Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Belladonna by Adalyn Grace

22 reviews

booking_along's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

this was lovely. 

well written and nicely plotted out, filled with well done characters. 

it had some pacing issues since some sections were really slow and especially the climax and big reveal all happened to fast and basically all at once and the lead up to those final reveal moments felt rushed -almost as if the author remembered that the book had to end now and it all had to be solved and revealed still. 

but while i think those moments could have been done better i didn’t kind the slow moments and the long build up.

i enjoyed Signa as a character a lot and absolutely loved Death! 


i didn’t love the ending

cliffhangers for this type of story isn’t my favorite. i would prefer it if authors just make me want to pick up the next book because i want to be back with the characters and experience a new thing with them instead of being left with this open ending of sorts.

but it wasn’t horrible just not my preferred way. 


all in all very enjoyable and a good experience and i am excited to continue on and see what Signa will experience next. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Vomit, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death of parent, Chronic illness, and Blood

Moderate: Alcohol and Sexism

druzyquartz's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Vomit, Death of parent, Chronic illness, and Grief

Moderate: Blood and Murder

Minor: Suicide attempt

znrtr's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Body horror, and Medical content

Moderate: Murder

melissaslibraryy's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I have been wanting to be get to this book for awhile now since it’s been on my shelves for a little over a year, and Belladonna did not disappoint! I loved the who-done-it aspects of the book when it came to figuring out the murderer and their motives bc I was pleasantly surprised when it came to the reveal and the way it happened. And can we talk about the love interest Death 🤭 Signa really lucked out with him bc he does NOT play about his girl fr AHHH I was obsessed with those two. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Gaslighting, Classism, Medical content, Vomit, Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Chronic illness, and Grief

Moderate: Sexism, Abandonment, and Misogyny

Minor: Sexual content

alittlenutmeg's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Chronic illness, Grief, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Blood, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

brieparis's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Chronic illness, and Death

Moderate: Infidelity, Murder, Alcoholism, and Fire/Fire injury

evarinya's review against another edition

mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Death

Moderate: Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, and Chronic illness

Minor: Misogyny, Terminal illness, Murder, and Physical abuse

maries_reads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Murder and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Death of parent

vagrantheather's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

A fun read, but problematic at times, and not very deep or moving. Death was rather sexy. Hard to have a book about death and murder and yet not really feel that it's a dark book, but here we are.

There were a lot of plot devices I disliked. Death's fascination with (and interference on behalf of) our MC feels like grooming. A wealthy orphan girl being passed along to a home full of constant ribald parties - unlikely, given the time period, but plausible for a smutty regency book. However it doesn't go there - it ISN'T a smutty regency book where our innocent young heroine finds herself in a scandalous situation. So it feels unnecessarily edgy on part of the author.

The garden fiasco and overall vibe (mansion estate, ghosts, death, a sexy servant boy) summon The Secret Garden. And I love TSG! But the garden ends up being basically unnecessary. There's some waffley excuse that spirits can't communicate well when removed from their place of (death? Burial? Can't recall), but the whole "ahh I must find this secret garden then KILL MYSELF to gain entry" was so unnecessary. Surely the spirit could talk to you from, idk, the other side of the wall? And could you really not think of a single other way to enter a locked garden than by poisoning yourself to summon death's powers of intangibility? Maybe try looking under a rock for the key? Or ask the servant for a key? Or look for a key in the mansion? Maybe try scaling a nearby tree? Maybe stand on the horse's back to hop over? So many options that don't require summoning your professed enemy.

I was very disappointed by the author's tendency to distinguish characters by hair and skin color. The characters were mostly thin/flat.

The author puts in place a mechanism for Signa to play God by taking one life to spare another, but ultimately does very little with this theme. She was essentially A-OK with having murdered an old aunt to spare her young cousin. Sure, she didn't know what she was doing, but after finding out her power the guilt was a short lived thing, easily shrugged off. Flimsy.

It's an enjoyable read, but shallowly developed and ultimately forgettable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Murder, Chronic illness, Fire/Fire injury, and Terminal illness

Minor: Self harm, Death of parent, and Sexual content

aecoralie's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious slow-paced

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

5.0

it's been a long time since i enjoyed a fantasy book this much. this story had everything i needed and more: compelling characters, atmospheric setting, and a nice mystery that kept everything nicely flowing. i can't wait to read the second book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Vomit, Death, Chronic illness, Confinement, and Grief

Moderate: Body horror

Minor: Alcoholism and Fire/Fire injury