I’m not a huge fan of the author’s previous duology, but when BELLADONNA was announced, I got very excited. In theory, it sounds amazing but the execution…it just didn’t do it for me. While the setting and the descriptions were gorgeous, I thought the characters (especially Death, unfortunately) fell flat. The fact that Death had been watching Signa grow up and just waiting for her to be his partner was extremely creepy. Overall, this book was just kind of bland and I didn’t enjoy.

This book has an intriguing, interesting plot, well developed characters that grow along the story, and enough twists to keep you wondering. You will find this and much more in Adalyn Grace’s Belladonna. Read it to discover the story of Signa Farrow, who can see Death and ghosts.

Éste es uno de esos libros que no quieres que terminen. Es la historia de Signa Farrow, la joven que puede ver fantasmas y a la Muerte. Criada por una serie de tutores más interesados en su fortuna que en su bienestar, Signa ha crecido sola, y cuando su más reciente tutora muere, meses antes de que Signa reciba su herencia, ella es enviada a Thorn Grove con los últimos familiares que le quedan. Pero las cosas no son fáciles, ya que la familia está de luto por Lillian; Blythe está enferma con los mismos síntomas que presentó su madre.
El libro es interesante, fácil de leer, los personajes tienen profundidad y crecen a lo largo de la historia

Signa Farrow has been surrounded by death her whole life. Orphaned as an infant, Signa has moved from home to home. Everyone around her seems to meet an untimely death. Nearing the age of 20 — when she will finally gain her inheritance— Signa is welcomed by the Hawthornes.

The Hawthorne’s estate while breathtakingly beautiful, is also full of gloom. Elijah Hawthorne, the patriarch, is suffering after the untimely loss of his wife, Lillian, as well as the possibility of losing his daughter to the same mysterious illness. On top of this, their family business is a sinking ship and tension is rising among the family.

Signa has an ability that she wishes to hide and Thorn Grove is not making it easy. She is able to see and hear spirits that are roaming nearby and Thorn Grove happens to have plenty. When Signa is visited by the spirit of Mrs. Hawthorne she learns there may have been suspicious circumstances regarding Lillian’s death. Signa is on a mission to stop Blythe from falling under the same circumstances. To do so, she must team up with the one person she wants to be rid of—Death.

I liked this book a lot, but there were some things that I felt were missing. Let’s start with what worked. Adalyn Grace did an amazing job of immersing the reader into this world. The spooky/gothic vibes were felt immediately and I was transported into the world from the first page. I could instantly picture Thorn Grove and the surrounding world.

Another thing I loved was that the book did not go in the direction I expected. I was convinced something would happen, only for my prediction to be completely off. The plot twist was completely unexpected, but also upon looking back it makes total sense.

Also Thaddeus owns my heart. That is all. IYKYK.

There are a few things that did not work for me and subsequently lowered my rating. Overall I loved all the characters, but I felt like the relationships were underdeveloped. Signa spends the first nineteen years of her life hating Death and everything he stands for, but with a slight nudging begins to form a firm connection Death. I knew this was coming— it was evident from the synopsis. Unfortunately I was expecting more friction between Signa and Death before she began to accept his help. Their connection felt too forced and rushed. Signa also trusted too easily for someone who has had very few solid relationships in her life.

Another thing that was hard for me to wrap my head around was why Signa was able to do and see the things she could. I will not go into much detail, but I felt like there were not many seeds planted to explain this connection in her life. I hope this is answered in Foxglove, as I feel this is imperative to the story.


Finally, I struggled with part of the ending. While I was surprised by the twist, I felt the aftermath was wrapped up too neatly.

Overall this is a great beginning to a new series and will be a fantastic fall read leading into spooky season. I cannot wait to see what others think and the ending leaves the reader wanting more. While I was not in love with this book, I am thrilled for Foxglove to come out— too bad I’ll have to wait a while 😉

Belladonna is a sexy, spooky, gothic style story that intoxicates you with its atmospheric writing. I was swept away into this world where murder and mystery collide. At first I was not sure how I felt about Signa and Death as a possible couple. Mostly because I was unsure of his role in her abilities. As the story progressed I came to see how he was enamored with her. The fact that shecan actually touch him and not die. How starved for touch he must have been. Makes my heart break a little thinking about it.

