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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Imagine Bridgerton, only gothic, where Death is the leading man, and ghosts are real. Signa, our leading lady who wants nothing more than to make her debut into polite society, instead grows into herself as she tries to protect her ailing cousin from poison, under pressure from the ghost of her aunt, who was similarly poisoned.
Honestly, there are some truly dazzling moments of yearning and romance (the dance in the red dress! And other such moments I shan't spoil...). Thrilling power and ruthless determination are showcased, until the truth bleeds over the pages in a suitably dramatic end.
The epilogue has me itching to start the sequel!
Honestly, there are some truly dazzling moments of yearning and romance (the dance in the red dress! And other such moments I shan't spoil...). Thrilling power and ruthless determination are showcased, until the truth bleeds over the pages in a suitably dramatic end.
The epilogue has me itching to start the sequel!
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Real good. Real, real, real good. It's an 1800's high society murder mystery where the main character is being courted by Death. And as far as book boyfriends go - Death is a sweetie.
Until the ending, I was considering giving this book 3 stars because even though it wasn’t really my jam, I was getting dragged into the story enough to care, but then one (1) plot twist (I’m being very generous calling it that because it’s hella obvious, I just hoped until the end I was wrong) made me decided to take one of those stars and throw it into the sea. Yes, I was that mad.
But let’s start from the beginning.
Belladonna starts with a very interesting premise. Signa Farrow is a girl who cannot die and who can see Death (literal Death, the Grim Reaper, a creature of shadows that comes for everyone when their time comes). Signa is the first and only person able to see him, and to see the spirits that choose to stay behind in the world of the living. This concept actually hooked me. The first chapter does an amazing job introducing both Signa and Death, who meet for the first time when she’s only a few months old and one of the few survivors of the poison that destroyed her family.
And my excitement persisted when in the very next chapter Signa actually (very light spoilers from the second chapter ahead)
• Killed herself with Belladonna only to be able to see Death
• Stabbed him with a knife to get rid of him
Iconic behavior, fantastic, 100% approved. I was thrilled to know more about who Signa was, what kind of person would be able to do something like this, and what pushed her to do it. I was curious to learn what exactly Death was, and actually excited about seeing their relationship evolve.
And then, the rest of the book happened.
Look, I can see why a lot of people liked it. I get the appeal. The idea behind the story has so much potential. It just didn’t deliver it – not for me.
The story is set in the 1850s and everyone is rich, which means balls, gossip, and restricting social rules; it would be a fascinating setting I suppose, if it wasn’t for the fact that this means spending lots of time reading about rich young people drinking tea, eating scones and talking about nothing. I was baffled by the number of scenes where people just drink tea and eat stuff, even when there are more pressing matters the characters should be worrying about. Signa’s (but, actually, everyone’s) obsession with scones is hilarious, they seem to be the only food these people can think about. I mean, valid, I love food too, but oh my god, people are DYING OUT THERE!
Signa is a character I feel conflicted about. There are things I liked about her – like I said, trying to kill Death was pretty badass, and I like that she can be blunt to the point of rudeness. Her character arc gets a bit messy though. It’s like there is a switch – first, she becomes obsessed with being a perfect lady, then, suddenly, she realizes that no, actually, she is strong and powerful and literally the night (semicit.) and she can do what she wants. I would have liked to see her mature more gradually. Besides, she keeps judging other women until the end in a way that I didn’t really like, though that’s more a thing concerning the whole book than just her character.
Death is … well. He’s the biggest letdown of this book. I think what bothered me the most about him is that, in the end, he’s just a guy. Worse, he’s a handsome guy with possessive tendencies and an attitude. Like – this is Death! He’s not supposed to be human as he has never been! And yet, he’s turned into just another love interest who got obsessed with a girl, followed her through her whole life, fell in love with her for reasons unknown, and decided to romance her by forcing his company on her and lying to her. I understand his fascination with Signa, considering that she has abilities he has never seen before, and even why he could be attracted to her, but the way he spoke about her made me feel like he was looking at a totally different character from the one I was reading about.
There are things I did enjoy, such as the resolution to the mystery, even though the confrontation scene is a bit of a letdown.
I was also happy to see someone use the actual antidote to atropine in this book, even though the way they figured it out was a bit too convenient. But this is just a pet peeve, I probably wouldn’t have minded as much had I liked the novel.
In the end, I’m mostly disappointed. I really wanted to like this book and I would have liked to get invested in the relationship, but in the end, I just felt annoyed by everything and everyone. A pity!
But let’s start from the beginning.
