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Pictures of Dorianna

Catherine Stine (Goodreads Author)

3.64 · Rating details · 14 ratings · 11 reviews

Internet followers, beauty, power. It all sounded good.
Until it transformed into a terrifying reality she couldn’t stop

When her father is jailed, her mother ships lonely, plain Dorianna to her aunt’s in Brooklyn, NY. There, Dorianna yearns to build a new identity, but the popular Lacey bullies her—mostly for getting attention from her ex, Ander.

Ander takes Dorianna to ...more

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Kindle Edition, 340 pages

Published October 23rd 2019 by Konjur Road Press

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· 14 ratings · 11 reviews

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Nov 06, 2019 Sapphyria rated it really liked it

As if high school isn’t hard enough for those who’ve spent their entire lives in the same school district, coming in a someone new is down right treacherous. When Dorianna is sent to the east coast to live with her incarcerated father’s sister, Dorianna longs to start again with the new people in her school. She lacks confidence, doesn’t have the most popular clothes, nor comes from an affluent family. She’s okay with all of that as long as no one learns about her past. She garners the attention As if high school isn’t hard enough for those who’ve spent their entire lives in the same school district, coming in a someone new is down right treacherous. When Dorianna is sent to the east coast to live with her incarcerated father’s sister, Dorianna longs to start again with the new people in her school. She lacks confidence, doesn’t have the most popular clothes, nor comes from an affluent family. She’s okay with all of that as long as no one learns about her past. She garners the attention of Ander, a former athlete, which is a surprise. Unfortunately, he also brings baggage in the form of Lacey, his ex-girlfriend. After hanging out with Ander for some time, he takes her to Coney Island and introduces her to Wilson. Wilson is dark, gothic, and creepy yet when he offers her a deal to make her popular, loved, and world-renowned – but of course, with that fame comes a price to be paid.

Pictures of Dorianna is a reimagining of a much older book but Catherine Stine has created her own original young adult horror novel. When you make a deal with the devil there are always consequences to your bargain. Dorianna learns that the hard way as she navigates her new popularity and viral presence. Videos taken and posted by Wilson continue to evolve even after uploading to a popular video service. As Dorianna’s character becomes darker, her videos also take a turn toward the dark side. Her quick rise to fame quickly becomes wrought with controversy as each event she hosts for her new “followers” becomes enveloped in sadness, pain, and one-upmanship from her leading rival. As the book progresses, the beast inside Dorianna continues to grow and elicit more control over her.

Dorianna is complex character and wants what all teenagers want – to fit in. Being a teenager is difficult. Being loathed at her previous school, having a father in prison, and mother who couldn’t handle things, forcing Dorianna to live with her aunt, causes certain emotions and attitudes to develop. She wants to belong, to have friends, be popular so moving to a new school increases her hopes of belonging. Her decision-making skills find her in a predicament that she both loves to be part of but also loathes who she’s becoming. She was written well. Some of the dialogue is weak but the story and characters are strong. I adored the ending and am satisfied with where the author left Dorianna. Great YA story appropriate for teenagers 14 and over.

I was provided a copy of this book to read. All thoughts and opinions are my own. ...more

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Jun 09, 2020 nadia | notabookshelf marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: ya

netgalley better understand that i am the biggest dorian gray stan there ever was and so i need to read this book literally for research purposes to AT LEAST pepper in the fact of this book's existence to one of the two profs with whom i've takem classes on oscar wilde ...more

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Oct 23, 2019 Christine Rains rated it really liked it

This is Dorianna's second chance. She's the new girl at school, and this time, no one will tease or ignore her. When the mysterious Wilson tells her to pledge her soul for beauty and popularity, Dorianna doesn't think he's serious when she does so. She becomes Sungirl and acquires a huge internet following. People adore her, she has a cute boyfriend, and it's everything she hoped it would be. Until her videos grow dark and twisted. Nothing she can do stops them. Her vow to Wilson was more than a ...more

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Nov 01, 2019 Jo Dawson rated it really liked it

Adolescences is never easy, added to that hell is a father in jail and relocation. Dorianna did not have a normal childhood and got used to living outside the norm, but when she moves in with her aunt, she desires not just a normal life, but a supreme life. Be careful what you wish for......

This was a great YA read, I enjoyed the characters and the development of the story, there wa a lot of creative license to take Dorianna to new highs and lows and it is overall effective and a fun book.

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Dec 15, 2019 Ravenous Reader rated it it was amazing

"Pictures of Dorianna" is a very fresh twist on Dorian Grey, with the first female Dorian. It also has a sexy and unpredictable villain in Wilson, and an edgy love triangle. I loved the creepy Coney Island setting as well. ...more

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Jul 26, 2020 Tonja Drecker rated it really liked it

I was excited to see a twist on The Picture of Dorian Gray and happy to dive into this read.

