Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Belladonna - Die Berührung des Todes by Adalyn Grace

12 reviews

unremi's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

5.0

I actually loved this book! Although it took a lot of world building and plot building to get to the main plot, once we were there it was so enjoyable to read. After finishing CBS’s Ghosts, I was so excited to read a book about a girl who can see ghosts and all that afterlife stuff that’s so interesting. Honestly beautifully written though.😍

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Toxic relationship, Chronic illness, Body horror, Child death, and Vomit

courtyshorty's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

 I really Enjoyed reading this book and tried to solve the mystery with my friend. 
CONS: However the reveal was a tad disappointing and the reasoning does not make as much sense as I would like. Had she put aside her pride and listened to what death was telling her, the book would have been much better paced. Her relationship with death is a bit.... inappropriate considering he knew her as a baby. Do we give eternal beings a pass?
PROS: Lovable characters, Thrilling mystery, and I love a good monster romance. A good amount of angst while not having it be annoying. 
 Despite the plot holes, and the slightly aggravating heroine I found It entertaining. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship

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

rainbowmoons's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, and Toxic relationship

miyothecat's review against another edition

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? Yes

2.0

This book should have stayed in the Wattpad era. 

Full of heavily implied pedophilia and grooming, as well as manipulation. The hypocricy of the book trying to sprinkle “feminist” messages here and there only to destroy all of that by having a horrible male love interest who basically grooms and manipulates the main character. 

The murder mystery part of the book also made no sense. The conclusion of the murder mystery was so underwhelming. I can’t believe it was such a lame murder motive. 

As far as I can tell from the preview at the end of the book, the second book is going to be even worse so I’m not going to even bother picking it up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Murder

Moderate: Pedophilia

Minor: Alcoholism

giulianalb99's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-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? Yes

3.5

3,5⭐️

⚠️THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS⚠️

The book is quite good and it's super well written, but it has parts that don't quite convince me. It's very slow, and it's only at the end that everything gets tense. I loved how the author writes, however its true that there were parts in which I was bored. 
I was so sure I was going to give this book 4 stars, but it was very predictable and I didn’t like the fact that Percy was the one behind everything… 
The romance was good, but I expected more. Of course, there’s a toxic relationship between the MC and Death (I don’t know why authors LOVE to write about toxic relationships), and the tension between each other is great, but since the very beginning I knew who Death was… 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

maregred's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Death

Moderate: Alcohol, Grief, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

Minor: Domestic abuse

headinthepages's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

I usually struggle with the pacing that often comes with a historical/gothic fiction but this was absolutely brilliant.

I was engaged in the story as soon as I started reading and found the style of writing, characters & dialogue particularly good.

I loved the plot and was very much along for the ride. I loved Death as a character and can’t wait to find out what happens in Foxglove!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexism, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Vomit, Abandonment, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Infertility, Alcoholism, Medical content, Miscarriage, Blood, Grief, Gore, Child death, and Infidelity

lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I received a copy of this book through my FairyLoot subscription. 
“Belladonna” follows a teenaged orphan named Signa. She has spent her life being passed from one guardian to the next, and each guardian has been far more interested in her money than in raising her. Now she finds herself with her last remaining family: the Hawthornes. One evening Signa is approached my a spirit, Lillian, who claims she was murdered. Signa, determined to uncover what truly happened to Lillian, decides to team up with Death to figure out who poisoned Lillian and why. 
I enjoyed this story much more than I anticipated. The writing is haunting and gothic, with beautiful prose and a strong voice. My favorite aspect of the whole story was Death as a character. He is clever, charming, and wise. He also seems to be the only person looking out for Signa’s best interest. 
I will definitely pick up more from the author in the future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Child death, Murder, and Toxic relationship

chronicacademia's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Child death, Death of parent, Animal death, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Ableism, Vomit, and Violence

Minor: Body shaming

Grooming of a teenager (who is barely not a minor by an old man who knew her starting when she was a baby)