This Wretched Beauty: A Dorian Gray Remix / Elle Grenier / Book Review

THIS WRETCHED BEAUTY: A DORIAN GRAY REMIX

It's 1867, and Lord Dorian Gray is everything his grandfather taught him to be: an honorable, straightlaced, and charming member of the nobility. Estranged from his less-than-noble father and given a place in his grandfather's home after his mother passed, Dorian is a shining example of what a young lord should be. But when the eyes aren't looking, things are... different. When he can sneak away under the cover of darkness, Dorian Gray is somebody entirely different.

Drawn into a world of artists and free expression and molly houses in the seedier parts of London, Dorian falls in with a young artist named Basil and his friends. Acting as Basil's model and his newest muse, Dorian agrees to have a portrait done, a portrait that shows... everything. Everything that Dorian wants to be and his grandfather could allow.

Enamored with this spritely vision of himself, Dorian makes a bargain, the kind of bargain you can't speak about. And as the seedy world of wanton lords draws him in even further, Dorian doesn't know if he could back out of this life now. Not even if he wanted to. 

THOUGHTS

Do I love the idea of a transfemme Dorian Gray? Absolutely. Did I like the execution here? Eh, not so much. I think Elle Grenier does an excellent job of capturing the atmosphere of Wilde's classic work, but the age of the characters doesn't quite work to convey the necessary feeling of corruption and irreversibility. They're so young. There is time to change...

PROS

Source Material Master	I like to read YA re-imaginings of the classics, and yet I'm often disappointed that the essence of the classic inspiration isn't capture. These retellings aren't meant to be their source material, of course, but in reimagining the source, you should at least capture something of it. On that front, this book was a happy surprise, especially since capturing the essence of The Picture of Dorian Gray is no small task. Here, Grenier does an amazing job of capturing the disenchantment and the malaise of Oscar Wilde's work and translating it to the page. The inspiration is clear, and it works so well in Grenier's writing style. And I really appreciate that.
Lush Setting	This is also a book that doesn't neglect it's setting. Every scene is lush and vibrant, the kind of hazy street or speakeasy-esque Victorian molly house or glamorous velveteen sitting room you could just step right into. Anyone who appreciates the art of a scene well set will love getting wrapped up in the world of this young Dorian Gray.
Transfemme	There aren't a lot of trans characters in YA (or in general), and transfemme characters are even rarer. So I loved this. I loved this representation. And I loved this take on Dorian Gray. Though the execution didn't quite live up to what I wanted it to be, the overall concept (and a lot of what we do get) is great. Beautiful and complex and messy and interesting representation is everything that we need.

CONS

This book spends a lot, lot, lot of time in Dorian's head, and there just isn't much else going on. And I wish there was. Don't get me wrong. I really do like a good dive into character. A character study is in fact a type of book that I really enjoy. But despite all the time I got to spend inside Dorian's thoughts and feelings, I didn't get to know Dorian that well, which made this a less-than-compelling read. And without anything else going on plot-wise, it was something of a lackluster reading experience.	Introspection
As much time as we spend inside Dorian's thoughts, as I said above, we don't really get much insight into what Dorian's actually thinking, which is a very strange and dissonant sort of juxtaposition. Dorian's entering a world of sexuality and gender expressions unknown before, and there is a sort of gender revelation that unfolds in this book that only unfolds for Dorian, not for the reader. While I'm not one to demand books wallow in gender dysphoria, that sense of enlightenment and personal revelation that Dorian should be having really is missing from this book. I wasn't there, walking side-by-side with Dorian as this revelation occurs, and for a book that spends so much time in Dorian's head, this really is quite strange and disappointing in its execution.	Interiority Sans Insight
Oscar Wilde's original work is a book steeped in the fear of aging, of the corruption that comes with time, of the dissolution of innocence, and to some extent, I think these themes could be aged down for teenage protagonists. I don't think these themes are outside of the realm of YA, even if they would hit a little differently in this different context. But we don't really take the context into account. The corruption of Dorian that happens feels off, strange and skewed since the corruptors are teens themselves. Sure, "teenager" wasn't a moniker in Victorian London, but the concept of youth applies just the same. Aging these characters down changes the way these themes play out, and I don't think it was taken into account here just how vastly that changes the way this theme feels, unfortunately. I would have much preferred an older cast of characters, because then the sense of corruption, of corroding youth and vitality, in a transfemme Dorian would have worked so much better. As it was, it all felt sort of... strange and dissonant.	Aging

Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
5/10

Fans of Gabe Cole Novoa's Most Ardently will like this new edition to the Remixed Classics series. Fans of Oscar Wilde's original The Picture of Dorian Gray will also admire Grenier's ability to translate and reconceptualize that work into this gender non-conforming context.

Details Publisher: Feiwel & Friends Date: February 17, 2026 Series: Remixed Classics Add to Goodreads Buy it HERE

Note: I was provided with an ARC by the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions here are my own.