Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Belladonna by Adalyn Grace

24 reviews

mattiedancer's review against another edition

2.25

Belladonna by Adalyn Grace

**SPOILERS**

Writing: 3.25⭐️/5 

I think the writing was done well enough. It was a bit more than serviceable and at times bent towards strong. I did actually appreciate that Signa FELT young: she’s only 19 and very naive about the world, so I liked her voice echoing these traits. The repetitive descriptive phrasing was a little irksome, and I do wish the pacing had consolidated into a solid pace instead of bouncing back and forth between everything at once or nothing at all.

Characters: 3.25⭐️/5

I liked Signa, and I liked Death in the first bit (when I was really hoping he was going to be more of a guardian and trainer for Signa). Sylas was a great voice as well and, though several of Signa’s cousins blurred together at times, I did enjoy learning about them. It really fell apart for me in the second half where I felt that several characters were pushed towards development instead of growing there naturally. Plus (BIG SPOILERS) Sylas and Death being the same person was a flop for me, considering they had vastly different voices and personalities. 

Plot: 2⭐️/5 

The concept is good: a girl who can’t die must solve a murder with Death itself. I’d read another book with a similar concept. The largest plot point I took issue with was the fact that Death watched Signa grow up and then made moves on her. I understand that he’s an immortal entity, but it’s a very odd choice in a novel written for young adults. The bones of this story are good; the details and execution were very much not.

Who Should Read This Book? 

Not young adults.

Content Warnings? 

Adult/Minor relationship, murder, death, death of a parent, death of a child, gaslighting, domestic abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, misogyny, sexism, fire, injury/injury detail, suicide, suicide attempts

Post-Reading Rating:  0.5⭐️/5

I don’t like the fact that the main love interest met our MC as A FREAKING BABY and watched her grow up, like some sort of creepy uncle. Not a fan of that, nor do I think it was necessary for a Young Adult novel to include and represent as okay.

Final Rating: 2.25⭐️/5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual content

ladybug12793's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious relaxing fast-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

3.5

Good Halloween read. 


I enjoyed this book. It was a quick read and I finished it in less than 24 hours. It’s perfect for the spooky season because it’s fantasy with a little bit of mystery and ghosts. What I didn’t like is that the romance went from 0 to 1000 in about 0.25 seconds. Then, by the end of it, I was genuinely curious what the point of it all was. Also, confused about the murder’s plot. Even with those things, I had fun reading this book. I would recommend this to anyone that wants to read an easy, cozy, slightly spooky romantasy. However, If you are looking for some literary masterpiece, then I wouldn’t recommend this book.

0.5 🌶️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Infidelity and Sexual content

Minor: Suicide attempt

lateromantic's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

2.0

This book feels like it was written for a pitch, rather than to a pitch - like 'The Secret Garden x Crimson Peak', some aesthetic images, and 'I long for the sweet embrace of death but make it a YA novel'. Learning that the author is a storyteller from TV makes sooooo much sense - this would make a beautiful film or series, but is ill-suited to the medium it's in, like it's two books smooshed together, and it feels like it's missing the transitional or reflective scenes that would naturally be cut from a show. I'm not so much of a plot-focussed reader, so it wasn't for me, and the craft of writing, which is important to me and not other readers, felt missing, so it felt a bit like wasted potential, but if you're more into YA than I am then I can see why you'd love it. Not for me, and I won't be reading the rest, but that doesn't make it bad.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Grief and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Gore, Misogyny, Blood, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

such trope much fanfic wow

tguccione's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Gore, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Misogyny and Classism

niya_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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Terminal illness, Vomit, Death of parent, and Alcohol

chrisljm's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.5

honestly signa was dumb as fuck 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Classism

Minor: Infertility and Pregnancy

chase0w0's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual content, Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol

Minor: Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

tabea1409's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

melissaslibraryy's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I have been wanting to be get to this book for awhile now since it’s been on my shelves for a little over a year, and Belladonna did not disappoint! I loved the who-done-it aspects of the book when it came to figuring out the murderer and their motives bc I was pleasantly surprised when it came to the reveal and the way it happened. And can we talk about the love interest Death 🤭 Signa really lucked out with him bc he does NOT play about his girl fr AHHH I was obsessed with those two. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, and Abandonment

Minor: Sexual content

_thugbug_'s review against another edition

funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Took some time to get the ball rolling but once it did it was engaging enough! Writing was not the best but was a good story. Characters were relatable and the mystery/romance was tense enough to keep reading. 

I found myself confused (not in a good way) sometimes, because the pacing was off. I also found the main character lacking personality until the plot started to become more clear. 

In general, it was not the best book I have read, but not the worse. If you would like a dark-ish -sort of gothic-romance-who don it. Give it a read! 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Misogyny and Sexism