Reviews - Belladonna | The StoryGraph

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15.6k reviews for:

Belladonna

Adalyn Grace

3.99 AVERAGE

vivian24's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

rlp2112's review against another edition

4.75

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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: Yes

readrachb's review against another edition

3.0

idk if i want to say 3.5 or 4. it was fun, very secret garden x clue which i adore. i enjoyed the plot and everything, but i’m not sure how attached i am to the characters or if i believe in how much signa loved death …. a lot of the book was her thinking and saying “im so curious. so many puzzle pieces” and there weren’t many scenes that solidified signa’s attachment to death. she hated him then she loved him..? idk dawg

bhavyalovestoread's review against another edition

5.0

Obsessed

Merged review:

Obsessed

barbora_j's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous funny fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: N/A

Loveable characters: N/A

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Belladonna was an interesting and fun read. It had been recommended to me as a gothic novel, and while I can see the similarities in setting, I don’t think time period alone makes something “gothic.” The writing style felt almost minimalistic — not a lot of description — and I think that actually hurt the mystery. Since there wasn’t much descriptive “sauce” to hide in, every piece of information stood out, making the foreshadowing a little too obvious. Because of that, I saw where things were going too easily.

The story is very plot-driven, but without the richness of the prose or deeper character work, it felt a bit flat at times. I would’ve loved more character development — and not just Signa deciding something major in the span of a single paragraph. More moments of growth and depth would have made the twists land harder for me.

As for the ending, it struck me as a bit convoluted. The motivations made sense on the surface, but I needed more from the characters to believe them fully. Still, despite those issues, it was a fast and enjoyable read, with a premise that surprised me by being unexpectedly funny.