The cover just sucked me in, as while as the promise of a Dorian Gray x sapphic story.
That being said, I didn't quite understand the Dorian Gray references. Maybe it was because it's been a while since I read it or because I had a different interpretation, but it didn't quite hit. I could see where it was coming from but yeah didn't really sell it for me.

The characters were also difficult for me to accept. While characters don't have to be perfect, it fell into this trope where the characters were obviously 'different'. And not in the idea where every person has a story to tell, but Mick in particular just seemed a bit unrealistic to me. The characters have strengths and flaws, but those flaws were only briefly touched upon and I didn't really get the sense that the characters learned anything new. The plot similarly does get unfeasible to a very big extent. This bothered me multiple times and was the main reason why I wasn't able to give it four stars.

Honestly though, this book is just so electric though! The start takes a bit to get used too based on the syntax, but it quickly picks up on a fantastic pace. The tension and the drama of the story is fantastic and I ended up finishing the entire book in an entire day. While I did have a complaint about the characters, once it focused on the plot and the events, it was easier to forget about. The tone is dramatic, it's sensual, it's mysterious and tense...very exciting!

Overall would recommend, because we love sapphic lover stories with a sprinkle of murder.

4 stars

Loosely based on The Picture of Dorian Gray, She's Too Pretty to Burn builds slowly to pack a massive punch as two girls from very different worlds fall in love amidst the art scene of LA.

It took me a hot second to get into this book - there is an absolutely explosive first chapter followed by exposition that goes on just a hair too long for my tastes and some "wait, what?" moments with regards to the speed at which the love interests connected. However, it really hit the ground running about 75 pages in and I was HOOKED! I told myself I was going to stop reading to do other things, but wound up finishing it in less than 24 hours. I'll definitely be picking up Heard's adult thrillers next time I'm in the Barnes and Noble and I sincerely hope that she continues writing for the YA audience after this success.

Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Co. (BYR) for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

Incredibly unrealistic but wildly entertaining. You come to love every character and you become so invested in the story that the thought of it ending physically hurts. Wendy Heard did an excellent job.

Overall: It gives you pause to think while still being an excellent retelling.

Pros:
Retelling aspects. You can see where this has Picture of Dorian Gray vibes.
Art side. Okay, so art was a main piece of the original story so seeing it be an important part of this story mattered to me.
Emotional reliance. Without giving away too much it really focuses on what happens when you become too emotionally reliant on one-another.

Cons:
Tropes. There are some classic tropes that are used in this that could come off pretty generic if you start to over think it.

I LOVED THIS BOOK! If you are looking for a contemporary YA with just a little bit more action, this is the one for you. The sapphic rep is amazing and I absolutely loved the relationship between the two perspective characters. Truly really enjoyed it and can't want to talk about it on my account!

While I did enjoy reading this, it felt very disconnected from reality. The characters were annoying in the way that I disagreed with every decision they made, but I still kept reading because I was intrigued. The plot is very fast-paced but felt especially rushed in the last few chapters.

a predictable suspense with unlikable characters but fast-paced writing.

this book ultimately disappointed me. it was set up with elements i like: a sapphic romance, an obsessed artist, mystique, thriller/suspense aspects, and a dreamlike quality, but the elements never fully came together. the characters consistently acted too old for their ages – the story would have significantly benefitted from aging them up to make the plot make more sense. furthermore, perhaps because it is supposed to be a retelling of "the picture of dorian gray," the plot felt like it was written to hit certain points, rather than feeling organically driven towards said points.

while unlikable characters can be intriguing, these ones were not distinct enough and their motivations did not make enough internal sense to warrant it. mick's phobia of being photographec, consistently poor decision-making, and pull towards veronica and nico were never explained. veronica's toxic pattern of taking pictures of mick without consent and lying about it was at least somewhat explained by her drive for recognition, but even that was spoiled by said recognition making absolutely no sense.