Belladonna starts with a very interesting premise. Signa Farrow is a girl who cannot die and who can see Death (literal Death, the Grim Reaper, a creature of shadows that comes for everyone when their time comes). Signa is the first and only person able to see him, and to see the spirits that choose to stay behind in the world of the living. This concept actually hooked me. The first chapter does an amazing job introducing both Signa and Death, who meet for the first time when she’s only a few months old and one of the few survivors of the poison that destroyed her family.
And my excitement persisted when in the very next chapter Signa actually (very light spoilers from the second chapter ahead)
• Killed herself with Belladonna only to be able to see Death
• Stabbed him with a knife to get rid of him
Iconic behavior, fantastic, 100% approved. I was thrilled to know more about who Signa was, what kind of person would be able to do something like this, and what pushed her to do it. I was curious to learn what exactly Death was, and actually excited about seeing their relationship evolve.
And then, the rest of the book happened.
Look, I can see why a lot of people liked it. I get the appeal. The idea behind the story has so much potential. It just didn’t deliver it – not for me.
The story is set in the 1850s and everyone is rich, which means balls, gossip, and restricting social rules; it would be a fascinating setting I suppose, if it wasn’t for the fact that this means spending lots of time reading about rich young people drinking tea, eating scones and talking about nothing. I was baffled by the number of scenes where people just drink tea and eat stuff, even when there are more pressing matters the characters should be worrying about. Signa’s (but, actually, everyone’s) obsession with scones is hilarious, they seem to be the only food these people can think about. I mean, valid, I love food too, but oh my god, people are DYING OUT THERE!
Signa is a character I feel conflicted about. There are things I liked about her – like I said, trying to kill Death was pretty badass, and I like that she can be blunt to the point of rudeness. Her character arc gets a bit messy though. It’s like there is a switch – first, she becomes obsessed with being a perfect lady, then, suddenly, she realizes that no, actually, she is strong and powerful and literally the night (semicit.) and she can do what she wants. I would have liked to see her mature more gradually. Besides, she keeps judging other women until the end in a way that I didn’t really like, though that’s more a thing concerning the whole book than just her character.
Death is … well. He’s the biggest letdown of this book. I think what bothered me the most about him is that, in the end, he’s just a guy. Worse, he’s a handsome guy with possessive tendencies and an attitude. Like – this is Death! He’s not supposed to be human as he has never been! And yet, he’s turned into just another love interest who got obsessed with a girl, followed her through her whole life, fell in love with her for reasons unknown, and decided to romance her by forcing his company on her and lying to her. I understand his fascination with Signa, considering that she has abilities he has never seen before, and even why he could be attracted to her, but the way he spoke about her made me feel like he was looking at a totally different character from the one I was reading about.
Spoiler
And of course, there’s the fact that he was Silas the whole time. I knew it, I knew it from the moment he showed up, and yet I hoped until the end I was mistaken. I should have truly known better because of course Signa couldn’t be attracted to two different persons. It had to be him, and only him, the whole time, because they are destined to be together, etc. Come one! People can like more than one person! This was the most boring and annoying twist this book could have pulled and I can’t forgive it for actually taking that route.There are things I did enjoy, such as the resolution to the mystery, even though the confrontation scene is a bit of a letdown.
Spoiler
I would have liked Signa to handle things herself, instead of being assisted by one Death and one infernal dog, for example.I was also happy to see someone use the actual antidote to atropine in this book, even though the way they figured it out was a bit too convenient.
Spoiler
I can’t remember the exact quote, but I’m pretty sure the book is set before the nature of the antidote was discovered or maybe shortly after, and the fact that they found a piece about it BY CHANCE in a library that no one except a ghost seems to use is a little bit too much.In the end, I’m mostly disappointed. I really wanted to like this book and I would have liked to get invested in the relationship, but in the end, I just felt annoyed by everything and everyone. A pity!
Well, I read this. But writing my review almost two months later, I honestly struggle to remember what happened or what I liked/disliked about it.
Scraping my brain: it had an intriguing mystery, but some of the plot points (i.e. Death) were visible from the very beginning. The narrative style was also a little odd for me, and I struggled to connect with the characters and their plights.
A little forgettable for me, and not quite enjoyable enough for me to want to read more in the series.
Scraping my brain: it had an intriguing mystery, but some of the plot points (i.e. Death) were visible from the very beginning. The narrative style was also a little odd for me, and I struggled to connect with the characters and their plights.
A little forgettable for me, and not quite enjoyable enough for me to want to read more in the series.
3 stars because only the last 70 pages had me gripped… otherwise very very slow to begin with which is disappointing because i bought the special waterstones edition hardcover
adventurous
mysterious
fast-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:
Complicated
dark
hopeful
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:
Complicated