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A review by deena_
Belladonna by Adalyn Grace
5.0
5 stars & some more ★
➵ If Belladonna was a song > Don't Blame Me- Taylor Swift
Originally, my intention was to give it 4 stars but after a lot of thinking, I thought why not? A solid 5 for the pure autumnal vibes.
The Bridgerton meets gothic murder mystery in a Victorian setting with its fair share of romantasy,
that's the book in a nutshell. The vibes pretty much overruled the plot; I'm not saying they had a negative effect on the storyline; they only enhanced the whole thing even more. It was all so beautifully written that I found myself getting lost in it over and over again, forgetting that I was reading and just truly living it.
Sypnosis: Signa Farrow, a young orphan, always felt a thread of connection with death; growing up, it bled into her and became even more apparent. Death's shadow trailed her from one eager relative's door to another, as she had a great fortune to her name. They called her the cursed one, wickedest of the witches, devil's spawn. When the last of her living relatives fell to an unfortunate death, she reached the last door that'd welcome her at Thorn Grove among the prestigious Hwathornes, but death's shadow was upon them long before she arrived. To protect the Hwathornes from their cruel fate and uncover the mysteries behind it, she makes an alliance with death himself; it leads her to shocking truths about the Hwathornes and herself.
This is the kind of book you would want to annotate. A perfect cozy read with the right vibes that allows you to relax and relish in it. I can't ignore the fact that it reminded me of a lot of my favorites, especially The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and Avery-Jameson's relationship from The Inheritance Games.
Signa Farrow 'the wanna-be proper lady'.
-She was impossibly infuriating. She seemed to have her life goals set on following every word etched on that stupid book, A Lady's Guide to Beauty and Etiquette, being a proper lady and finding a proper husband. If I heard of her stupid bucket list and that stupid book one more time, it would be too soon. I physically wanted to shake her, like why are you trying so hard when you're already everything death needs in his immortal existence?! Thank heavens, she backflipped from her life decisions at the last minute and focused on being a little more badass, a curious soul with a wild heart. Despite all her talk of prim and proper, she was very improper.
--->like during the train ride to thorn grove with sylas, she asked him to sit properly and make some space for her to do the same, but when he didn't, she proceeded to bunch up her skirts so she could also sit like him<---
-First I was so mad at her for having feelings for two guys at the same time while thinking about courting another one but then suddenly I wasn't—I can't even explain why; it'd be too big of a spoiler. Just know she ends up doing the right thing. Besides being the poison lady and death's 'LOML', she was an interesting character herself, I loved seeing her developments all throughout the book. I think I could listen to her describe death's perfection with such passion all day. I knew she wouldn't disappoint
--->from the moment she poisoned herself to summon death, grabbed a knife and stabbed him right in the heart—a meet-cute indeed! she even called death a useless heap of shadows and met his every strike with one of her own<---
Death who makes you want to scream 'I wanna be yours'.
-Whatever and however I expected Death to be, he wasn't any of it. When I first came to know Death is the love interest of this book, I was so prepared to confront a malicious otherworldly entity
who leaves a pile of corpses everywhere he goes. Never for once I imagined Death to be such a sunshine character; he went about teasing, flirting and sulking after Signa, even Signa was more moody than him. He deserves a trend of his own (#immortal fluff #dead romantics). Fictional men can line up to take notes on how to catch hearts and drop bodies like him.
--->when he first spoke with signa, she was crying rivers cause she thought she was cursed and no one would marry her while her aunt's unalive form lay in a corner. death was so adorably confused as he asked if it was what she was crying about<---
-Despite being the beginning and ending of destruction, he appreciated the beauty of life. He made death a little easier for the pure souls and brought down just punishments for the evil ones on a daily basis, still he found time to bully Signa into accepting his help. He, who is most feared in all three realams, spent his free time in ladies tea parties in his invisible form, overhearing gossips and sipping his imaginary cup of tea to spare Signa from being there alone.
--->he asked signa if he should give those insufferable women blemished skin that'd do their vanity some good. he threw a scone at signa cause she refused to eat after one of her companions pulled the plate away from her, even though she was hungry. she was telling him how it was improper and against the rules to take more than three scones at tea parties; death shoved the whole scone in her mouth to stop her speaking anymore<---
➵ Overall, Belladonna was exactly the kind of book I needed right now. I made the right choice to trust this book to ease my post TOG hangover; it worked so well, I must give credits.
This book presented one those stories where you’re convinced something is predictable, so you tell yourself it can’t be that and it’s totally something else, but then you’ve convinced yourself so much that the predictable thing winds up shocking you when it does happen? That’s kind of how this felt. Only, it wasn’t really predictable. It just felt right when certain moments occurred. There was a mild cliffhanger as well and I'm very much interested to find it out so on to the next book we go!
“Do not change the parts of yourself that you like to make others comfortable. Do not try to mold yourself to fit the standards someone else has set for you.”
➵ If Belladonna was a song > Don't Blame Me- Taylor Swift
Originally, my intention was to give it 4 stars but after a lot of thinking, I thought why not? A solid 5 for the pure autumnal vibes.
The Bridgerton meets gothic murder mystery in a Victorian setting with its fair share of romantasy,
that's the book in a nutshell. The vibes pretty much overruled the plot; I'm not saying they had a negative effect on the storyline; they only enhanced the whole thing even more. It was all so beautifully written that I found myself getting lost in it over and over again, forgetting that I was reading and just truly living it.