"she's too pretty to burn" alternates between mick and veronica's perspectives, but does so in a bizarre way: instead of creating distinct voices to distinguish between the two girls, heard makes the bizarre decision to change tense depending on the narrator, a decision i found distracting. in fact, none of the characters had distinct voices and felt completely two-dimensional, including the main characters.

i was able to fly through this book, so i cannot say that it was boring by any means, but the more i think about it, the more frustrated i become. it had the potential, but unfortunately not the execution.

thank you to netgalley and macmillan children's publishing group for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

The very first thing I texted my best friend about this book: “it feels like a California sunset whose magnificence is amplified by the fact that it’s built by raging wildfires”

Unknowing, I sprung a foreshadowing tripwire.

She’s Too Pretty To Burn is insane. Caustic. Stunning. Thrilling. Mesmerizing. Addictive.

Summary: set against the backdrop of Los Angeles in the summer and a rebel art scene, three lives intersect and their fates intertwine into a terrifying tapestry woven together with the threads of desire, ambition, vulnerability, and ultimately fire.
What started out as chaotic protest art installations quickly and quietly morphs into something much darker and infinitely more deadly.

What I Loved:
- Deviously excellent plotting
- Immaculate character construction, devolution, and forging
- Settings that simmer alongside the characters and truly contribute to the narrative
- Before we forget: SAPPHIC DORIAN GRAY

This is a twisty, coming-of-age, suspense story. Veronica and Mick (Micaela) meet at a party one night and instantly bond. Their friendship, and ultimate relationship, is heated throughout the novel and they are fierce defenders of each other even though they aren't sure they can trust each other. Their friend, Nico, is an edgy artist who is in the process of creating and displaying a five-piece art installment around town.

So many bad choices, manipulation, toxic relationships, and murder - all pretty heavy combinations. The writing is so well done that I kept reading, even though I didn't really like the characters. Ultimately, I found this to be a bit of a toxic and conflicting read. I was relieved to finish it and yet, I'm glad I read it.

Thanks to Wendy Heard, NetGalley, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group Henry Holt and Co. for an advanced eBook in exchange for my honest review.

The premise of this book was absolutely amazing. A Dorian Gray retelling, how awesome.

Sadly it really failed except for getting the personality of Dorian on point. The book is full on teenage angst and very "im not like other girls" trope. But still the morally grey characters did keep me interested and the fast pace of the book made it a pretty fast read.

The biggest downfall is that it was a little hard to keep up with what exactly was going on and the very very very predictable ending.

"Her eyes followed me, her hands reaching like I was stealing something from her.
And I did.
I lifted the camera, and I took her picture.
That was it. That was the beginning."

Mick is terrified of having her photo taking. So she's shocked when her mom's agent wants them to do a mother-daughter modeling shoot. Mick's mom gives her an ultimatum - either she does the gig, or her mom will pull the money they need for rent out of Mick's savings instead, earned from lifeguarding and other jobs, her savings that she uses for swim team fees and plans to use for college next year.

Veronica meets Mick at a party and immediately wants to take her picture, but after seeing Mick's anxiety when the camera is raised, agrees not to. The two wander away from the party, and as they spend time together, Mick agrees to Veronica's suggestion - she'll let her take her picture if there's no film in the camera. Maybe it will serve as exposure therapy. Veronica finds the perfect spot, a train that's empty at this time of night. They kiss, and Veronica takes the shot... but she knows that her film reel ISN'T actually empty.

The next day, Veronica invites Mick to come to an art installation which she will be photographing. Nico, Veronica's best friend, is one of the artists who put together the event, but only the three artists in the group and Veronica as their documenter know who they are. They're preparing a series of art installations, targeting a local politician whose policies regarding a wildlife sanctuary they disagree with.

Veronica shows Mick her photo after it's developed, and against her instincts, Mick agrees that it can be posted to Instagram. And then things blow up. Tens of thousands of likes and comments, especially after Veronica added hashtags to get more eyes on the photo. Mick takes off from Veronica's house, angry, feeling that this private moment right after their kiss is being shown to the world. Seeing this, Nico tells Veronica he won't need her to photograph the first part of the upcoming series of installs... and instead asks Mick to do so. Just taking pictures of some performance art - what could go wrong? Mick and Veronica had no idea how much would change in just ten days after they met at that party.

