Audiobook provided by NetGalley and Dreamscape Media in exchange for an honest review.

Y'all are in for one hell of a ride with this one! Just when you think you've got everything figured out, Heard throws readers a curveball to keep them guessing. And that ending! OMG. The last 20% of the novel will have you holding your breath and on that edge of needing to know what happens, but also afraid to find out what happens.

Narrated by Frankie Corzo, Bailey Carr, Stephen Dexter, the audiobook is easy to follow along as the story changes between told by Mick, Veronica, and Nico.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for an advanced audio copy of this book!

In this explosive thriller inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray, Mick's life is changed when she meets Veronica at a party and they begin falling for each other. Mick detests having her picture taken, and Veronica is a photographer that would do about anything for her art. Things begin to fall apart when Veronica's best friend Nico takes a special interest in Mick and recruits her as part of his elaborate and illegal art pop ups. Things quickly escalate, and disaster soon follows.

I wish I could give a better synopsis then that, but I really recommend going into this book without knowing much of the outcomes. The surprising twists and turns it takes are incredible and gripping, and I think it is much more interesting not knowing what is going to happen!

I absolutely loved the writing style of this book. It seriously gave me chills and enthralled me from the very beginning. I loved the in media res start to the book and the full circle ending. I loved the depth and creativity to the three main characters, and seeing how they would react to the increasingly drastic situation.

The character development in this story was definitely the best part, though I also really enjoyed the surrealistic plot! I didn't think this needed the added few chapters with Nico's POV toward the end, however.

I really enjoyed the narration for this audio, but I did find it was extremely slow! I always increase the speed on audiobooks, but this one especially needed it.

Pub date: March 30, 2021

Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Car accident, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, and Grief

This was a truly intense story. I really enjoyed the ties to Dorian Gray and the exploration of a queer relationship in this context. It started off super strong with a very unique plot, and I was drawn in from the start. The alternating narrators were very successful in showing us nuanced angles of the story, but I almost wished that this story didn't change POVS. I think seeing it from either mick's or veronica's POV would have created a stronger air of mystery. While I loved their relationship, I think a lot of issues in the book were created solely from miscommunication, which tends to get under my skin at times. But the passion and tenderness between them felt so accurate through a queer lens, and I really appreciated that. I also think Nico's POVs at the end were a little unnecessary and blew up the story to feel slightly fantastical, but it does make me wonder if this is going to be a series in some way. Overall I enjoyed this one and I'd give it a 3.5!

She's Too Pretty To Burn is advertised as a thriller retelling of The Picture of Dorian Gray with female protagonists. Readers should know that any connection this story has with Oscar Wilde is very loose and more inspired by than a true retelling. As a thriller, there are all the elements that screams YA: the small town feel, the feeling that no adult can help, and the friendships. The best part of this book is certainly its simple but beautiful writing, which helps the book maintain its swift "must read" feelings. Overall, however, there were aspects that were unsettling that kept me from enjoying the book in a not-so-thrilling way.

Towards the middle of the book, the main character is pushing another character into romantic actions that the other character is not explicitly comfortable with. This scene isn't blatant rape or assault, but does toe the line and is very ambiguous on its consent. In addition, the fact that neither main character is involved with the murders (at least how its written here) makes the plot contrived or easy to predict at certain parts in the book. Typically when reading a thriller, I want the horror to feel earned and I want the twists to be surprising. Unfortunately, She's Too Pretty to Burn's flame peters out here.

Overall, I wished this book had not been advertised and compared to something that it does not hold a match to. It's a tall order to match The Picture of Dorian Gray's message, tone, and feeling. When readers learn that the closest this book gets to a retelling is incorporating paintings into its visual aesthetic, there's a lot of room for disappointment.

I had high hopes for this book, but ultimately it didn't live up to them for me.
The characters were cool- possibly too cool for their own good as the detachment to their narration style made it harder for me to be invested in their story.
The narrator did a good job conveying the story and bringing the characters to life, but ultimately this just wasn't the story for me.
Many thanks to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the advance copy.

She's Too Pretty to Burn drew my interest because of the cover and the fact that this is a psychological thriller.

