Why are you apologizing when you didn’t do anything wrong? That’s something we teach girls to do – always apologize, never be a burden. You have a right to take up space.
she’s too pretty to burn, wendy heard
Author: Wendy Heard
Publication Date: 30 March 2021
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co (BYR)
Page Count: 336
Reading Method: Digital ARC [thank you to the publisher for the advance copy]
Synopsis:
The summer is winding down in San Diego. Veronica is bored, caustically charismatic, and uninspired in her photography. Nico is insatiable, subversive, and obsessed with chaotic performance art. They’re artists first, best friends second. But that was before Mick. Delicate, lonely, magnetic Mick: the perfect subject, and Veronica’s dream girl. The days are long and hot―full of adventure―and soon they are falling in love. Falling so hard, they never imagine what comes next. One fire. Two murders. Three drowning bodies. One suspect . . . one stalker. This is a summer they won’t survive.
Review:
What the heck did I just read?! This book is a wild ride and one you won’t want to miss out on! Pitched as a sapphic, young adult thriller, this story will take you through the full range of emotions and leave you with an audible *gasp*.
Plot:
The best way to describe this book is twisty, turny, unpredictable fun! Veronica meets Mick at a party one night and the sparks fly. Mick is quickly absorbed into Veronica’s circle of friends, including the charismatic Nico – an artist with an agenda. The story follows these three as they navigate their relationships, their difficult lives, their art, and the things they are willing to do to protect each other.
While Veronica and Mick are busy falling in love, Nico is hard at work on his art installations that are meant to send a message to a local politician. The idea behind the installations was really cool, but things start to escalate pretty quickly and then everything spins wildly out of control. There’s so much more to this story, but it’s difficult to get into it without giving anything away.
I can honestly say that there wasn’t a moment in this story that I could have known what was going to happen next, yet none of it was entirely unbelievable. Often times I find that you have to suspend belief a bit to make a thriller work, but this was not the case for She’s Too Pretty to Burn.
Characters:
Veronica was probably my least favorite of the three main characters. She is pushy, single-minded, and a bit on the selfish side. There were so many times I wanted to shake some sense into her. Veronica is a photographer and her work is finally getting noticed after snapping an epic picture of Mick. Though she knows Mick doesn’t like being photographed, she takes the picture anyway and then continues to use it to her advantage throughout the story with complete disregard for how it makes Mick feel. I was so fed up with Veronica and skimmed most of her chapters (until it became impossible to skim because I might have missed something important).
Mick is lonely and lost. Her mother is a model and is trying to pressure Mick into following in her footsteps. Mick has seen the effects of modeling on her mother and wants to avoid that path at all cost. Unfortunately, this puts quite a bit of distance between her and her mother, literally and figuratively. Throughout the book, we watch Mick struggle to deal with her complicated past and try to find her place in the world. While on her path to discovery, she lets herself get drawn into some pretty hairy situations.
Nico has been Veronica’s best friend since forever. He is a wildly talented artist, exceedingly charming, and on a mission to make political change. Some of his methods may be a bit out there, but he truly believes he is doing what is best. Nico was my favorite character to read about and I loved the portions written from his perspective.
Writing:
Wonderfully done and utterly gripping. There was never a dull moment. I wish I had more to say, but there wasn’t anything that stood out to me for critique. There were no times where the writing pulled me out of the story or I found it to be difficult to read. This whole story was excellent and the writing was spot on.
Overall:
I loved this book. I had no idea what this book was about when I started it and I think that worked out for the best. I had the pleasure of being completely surprised by the story.
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