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kstacy91's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
A YA dark fantasy that blends romance and mystery together with it to create an original story that’s as unique as it is gripping. Signa is a tour-de-force, but realistic in her growth and understanding. Death is dripping with seduction and let me tell y’all: Grace’s way with words for Death was next level. Every time he came onto the page, he was pure, dark intrigue; something dangerous yet alluring from his actions to his words. This book scales a bit older on the YA scale, but rightly so. I think that the romance between Death and Signa was leading to more and I’m thankful that Grace didn’t shy away from it and fade to black. If you’re looking for a gorgeous Gothic romance with mystery and horror, then this is one I’d highly recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Death of parent
Moderate: Vomit and Blood
Minor: Sexual content
issed's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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
3.0
Love the love story and the two main lead but the main mystery was kinda boring
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Child death, Death, and Blood
xtsukix's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.5
Took me a little bit to get into but I adored this and wanted to read it non-stop once I did get into it. The mystery was delectable, the romance was (a little sudden but) so sweet, very much an “I’ll burn the world if you ask me to” romance which I adoreeeee. The plot twists were intriguing and whilst Signa was not the most relatable character, we understand why she made the choices she did. I was wondering how this was going to prompt a sequel, and I’m absolutely happy with how this book ended and am super excited for the next one. I definitely want to read the entire book over knowing what I know now, even directly after reading it, which is how I know it’s a new favourite of mine.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Suicide attempt, and Vomit
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Alcohol, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic
sinceraly's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.25
I will try my best to keep this review spoiler free. Anything considered a spoiler will be censored!
Belladonna was a bit of a surprise hit for me. I picked up it's e-book copy through Libby under the recommendation of my sister, who, though we have similar tastes elsewhere, tends to like romance in books way more than I do. At first I went in with caution, understanding that it was definitely a Romance Novel, even if there was a plot outside of that, but my sister did a good job of convincing me to give it a shot anyways, so thanks, Cari.
First, we list the pros:
A great balance between plot and romance. Belladonna is a gothic mystery novel with romance intertwined, but not becoming the whole of the book. This is a big pro for me specifically. One of my biggest pet peeves in lit, as someone who isn't easily swayed by romances and is, admittedly, incredibly picky about them, is when a romance becomes the whole of a book, despite not being a tried and true romance novel. I don't have a problem with romances specifically, and will happily pick up romance-centric books from time to time, but if a non-romance-centric book has a plot that exists outside of it's romance, I expect the plot to be prioritized. I have been burned SO many times by books focusing in on a half-baked romance instead of the more interesting worldbuilding or plot.
A very visual style of storytelling. Adalyn Grace has a wonderful way of describing settings, people, actions, and emotions. In general, I found it very easy to visualize Signa, the people around her, the areas she found herself in. Grace's prose isn't too overwhelming, either - I didn't find that her prose exhausted me, or that it felt corny in that try hard manner. It was just vague enough to add to a very well written mysterious atmosphere, like any gothic should, without being tedious.
Excellent characters. When Signa was first introduced, I was worried she was going to be incredibly annoying, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that I actually really liked her as a protagonist. She's quiet and demure around the public, but brash and bold around Death, and though it feels weird at first, how she just shifts personalities entirely, it makes sense in the context of her upbringing. Everyone around her has died when she needed stability, so it'd make sense that she'd lash out at Death, even if he wasn't the one to blame. She just wants stability, and as the daughter of a well-known, well-loved socialite, she feels responsibility to bring pride to her family name, which helps us understand why she tries to be so meek around others. Signa grows well into the plot, and I especially liked how natural her development felt as the plot progressed. I also loved the complexities showcased within the Hawthorne family, Signa's relations with them, and the blemishes that they had to work towards overcoming. I also want to shout out some of the side characters - I really wish we could have seen more of Lilian some way, somehow, because I really enjoyed both Blythe and Percy as characters, and knowing what I know now, her perspective must be something.
Death gets his own section. This book made me develop feelings for Death and I wish I was kidding. Despite not being someone who can get caught up in the cliches of "his firm chest against mine," or "his strong arms wrapped around my waist," and shit like that, Adalyn Grace surprised me by not leaning on those buzz phrases and instead growing Death's character alongside Signa's. Death is, as his name suggests, death, the grim reaper, the harvester and shepherd of lost souls. He's an immortal being that cannot be killed, and yet, he is surprisingly human in this book. He has no regrets about what he must do, because what he does brings balance to the living world. He feels the same way about it as I do working IT - unfortunate, but it must be done. However, he cannot be seen, cannot be touched, must travel the living world plucking people from loving families and relationships without knowing what it'd be like to be loved as he is. He's not shy about how lonely this is, and it's lovely to see how he thrives with the attention of someone he never expected, but wished for nonetheless. The book does a wonderful job of developing Death as a character without painting him as a malicious deity or a depressive caricature, nor does it make him into the same sort of tough guy sexyman with parent-of-your-choice issues I've come to despise in YA. The book takes a lot of caution to portray Death, the character, and death, the subject, in a very neutral light, and I think it's very successful.
