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alamayhem_reads's review against another edition
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
I am absolutely OBSESSED with this series now. Honestly I have no idea how I did not read it sooner, but I absolutely ate this book up. I had been in a slight reading slump, but I finished this book in a week while I worked 37 hours at work. I genuinely did not want to put it down and was picking it up every single chance that I got. I cannot wait to read the rest of the series and every other book that Adalyn Grace has and will write!
As I was reading this book, I was heavily reminded of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and House of Salt and Sorrows. It genuinely felt like a mashup of these two books, which was awesome, because these are two of my favorite books of all time. I loved the gothic vibes, as well as the murder mystery element to the story. It is quite literally everything that I could want in a book. It is all of my favorite tropes and components wrapped up in one book!
I also loved Death being an actual tangible person that we get to see as a romantic lead. Seeing Signa interact with him and also getting that enemies to lovers trope? Absolutely love. This is definitely where I found the comparison to Addie LaRue, as it was similar to Luc and Addie's love story. I also loved getting to explore the connection between Sylas and Signa, and then ultimately seeing how it all made sense in the end.
Getting to uncover the mystery surrounding Lillian's murder and who was also behind Blythe's poisioning was super intriguing and kept me on the edge of my seat. Although I was able to figure things out a second before Adalyn explained it in the text, it was still surprising and a good reveal. Especially being a YA novel, I was able to overlook being told what I had already figured out a little bit earlier.
I also loved being able to learn more about Signa's powers and seeing her come to accept and embrace herself for who she is. I thought that was a beautiful component of the book and a much needed character development for Signa.
Lastly, I also wanted to comment on the little Bridgerton elements that we got to see with Signa's debut into society, getting to see her meet potential suitors at tea and parties, and her strict following of the expectations placed on women during that time. However, it was also super awesome to see her push against those constrictions and not follow them at times. We love a strong queen!
Favorite tropes of this book:
🖤Shadow Daddy
💘Enemies to Lovers
🔎Murder Mystery
🫖Regency Era/Courtship
Overall, I had so much fun reading this book and literally immediately started Foxglove after that ending! I cannot wait to read the rest of the series and see what happens to Signa and her family next! I rate this book 5/5 stars! 🌟
As I was reading this book, I was heavily reminded of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and House of Salt and Sorrows. It genuinely felt like a mashup of these two books, which was awesome, because these are two of my favorite books of all time. I loved the gothic vibes, as well as the murder mystery element to the story. It is quite literally everything that I could want in a book. It is all of my favorite tropes and components wrapped up in one book!
I also loved Death being an actual tangible person that we get to see as a romantic lead. Seeing Signa interact with him and also getting that enemies to lovers trope? Absolutely love. This is definitely where I found the comparison to Addie LaRue, as it was similar to Luc and Addie's love story. I also loved getting to explore the connection between Sylas and Signa, and then ultimately seeing how it all made sense in the end.
Getting to uncover the mystery surrounding Lillian's murder and who was also behind Blythe's poisioning was super intriguing and kept me on the edge of my seat. Although I was able to figure things out a second before Adalyn explained it in the text, it was still surprising and a good reveal. Especially being a YA novel, I was able to overlook being told what I had already figured out a little bit earlier.
I also loved being able to learn more about Signa's powers and seeing her come to accept and embrace herself for who she is. I thought that was a beautiful component of the book and a much needed character development for Signa.
Lastly, I also wanted to comment on the little Bridgerton elements that we got to see with Signa's debut into society, getting to see her meet potential suitors at tea and parties, and her strict following of the expectations placed on women during that time. However, it was also super awesome to see her push against those constrictions and not follow them at times. We love a strong queen!
Favorite tropes of this book:
🖤Shadow Daddy
💘Enemies to Lovers
🔎Murder Mystery
🫖Regency Era/Courtship
Overall, I had so much fun reading this book and literally immediately started Foxglove after that ending! I cannot wait to read the rest of the series and see what happens to Signa and her family next! I rate this book 5/5 stars! 🌟
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Vomit, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
avie_j'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Violence
lizzie_b99's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
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? Yes
4.5
The world is an interesting mix of magic and Victorian England aesthetics. I found Signa's powers and connection with Death intriguing, and really enjoyed the Gothic setting.
I found there was some unnecessary repetition of main plot points, but I think that is often a feature of YA novels. The mystery kept me guessing until the end, and there are some really solid twists throughout. I'm not necessarily a fan of epilogues that are clearly introductions to sequels, but I do like how that's done here.
I found there was some unnecessary repetition of main plot points, but I think that is often a feature of YA novels. The mystery kept me guessing until the end, and there are some really solid twists throughout. I'm not necessarily a fan of epilogues that are clearly introductions to sequels, but I do like how that's done here.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Self harm, Violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Grief
kaitrates's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Vomit, and Death of parent
Moderate: Gore, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Sexual content
andreapepsii's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I loved this book, but I wish it were 100 pages more to give some characters the depth they deserved. The ending felt a bit rushed, aside from that great read and will continue the saga in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Terminal illness
Moderate: Violence, Blood, Vomit, and Murder
Minor: Alcoholism and Infidelity
hereiskyra's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.75
Oh man, I loved this in all of the most unexpected ways! This was like the perfect mix of gothic, fantasy, thriller and romance.
It was a little slow in the beginning but once it picked up towards the halfway point, I was excited to see where it was going to go. And honestly, most of the lead up was necessary for context and story building - in hindsight.
I gotta say, a book that can make me root for death incarnate (literally) is doing something amazing. I just kept thinking “am I actually having feelings for… Death?” 😏
The overall “twist” about his overall form was also done in a really satisfying way.
And I didn’t expect the murder-mystery element in this book either, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
The vibes absolutely “touch her and die” (literally, because he IS death) and I loved it.
And the “little bird” nickname made me absolutely swoooooon… 🫠
Tropes:
Enemies to Lovers Vibes
Touch Her and Die
Spice: 🌶️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Death of parent
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Sexual content
j_day's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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? Yes
3.25
Not my genre but still enjoyable enough. Predicted Sylas being death and Percy being the murderer from less than halfway through but this didn't spoil it too much - although I would've preferred not to have worked it out so quickly!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
_charliesbooks_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Gore, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, and Drug use
theycallmebookish's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? Yes
4.5
Fantasy. Paranormal activity. Gothic. Romance. Murder mystery. Morally grey characters. If you feel drawn to any of these themes, the book is for you! Signa is an orphan about to come into her inheritance but death seems to follow her wherever she goes. She finally finds a home and a family but death seems to have found her. The characters are so well written. You genuinely start to love them or hate them in the best way possible. I spent many late nights reading this one because it was hard to put down. But I will say I wouldn’t mind some more explicit spicy time between a certain two characters 👀
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Violence, and Death of parent
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
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