Reviews with content warning for Panic attacks/disorders - She's Too Pretty to Burn: A Novel

First love! Eco-activism/terrorism(?)! Coming of age! Murder! I really enjoyed the twists of this book, but I felt like the character development could have been stronger (particularly with Mick’s mom). No one is who you expect them to be from the start-which makes it interesting!- but I didn’t have the feeling of reflecting back on the book and noticing things I hadn’t before. That’s the only thing I felt was missing.

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junefish's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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ecroot's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

0.25

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nothingrhymeswithrachel's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

You know how sometimes when you read a book, you aren’t sure how you feel about it? Like you need to sit with it for a minute, read other people’s opinions, etc. before you can actually review it? I definitely had to do that here. The very last sentence was incredible and my mouth was literally gaping. Then I thought, well I’m kind of upset that no one really developed that much in this book? But it also kind of felt like they did.. so I needed time to think, and here’s what I came up with: besides the wild thriller aspects of this book/Nico’s entire personality, the characters are relatable. They don’t have some “ah-hah” moment that snaps them into shape and they’re suddenly the perfect version of themselves. They slowly realize what they’ve done wrong and they try to change where they can. I absolutely love that a revolution never felt forced on them, like they had to suddenly fall on their face to realize they had done bad things. Obviously this happens but it isn’t in the same way as in so many romance books I have read.
The thriller piece was an absolute blindside. I did not read the description of this book before I started it, I never do honestly. So when

Mick was suddenly super into the fires and Nico was encouraging her, I was so confused. And I thought maybe it was a blip that I had read too much into but it definitely wasn’t, haha.

The last thing I will say, and the reason I did not give this 5 stars, is because there is that nagging feeling in my stomach that couldn’t help but be bothered when the kid who was in foster care ended up being the bad guy. I guess technically we don’t know if he was actually in foster care or not but either way, I hate that stereotype that foster care kids are going to grow up and be bad people because they didn’t have a steady home life. It just felt like an unnecessary detail. Otherwise, I loved this book and will keep and eye out for other books by this author.

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cindespair's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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melaniereadsbooks's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for an advanced audio copy of this book!

In this explosive thriller inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray, Mick's life is changed when she meets Veronica at a party and they begin falling for each other. Mick detests having her picture taken, and Veronica is a photographer that would do about anything for her art. Things begin to fall apart when Veronica's best friend Nico takes a special interest in Mick and recruits her as part of his elaborate and illegal art pop ups. Things quickly escalate, and disaster soon follows.

I wish I could give a better synopsis then that, but I really recommend going into this book without knowing much of the outcomes. The surprising twists and turns it takes are incredible and gripping, and I think it is much more interesting not knowing what is going to happen!

I absolutely loved the writing style of this book. It seriously gave me chills and enthralled me from the very beginning. I loved the in media res start to the book and the full circle ending. I loved the depth and creativity to the three main characters, and seeing how they would react to the increasingly drastic situation.

The character development in this story was definitely the best part, though I also really enjoyed the surrealistic plot! I didn't think this needed the added few chapters with Nico's POV toward the end, however.

I really enjoyed the narration for this audio, but I did find it was extremely slow! I always increase the speed on audiobooks, but this one especially needed it.

Pub date: March 30, 2021

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molliemoments's review against another edition

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mysterious tense fast-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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