Reviews with content warning for Animal cruelty - She's Too Pretty to Burn: A Novel

This was unfortunately a bit mediocre for me. I liked the coming-of-age elements, though I wish they had gone further. I also appreciated that there's a strong undertone of deep unease that does eventually lead to a creepy, haunting, and thrilling ending, but much of the book was a bit of a slog to get through and I just wasn't overly invested. I also wasn't a huge fan of the romance, and I wasn't overly connected to any of the characters or other relationships being explored either. I wouldn't say this is a bad book; it did have its positive elements and explore some interesting themes - it just didn't work super well for me overall.

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hesa_is_a_kiwi's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful fast-paced

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

4.0

It's not an easy romance book. It is about betrayal, fear, vandalism, art and control. A thriller that's extremely well written and you can't stop reading.

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abrookyerror's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

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kimschouwenaar's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

for real, you’re going to leave us with an open ending to a stand-alone???

now, for the review, there are elements I liked and disliked. the main aspect I despised is the insta-love. a large part of the story takes place in the first ten days after the narrators meet, and they’re talking about love like ten seconds after they’ve met. not my kinda vibe.

however, this book will keep you in a chokehold. you know there will be betrayal, it’s evident in each chapter, but who, when, why, how? some plot twists you’ll see coming, others will leave you questioning your deduction-abilities.

overall, an enjoyable read that was clearly influenced by the picture of dorian gray, but veers off in an exciting, unexpected direction for readers of the original. excited to start my thesis on this.

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cjreadstoomuch's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
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

I liked the ending of this book it had me on the edge of my seat. I didn’t like Mick at first but towards the end she grew on me. On the same note I wished the author fixed the toxicity in Micks and Veronica’s relationship at the beginning, but I’m happy they worked through it for the most part. Both mick and Veronica were extremely problematic and I wished it was addressed. Nico was a dick though and manipulated Veronica too. The plot twist was huge though and I didn’t like how it was so open ended.

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