I did enjoy this one and it’s not my typical read. I will say thoughI was so confused at certain parts. I never understood what the purpose of one of the characters was and what his agenda was. It did keep me invested to find out though, thinking maybe it would be revealed at the end be but I still am so confused 🤷🏼‍♀️

How do I even review this!? I enjoyed it so much. The first half is a little slow, well no not slow, more like a contemporary romance. I did love the queer rep in this so much. It was my initial draw to requesting. That being said it is far from that!

The twists and turns SO GOOD. I have never seen The Picture of Dorian Gray so I can not speak to how it holds up but it gave me 90s classic thriller vibes. Netflix needs to jump on this because the series/movie potential for this is endless.

I didn't know much going into this and I am glad. Do not read spoilers. I promise it's worth the wait.

The audio WAS INCREDIBLE. Frankie Corzo and Bailey Carr made Mick and Veronica come to life for me. The story thrived with them voicing the characters. Stephen Dexter snuck in and stole the show for me! He was everything I could hope for in Nico's voice.

THE LAST LINE YOU GUYS. The last line!

Thank you netgalley and publishers this was a great read!

She’s Too Pretty To Burn by Wendy Heard is an electric, well-plotted, and action-packed entry into the YA thriller genre. The story revolves around Mick (Mikayla) and Veronica, two 16/17 year olds in San Diego, CA who meet at a party and begin dating. Mick is a student, swimmer, and has a troubled relationship with her single mom. Veronica is a student, aspiring artist, with a supportive family. Veronica is deeply immersed in the local art scene and introduces Mick to her friend, Nico, a political performance artist. Nico’s performance pieces become increasingly confrontational and propel both characters into making dangerous and poor decisions.

The fist part begins with their meeting and fledgling relationship. Then things become more precarious and unpredictable with each of Nico’s performance pieces. Heard captures that feeling about being a teenager really well. I loved that when Mick and Veronica meet, they understand they are kindred spirits and pursue an adventure. The story is told in both of their perspectives, which gives more color to how they perceive/act during each event. Though the characters sometimes made terrible decisions, they were strong and independent, and I always rooted for them. Some of the action is maybe not so realistic, but I could not stop listening to the audiobook! The audiobook is well-narrated by Frankie Corzo and Bailey Carr, who match their characters very well. I highly recommend this pulse-pounding thriller!

Thank you Henry Holt & Co., Dreamscape Media, and NetGalley for providing this e-book and audiobook ARC.

I’ve never read Dorian Gray, so I can’t speak to how this book parallels that one.

I loved the concept and storyline here. Performance art is so cool to me, and I loved the idea of a forest inside a warehouse in a city. Plot-wise, though, it seemed like all the action happened in the last few chapters. This made it feel a little rushed and unrealistic. I would have preferred a more even pace throughout the book.

I enjoyed the romance for the most part. I appreciated that there was queer representation without it being showoff-y, if that makes sense. I’ve read a few books recently where it seems to me that the author is writing queer characters just to be trendy, and their romance ends up feeling forced and fake. This was not the case here--I could definitely feel the chemistry between Veronica and Mick. What I didn’t like was how Veronica used Mick’s attraction to her as an excuse to completely ignore Mick’s feelings. This part felt a little toxic, but, then again, who hasn’t been in a toxic high school relationship?

I don’t read a lot of YA, but when I do I’m always a little bothered by the fact that the parents in these stories kind of remind me of the adults in the Peanuts comics. They’re there, sort of, but they’re often totally checked out. I was raised in a pretty strict household, so it’s wild to me that a parent would let their child run wild until all hours of the night with a bunch of strangers--to the point where their friends are dying around them and the parents have no idea.

Overall, this was an enjoyable YA thriller with some interesting turns. I'd highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of performance art or photography.

She’s Too Pretty to Burn, by Wendy Heard, is a story loosely based on The Picture of Dorian Gray. It is part thriller and part love story. This book explores the juxtaposition of beauty, mortality, politics, environment, culture, and art.