"'Don't fear me.' His tender voice brushed against her ears. 'Don't resent me when I've only just gotten you, please, for I am what makes this world beautiful.'" (Page 350) is gonna haunt me forever, but so is "'You bring out the absolute worst in me, and I become vindictive toward those who treat you in ways I don't care for. Yet you also bring out the best in me - I want to be better because of you. Better for you.'" (Page 331). Making Death into a lonely, sensitive, caring, and funny wife guy was the death of me, turns out.
A very interesting plot and creative world building. The basis of the Belladonna plot is it's murder mystery. I hesitate to call it a whodunnit, because while two characters other than Signa and Death know about the murder and murder attempts, nobody actively tries to figure it out beyond the two main characters, neither of them are detectives, and the book does not focus on it enough for me to consider it the main motivating force behind much. The plot itself is interesting, and does pick up well as the book progresses, and the Hawthorne manor and the skeletons in its closets are intriguing enough to match the pace and development of the romance. Where the romance lacks, the main plot picks up, and it does a good job of keeping Signa busy so the reader doesn't bore or resent the romance plot.
The book does have its weaknesses though, which leads us to the cons.
Adalyn Grace is not subtle. In a written mystery, it's incredibly important for the author to be subtle, and that is just not something Grace can do. Spoilers ahead in this section.
Sylas being Death was SO obvious it hurt. From the moment Sylas was introduced as a character, I knew he was Death. If Grace had just left it at the fact that he was conveniently never around the Hawthornes, never interacted with anyone but Signa, and liked animals, I would have gone longer without knowing. But the book tells you that Signa could not find any paperwork or information on Sylas in the manor's records, that he was surprisingly knowledgeable about every path in the house despite only ever being a gardener/stable boy, mentions multiple times that he dresses way too expensive for someone of his social class. By the time the masquerade came up, it felt like the book was no longer nudging me with a wink but instead slamming a baseball bat into my head repeatedly. I GET IT, ADALYN. I KNOW.
The reveal of the culprit was just so shallowly thought out. Then there's the aspect of the murder mystery itself. Though I thought it was well written enough, and I didn't dislike it, specifically, I think it dropped the ball upon reflection. It feels too convenient in a way, that the bastard stepson was the one to kill the first victim. And it doesn't exactly make sense to me either the more I think about it. So he tried to kill his disgraceful mother, who really did everything she could to be a part of his life without bringing shame to it - I guess that's understandable enough. But Lilian drank it accidentally somehow, despite Marjorie's journal implying that they didn't like each other and more than likely would not have had tea together in the first place. And then when Percy found out he had accidentally poisoned Lilian, he just... kept doing it? Knowing that belladonna left people in agony? And then he tried to kill his sister to get the attention of his dad who was already mad with grief, and already trying to get rid of the gentleman's club? How was Percy even poisoning the tea, knowing that the doctor's gave the help the medicine, and the help brought the food up? The more I think about it, the murder mystery just falls apart. Which is a shame, because up to the reveal, I absolutely thought it was well written, and there could have been so many more interesting things done.
Sometimes the chapter pacing? transitions? kinda fell apart. There's one point where the book goes from one of it's (very light, barely there) sex scenes to a new chapter that opens with talk of the accused murderer and it gave me whiplash. This isn't the only example of something like this happening, but it is definitely the funniest one, and I straight up had to stop and be like "wait, what?" for a moment afterwards. I think something to smooth over transitions between chapters was very much needed, because shit like that was just comical.
Overall, I really enjoyed my time with this book and highly recommend it. It's not the best murder mystery out there, but it's fun, the vibes are impeccable, and you could sell me anything with this take of Death in it. I'm so incredibly excited to read the sequel.
Belladonna was a bit of a surprise hit for me. I picked up it's e-book copy through Libby under the recommendation of my sister, who, though we have similar tastes elsewhere, tends to like romance in books way more than I do. At first I went in with caution, understanding that it was definitely a Romance Novel, even if there was a plot outside of that, but my sister did a good job of convincing me to give it a shot anyways, so thanks, Cari.