Sypnosis: Signa Farrow, a young orphan, always felt a thread of connection with death; growing up, it bled into her and became even more apparent. Death's shadow trailed her from one eager relative's door to another, as she had a great fortune to her name. They called her the cursed one, wickedest of the witches, devil's spawn. When the last of her living relatives fell to an unfortunate death, she reached the last door that'd welcome her at Thorn Grove among the prestigious Hwathornes, but death's shadow was upon them long before she arrived. To protect the Hwathornes from their cruel fate and uncover the mysteries behind it, she makes an alliance with death himself; it leads her to shocking truths about the Hwathornes and herself.
This is the kind of book you would want to annotate. A perfect cozy read with the right vibes that allows you to relax and relish in it. I can't ignore the fact that it reminded me of a lot of my favorites, especially The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and Avery-Jameson's relationship from The Inheritance Games.
Signa Farrow 'the wanna-be proper lady'.
➴ There are people who would kill for money, Signa. People who will spin lies into sweet words and even sweeter smiles.
➴ You hold your family’s fortune, Signa. But should you marry, it will no longer be yours alone. You’ll be giving everything—your wealth, your wants, your power—to a man who will hold more influence and respect than you as a woman will ever be able to garner for yourself in this world.
➴ It’s exhausting, to pretend you are something—someone—you’re not.
➴ All my life, I have wanted nothing more than to be rid of you. I begged, night after night, death after death, for you to leave me alone.
➴ Signa wished to bite, to sink her fangs into Death and let the poison spread.
➴ She was the one who made Death twist to her whim. She was the one who made him whisper her name as she tipped her head back to the sky, and she rather liked that.
-She was impossibly infuriating. She seemed to have her life goals set on following every word etched on that stupid book, A Lady's Guide to Beauty and Etiquette, being a proper lady and finding a proper husband. If I heard of her stupid bucket list and that stupid book one more time, it would be too soon. I physically wanted to shake her, like why are you trying so hard when you're already everything death needs in his immortal existence?! Thank heavens, she backflipped from her life decisions at the last minute and focused on being a little more badass, a curious soul with a wild heart. Despite all her talk of prim and proper, she was very improper.
--->like during the train ride to thorn grove with sylas, she asked him to sit properly and make some space for her to do the same, but when he didn't, she proceeded to bunch up her skirts so she could also sit like him<---
-First I was so mad at her for having feelings for two guys at the same time while thinking about courting another one but then suddenly I wasn't—I can't even explain why; it'd be too big of a spoiler. Just know she ends up doing the right thing. Besides being the poison lady and death's 'LOML', she was an interesting character herself, I loved seeing her developments all throughout the book. I think I could listen to her describe death's perfection with such passion all day. I knew she wouldn't disappoint
--->from the moment she poisoned herself to summon death, grabbed a knife and stabbed him right in the heart—a meet-cute indeed! she even called death a useless heap of shadows and met his every strike with one of her own<---
Death who makes you want to scream 'I wanna be yours'.
➴ Why is it you are so polite to others? So demure and soft, and yet so bullish when we speak?
➴ I find that you make the time pass quicker. Otherwise, I grow bored and weary, and who else can I taunt?
➴ I have tried to leave you alone, I have tried not to care. To not get involved.
➴ Stop worrying about society and playing its game, hoping that you’ll be good enough. There is no such thing as true goodness, there is only perception.
➴ To me, you are a song to a soul that has never known music. Light to someone who has only seen the darkness.
➴ When I touch someone, I see the life they’ve lived in flashes of memories as they die. But the first time I touched you, it was your future I saw. A glimpse of you in my arms, dancing in a beautiful red dress beneath the moonlight.
➴ So which is better? To live forever, or to live and love?
-Whatever and however I expected Death to be, he wasn't any of it. When I first came to know Death is the love interest of this book, I was so prepared to confront a malicious otherworldly entity
who leaves a pile of corpses everywhere he goes. Never for once I imagined Death to be such a sunshine character; he went about teasing, flirting and sulking after Signa, even Signa was more moody than him. He deserves a trend of his own (#immortal fluff #dead romantics). Fictional men can line up to take notes on how to catch hearts and drop bodies like him.
--->when he first spoke with signa, she was crying rivers cause she thought she was cursed and no one would marry her while her aunt's unalive form lay in a corner. death was so adorably confused as he asked if it was what she was crying about<---
-Despite being the beginning and ending of destruction, he appreciated the beauty of life. He made death a little easier for the pure souls and brought down just punishments for the evil ones on a daily basis, still he found time to bully Signa into accepting his help. He, who is most feared in all three realams, spent his free time in ladies tea parties in his invisible form, overhearing gossips and sipping his imaginary cup of tea to spare Signa from being there alone.
--->he asked signa if he should give those insufferable women blemished skin that'd do their vanity some good. he threw a scone at signa cause she refused to eat after one of her companions pulled the plate away from her, even though she was hungry. she was telling him how it was improper and against the rules to take more than three scones at tea parties; death shoved the whole scone in her mouth to stop her speaking anymore<---
➵ Overall, Belladonna was exactly the kind of book I needed right now. I made the right choice to trust this book to ease my post TOG hangover; it worked so well, I must give credits.
This book presented one those stories where you’re convinced something is predictable, so you tell yourself it can’t be that and it’s totally something else, but then you’ve convinced yourself so much that the predictable thing winds up shocking you when it does happen? That’s kind of how this felt. Only, it wasn’t really predictable. It just felt right when certain moments occurred. There was a mild cliffhanger as well and I'm very much interested to find it out so on to the next book we go!