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A review by themoonwholistens
She's Too Pretty to Burn by Wendy Heard
1.0
“sexy psychological thriller”?? where?
The premise led me to believe that this would be about murdering sapphics that was inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray… spoiler: (1) there are sapphics but they aren’t murderous, (2) I see how it could be TPoDG inspired but that was a stretch in marketing.
There is a way to write about toxic relationships and manipulation without coming across as enabling it. I know because I have read books that have represented it well. This was not one of those. I was really hoping the romance would pull through in the end but it was just toxic, manipulative, and full of lies from both parties that I it bothered me to think that some people might find it romanti.
What is this about?
This is a YA mystery-thriller that revolves around two sapphic girls, photography, and murders. That's the bare minimum I can give because I think the synopsis of this book is misleading.
Something I want to address right off the bat is about Lily's (a supposedly Asian character) descriptions. The first time she was introduced, Lily was described as (and I quote): “She looks Asian”...
what do you mean? what do you mean she ”LOOKS ASIAN”? This is conforming to the stereotype of the Asian monolith and that all Asians look the same. NEWS FLASH: not all asians look the same. As an Asian person, I can tell you that I had no idea how to picture this character. I hate how there wasn’t even any other description about her before… things happened. She was just cast as “that Asian girl” and I am very tired of it. At first I cast the thought aside because I was thinking it was going to be a one-time encounter but Lily pops up multiple throughout the story. To think that the author went out of her way to describe someone's supermodel mom in detail but did not think to describe the one Asian character in this whole book.
Full of choppy writing, details that made no sense, red flags, and toxic behavior. I find it tricky with Mystery-Thrillers sometimes because I’m not sure right away if the toxic nonsense is the point of the story or it really is problematic, in this case, it was problematic because the resolution didn’t feel satisfying in the least bit. There were no proper closures and the toxicity of the relationship never passed through proper communication channels between the parties involved.
The fact that Veronica knew that Mick had a photophobia and still proceeded to take her photo without Mick’s knowledge was already a red flag to me. What message does that say? that it’s okay to consciously trick someone even though you knew it was wrong from the very start? It's extra disturbing because it wasn't a one-time thinking. So many versions of this happened throughout the story.
Other than that, there were so many holes in the details and the writing. There were certain scenes wherein it feels like it skipped a line where it was supposed to mention a detail. I understand if this was an ARC but I read a final copy so it should’ve been resolved in editing. If the details were not missing, they were just stupid (i.e. what kind of lifeguard has no extra set of clothes? and I've never heard of paramedics taking an hour to arrive?)... making it both unbelievable and tone-deaf.
The plot and the conflicts felt so silly, mainly because the character relationships had no backbone. Mick’s relationship with her mother just sucked and wasn’t given justice or a proper explanation. I don’t think it was well written and she was just a bitch.
There are so many triggering contents but what puts me off is that they weren’t resolved nor addressed properly. If you’re going to write about manipulation and toxicity, you need to be able to handle the consequences and realities of it. WOW it’s obvious how frustrated I was.
I would understand if the point of the story was the toxic relationship and how that was dealt with it but it wasn’t. The story wanted to focus on the murdering aspect (i guess) but the details just made it feel like there was always something missing.
I can’t begin to explain how many times I wrote “too many unrealistic and unbelievable details” in my notes because as the story went on... they just kept piling up. Which might not be noticeable to some people but when it comes to contemporary stories, I enjoy them more when they have more of a touch on reality. I didn't even realize it was mick who had neon pink hair until half way through the story oops
And the characters… just made no sense? I found a lot of the dialogue to be cringey and the chemistry between themain characters whole cast was nonexistent. I get that teenagers can make stupid decisions but even those who weren’t teenagers in the story were acting immature and it’s like everything was written to give the main character the hardest time possible without considering the consistency of the book. The characters and their mindsets annoyed and bothered me a lot.
UGHHHH ANYWAYS...