Told in a multiple narrating style, the story is told in a quick, passionate way that is edgy and leaves you longing for more while questioning morality. This story is great on audio, though I had to speed it up a bit.

The main characters interestingly create a love triangle between Mick, Veronica and Nico. Set in San Diego, this dark tale exposes controlling relationships and passion for art that leads to deadly consequences. Without giving too much away, know there are a few twists and surprises in this fast-paced YA thriller.

Thank you NetGalley, Dreamscape Media and Wendy Heard for this (audio) ARC in exchange for my honest review. ❤️️

The concept of this book was very interesting and right up my alley. However, I felt like it was too short. At times I felt myself wanting more and at others I was questioning why I was being provided with certain information. I wish that there would have been more closure at the end as well; maybe an epilogue? The narrators were fantastic and gave each of the characters a very distinct voice.

This book follows two girls who meet and start dating, Veronica and Mic. We are later introduced to Nico, Veronica's best friend. After a picture of Mic, taken by Veronica, goes viral, all hell breaks loose and the books takes you to some expected places. I really enjoyed listening to this book, but found the narrators talked a little slow for my liking, so listening at 1.25 speed was just perfect. The book kept a good pace through the story and I didn't feel bored or ready to move on at any point. I was especially surprised by the ending, something I did not see coming. Overall, Wendy Heard wrote an original book which caught and held my attention throughout. I would highly recommend it.

I received an advanced copy of She’s Too Pretty to Burn through NetGalley so I could share my review with you!

Content Warning: She’s Too Pretty to Burn contains scenes and discussions of animal death, car accidents, unhealthy parent/child relationships, child death, emotional abuse, kidnapping, panic attacks, murder, death, and violence

Veronica is a photographer searching for inspiration as the summer comes to an end. She knows she’s got what it takes to make it as an artist, but she hasn’t quite found the correct subject matter yet. Her best friend, Nico, doesn’t seem to have any problems in the inspiration department, as his preferred medium is disruptive performance art. Though the two love different types of art, they couldn’t be closer in their love of creation. But, their relationship undergoes a massive shift when Veronica meets a new girl, Mick, and they have an instant connection. Mick, an alluring swimmer with a troubled home life, hates having her picture taken, and is everything Veronica has been looking for in a muse. Together, Veronica, Mick, and Nico stumble into a summer of dangerous art and chaotic love, and no one knows who will make it out alive.

You can get your copy of She’s Too Pretty to Burn on March 30th from Henry Holt and Co!

I loved the audiobook version of She’s Too Pretty to Burn, and all three of its narrators! I am always excited when audiobooks feature different narrators for each character, as I feel like their different performances make the book even more enjoyable to listen to. This book was incredibly engaging to listen to, and several times I found myself lost in the narrative entirely. As someone who doesn’t read or listen to many thrillers, I was caught off guard by how much I enjoyed She’s Too Pretty to Burn!

My Recommendation-
This book would be a good pick for folks who prefer edgier stories, especially those dealing with the boundaries of legality and art. I would recommend She’s Too Pretty to Burn to fans of E Lockhart, Karen Magnus, and Lauren Oliver!

This YA book is an equal parts thriller and LGBTQIA love story. Loosely inspired by The Picture Of Dorian Gray, the novel explores the relationship between beauty and mortality, art and culture, and relationships entangled with idolatry, jealousy, resentment, and exploitation.

The main characters in this audio are Mick, Veronica, and Nico. The author creates a passion-filled triangle between the three that can only be described as beautifully toxic. The roller-coaster relationships entail lies, deception, environmental-conscious art, and murder.

I thoroughly enjoyed the audio: edgy, fast-paced with good narrators that certainly conveyed morally gray characters. I also enjoyed the finale - creepiness at its finest! However, with the story itself, I wanted more development of Mick’s mother and Mick’s relationship with her mother. I'm assuming the author purposefully didn't explore this relationship and character in order to keep the pace of the story - which was one the fastest audios I've listened to! Overall, the story works - dark, deceptive, and dangerous!

Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an advanced copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Sensitive Material: Death (human and animal), panic attacks, kidnapping, emotional abuse, toxic relationships

She’s To Pretty to Burn is a retelling of The Picture of Dorian Gray, so of course it’s about love, art, friendship, obsession, secrets, manipulation, and just how far we are willing to go to maintain an image.

From page one you’re off on an emotional rollercoaster. This Sapphic suspense thriller mixes carefree high school fun with dangerous political rights pranks that might be more serious than either of our heroins suspect. As feelings get deeper and the stakes grow higher the toxic relationships turn this fairytale into a nightmare and I couldn’t stop reading! I was fascinated by the diverse characters and captivating plot twists. When it all came crashing to a conclusion I couldn’t put it out of my mind.

A perfect book club pick or quick read to grab for a trip. You’ll burn through this suspenseful thriller and then it will haunt you for days.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ 4.5 stars with an 14+ rating for mature content

Thanks to @wendydheard and @netgalley for the advanced reader copy

CW: death, murder, child death, parental neglect, manipulation/coercion

This book was so aesthetic heavy and it was perfect in that regard. I have little to zero knowledge of The Picture of Dorian Gray so I can’t expand on how the inspiration was woven throughout the story. But I will say this story was intense straight from the beginning like it was just straight up took you on a ride and it was fantastic!

The backdrop is summer in San Diego where first love is starting to bloom. I loved the relationship between Mick and Veronica, I just loved Veronica’s character so much! Mick on the other hand was sometimes just too much but the reasoning is explained throughout the story. But it’s much more than a romance, it’s a deeper exploration of art and the relationship between muse and artist and how that can take a drastic, dark turn.

The ending I will say, just went completely off the rails. Like I didn’t really see it coming but I guess for the wild ride that was the story it made sense. Some of the choices were just interesting and I wish they would’ve explained some more.

3.5 stars Mixed feelings alert!

She's Too Pretty to Burn is a current day YA LGBTQ romance/thriller inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray. Set at the end of summer in San Diego, it's a tale of connection and rebellion. Veronica is passionate about her photography and makes friends easily. Her best friend is Nico, a self-described performance artist who enjoys chaos and sticking it to the man. Then Veronica meets Mick, a fragile, stunningly beautiful girl who has a phobia about getting her picture taken. Veronica and Mick meet at a party and there is an immediate spark of connection. The two girls start seeing more of each other and feelings of love start swirling about. Then they get caught up in Nico's world and things start swirling out of control with fires and deaths.

The story alternates between Veronica and Mick's perspective. In the beginning I was very ??? about why Mick was so against having her picture taken. It was just perplexing how it was explained initially. Veronica as a character made much more sense to me initially. I really like the chemistry between Mick and Veronica and how they fostered that connection despite their diametrically opposed opinions on social media exposure. I also had a few issues with some of the character motiviations, but if I set those aside the book was a fun, crazy ride. The audiobook has different people narrating the different perspectives. I enjoyed listening to the audiobook.

This book gets better as it goes on. It starts off kind of slow but picks up towards the middle and that's when it gets really good. I feel that the connections to Dorian Gray are very loose, they are there but not as many as the description lead me to believe. I enjoyed the ending, I was afraid we were in for another round of bury your gays for a minute but thankfully the gays are okay (well maybe not mentally.) It was a good book overall.

Overall a good plot with a few twists and turns that I did not see coming. The narration was great and brought the characters to life. I found Mik to be a bit one dimensional and wish her character grew more throughout the story. Overall I enjoyed the plot line.

Sincere thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media to an advanced audiobook copy in exchange for an honest review.

this was a fucking rollercoaster, but in all the good ways!
(triggers at the end)

there was no having a break while reading this, and i felt like the pacing was fantastic thanks to that. while there were times where characters annoyed me and i felt like the decisions being made were awful, i had to realize that was very reminiscent of what the author must've been trying for. having these girls who had been through so much, while also making mistakes along the way, humanized veronica and mik further.

i felt for them, and all that they'd been through, and i was rooting for them all the way until the end! there wasn't much of a mystery, though that might just be because i figured out the twist quickly, but that didn't hinder my enjoyment and the shocks i still felt.

really, this was good, and an interesting reworking of the picture of dorian gray. 😌

TRIGGER WARNINGS FOR
death, murder (attempted, on-page), gore, grief, death of a child, death of an animal, stalking

Boy, where do I begin. She's too Pretty To Burn is a very weird book- yet oh so familiar. Thanks to Netgallery for letting me go on this adventure early.