Summaries say this book is inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray - I have to admit I don't remember much about Dorian Gray. Looking back at my review when I read it 5 years ago, I'd found the characters unlikeable. I wouldn't say that's as much the case here. There are a number of dumb, trust-breaking decisions, though. I thought there were questionable motivations for actions by a couple characters. One action towards the end of the book struck me as really surprising, given previous events.

The first chapter takes place chronologically around the climax of the book, with Veronica mentioning her blood soaking into the dirt as someone watches her from the cliff above. Given this, readers have an idea of where the narrative is heading when the next page jumps back ten days. Chapters are told from the perspectives of both girls (I occasionally had trouble differentiating between their voices). The tension builds slowly, but really ramps up towards the end. This turns into a wild ride which is a lot of fun, even if I was frustrated with the motivations and with what seemed to be the same relationship mistakes again and again. I was meh on the ending, and might have been happier if it ended six chapters earlier.

Thank you to Macmillan and NetGalley for the eARC. She's Too Pretty to Burn will be published March 30th.

“That girl? That’s a girl on the edge. Give her a push, and she’s going over.”

This is not at all what I expected. The first half is 80% toxic teenage relationship, 20% ART IS MY PASSION. The second half is chaos. Pure. Unadulterated. CHAOS. I mostly enjoyed the first half, but the second half had me so blown.

I think if you want a YA book that’s dark and chaotic think Heathers but make it artsy, then She’s Too Pretty To Burn may tickle your fancy. The reason I gave this book 3* is because I couldn’t keep up with what the heck was happening here, and the relationship that was featured was uncomfortably toxic. That said, although I was baffled and bothered, I also couldn’t put it down.

TW: toxic relationship, neglectful parent, dubious consent, death, violence, murder

Alright, I have never claimed to be a good English major; in fact, I regularly assert that I am one of the worst. This is to say that I have not read A Picture of Dorian Gray, even though I have friends who quite enjoy it. Unfortunately, because of that, I wonder if I missed some of the clever ways that Heard played on the original.

Nevertheless, an adaptation should stand on its own, and I struggled with the first half of this book, which felt very different in tone from the second half. The first half is a story of young love, with both of the main characters making horrible decisions and being generally unlikeable, while the second half is a quick-paced thriller that does not rely much on character development. The two did not always connect for me, but I thought this worked very well as a thriller-- I could easily see it playing out on a screen somewhere.

Now, there probably should be disclaimers on books for me that warn me if there is going to be a serious swimmer in it. Because people. just. can't. seem. to. get. it. right. And as a result, I end up irritated and taken out of the story. Here were my issues with this one:
1. Mick is supposedly paying for all of her swimming from her earnings from her job. I hate to say it, but swimming is an embarrassingly expensive sport. Even if Mick is only swimming through her high school team rather than her club (which is not presented all that clearly-- they're swimming in the summer, which would suggest club, but they talk about getting her transferred to a new team when she moves), the gear that is involved in swimming is out of this world pricey. Elite competition suits (which she would probably be wearing at least a few times a year since she's being scouted by colleges) are a couple hundred dollars at least. How much money is Mick making at these jobs?
2. There was a line towards the end that says something like, "high schoolers don't pee in the pool," which, like, WHAT. YES THEY DO. Competitive swimmers regularly pee in the pool. Sorry to burst anyone's bubble.
3. That being said, Mick's lifeguarding job also felt inaccurate. She described it as "yelling at children for peeing in the pool," which maybe works if she is saying this sarcastically, but I don't think she was? You cannot tell when people are peeing in the pool, unless they are standing on the side and obviously peeing from outside of the pool into the pool. You'd be more likely to yell at kids for running on the deck.
4. With that, Mick's time on duty involved her crouching down to talk to kids. Why isn't she on the stand? Unless she's a floater guard?
5. THE SAVE. "His head flops as I throw him over my shoulder and swim hard for the edge, and I toss the kid onto the concrete." WHAT. Maybe she did actually lean the kid back on her shoulder, as she should, but that is not described properly. But THROW THE KID ONTO THE CONCRETE? From what I could tell, this rescue was taking place in the deep end, so HOW IS SHE THROWING A CHILD OUT OF THE WATER WITHOUT THAT LEVERAGE. GIRL MUST BE REALLY BUFF. And doesn't that sound dangerous? Yes, let me take this injured child and just yet him onto a hard surface. And then when the other lifeguard steps in, Mick just backs off, thinking, "it's clear she knows what she's doing." MICK. You should be assisting! Do two-person CPR!

