Reviews with content warning for Vomit - Belladonna

Belladonna is rather marvellous and mystical and I grew to love the characters and the intricacies of the storyline while reading.

In the beginning I was rather sceptical of the female lead, naive and hotheaded I desperately wanted her to think a bit more logically, but she evolves throughout and I especially enjoyed her callousness and the decisiveness she displayed later on.

I honestly would have preferred for the male lead to distance himself more from the rather one-dimensional, cliche of the hot, dark, misunderstood and overly powerful man who only relies and loves the female lead, but I hope the sequel takes care of that.

I’m definitely going to read Foxglove as well.

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raichou'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? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I really enjoyed this book. It's been sitting on my reader for about a year and I don't know why I haven't picked it up before.

It was such an interesting storyline with her

being literally immortal, not being able to die and talking to death

.

The mystery was very intriguing and I didn't see it coming the way it did. I only caught on to one thing before it was revealed. Still it very interesting and didn't make it boring.

I'll definitely read the second book!

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measlibrary's review against another edition

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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! 🌟

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beaniebookcorner's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

5.0

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bookishmillennial's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial

a FMC Signa, who can't die & who has been THROUGH it
Death is a person, who the FMC can see/touch
they solve a mystery together!!
slow burn young adult romance
historical fantasy with paranormal & gothic elements

Do I think it was a little gross that Death met Signa when she was a baby & then proceeded to have a romance with her once she was grown? Ummmm yes. What in the Jacob and Renesmee lol. Did I also still enjoy parts of this? Also yes. I actually thought this was published in the early 2010's because that's how it read to me, so color me surprised when I saw this was published in 2022.

Anyway, this was fine and again, I enjoyed listening to most of the audiobook, but still find that dynamic to be a bit ..... iffy.

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elliotjackson's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

This book is dark, introspective, and mysterious in the best ways. I struggled to make it through the middle of the story as the pacing slowed down, but the plot twist at the end was unexpected and gripping. Most of the characters and the way they cope with grief are handled realistically and in a way with which readers can easily empathize.

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lateromantic's review against another edition

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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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persephonefoxx'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? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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