First, we list the pros:
A great balance between plot and romance. Belladonna is a gothic mystery novel with romance intertwined, but not becoming the whole of the book. This is a big pro for me specifically. One of my biggest pet peeves in lit, as someone who isn't easily swayed by romances and is, admittedly, incredibly picky about them, is when a romance becomes the whole of a book, despite not being a tried and true romance novel. I don't have a problem with romances specifically, and will happily pick up romance-centric books from time to time, but if a non-romance-centric book has a plot that exists outside of it's romance, I expect the plot to be prioritized. I have been burned SO many times by books focusing in on a half-baked romance instead of the more interesting worldbuilding or plot.
A very visual style of storytelling. Adalyn Grace has a wonderful way of describing settings, people, actions, and emotions. In general, I found it very easy to visualize Signa, the people around her, the areas she found herself in. Grace's prose isn't too overwhelming, either - I didn't find that her prose exhausted me, or that it felt corny in that try hard manner. It was just vague enough to add to a very well written mysterious atmosphere, like any gothic should, without being tedious.
Excellent characters. When Signa was first introduced, I was worried she was going to be incredibly annoying, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that I actually really liked her as a protagonist. She's quiet and demure around the public, but brash and bold around Death, and though it feels weird at first, how she just shifts personalities entirely, it makes sense in the context of her upbringing. Everyone around her has died when she needed stability, so it'd make sense that she'd lash out at Death, even if he wasn't the one to blame. She just wants stability, and as the daughter of a well-known, well-loved socialite, she feels responsibility to bring pride to her family name, which helps us understand why she tries to be so meek around others. Signa grows well into the plot, and I especially liked how natural her development felt as the plot progressed. I also loved the complexities showcased within the Hawthorne family, Signa's relations with them, and the blemishes that they had to work towards overcoming. I also want to shout out some of the side characters - I really wish we could have seen more of Lilian some way, somehow, because I really enjoyed both Blythe and Percy as characters, and knowing what I know now, her perspective must be something.
Death gets his own section. This book made me develop feelings for Death and I wish I was kidding. Despite not being someone who can get caught up in the cliches of "his firm chest against mine," or "his strong arms wrapped around my waist," and shit like that, Adalyn Grace surprised me by not leaning on those buzz phrases and instead growing Death's character alongside Signa's. Death is, as his name suggests, death, the grim reaper, the harvester and shepherd of lost souls. He's an immortal being that cannot be killed, and yet, he is surprisingly human in this book. He has no regrets about what he must do, because what he does brings balance to the living world. He feels the same way about it as I do working IT - unfortunate, but it must be done. However, he cannot be seen, cannot be touched, must travel the living world plucking people from loving families and relationships without knowing what it'd be like to be loved as he is. He's not shy about how lonely this is, and it's lovely to see how he thrives with the attention of someone he never expected, but wished for nonetheless. The book does a wonderful job of developing Death as a character without painting him as a malicious deity or a depressive caricature, nor does it make him into the same sort of tough guy sexyman with parent-of-your-choice issues I've come to despise in YA. The book takes a lot of caution to portray Death, the character, and death, the subject, in a very neutral light, and I think it's very successful.
A very interesting plot and creative world building. The basis of the Belladonna plot is it's murder mystery. I hesitate to call it a whodunnit, because while two characters other than Signa and Death know about the murder and murder attempts, nobody actively tries to figure it out beyond the two main characters, neither of them are detectives, and the book does not focus on it enough for me to consider it the main motivating force behind much. The plot itself is interesting, and does pick up well as the book progresses, and the Hawthorne manor and the skeletons in its closets are intriguing enough to match the pace and development of the romance. Where the romance lacks, the main plot picks up, and it does a good job of keeping Signa busy so the reader doesn't bore or resent the romance plot.
The book does have its weaknesses though, which leads us to the cons.
Adalyn Grace is not subtle. In a written mystery, it's incredibly important for the author to be subtle, and that is just not something Grace can do. Spoilers ahead in this section.
The reveal of the culprit was just so shallowly thought out. Then there's the aspect of the murder mystery itself. Though I thought it was well written enough, and I didn't dislike it, specifically, I think it dropped the ball upon reflection. It feels too convenient in a way, that the bastard stepson was the one to kill the first victim. And it doesn't exactly make sense to me either the more I think about it. So he tried to kill his disgraceful mother, who really did everything she could to be a part of his life without bringing shame to it - I guess that's understandable enough. But Lilian drank it accidentally somehow, despite Marjorie's journal implying that they didn't like each other and more than likely would not have had tea together in the first place. And then when Percy found out he had accidentally poisoned Lilian, he just... kept doing it? Knowing that belladonna left people in agony? And then he tried to kill his sister to get the attention of his dad who was already mad with grief, and already trying to get rid of the gentleman's club? How was Percy even poisoning the tea, knowing that the doctor's gave the help the medicine, and the help brought the food up? The more I think about it, the murder mystery just falls apart. Which is a shame, because up to the reveal, I absolutely thought it was well written, and there could have been so many more interesting things done.