The only way that Mick could have yeeted that child is if the description that you "could see the line dividing her abdominal muscles through her T-shirt" is true. And I also have issues with that because the only high school athletes who have abs quite that defined are basically Olympians, and probably even just the gymnasts as well. And even if they are that defined, women's defined abs don't present in the same way that men's do, so it feels unlikely that they would be visible in anything other than a very thin, very tight, probably wet, white T-shirt.

Alright, hopping off my soapbox now. I'm all about adapting a very white male tale into a sapphic romance, and that element did shine for me.

Thanks to Fierce reads for my eARC of the book

Too Pretty to burn is a psychological thriller that is said to be a gender swapped re-imagination of The Picture of Dorian Grey, while I am not too familiar with the classic, a quick google search thought me what an interesting read it was especially for that time period. While I personally do not think this as a retelling of the classic, I believe this to be heavily influenced by it
I haven't read a regular thriller in a hot minute so forget about psychological thrillers, to be honest I struggled to get into the book but the writing kept me going and I am actually glad I pushed through because I finished the book in a day. I really enjoyed how the author added layers to the plot with interconnected web of lies and deception, I sat there wondering how in the world will the MC's get out of this fine hot mess. I did experience an array of emotions because of the characters which always is a good sign. It is hard to review this book without giving out any spoilers because everything connects to everything like a string of actions that leads to a one fine epic disaster in the end

-What I liked- Sapphic representation, ambiance and aesthetics of the fine arts that are artfully integrated into the plot, the tension the plot carried until the very end

-What I disliked- Insta love but that's on me because this is purely subjective and lack of character depth for the antagonist because I was truly intrigued to peel the layers of their volatile personality!


Trigger Warnings- Murder, Arson,Physical abuse, Neglectful parenting and Psychotic behavior

Initial thoughts: A Dorian Gray-esque thriller but with sapphic, murderous, teenage girls?! Sign me up!

And now... I have mixed feelings. The opening had me hooked, but sadly the ending let me down. There was so much potential. The characters were eclectic and I enjoyed the dynamic. And then… the ending felt rushed and what gripped me in the beginning seemed to just disappear. Enjoyable read, just felt like something was missing.

Thank you Macmillan's Children and NetGalley for the eARC of this book!

She's Too Pretty to Burn by Wendy Heard is a sapphic thriller full of bad decisions, toxic characters, and of course, murder.

Mick is just trying to get by in life with as little attention sent her way as possible. Misunderstood and mistreated by her model mother, she doesn't like parties, she doesn't like pictures, she doesn't like anything where the attention will be focused on her. But when she meets Veronica, a gorgeous and outgoing photographer, that all changes. Mick and Veronica find themselves in a whirlwind romance that ends up with them having a lot more blood on their hands than they ever could have imagined.

I loved the writing in this book. Heard does an amazing job painting a picture, with imagery descriptions that made me wish I could see Veronica's pictures as they're described. Heard is also incredibly adept at describing the relationship between Mick and Veronica, and it kicks off with a sort of desperate ferociousness that felt deeper than two teenagers flirting. Mick does not want to be seen, but something about being seen by Veronica feels exciting and dangerous and too good to turn away from.

It's a slow burn thriller, which is the best kind, in my opinion. We see the build-up of what's happening around the girls, we start to make our guesses as to the bad guy and the outcome, and then everything unravels in a really fantastic way. It's not so much a 'who done it' as it is an 'oh god why' type of thriller, and I thoroughly enjoyed the ride.