I feel like the story would have been better if the perspectives weren’t between Mick and Veronica. I maybe would’ve enjoyed it more if it was from the perspective of one of them and then from the perspective of someone else. It just removed too much of the thrill of the story itself because as the readers, you already know everything that both of them were thinking… so everything was so obvious ohmy, I knew who the killer was from the start. WHERE'S THE THRILL.
Overall, I didn’t like the message that the story delivers about manipulation because it normalizes it without giving actual or realistic consequences. It comes across as very enabling. The plot was so weird and not at all what I expected for a “Picture of Dorian Gray retelling”. Events felt rushed without being given the proper time to be processed by the readers before we move on to another major plot point that has a different tone to the previous plot point. Thus, there was little impact on the parts where I think it could’ve been more hard hitting.
I don’t think the themes that they aimed to communicate were particularly well written. The only character I somewhat liked was Veronica’s mom because she was the only one in this whole situation who even acknowledged properly that the relationship/s toxic. But in the end, even that was glossed over and wasn’t resolved properly (I keep saying that).
I wasn’t attached to any of the characters even though they interested me at first. I don’t think they were built up enough before all the drama and nonsense started. My favorite aspect was the times when it points out that women should stop apologizing but I don’t think even that was well represented and was just forced into the story. I got bored less than half-way through the plot and I just continued to see if how things would resolve.
There is an "open ending" if I can even call it that. Don't read this if you want a satisfying ending that makes sense. It's not that.
↣ This wouldn’t be at the top list of things i would recommend. These aren’t the kind of thrillers that I enjoy because it mostly just feels like the purpose of the story is to make you uncomfortable (not even in the good way LOL) while trying (but failing) to add romance. If you can look past everything I just said and enjoy this story for what it is... I’m happy for you. This just gave me no joy and while i do like thrillers… i still expect satisfying endings and developments. Or at least to have themes that are written in a way that makes you feel something. ↢
I kinda get what the author was trying to do... but this was not it. I don't want to read about one-dimensional toxic and manipulative characters surrounded by even more characters that see no wrong in it and enable it.
— overall thoughts: 1.5 —
⇢ content warnings//
The premise led me to believe that this would be about murdering sapphics that was inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray… spoiler: (1) there are sapphics but they aren’t murderous, (2) I see how it could be TPoDG inspired but that was a stretch in marketing.
There is a way to write about toxic relationships and manipulation without coming across as enabling it. I know because I have read books that have represented it well. This was not one of those. I was really hoping the romance would pull through in the end but it was just toxic, manipulative, and full of lies from both parties that I it bothered me to think that some people might find it romanti.
What is this about?
This is a YA mystery-thriller that revolves around two sapphic girls, photography, and murders. That's the bare minimum I can give because I think the synopsis of this book is misleading.
Something I want to address right off the bat is about Lily's (a supposedly Asian character) descriptions. The first time she was introduced, Lily was described as (and I quote): “She looks Asian”...
what do you mean? what do you mean she ”LOOKS ASIAN”? This is conforming to the stereotype of the Asian monolith and that all Asians look the same. NEWS FLASH: not all asians look the same. As an Asian person, I can tell you that I had no idea how to picture this character. I hate how there wasn’t even any other description about her before… things happened. She was just cast as “that Asian girl” and I am very tired of it. At first I cast the thought aside because I was thinking it was going to be a one-time encounter but Lily pops up multiple throughout the story. To think that the author went out of her way to describe someone's supermodel mom in detail but did not think to describe the one Asian character in this whole book.
Full of choppy writing, details that made no sense, red flags, and toxic behavior. I find it tricky with Mystery-Thrillers sometimes because I’m not sure right away if the toxic nonsense is the point of the story or it really is problematic, in this case, it was problematic because the resolution didn’t feel satisfying in the least bit. There were no proper closures and the toxicity of the relationship never passed through proper communication channels between the parties involved.
