my eARC for some reassurance because I can be kind of a nervous Nelly hahaha. The pacing is fast as well.

HOW’S THE NARRATION?
The audiobook of She’s Too Pretty To Burn by Wendy Heard is really well produced and well narrated. There are three different narrators for the Mick, Veronica and Nico chapters. The narrators are Bailey Carr, Frankie Corzo, and Stephen Dexter. Each does a superb job and you can definitely tell the difference between the characters. At 8 hours and 25 minutes, this audiobook is a quick read. I, of course, listened to this audiobook sped up because I have a lot of books to get through. I will say that this was actually easy to still understand and process sped up.

The first 30% or so I wasn't feeling it. The main character is treated like this fragile little baby, and to be honest she acts like one. Then it finally started getting interesting. Now I'm hoping there's a second book.

I was so!!!!!! excited to read this one because a retelling of The Picture of Dorian Gray with a queer female main character set in California sounds like EVERYTHING to me, but unfortunately this was not for me. The entire plot was completely bizarre (which, fair considering it is a Dorian Gray retelling tbh), but I really struggled to believe the things that were happening or to care about the characters at all. This clearly didn't work for me, but if you're looking for a YA book with a dark tone/plot, this might be something you would enjoy!

CW: toxic mother/daughter relationship, abusive parent, animal cruelty, drowning, arson, mass shootings

I really wanted to enjoy this sapphic thriller, especially because I've never read a sapphic thriller, but unfortunately I am going to be DNFing this book. I don't really like the relationship between the main characters - it seemed to develop kind of quickly, and I had an issue with some consent between them, with Veronica pushing Mick to do something she has a genuine phobia of (and Veronica also lies to Mick about it). I have also looked up some information about what else happens in the book/read other reviews, and from everything I read I can gather that this relationship continues to be toxic and Veronica continues to cross boundaries.

A smaller issue, but one of the main characters is a swimmer and many of the small details about swimming were not accurate or were just slightly off (I say as someone who swam for over ten years). This is a much smaller issue, and probably something that wouldn't bother people who don't know much about swimming.

Along with the swimming inaccuracies though, there was one scene that was so inaccurate I can't look past, and that was the lifeguard scene where a lifeguard makes a save to get a child who is drowning. This scene was so inaccurate to how lifeguarding works, and the lifeguards actually do several extremely unsafe things. I think one of the lifeguards was not supposed to be competent, but both of them behaved in completely unsafe ways and while I didn't finish the book, I did skim through parts of it and I do not believe this was ever really fully addressed (it is possible that it was addressed in a part I did not skim, but even if it was that scene left me flabbergasted).

I won't be leaving a star rating on goodreads or any other site because I don't rate books I DNFed, but for the purposes of this NetGalley review I will be giving this a 2/5 because I believe that is the rating I would have given this review if I had finished it.

Lots of people did seem to like this book, but it unfortunately was not for me.

Wow! 😳
So the book was a bit of a slow burn for me at first (see what I did there 🙃) and then all of a sudden, you are on a rollercoaster of twists and turns! This book is insane in the best way and I am so glad I read it! If you love thrillers, pick this one up soon! ⭐⭐⭐⭐


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