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

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

2.0

Oh boy, this book was interesting. To be fair, I decided to venture outside of my comfort zone with this novel, I don’t often read thrillers, and was excited to read an LGBTQ+ thriller during pride month. But it was just not the book for me, and based on reviews from other people, it seems that most people either really loved it or hated it.

The plot felt all over the place, the characters were unlikeable and toxic, and the thriller aspect lacked some development.

The plot: the first and second halves of this book felt like two completely different stories to me. Based on the first few chapters of this book, it seems like a story about two girls, where one is a photographer and one is terrified of being photographed. But then at some point it devolves into a
story about a murderous installation artist who wants to kill people and destroy California, for seemingly no reason? There is never an in depth explanation behind why he acted this way, and other than one small clue, based on the main character’s idea of the antagonist, he has never given off any red flags. It just seemed very out of nowhere. Also the plot with Mick’s photo going viral felt really irrelevant to the rest of the story, like yes there were some important beats that tied in with it, but the consequences of that were never really hashed out. Again, I am out of my wheelhouse as I do not read that many thrillers, but even so, it did not feel cohesive or reasonable enough to me. Furthermore, the antagonist becomes weirdly obsessed with the other main character, Mick, with no explanation or reason given as to why he is so infatuated with her, again it seems random and half-baked, which moves us onto the next section, characters.


The characters: I did not like any of the characters in this book except for Veronica’s mom. The main characters were incredibly unlikeable and the side characters were given no depth and all made out to be assholes. Also Mick and Veronica were a super toxic and unhealthy couple.
For one, the fact that they started dating and fell in love within ten days of meeting seems really unrealistic, especially given how they were constantly fighting or lying or hurting each other within that time. Veronica does not understand the concept of consent and constantly steamrolled over Mick’s boundaries for the sake of her art. Mick was weak and whiney and had barely any personality, I don’t understand how Veronica and Nico became so quickly in love with her. Within the ten days of their relationship the two of them kept hurting each other to help themselves, fighting, and then getting back together without working through any of their issues. They never face any consequences for their actions towards one another, and the toxic and unhealthy behavior is never reprimanded in the story, which I think should have been to some extent considering this is meant for young adults. Nico, as already discussed made little sense to me, and his actions didn’t either, it just made the story feel so unrealistic. And considering how both Mick and Veronica are bad people and unlikeable, the stakes of the book are much lower than they should be because I did not find myself rooting for them or even caring if they lived.


Overall, I was not a fan of this book, it may be enjoyable to some, but it was not to me. One thing I will give this book is I loved the running symbolism of fire (and the contrasting ice/water) and I found that to be very compelling and well done. 

Also please bear in mind the many trigger warnings for this book before reading. They also include drowning, strangulation, fire, and disregard for consent.
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