After watching her father land in prison, Dorianna's mother sends her to live with her aunt for awhile. Dorianna isn't certain things will go well but is ready for a fresh start where no one knows of her father's horrible past. Determined to make life better, she hits the new high school and tries to remake herself into what she thinks she should be. Of course, things don't run as planned, but she discove I was excited to see a twist on The Picture of Dorian Gray and happy to dive into this read.

After watching her father land in prison, Dorianna's mother sends her to live with her aunt for awhile. Dorianna isn't certain things will go well but is ready for a fresh start where no one knows of her father's horrible past. Determined to make life better, she hits the new high school and tries to remake herself into what she thinks she should be. Of course, things don't run as planned, but she discovers help in a cute guy and his very eccentric, video-making-master friend. Agreeing to give up anything to become popular, the dark new friend transforms her into an internet star. But the more popular she becomes, the more she turns into something she definitely doesn't like.

This is definitely an original, exciting twist on one of my more favorite classics. The author uses modern day internet/social media platform craziness as the base and lets it lure in and transform. Dorianna's desire to become beautiful and popular are understandable, and especially teens will easily identify with this wish. Unfortunately, I found Dorianna hard to like most of the time, even before she 'transformed', which already broke off the needed sympathy for me. Her past was harsh, her hopes understandable, but her behavior was often selfish, especially when it came to her aunt. The other characters fit well into their cliches—hot popular guy, jerky popular girl and such. Bailey, a friend of Miss Not-nice-popular, was a treat and by far my favorite character. Also the evil, dark Wilson, who lures Dorianna in, was well done and interesting.

The plot runs along at a nice pace and does a pretty good job at keeping the tension high. Dorianna's changes demonstrate that popularity and the desire to be liked aren't always a wonderful thing, and can do more harm than good. It is a nice message woven into an original tale, which is sure to interest audiences of darker fiction with a few thrilling moments thrown in.

I received a complimentary copy through Netgalley and found the tale entertaining. ...more

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Jun 07, 2020 Billie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Internet followers, beauty, power. It all sounded good.
Until it transformed into a terrifying reality she couldn’t stop
When her father is jailed, her mother ships lonely, plain Dorianna to her aunt’s in Brooklyn, NY. There, Dorianna yearns to build a new identity, but the popular Lacey bullies her—mostly for getting attention from her ex, Ander.
Ander takes Dorianna to Coney Island where Wilson, a videographer, creates a stunning compilation of her. She dreams of being an online sensation, as she ...more

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Jun 16, 2020 Grace rated it liked it

I received an arc from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was just okay. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t amazing either. It was a really good view of how power corrupts and fame isn’t as great as it seems. The ending, 18 years later, was really good and I enjoyed that a lot. I also liked the different characters. Bailey and Cole were my favorites. One of the things I didn’t like about it was that it was kind of repetitive. It was her being mean and “the beast” encouraging her. I ...more

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Feb 19, 2021 Kenna rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: dnf

DNF at 50% - I really wanted to like this book (I love the Dorian Gray story) but eventually I had to drop it. The setting tries to be modern while feeling very dated, and the characters have no personality, existing only to drive the plot and disappearing the moment they're not needed. All the action feels staged, like a poorly acted play, which makes it difficult to suspend my disbelief.
It seems like a good take that would probably interest anyone who isn't put off by how dry it is. ...more

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Aug 03, 2020 Alan D.D. rated it really liked it

Shelves: demonios, drama, escolar, horror, juvenil, retelling, romántico

Macabro, con una dosis de humor y encanto suficiente para atraer a los más jóvenes a la novela original. No fue tan oscuro como esperaba pero fue un homenaje muy bien construido a la obra de Wilde.
Pronto a reseña completa.

Macabre, with a dose of humor and charm enough to attract the youngest to the original novel. It was not as dark as I expected but it was a very well constructed tribute to Wilde's work.
Soon I'll share the full review. ...more

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Jul 10, 2020 Kristin rated it liked it

Shelves: arc-s-and-similar, fantasy-and-sci-fi

Pictures of Dorianna was almost like a Faustian Gossip Girl retelling of The Picture of Dorian Gray. Although I found Dorianna's complaining a bit repetitive at times, the novel illustrates how power can corrupt and fame isn't always what you wish for. I might add that I really liked the character Bailey for some reason. ...more

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About Catherine Stine

Catherine Stine

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Catherine Stine is a USA Today bestselling author of historical and urban fantasy, and paranormal romance. Her novels have earned Indie Notable awards and New York Public Library Best Books for Teens. Catherine's newest historical fantasy, Witch of the Wild Beasts, was a second prize winner in Valley Forge's 2019 RWA Sheila Contest.

She loves spending time with her beagle, writing about supernatur ...more