She's Too Pretty to Burn

February 1, 2021

Gr 9 Up-In this thriller, Mick, a blonde junior on the high school swim team and on the outs with her mother, begrudgingly attends a party with a friend and meets Veronica, a Chicana photographer with an edge. The two girls quickly hit it off, with Veronica taking a photograph of Mick immediately after their first kiss that becomes a sensation on Instagram, allowing her to break into the art world. Veronica introduces Mick to her best friend Nico, a 20-year-old brunette who creates subversive art in their San Diego region, and the two teens become willing participants in his illegal art installations. However, soon they are in over their heads as several murders and a raging fire occur and they become pawns in a larger scheme. Heard capably explores the tipping point in which a group can move from righteous anger to destruction when they let the adrenaline of the moment overtake reason. At what level do you go from political activist to eco-terrorist? Heard also captures the extreme highs and lows of teen romance. The imbalance in Veronica and Mick's relationship could push teens to explore where they would draw the line on romantic boundaries and consent. VERDICT This psychological thriller is sure to be popular with teens. A sapphic romance with elements of art, danger, and obsession, it is recommended for YA library collections.-Nancy McKay, Byron P.L., IL

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May 1, 2021
Grades 9-12 Neither Veronica nor Micaela (Mick) wanted to spend their night at a party. Perhaps that's how they found each other in the crowd, kindred spirits despite being completely different: Veronica, a Latina photographer with vintage flair and plenty of confidence; Mick, an anxious blonde swimmer with model looks, but who's cameraphobic. When Mick reluctantly agrees to let Veronica post a candid photo of her to Instagram, the haunting portrait of Mick goes viral, to Mick's horror and to Veronica's delight. While this exerts its own pressure on the girls' burgeoning relationship, other strains come from Mick's unstable homelife and an entanglement with Veronica's best friend, Nico, whose "disruptive installation art" (think Banksy meets social protest) is growing increasingly dangerous. Chapters are narrated by Veronica or Mick--with Nico snagging a handful--and Heard plays the characters' limited knowledge and unreliability off one another exceptionally well in order to ramp up the story's tension and stakes. A compelling art thriller in the vein of Adele Griffin's The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone (2014), this can also fit broader discussions of when dedication becomes extremism.

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Starred review from January 1, 2021
A romantic, fast-paced thriller inspired by a classic. Things start off sweet in San Diego, where swimmer Micaela and aspiring photographer Veronica meet by chance at a party and romance instantly sparks between them. After Veronica snaps a perfect photo of camera-shy Mick, their relationship complicates and escalates as hesitant Mick suddenly becomes the subject of Veronica's budding photography career. Meanwhile, the two girls engage with the local activist scene along with Veronica's longtime artist friend Nico, but the stakes rise with every rebellious art installation--even leading to death for some of those involved. Mick and Veronica pursue their increasingly unstable relationship while parental neglect, illegal activity, and the threat of violence set them on an escalating, dangerous path. The story unravels in colorful, electric prose through Mick's and Veronica's first-person points of view, alternating between past and present. The tension builds well, leading to an exhilarating and twisty final third. Believable and clever banter bounces back and forth between sympathetic characters, and allusions to The Picture of Dorian Gray provide a scaffold without requiring readers' prior knowledge of the original to appreciate the story. This dark, winding novel expertly interweaves suspense and romance. Mick is cued as White and Veronica is Latinx; both are queer. A wild and satisfying romp. (Thriller. 14-adult)

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