The fact that Veronica knew that Mick had a photophobia and still proceeded to take her photo without Mick’s knowledge was already a red flag to me. What message does that say? that it’s okay to consciously trick someone even though you knew it was wrong from the very start? It's extra disturbing because it wasn't a one-time thinking. So many versions of this happened throughout the story.
Other than that, there were so many holes in the details and the writing. There were certain scenes wherein it feels like it skipped a line where it was supposed to mention a detail. I understand if this was an ARC but I read a final copy so it should’ve been resolved in editing. If the details were not missing, they were just stupid (i.e. what kind of lifeguard has no extra set of clothes? and I've never heard of paramedics taking an hour to arrive?)... making it both unbelievable and tone-deaf.
The plot and the conflicts felt so silly, mainly because the character relationships had no backbone. Mick’s relationship with her mother just sucked and wasn’t given justice or a proper explanation. I don’t think it was well written and she was just a bitch.
There are so many triggering contents but what puts me off is that they weren’t resolved nor addressed properly. If you’re going to write about manipulation and toxicity, you need to be able to handle the consequences and realities of it. WOW it’s obvious how frustrated I was.
I would understand if the point of the story was the toxic relationship and how that was dealt with it but it wasn’t. The story wanted to focus on the murdering aspect (i guess) but the details just made it feel like there was always something missing.
I can’t begin to explain how many times I wrote “too many unrealistic and unbelievable details” in my notes because as the story went on... they just kept piling up. Which might not be noticeable to some people but when it comes to contemporary stories, I enjoy them more when they have more of a touch on reality. I didn't even realize it was mick who had neon pink hair until half way through the story oops
And the characters… just made no sense? I found a lot of the dialogue to be cringey and the chemistry between the
UGHHHH ANYWAYS...
I feel like the story would have been better if the perspectives weren’t between Mick and Veronica. I maybe would’ve enjoyed it more if it was from the perspective of one of them and then from the perspective of someone else. It just removed too much of the thrill of the story itself because as the readers, you already know everything that both of them were thinking… so everything was so obvious ohmy, I knew who the killer was from the start. WHERE'S THE THRILL.
Overall, I didn’t like the message that the story delivers about manipulation because it normalizes it without giving actual or realistic consequences. It comes across as very enabling. The plot was so weird and not at all what I expected for a “Picture of Dorian Gray retelling”. Events felt rushed without being given the proper time to be processed by the readers before we move on to another major plot point that has a different tone to the previous plot point. Thus, there was little impact on the parts where I think it could’ve been more hard hitting.
I don’t think the themes that they aimed to communicate were particularly well written. The only character I somewhat liked was Veronica’s mom because she was the only one in this whole situation who even acknowledged properly that the relationship/s toxic. But in the end, even that was glossed over and wasn’t resolved properly (I keep saying that).
I wasn’t attached to any of the characters even though they interested me at first. I don’t think they were built up enough before all the drama and nonsense started. My favorite aspect was the times when it points out that women should stop apologizing but I don’t think even that was well represented and was just forced into the story. I got bored less than half-way through the plot and I just continued to see if how things would resolve.
There is an "open ending" if I can even call it that. Don't read this if you want a satisfying ending that makes sense. It's not that.
↣ This wouldn’t be at the top list of things i would recommend. These aren’t the kind of thrillers that I enjoy because it mostly just feels like the purpose of the story is to make you uncomfortable (not even in the good way LOL) while trying (but failing) to add romance. If you can look past everything I just said and enjoy this story for what it is... I’m happy for you. This just gave me no joy and while i do like thrillers… i still expect satisfying endings and developments. Or at least to have themes that are written in a way that makes you feel something. ↢
I kinda get what the author was trying to do... but this was not it. I don't want to read about one-dimensional toxic and manipulative characters surrounded by even more characters that see no wrong in it and enable it.
— overall thoughts: 1.5 —
⇢ content warnings//