lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
4.0
I received a copy of this book through my FairyLoot subscription.
“Belladonna” follows a teenaged orphan named Signa. She has spent her life being passed from one guardian to the next, and each guardian has been far more interested in her money than in raising her. Now she finds herself with her last remaining family: the Hawthornes. One evening Signa is approached my a spirit, Lillian, who claims she was murdered. Signa, determined to uncover what truly happened to Lillian, decides to team up with Death to figure out who poisoned Lillian and why.
I enjoyed this story much more than I anticipated. The writing is haunting and gothic, with beautiful prose and a strong voice. My favorite aspect of the whole story was Death as a character. He is clever, charming, and wise. He also seems to be the only person looking out for Signa’s best interest.
I will definitely pick up more from the author in the future.
“Belladonna” follows a teenaged orphan named Signa. She has spent her life being passed from one guardian to the next, and each guardian has been far more interested in her money than in raising her. Now she finds herself with her last remaining family: the Hawthornes. One evening Signa is approached my a spirit, Lillian, who claims she was murdered. Signa, determined to uncover what truly happened to Lillian, decides to team up with Death to figure out who poisoned Lillian and why.
I enjoyed this story much more than I anticipated. The writing is haunting and gothic, with beautiful prose and a strong voice. My favorite aspect of the whole story was Death as a character. He is clever, charming, and wise. He also seems to be the only person looking out for Signa’s best interest.
I will definitely pick up more from the author in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Child death, Murder, and Toxic relationship
chronicacademia's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Child death, Death of parent, Animal death, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Ableism, Vomit, and Violence
Minor: Body shaming
Grooming of a teenager (who is barely not a minor by an old man who knew her starting when she was a baby)foiblesandfiction's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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? Yes
3.0
gothic romance is the way to my little emo heart. somewhere there's a myspace picture of me at warped tour wearing a green studded belt. i still know the words to every song on three cheers to sweet revenge. and somewhere on the internet is the search history of 14 year old me trying to find phantom of the opera fanfiction at 2am.
so let's just say i was really excited for this book - a ya gothic mystery with romance and a death daddy love interest.
but where i was expecting crimson peak, instead i got eddie murphy's the haunted mansion. which isn't the biggest disappointment because god knows that movie is entertaining as hell, but it's still a disappointment.
- too much telling, not enough showing
- too little character interaction, and what there was had little substance
- inconceivable plot twists that felt contrived.
as this is the first in a series, i would be interested to read the next book in hopes that my complaints would be resolved with character development and world building.
ETA
realized i did truly enjoy the observations and commentary about the expectations of women in society, particularly of their purity and demureness. though she was faced with solving a murderer, signa's main dilemma was actually choosing whether or not to meet societal expectations. could she have what she wanted - belonging and community - without being mired and hidden amongst female social norms? is that even true belonging?
now THIS is some good stuff, and i especially love this in a ya novel. thumbs up.
so let's just say i was really excited for this book - a ya gothic mystery with romance and a death daddy love interest.
but where i was expecting crimson peak, instead i got eddie murphy's the haunted mansion. which isn't the biggest disappointment because god knows that movie is entertaining as hell, but it's still a disappointment.
- too much telling, not enough showing
- too little character interaction, and what there was had little substance
- inconceivable plot twists that felt contrived.
as this is the first in a series, i would be interested to read the next book in hopes that my complaints would be resolved with character development and world building.
ETA
realized i did truly enjoy the observations and commentary about the expectations of women in society, particularly of their purity and demureness. though she was faced with solving a murderer, signa's main dilemma was actually choosing whether or not to meet societal expectations. could she have what she wanted - belonging and community - without being mired and hidden amongst female social norms? is that even true belonging?
now THIS is some good stuff, and i especially love this in a ya novel. thumbs up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Child abuse, Vomit, Sexual content, Self harm, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/injury detail
Minor: Abandonment and Confinement
billykmaguiree's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
A huge thank you to the team at Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for an electronic arc, in exchange for an honest review.
In this gothic romance, Signa Farrow has one goal to stop Death from taking another life of someone close to her. When one of Signa’s relatives, Blythe falls ill with the same symptoms of her late mother, Signa’s determined to find out the truth about what is happening in Thorn Grove. As she hunts for answers, she teams up with Death himself to find out who is poisoning her cousin.
This is the first work that I’ve read by Adalyn Grace and it wasn’t amazing, but also wasn’t terrible. Hit the middle mark of what I expected.
The writing was okay. I liked the way that the characters were portrayed, especially Percy and Blythe but at times the plot felt like it lacked a lot of originality? I don’t know if it’s just me but there was points where I predicted what was going to happen, however the final plot twist was completely unexpected. Knowing Signa’s story with Death isn’t over makes me extremely hopeful for the next book ‘Foxglove.’
I do feel like Foxglove isn’t needed as an extension of the plot and things could’ve been wrapped up with an alternate ending.
Another area where I felt the plot was lacking was the whole build up between Death and Signa. I’m sure it’s no shocker that they fell in love, but I found the whole thing kind of creepy? From the very first page we see Death is watching over Signa as a baby, aware of who she is and what she is capable off. To me personally, Death’s grooming of Signa is not romantic but odd and should not be glamourised.
Overall: Belladonna by Adalyn Grace missed the mark for me and I am still conflicted about whether or not I’ll be picking up Foxglove when it comes out next year.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Suicide, and Death of parent
Moderate: Gaslighting
Minor: Vomit and Toxic relationship
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