She's Too Pretty to Burn

This being a gender-swapped, sapphic Dorian Gray, I just had to read it. And while the characters are developed and the book takes interesting turns that I did not predict (and left me impressed by Heard's writing), I will admit that it was the relationship btween Mick and Veronica that left me teetering between 2.5 & 3.5, so I supposed I'd go in the middle. There were times where the relationship felt obsessive on Veronica's end, and not in a positive way, which made the relationship and happy-ending feel underdeveloped and just...out of place? But that's just one gal's opinion. Minus that, the story was one to admire and want to read, so I decided to rest my rating at a happy 3 stars. Undecided in some ways, but glad I read it mostly.

Thanks to Henry Holt & Co and Netgalley for providing me with an arc for review!Within the blurb, this book is described as electric. It is a perfect word to describe the tension of this story. Sold as a sapphic [b:The Picture of Dorian Gray 5297 The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1546103428l/5297.SY75.jpg 1858012] I was definitely intrigued. I FLEW THROUGH THIS BOOK. The imagery in this felt like it would be perfect for the screen especially with all of the performance art. I just had a really good time with this book and hope that you give it a shot (when it comes to release date, RIP)!

This is one of my anticipated reads of the year and it clearly made me disappointed. I didn't like the plot, the characters are annoying and awful people, the mystery/thriller aspect is weak and the romance is SO weird like there is no chemistry at all. Nothing really happened in the beginning and the story only “started” in the 52% mark which I think is a little too late especially if there is a mystery involved with no build up. Also, this book made me uncomfortable mainly because of Mick and Veronica's relationship. It's so toxic and manipulative and the chemistry, as stated above, is not there. So as a reader, it's so weird to read about these characters “falling in love” when they barely knew each other and don't even respect each other. In terms of art, it's too pretentious for my liking but it's just me. Overall, I did not like this book but it's not the worst, hence, the 2 stars rating instead of a 1 star.