Reviews with content warning for Murder - Foxglove

disappointing.

I’m sorry, but this doesn’t even feel like it belongs with the first book. The romance was pretty much nonexistent and the plot was honestly so boring. The only reason I got through this is because I listen to the audiobook at the same time. It did not have the same vibe as the first book at all. The plot twist was also blatantly obvious. Conversations felt repetitive and unemotional. I struggled with this one.

0.25 🌶️

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kinsportch's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.0

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measlibrary's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

Another great installment in the Belladonna series! I thought this book did a really great job at expanding on what we already had from the first book. It genuinely added more character depth and explanation for Signa’s powers and her relationship with Death, which I greatly appreciated!

At first when the book got rolling I became very nervous with the added introduction of Fate. I did not want it to end up being an ACOTAR situation where the first man we get introduced to ends up not being the person our FMC ends up with or that Death was actually a toxic man. Luckily, the ending of this book wraps everything up very nicely and everything makes perfect sense in the end. I found myself pleasantly surprised that I actually did not see the twist at the end coming. Adalyn does a really good job at keeping the audience guessing all the way up until the end, and then making everything fit together nicely like a puzzle.

I really liked learning more about Signa’s past and understanding the scope of her powers on a much deeper level. It was very interesting and only deepened the world building we see in this series, which I thought was brilliant. I am excited to learn even more about the powers in the third book.

I also loved the added POV of Blythe. It was interesting to be able to get more insight into her process of thinking and how she reacted to learning about Signa’s powers and what happened to Percy.

I loved seeing her character development and her ultimate realization that her cousin was not the enemy in this situation. Seeing what she did for Signa in the end was amazing and the twist really made it even better. I cannot wait to see the enemies to lovers trope with Fate and Blythe in the next book!

Overall, I thought this was another fantastic installment in the series. Adalyn did a great job at expanding on her original ideas while also adding a fresh element and the introduction of new characters to the series. I am very excited to read the third book! I rate this book 5/5 stars! 🌟

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beckyyreadss's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

I read the first book in this series in October as it was the book club’s pick of the month. When I noticed it was a series, I was very interested in carrying on with the series.

This book is based on nineteen-year-old Signa Farrow and her cousin Blythe Hawthorne, and a duke has been murdered and Blythe’s father has been framed. And Fate, the elusive brother of Death, has taken up residence in a sumptuous estate nearby. He's hellbent on revenge after Death took the life of the woman, he loved many decades ago . . . and now he’s determined to have Signa for himself, no matter the cost. Signa and Blythe are certain that Fate can save Elijah Hawthorne from prison if they will entertain his presence. But the more time they spend with Fate, the more frightening their reality becomes as Signa exhibits dramatic new powers that link her to Fate’s past. With mysteries and danger around every corner, the cousins must decide if they can trust one another as they navigate their futures in high society, unravel the murders that haunt their family, and play Fate’s unexpected games – all with their destinies hanging in the balance.

I am hooked with this series. I loved Signa and Death’s relationship and how they grew together and trusted each other through the difficult times and that they weren’t letting anyone get in between them. I loved the character development of Blythe; she sorts of dipped a bit throughout the book as she was confused and hurt, but she was back on the good side by the end. Fate was supposed to be this big, bad scary dude and I just couldn’t hate him. He wanted his girl from back in the day and thought Signa was his girl. I love the regency and gothic feeling with all the balls and talks about how a woman must act in society and then Signa and Blythe are like nope screw that I'm out. I loved the mystery element and was waiting to see who killed the duke and if Elijah was going to be saved or hung. The way that this book ended with the plot twists had me audible gasping. Blythe was a badass and then Death and Signa slowly figuring out who Life is, had me on the edge of my sit.

The reason why this isn’t getting five stars is because it is still missing something. Some elements. I can’t put my finger on what it was, but it did lose its pace during the middle of book and was waiting for it to go back on track.

I cannot wait to see how Blythe and Signa work together in the next book and hopefully Fate and Death work together and they can all be one happy family.

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louisebullock's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious 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? No

4.75

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ellejo3's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

The continued casual ableism in this series is disappointing. In Belladonna, Death alluded that a disabled man's life was worth less than an able-bodied person's because he would've lived with pain wrought in his bones, as though it was a mercy that Signa's choice led to his death. In Foxglove, this trend continued with the way Signa treated Blythe. Signa deliberately mentioned that she had to hide the truth from Blythe because of Blythe's illness and how frail that made her. This is despite the fact that we got Blythe's point of view and could repeatedly see how strong and capable Blythe was throughout this book. I could understand Signa wanting to hide the truth because she's afraid that it'd cost her relationship with Blythe, but Signa repeatedly infantilized Blythe simply because of her illness.

This book also suffered from second book syndrome. It was unnecessarily long. Signa didn't grow at all. She was willing to make the same choice as in book one

taking an innocent person's life to spare someone in her family

, having learned nothing about the cost of death. The mystery was stagnant for most of the book, only to unfurl on its own by happenstance at the end. I wanted to like Fate, but he had no concept of consent. I haven't forgiven Death for his ableism in book one and so I didn't care about his relationship with Signa. The way Signa revealed her secret to Blythe didn't make sense and while it wasn't quite the miscommunication trope, it was only a few degrees off.

The parts of this book I enjoyed were the ghosts in Foxglove and Blythe's journey.

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jellyhavana's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

I really enjoyed Belladonna and hoped for more of the same. This book was pleasant but didn’t pack the punch the first one did. I enjoyed getting to know Blythe and seeing her snd Fate grow was enjoyable. The final chapters will lead on nicely to the next book which I look forward to reading.

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margaret_k30's review against another edition

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adventurous sad

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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