We're left guessing on some things in the end, so I'm curious if there's going to be a follow-up. I would definitely read if there is!

I enjoyed Wendy Heard’s book, The Kill Club, and am a regular listener to her podcast, Unlikeable Female Characters, so I was *very* excited to read She’s Too Pretty to Burn.

Alas, this was not the book I was hoping for. The first 3/4 was boring and the last 1/4 veered straight off a cliff (ahem) into crazytown.

The three main characters were two highly annoying, pretentious Art Kids (photographer Veronica and installation artist Nico) and one Girl Who Is SO Beautiful But Doesn’t Realize She’s So Beautiful And Doesn’t Like Having Her Photo Taken Even Though She Is SO Beautiful So She Must Be Damaged Which Only Makes Her EVEN MORE Beautiful And She Also Likes Swimming (aka: Mick)

Mick’s photo phobia was also never properly explained, but I guess it’s because her shitty mom is a model? Or something? But Veronica keeps taking her picture anyway? And lying about it? Even though it makes Mick horribly uncomfortable? And they are in love? Ugh.

I will totally read her next book, but this one was decidedly not for me.

Unfortunately, this book didn't work for me at all. There are a whole list of content warnings (see below) that readers should be made aware of. I both read and listened to She's Too Pretty to Burn and struggled the entire time. I could not get past the truly unlikeable characters, the over the top situations, and all of the absolutely terrible decision making. I can suspend belief to a degree, but this was too much. I felt no romance between Veronica and Mick and I'm still not sure how this was inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray. Perhaps the story was just way over my head, but it didn't make the most sense. I probably should have DNF'ed this one, but I forced myself to push on. The writing was good, but the highlight of the book for me was the narration by Frankie Corzo, Bailey Carr, and Stephen Dexter. They did a great job capturing the terror and emotion of the story, but it ultimately wasn't enough for me to save this book.

Audiobook Review
Overall 2 stars
Performance 4.5 stars*
Story 1 star
*= Stephen Dexter only narrates a couple of chapters in the book.

CW: on page violence and death, parental abandonment, food/shelter insecurity, fire, drowning, animal abuse (not on page), kidnapping

*I voluntarily read and listened to an advance review copy of this book*

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

This book was fast-paced and suspenseful. I loved the short chapters, and I thought Veronica's world was really interesting. The art and photography, Nico's installations, her relatively free home life. Mick at times annoyed me, and I would've liked a clearer explanation for her outright terror towards being photographed. Considering she wore a revealing bathing suit around other people for the swim team, I didn't wholly understand her level of revulsion. Just because her mom was a model? I'm not sure. Her unreasonableness grated on me. I also enjoyed that the ending was very open-ended and ambiguous. There could definitely be a sequel, but I like how the story was left.

Started slow to build the narrative, 'She's Too Pretty to Burn' by Wendy Heard was reminiscent on 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' with a modernized twist.

The story follows the perspectives of Mick and Veronica through a chaotic summer in San Diego, California. Mick is a lonely, shy athlete that can only think about going away to the farthest college possible. Veronica is a charismatic photographer bored with her own work. They meet at a party and become fast friends, and lovers. In walks, Nico (Veronica's best friend) who is a chaotic performance artist obsessed with his craft. The deeper Mick falls in love with Veronica, the deeper she is pulled to Nico and his disruptive art. Soon, there are felony acts, dead bodies, and some serious stalking. It will definitely be one summer they won't forget.

I enjoyed this book and could definitely see where Heard pulled inspiration from 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' throughout the story. Even after reading the synopsis, the ending through me for a bit of a loop and I reveled in it. It was spooky and even had my heart racing a little, and gasping (to the annoyance of my coworkers, lol). When I was so close to the end, I could not help but power through to the finish because I just needed to know what happened. I most definitely believe that Mick and Veronica's relationship is toxic, mainly because of lack of boundaries, but I couldn't help but enjoy their love and strength through emotional and physical turmoil.

I would recommend this to any YA that enjoys serial killer documentaries, murder mysteries, or true crime stories.

***Thank you NetGalley and Henry Holt & Co. for providing me with an eARC.