Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Belladonna

Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Belladonna by Adalyn Grace

174 reviews

alisylvi's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.25

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mirroaoror's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

True to its name, this book felt like a poison, slowly killing me as I read through it...and now I'm dead. As with most readers, I'm sure, I was drawn to it by the cover since it was beautiful, and I had high hopes for the book. But ultimately, this book left a bitter taste in my mouth.

In the beginning towards the middle part, I was actually quite intrigued by the mystery and Signa's unusual connection with Death and his powers (though, we never got an explanation for this, and I'm unsure if it's something that will be explained in the second or third book because it is unfortunate since I don't have plans on reading them anymore). I couldn't put the book down throughout the most part of the story. I also didn't mind the several twists that came out one after another.

The relationship between Death and Signa was...mediocre at best and creepy stalker-ish at worst. But I didn't really care for it. The thing that bothered me the most was the way Signa dealt with Percy.

I think that just ruined the whole point of Signa finally finding a family in the Hawthornes because not only did she rob Percy the chance to explain himself to his father and sister and take accountability for his actions, but she also left Elijah, Blythe, and Marjorie not having any closure with him. It wasn't Signa's place to decide whether or not Percy should have died or not. Also, sure, it saved Blythe's life, but I don't think she would have wanted that if her brother died instead. And no, I don't condone Percy's actions, I just thought that death or being absorbed by Death or whatever was the easy way out for him.The ending felt so hollow because of it, and since the conclusion wasn't satisfying, it's as if the build up towards it was pointless. But yeah, I still enjoyed a good chunk of it.

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dovahkiin_shea's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Once she is taken in as a ward at her cousin's home, Signa realizes that death is coming for her cousin, Blythe. Using every weapon at her disposal, and determined to find out who's behind her Blythe's sickness, it's a race against time. But murder, poisonings, and betrayal aren't the only things in store for Signa.

This story is full of ghosts and murder, with a surprising romantic aspect to it.

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lyricallit's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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mbzoller's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I love this book.

It took a while for me to get into it, but I was quickly swept away with the romance plot.

The audiobook narrator is wonderful, especially for the voice of Death.

So excited to read Foxglove.

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najmanasir's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Giving this book 3 stars because the last couple of chapters really started to pick up due to the plot twists. They left me shocked and more invested to continue reading until the end.

Honestly, I did not expect Percy to be the villain of the story. I was initially suspicious of him, but nothing he did confirmed my suspicions until the truth started to reveal itself. The way he was unapologetic for his actions had my jaw on the floor.

In addition, Adalyn had a way of making me suspicious of so many people.

That said, this is a formal apology to Marjorie since I accused her so much for the murders/attempted murders 😅 I also kept convincing myself that Sylas would be the villain for so long, only for my theories to be debunked once again.

Maybe I'm slow at piecing things together, but I did not expect

Sylas to be Death. I should have known from the grey eyes and his connection to animals,

but it was a good plot twist.

However, there were some things I wasn't a big fan of. The first thing was Death calling Signa "Little Bird." Personally, I am not a fan of animal nicknames, so every time he said that I couldn't help but cringe 😭

Regardless, I honestly read the book more for the mystery murder than the romance. I felt more compelled to read when the more eerie scenes took place.

Like Lillian's body snapping due to the overload of questions or when the library was set on fire (The poor spirit did not deserve that 💔).

The scenes added more to the plot, which made me want to know who was behind the murders even more.

All in all, I enjoyed the read. The small moments of banter were entertaining, and Lillian having closure at the end almost made me cry. I plan to read the second book since I'm curious how Fate will play a part in it after meeting him briefly in the Epilogue 👀

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nicoles_reading_corner's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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tinywytch's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.25

weird relationship between million year old Death and a 19 year old girl but i liked the story until that

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f_r_e_d's review against another edition

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fast-paced

4.75

Oh my glass jars this book was so good! The plot didn’t quite line up for me, but honestly, I’m okay with it.

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linhsreadinghour's review

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

I don’t know how to feel about this book if I’m being honest 😂.

In summary: A gothic fantasy murder mystery that takes place in regency-ish times. Signa Farrow grapples with her own identity and desires whilst solving a murder mystery. Belladonna is one of them books that should be read for fun. There is nothing particularly astonishing about this book other than it was very entertaining and overall a good YA fantasy novel in terms of its writing, plot development and characters.

The book tackles themes such as identity, coming of age, role of women in society. Most importantly, the book tackles themes of grief/death in a refreshing way.

—

Up until 75%, not much happened and it was just Signa trying to solve the murder. At 75%-80%, I found myself uncomfortably laughing out loud in disbelief and at the romance for a number of reasons.

Is no one else weirded out about it the fact that Death watched her grow up from a baby to a 20 year old, and fell in love with her? The romance was too quick and the whole Sylas thing (before it was revealed you know what about Sylas) had me conflicted about Signa’s character. But now it all makes sense!!

There is one chilli pepper (🌶️) in this book, I don’t particularly have strong feelings either way about this in Belladonna. The book could have done without it and it still would have been good.

The plot twists at the end were very good, I did not see that coming but they weren’t enough to satisfy the entire book for me so I rate it a 3.5 ⭐️. Will I continue the series? I think so, the ending made me intrigued to read the next book, but it’s not the case that I will be jumping immediately into it.

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