TLDR Tropes

- Sapphic romance
- Established relationship
- Slow-burn thriller
- Parental abuse
- No plot just vibes

Mick comes from a broken home. Veronica and Nico come from a world of art and adventure. When Mick enters their circle after she starts dating Veronica, her life starts to weave with theirs. neurosis, obsession, and "taking things just a little too far". This weird hybrid of The Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Secret History is a constantly entertaining crawl.

I was really impressed with the characters and how charming they were. Veronica and Mick both have some unique and subtle mental health problems, and Mick's relationship with her mom is an echo of every kid who was expected to parent their parent as a kid. The romance happens immediately, but the relationship itself is beautiful- the drama of being traumatized and in a relationship as a teenager is framed perfectly.

The audiobook helped this a lot I imagine- the narrator was excellent.

For most of the book, Shes too Pretty to Burn is more or less a slice of life, with these characters escalating in destructive behavior, but this absolutely is a thriller and there is a tipping point. The backdrop of arson and murder is always secondary to exploring the darkness within our main characters, however.

I was never bored reading She's Too Pretty to Burn. I found it relaxing and enchanting. I don't think this book will be for everyone. It reminded me a lot of Burn Our Bodies Down in tone and pacing. You need to be okay with morally grey characters and slow crawling darkness. You need to be okay with a relaxed pace and an aesthetic prose- but if you are willing to invest, it is worth it.

This Dorian Gray inspired YA psychological thriller was so much fun. The rebel art scene gave me 90s nostalgia with a modern spin. Micaela (Mick) is a swimmer, daughter to a terrible single mom, and is terrified of having her photo taken. Veronica is a confident, witty, sexy, photographer who falls for her from first secret photo. Nico is Veronica's older friend and rebel artist. When Nico meets Mick things start to take a dark dark turn. Essentially Nico and Veronica are obsessed with Mick and only one can have her.

Part F/F romance, part descent into madness. I loved this wild ride and look into the darker side of humanity. I really hope they make this into a movie. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Things I Loved:
- Veronica's mother was amazing. There are so many characters in the book who are toxic/have HUGE issues. We needed one person to be a grounding force.
- Veronica pushes Mick to be more confident and see her own beauty and power. BUT at the same time Nico is pushing an already depressed, broken, and vulnerable Mick to spiral into insanity (enter the insane part of the book).
- Nico POVs were fantastic

Things I didn't like:
- Veronica is very selfish and I wish she would talk to Mick more before using her for her own ends.
- I WANT TO KNOW WHAT VERONICA'S MOM SAYS TO MICK'S MOM (that's all i'm saying - you just need to read this)
- Veronica objectifies Mick a lot & we never really see Mick do that idk it's weird to me the relationship seems really one-sided throughout a lot of the book.

Huge thank you to @netgalley for this e-ARC and ALC for my review!!!

Such a creepy plot line - and the narration makes it even creepier! A really wonderful audiobook. Highly recommend!!

Wow - this was so different than I expected it to be. I found all of the characters to be very interesting and actually wish there was a little more expansion on all of their backgrounds, especially Nico and Mick's mother. I really liked the ending but was left wanting more. The conclusion of Mick's journey with her mom also made me very sad. I thought the way this was told was so unique and loved that it focused on a lesbian relationship because it should be much more common in literature than it is. I would love to see this being made into a movie with all of the amazing art scenes playing out on a big screen. Overall, I was totally surprised by the twists but would have liked to see a little more out of this. I enjoyed it though.

This book was so much fun and twisty! I loved the characters, the plot, and the overall vibe. I would recommend this for a fun, YA mystery for sure!