The writing sucked me into this. The romance was toxic, but worked. The chemistry was real.

Like most YA's this book lacked the presence and oversight of adults. I felt like the activities in and premise of this book were far fetched. It was basically kids running around and the adults only noticing when something illegal happened and cops showed up.

This book was full of annoying characters. I didn't like Veronica and how she ignored what Mick wanted. I could relate to some of what Mick was feeling in terms of her anxiety. I just felt like she reacted in unexpected ways and was a wild card. I hated Mick's mother and Nico.

I loved that this had LGBTQ+ representation in it that didn't feel forced. The mystery was good although at times it felt a little dragged out.

This book did feel "inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray"

4.66 stars rounded up

She’s too pretty to burn is Wendy Heard’s Young Adult, LGBTQIA, romantic thriller reimagining of one of my favourite classics – The Picture of Dorian Gray.

We follow best friends Veronica and Nico, each an artist in their own right. Veronica is passionate about photography and Nico lives and breathes chaotic performance art. Then, they meet Mick, an incomparable beauty with a rocky relationship with her mother. One picture changes everything: we see Mick and her mom’s relationship crack, Mick and Veronica fall in love, the best friend’s dynamic completely change with the addition of a third person.

When two becomes three, disaster follows. I couldn’t say it better than the description “One fire. Two murders. Three drowning bodies. One suspect . . . one stalker. This is a summer they won’t survive.”

I listened to the audio book, and I loved how Frankie Corzo, Bailey Carr, Stephen Dexter brought She’s too pretty to burn to life. They made the perfect ensemble and delivered a great paced audiobook. I couldn’t imagine any other narrators.

I am not really into romance anymore, but I have to give props to Heard. Mick and Veronica’s relationship was beautiful and crucial to the plot. Their relationship was poignant, intense, epic and treated with respect. As teenagers you can feel their angst and their abandon to everything they do.

All the characters in this book were very well drawn and developed. I appreciate that there were consequences to the character’s actions and that there was a parent present. This book read as real life and, for YA fiction, it didn’t feel far fetched.

Wendy played fair with her solution and ended the book in a perfect note. I highly recommend this book to anyone who love thrillers, atmosphere and characters who feel real.

You don’t have to wait long to read this book, it comes out on March 30th and until then you can visit Wendy Heard’s website to read the first two chapters!

I am so thankful to Wendy Heard, Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of She’s Too Pretty to Burn Audio Book in exchange for my honest review.

I loved listening to this book so much more than I thought I would. This is the first LGBTQ themed book that I have read and I have to say that I noticed no difference in the story at all, except for the fact that there were very minor instances of pushing to normalize same sex couples, so subtly that it just feels normal. I did not think this book was too mushy or had too much romance, which I was originally afraid of, The mystery and suspense of the book were great and the narrators are fantastic, as well.

Okay so I don't want to say to much about this book cause I think its best to go in blind but just know you are in for a wild ride! This reimagining of the classic "The Picture of Dorian Gray" is absolutely phenomenal both as a reimagining or as a great thriller in its own right! I loved that this was the first time I have seen a Dorian Gray story keep the LGBTQ+ vibe as well. This book really is a fast passed ride though an amazing thriller. This is deffinatly on the list of best books of the year!

Uhmm what?! This book was originally not on my radar AT ALL but I am SO HAPPY I found it on Netgalley to listen to. I listened to this all in one sitting because I literally could not put it down. I also went into it blind and completely recommend everyone to do the same. This started out like a cute YA contemporary fiction but took a dark twisty turn and I really enjoyed every second. The last half or so of the book had me on the edge of my seat and I couldn't wait to see what was gonna happen.

I've never received an audiobook from Netgalley before, so the poor quality of this audiobook may just be the upload quality, but this audiobook sounded like a computer was narrating it. Not only did I have to put is at 2x speed for the voices to resemble anything human, but I actually had to double check if there were voice actors reading this or if it was an automatic narration. This has nothing to do with the inflection of the voices of the narrators, but they literally sound machine. The narrator for Mick sounds especially computerized. That being said, I really enjoyed the book, and will be posting a review of it on the books page, and the narrators were good at general inflection and emotional acting.