A review by leahlovesloslibros
She's Too Pretty to Burn by Wendy Heard

dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I read this book because of some friends on bookstagram raving about it and honestly I didn't love it. It wasn't bad, per se, but it just really didn't do much for me. It's compared to <i> The Picture of Dorian Gray, </i> but sapphic; I haven't read <i> Dorian Gray </i> so I can't say whether or not I agree, but I can say that this book doesn't make me want to read the book by which it is inspired. 

Veronica is a teenage photographer hoping to be discovered. Nico is a performance artist who strives to make his points with controversial art installations. When the two best friends meet the enigmatic Mick, whom Veronica promptly starts dating, things quickly go awry, and Mick has to figure out how she fits into the friendship without stirring up too much trouble. 

Honestly, the relationship between Mick and Veronica seemed pretty toxic to me. It immediately started with Veronica constantly trying to push Mick to do things which she expressed that she was uncomfortable with, and it didn't stop. It also didn't seem very realistic how quickly everything escalated with them. Even high school "love" doesn't usually move that quickly, at least in my experiences. 

Nico seemed like a weird dude from the start. He always gave off a bit of a creeper vibe. His actions in the second half of the book kind of seemed like they came out of left field, though. While I know the author probably didn't want to give away too much too soon, it seemed like he went from quirky to unhinged practically overnight, and without much explanation. 

I didn't see much character growth throughout the story, either.
The one major change was that Mick all of a sudden became comfortable being photographed, but that was kind of thrown in at the end, and again, seemed like it came out of nowhere.
The first half of the book seemed like it was just a lot of unnecessary "filler" information leading up to the second half of the book. Once we got to the second half, it was a very quick read, but it almost seemed like everything happened way too quickly. I also figured out most of what seemed like it was supposed to be the big twist 75% of the way through, before they revealed much. Sometimes that doesn't bother me, but in this case it kind of left me feeling blah as they threw the last few things at us in the last quarter of the book. 

This was a quick read, and it did make me want to keep reading, which is why I'll leave it at 3 stars. I didn't hate it but I would only recommend it in certain situations. 

Rep: lesbian MC, Latina lesbian LI, AAPI SC
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