Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - She's Too Pretty to Burn

- She thinks she cares about Mick. She even gets possessive when she sees how close she gets to Nico, her “husband” (an inside joke), yet she lies to her over, and over, and over again, acting surprised when Mick feels betrayed (and rightfully so).
- It all starts from her taking advantage of Mick while she’s vulnerable, telling her she’s going take a picture of her while there’s no film in the camera. However, there are multiple, and Veronica knows it.
- She develops all the pictures, and convinces Mick to let her post one of them on Instagram, with a little caption. Unbeknownst to Mick, after Veronica posts the picture, she adds a few tags to get more interaction and then it blows up to the point that she gets a spot at an art gallery for ten photographs from the series she took of Mick.
- She immediately accepts, without asking the person she supposedly likes about how that makes her feel, despite knowing Mick has some sort of phobia around being photographed, almost getting panic attacks just thinking about it.
- When Mick feels uncomfortable after finding out (and after being kicked out by her abusive mom because of the original photo that blew up), she has the audacity to ask her how can’t she see what a big opportunity the gallery is for her, and how it could potentially start her career and get Veronica in a good arts college.

A little dialogue from Veronica that seriously angered me:

“Suddenly, I was angry. “Can you try to be a little more supportive? How do you think it feels that no one noticed my work until I photographed a hot blonde? Do you realize this might be my only chance at this kind of recognition?”

And this is the CliffsNotes version Veronica’s attitude. Mick isn’t exactly a saint herself as the story unfolds, but in the beginning, she was a victim to Veronica’s manipulation constantly, which made it hard to finish the book.
Although it’s a fairly easy read (with noticeable plot holes), the characters felt so far away that I couldn’t really connect with any of them, making them forgettable, and irritable without any sense of self-preservation.

Not to mention, Veronica's mom enables this behaviour, and when she finds out about what her daughter's been up to (a lot of illegal stuff that could have gotten her arrested or seriously hurt), she says she expects this from a teenager, but she's disappointed she lied? That's it? As if Veronica was only been caught underage drinking or something. Direct quote:

“It’s not that you’ve made these mistakes. You’re a teenager. That’s normal. It’s all this lying. How long have you and Nico been doing these things? It’s—”

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abrookyerror's review

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dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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bradley's review

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Not saying anything cause I have literally nothing nice to say about this book. Nothing is earned and setups lead nowhere. EASILY the worst book I have read in YEARS. Shame on you for comparing this disaster to The Picture of Dorian Gray. bad book boooo

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gellyreads's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I kept thinking “how is this a thriller?” And then it happened. Oooof.

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viviette's review

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Don’t read this… It really isn’t worth it. The actual “twist” and/or “psychologically thrilling” part is only in the last third of the book—really the last 75 pages (in a 325 page book)—and even then its not surprising or anything. You can guess who’s basically just straight up crazy in the first 100 pages but nothing to do with the character killing people n’ stuff happens until the end. Tbh it’s mostly romance and a very toxic type at most. Veronica is manipulative, Mick is just a messed up girl, and Nico has like no personality except for the fact he likes “unconventional” art, actually. I was hooked from the first page but after page 50 everything just trucks downhill. The characters who actually die we don’t even get to know and they die within seconds so it’s not like there was a chance for the reader to have any fear. I have no idea where there’s a psychological aspect to this either I’m almost 100% that was just a marketing strategy.

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books_of_calypso's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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ghostlyprince's review

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dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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nerdinthelibrary's review

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tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This is an incredibly fun, addictive book. I figured out where it was going about halfway through and I was right, but I was still cackling with glee and gasping at some bits. I would recommend reading this in one sitting, especially the latter half, and just let yourself be taken on the ride.

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