Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
At first, “She’s Too Pretty to Burn” read like an imitation A24 film, equipped with frustrating characters and a want-to-be-avant-garde (yet predictable) plot line. Things, however, took a turn and WOW. I was satisfied by the end. Wendy Heard’s book combines an intoxicating romance with psychological thriller to make an out-of-the-box contemporary read.
j'ai trop trop aimé ma lecture !! c'était super additif, prenant avec du suspens franchement des fois j'étais pas bien omgg
c'est très étrange comme ambiance mais j'ai beaucoup aimé mick et veronica
c'est très étrange comme ambiance mais j'ai beaucoup aimé mick et veronica
*actual rating 3.5 stars
there were a lot of things that i loved about this book! i adored the characters and really enjoyed both veronica's and mick's narration. the art installs they went to were the perfect mix of creepy and beautiful and as an art history nerd i loved exploring them! there's just something about the connection between art and thriller that is always just *chefs kiss*
unfortunately there were also some points that didn't work as well for me. the beginning is extremely rocky and takes a lot of leaps with the characters meeting each other for the first time. once we get past the point of veronica and mick meeting for the first time, the writing and storyline improves massively and it's very clear this is where Heard excells. i definitely feel like the introduction of veronica and mick could've used some more work tho, which is unfortunate.
the last point of critique is the plot. i loved the storyline, but it didn't really take me by surprise a lot of the time either. there were only a couple of moments where i felt genuinely surprised by the actions of characters, but a lot of the big twists were pretty easy to predict. now, i've always believed that big twists aren't the most important in any story, even a thriller, and this book is evidence of that! just be aware if you go into the book expecting a lot of shocking twists, you might be let down a little.
needless to say i still really enjoyed this book! it's a great story with great characters, and i'd still recommend it! this is especially a great read if you're just venturing out into thriller and horror stories.
there were a lot of things that i loved about this book! i adored the characters and really enjoyed both veronica's and mick's narration. the art installs they went to were the perfect mix of creepy and beautiful and as an art history nerd i loved exploring them! there's just something about the connection between art and thriller that is always just *chefs kiss*
unfortunately there were also some points that didn't work as well for me. the beginning is extremely rocky and takes a lot of leaps with the characters meeting each other for the first time. once we get past the point of veronica and mick meeting for the first time, the writing and storyline improves massively and it's very clear this is where Heard excells. i definitely feel like the introduction of veronica and mick could've used some more work tho, which is unfortunate.
the last point of critique is the plot. i loved the storyline, but it didn't really take me by surprise a lot of the time either. there were only a couple of moments where i felt genuinely surprised by the actions of characters, but a lot of the big twists were pretty easy to predict. now, i've always believed that big twists aren't the most important in any story, even a thriller, and this book is evidence of that! just be aware if you go into the book expecting a lot of shocking twists, you might be let down a little.
needless to say i still really enjoyed this book! it's a great story with great characters, and i'd still recommend it! this is especially a great read if you're just venturing out into thriller and horror stories.
3/5 stars.
content warnings:
She’s Too Pretty to Burn is a novel that I went into with high expectations, and left with very mixed feelings.
Described as a sapphic thriller novel that’s a reimaging of The Picture of Dorian Gray, I was immediately intrigued by it. We have Mick who is sweet and shy and hates being in front of the camera, Veronica who is obsessed with photography, and her friend Nico who is passionate about the world and art. While interesting characters, they make frustrating decisions throughout and are entirely toxic towards each other, making it difficult to read.
I’ll be honest, I don’t know if the frustrations felt towards the characters was meant to be the point, so I persevered through the novel hoping for some character development – which, unfortunately, you don’t get until the very end. It makes it difficult to get through, but the suspense had me hooked to find out how it ended.
I definitely see what the author was going for in being a modern take of The Picture of Dorian Gray, but I think it fell flat on its execution. The ties don’t start to come together until the end, the characters are unbearable at times, and the chemistry between Roni and Mick is almost non-existent because while they’re so enamoured with each other they’re also so bad for each other and spend more time fighting than spending sweet moments together. Once again, I don’t know if this was meant to be the point, but I think considering the weak resolution I don’t think I was supposed to be so ambivalent by the end about the nature of their relationship.
Writing this review has made me drop my rating down from 3.5 stars to somewhere between 2.7-3 stars. I won’t deny I was interested in the plot and the outcomes, and there was so much potential, but overall I think it was pretty lacklustre.
content warnings:
Spoiler
panic attacks, parental abandonment, stalking, death of a child, kidnapping.She’s Too Pretty to Burn is a novel that I went into with high expectations, and left with very mixed feelings.
Described as a sapphic thriller novel that’s a reimaging of The Picture of Dorian Gray, I was immediately intrigued by it. We have Mick who is sweet and shy and hates being in front of the camera, Veronica who is obsessed with photography, and her friend Nico who is passionate about the world and art. While interesting characters, they make frustrating decisions throughout and are entirely toxic towards each other, making it difficult to read.
I’ll be honest, I don’t know if the frustrations felt towards the characters was meant to be the point, so I persevered through the novel hoping for some character development – which, unfortunately, you don’t get until the very end. It makes it difficult to get through, but the suspense had me hooked to find out how it ended.
I definitely see what the author was going for in being a modern take of The Picture of Dorian Gray, but I think it fell flat on its execution. The ties don’t start to come together until the end, the characters are unbearable at times, and the chemistry between Roni and Mick is almost non-existent because while they’re so enamoured with each other they’re also so bad for each other and spend more time fighting than spending sweet moments together. Once again, I don’t know if this was meant to be the point, but I think considering the weak resolution I don’t think I was supposed to be so ambivalent by the end about the nature of their relationship.
Writing this review has made me drop my rating down from 3.5 stars to somewhere between 2.7-3 stars. I won’t deny I was interested in the plot and the outcomes, and there was so much potential, but overall I think it was pretty lacklustre.