Scan barcode
evarinya's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Death
Moderate: Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, and Chronic illness
Minor: Misogyny, Terminal illness, Murder, and Physical abuse
beckyyreadss's review against another edition
adventurous
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
4.0
This is my book club’s choice for October as well as the Pumpkin Spice Café. I hadn’t heard anything about this book before it was the choice for October. I went into this book completely blind.
This book is based on nineteen-year-old Signa Farrow, she was orphaned as a baby and has been raised by a string of guardians, each more interested in her wealth than her wellbeing and each have been met with an untimely end. Her remaining relatives are the elusive Hawthornes, they are an eccentric family living at Thorn Grove, an estate that is both glittering and gloomy. The head of the house, Elliot is mourning his late wife by having wild parties, his son is struggling to get control of the family’s reputation and his daughter is suffering from a mysterious illness. But when their mother’s restless spirit appears claiming she was poisoned, Signa realises that the family she depends on could be in grave danger, and enlists the help of a stable boy to hunt down the killer. Signa’s best chance of uncovering the murderer, though, is an alliance with Death himself, a fascinating, dangerous shadow who has never been far from her side. Though he’s made her life a living hell, Death shows Signa that their growing connection may be more powerful and more irresistible than she ever dared imagine.
As stated, I went into this book completely blind not reading any reviews or anything like that. It was a very strong storyline, and I was hooked from the first line. I loved the characters in the book especially Signa and Death. They were both firing off sexual chemistry and tension from the get-go. I love the regency and gothic feeling with all the balls and talks about how a woman must act in society and then Signa like nope screw that I'm out. Death is supposed to be big and scary and then acts like a complete golden retriever when he is around Signa and will literally do his job if anyone is even slightly mean to her.
The mystery element had me from the beginning and I had my suspect early on and I guessed correctly. I won’t ruin who it was, but I think I’ve read way too many mysterious and crime books that I'm getting good at guessing it. That's my only reason for not being a five-star read. I would have loved to have been shocked and gasping when it was revealed.
The ending was cruel, and I wanted more and now I must wait for the second book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Murder and Vomit
Minor: Alcohol and Sexual content
teddy_books's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, and Grief
Moderate: Death of parent, Child death, and Alcohol
Minor: Toxic friendship, Murder, Vomit, and Blood
birbmcbirb's review against another edition
mysterious
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? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness, Alcohol, Grief, Death of parent, Child death, Death, Sexism, Murder, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Vomit and Stalking
lakinglaze's review against another edition
adventurous
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? It's complicated
5.0
I absolutely loved this book! I cannot wait for the second one to be released! Death was so perfect and the descriptions were so beautifully written. As long as you can handle some spirits, I would recommend this book to everyone! I’m such a sucker for a Hades/Persephone tale and Belladonna was even better than I had hoped!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Alcohol, Death, Terminal illness, Infidelity, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Suicide, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship
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
not_another_ana's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.75
It had been weeks since Signa last saw the reaper. Only a final breath would draw him out from hiding, and he never left empty-handed. At least, that was the way it was supposed to be. But Signa Farrow was a girl who could not die.
Signa has grown touched by death, her every move shadowed by that dark, gloomy specter. It has made her life hard and lonely, with people around her thinking her cursed. While not completely true she does have a secret, she cannot die but she can see spirits and Death, who is never too far away from her. When her latest guardian dies, Signa is then shipped off to another relative and to a house filled with secrets and grief. Her new cousin is deadly sick but perhaps it's not a natural ailment and if Signa wants to stop this and preserve her new found family she might have to ally with the thing she fears the most.
Seeing all the positives reviews and the rating average for this makes me feel insane. Am I the one on crack or is everyone else? This was bad. Let's start with the protagonist. Her name is SIGNA, which what even is that name but I also kept misreading it a Sigma and finding myself very confused. She is not the worst part of this book, a bit too naive, lacking in curiosity and slow to act but solid enough for me to lowkey root for her. The Thorn family was also fine in general, a bit too tropey at some points but good enough characters. The worst one in this was Death, who is also the love interest. He is THE Death not a reaper, not a guy new to the job, just plain old (very old) Death, yet the author managed to reduce him to a stereotypical black haired YA love interest. He was uninteresting, did not come across as a millennia old entity, unsexy and cliché. We'll talk about the romance in this later, but first the mystery.
The central plot was quite slow because everyone kept dropping the ball. Blythe, the youngest daughter of the family, is deadly ill with the same disease that killed her mother. Signa suspects it's belladonna poisoning, after a conversation with the ghost of Lillian, but has no idea how the poison is getting in. The plot just happens to Signa because if it were up to her Blythe would have died with how slow she was at putting the pieces together or trying to do anything. It was always other characters telling her what to do or interruptions by the unnecessary plot of Signa entering society or Death showing up to "help" with the investigation but actually just being gross.
The book was more about the romance than the detective story and boy was that a romance for sure 😶 After hating him for all her life Signa ends up falling in love with Death, which honestly would not be that bad, I'm not going to sit here and claim to hate all romance between immortal beings and regular humans cause that would make me a hypocrite, except for the fact that Death has known Signa since she was A BABY and has been around her whole life.
I will say something positive about the book: I think the author isn't a bad writer. I did finish reading this fairly fast and found no fault in the narration. That's it. I will not be continuing this series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Alcohol
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
This was a reread. Some things were more cringey and cliche and black-and-white than I remembered. Didn't agree with all the ideals pushed, but some of the quotes have just stayed with me and found a permanent place in my mind. The audiobook narrator does an excellent job.
"Your name is no curse, Little Bird. I just like the taste of it."
"You must not allow yourself to be consumed so thoroughly by death. It's not selfish to live."
"'It's exhausting,' Signa said as she looked down to her lap, 'to pretend you are something - someone - you're not.' Blythe took her by the hand. 'Then do not spend your life exhausted.'"
"To me, you are a song to a soul that has never known music, light to someone who has only seen the darkness."
"Your name is no curse, Little Bird. I just like the taste of it."
"You must not allow yourself to be consumed so thoroughly by death. It's not selfish to live."
"'It's exhausting,' Signa said as she looked down to her lap, 'to pretend you are something - someone - you're not.' Blythe took her by the hand. 'Then do not spend your life exhausted.'"
"To me, you are a song to a soul that has never known music, light to someone who has only seen the darkness."
"You are no soft thing to be coddled.... You are bolder than the sun, Signa Farrow, and it's time that you burn."
"I don't want you so focused on the world of the dead that you forget to enjoy that of the living."
"I don't want you so focused on the world of the dead that you forget to enjoy that of the living."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Body horror, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Infidelity, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Sexism, Vomit, and Sexual content
Minor: Classism, Body shaming, Infertility, Child abuse, and Pregnancy
microbemom's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Death, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Grief, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Alcohol, Self harm, Alcoholism, and Sexual content