Sometimes the chapter pacing? transitions? kinda fell apart. There's one point where the book goes from one of it's (very light, barely there) sex scenes to a new chapter that opens with talk of the accused murderer and it gave me whiplash. This isn't the only example of something like this happening, but it is definitely the funniest one, and I straight up had to stop and be like "wait, what?" for a moment afterwards. I think something to smooth over transitions between chapters was very much needed, because shit like that was just comical.
Overall, I really enjoyed my time with this book and highly recommend it. It's not the best murder mystery out there, but it's fun, the vibes are impeccable, and you could sell me anything with this take of Death in it. I'm so incredibly excited to read the sequel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Blood, Vomit, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Death of parent
katievallin's review against another edition
dark
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
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Animal death, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Body horror, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Infidelity, Murder, Sexual content, and Sexism
Minor: Classism, Body shaming, Infertility, Child abuse, and Pregnancy
xoxlululuxox's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Belladonna follows Signa in her search for answers to her inability to die; which eventually changes to the search for answers to prevent the death of her cousin. Throughout her journey she quarrels with Death only to grow closer to him and lean on him in her time of need.
This story is everything I could have wanted. I love books that feature Death as a person, especially when it is done in this manner. I loved his character, and the relationship he and Signa formed throughout the story. The mystery surrounding Blythe, Signa's cousin, was also intriguing and had me guessing until the very end.
The idea that Signa has the powers of Death is also super interesting. We still don't know much about how or why, and it makes me look forward to the next books in the series to find out, but at the same time, it felt like one of the only mysteries that would carry forward.
As much as I loved this book from the start, I am a little disappointed in the ending. The story was pretty much wrapped up within the main chapters of this book; the main mystery solved and other than the lingering questions of 'how did Signa get her gift' and 'what happened at Foxglove' we aren't left with much to carry on to the next book... until the epilogue which introduces more questions. But still, I feel that having the book end reasonably neatly and requiring an epilogue to continue is not 'enough'.
This is my only complaint though, and as much as I personally don't enjoy this structure, I really did love the rest of the book, and the writing style. It was absolutely beautiful, and the cover really sells it.
This story is everything I could have wanted. I love books that feature Death as a person, especially when it is done in this manner. I loved his character, and the relationship he and Signa formed throughout the story. The mystery surrounding Blythe, Signa's cousin, was also intriguing and had me guessing until the very end.
The idea that Signa has the powers of Death is also super interesting. We still don't know much about how or why, and it makes me look forward to the next books in the series to find out, but at the same time, it felt like one of the only mysteries that would carry forward.
As much as I loved this book from the start, I am a little disappointed in the ending. The story was pretty much wrapped up within the main chapters of this book; the main mystery solved and other than the lingering questions of 'how did Signa get her gift' and 'what happened at Foxglove' we aren't left with much to carry on to the next book... until the epilogue which introduces more questions. But still, I feel that having the book end reasonably neatly and requiring an epilogue to continue is not 'enough'.
This is my only complaint though, and as much as I personally don't enjoy this structure, I really did love the rest of the book, and the writing style. It was absolutely beautiful, and the cover really sells it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Vomit, Self harm, Murder, Addiction, Alcohol, Grief, Death, Blood, Terminal illness, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, and Death of parent
margaret_k30's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Blood, Abandonment, Self harm, Suicide, Vomit, Murder, Medical content, and Grief
Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Gore
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…
⚠️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…
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
t1ny_lin's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
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
4.5
откладывала прочтение книги ещё с 2022 и даже приобрела английскую версию, но всё таки дочитала на русском
не знаю что сказать.... вообще не то что я ожидала по описаниям в SNS. сама книга увлекательная, сюжет и развитие главной героини как леди и персону хорошо проработаны. мне очень понравились загадки и мистика в книге и вообще чувство интриги давало больше адреналина чтению.
но не понравилось развитие отношений между героями, как по мне все произошло быстро и персонажи не были раскрыты как партнёры в отношениях
не знаю что сказать.... вообще не то что я ожидала по описаниям в SNS. сама книга увлекательная, сюжет и развитие главной героини как леди и персону хорошо проработаны. мне очень понравились загадки и мистика в книге и вообще чувство интриги давало больше адреналина чтению.
но не понравилось развитие отношений между героями, как по мне все произошло быстро и персонажи не были раскрыты как партнёры в отношениях
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Vomit, and Grief
Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, and Medical content
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
anoelle896's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Chronic illness, Blood, Gore, Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Death
Minor: Physical abuse, Classism, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Self harm, Violence, Vomit, Body shaming, and Alcohol