I completely did not see the big twist coming at all. I was actually kind of shocked by it .. but happily so. I can't wait to fully review this closer to publicaton date!

Synopsis:
Ever since her mother died when she was only an infant, Signa Farrow has been passed from guardian to guardian, each progressively worse and only interested in her eventual fortune. Death has been a frequent companion in her life and somewhat of a rival. After all, what kind of cruel force would continue to eliminate her guardians and leave her alone again and again? Yet, she has her own secret and strange relationship with it as she has approached it many times but has never succumbed. Not only can Signa see spirits, but she’s broken her neck falling down the stairs, has ingested the poisonous fruits from the belladonna plant, and has had accidents she should not have come back from, but she remains alive, healing quickly each time. To Death, Signa herself is intriguing, especially when she begins to exhibit powers that only he shares.

Signa doesn’t want these strange abilities, however. Her only goal is to be the socialite her mother was with hopes for good marriage prospects that would allow her a husband she loved and a life of parties and companionship.

At the death of her latest guardian, Signa is sent to live with her wealthy relatives, the Hawthornes. When Signa arrives to Thorn Grove manor, she finds grief and chaos running rampant. Her mother’s cousin, Lillian, recently died of a mysterious illness, leaving behind a deeply grieving husband, a solemn son, and her daughter, Blythe, who is now suffering the same illness that killed her mother. However, Signa knows these symptoms and also the taste of the ‘medicine’ that is in her cousin’s tea. This is not a regular illness. Someone slowly and methodically poisoned Lillian to death and she can only assume that the same person is responsible for Blythe’s current condition.

When Death approaches her cousin, Signa begs him to spare Blythe for a time while she tries to find the killer. As she races against the clock to find who did this, Signa enlists the help of the handsome and brooding stable boy, Sylas Thorley, her cousin Percy, and even Death himself. As they race against the clock to find the person responsible, she finds herself wanting things she never knew she desired. Then again, Death has an incredible ability to change your perception on what you crave most in life, and Signa finds herself learning that lesson all too well.

Review:
Belladonna is one of those books that has an absolutely incredible cover and you just hope the book inside is just as beautiful. Spoiler alert? It is. I loved Thorn Grove and its inhabitants, and the plot was actually two interwoven, one a mystery and the other a romance. The romance I was somewhat expecting and, if I’m honest, hoping for. The murder plot? Never. Not in the way it was presented.

The book was dark, but not as dark as I had expected at first. I also LOVE Signa. And Death. And Sylas. And Blythe’s fiery and independent spirit. I even enjoyed Elijah, the husband lost in grief. The spirits that featured were also very interesting and the concepts for life beyond were something I’d never really thought about, and I think about death a lot (I’m delightfully morbid).

There are a lot of books coming out with the same concept of death or Hades as an option for romance, but Grace’s Belladonna stands out. I am very excited for Foxglove to come out next year as the twist ending in the Epilogue left me practically salivating. Please add this to your “To Read” pile if you love historical paranormal mystery/fantasy/romance stories. This one is going to be worth the wait, and I cannot wait to fangirl with you all!

Thanks to Netgalley and Little, Brown books for the advanced copy in exchange for this fair and honest review!

This book is dreamy combination of fantasy meets mystery with paranormal and gothic elements. This time I can judge this book with its cover because both of them are AMAZING!

A haunted house that is invaded by ghosts. A suspicious death of patriarch’s late wife and a suspicious illness of his young daughter whose condition gets deteriorated at each day.

Only 17 years old Signa Farrow who is called “cursed orphan” after everyone who adopts her keep dying one by one, a gifted girl who stands at the thin line between life and death, chewing the poisonous belladonnas to summon death to challenge him can save this family!

That girl lost her own family. She felt the cold breath of DEATH on her face, staring at shadowy figure of him directly. She did everything to lure him take her with him.

Slowly she realizes mysterious things about her life: She talks with the spirits, seeing ghosts and she also realizes she cannot kill herself. Each time she pops several belladonnas into her mouth, she feels the shivering feeling as a sign of death’s approaching.

When Signa accidentally killed her venomous Aunt Magda, she broke the important rule without knowing. Magda was not meant to die at that night so when a life is taken, another must be spared rule saved her cousin Blythe’s life.

Thankfully Blythe who suffers from mysterious illness is part of eccentric Hawthorne Family living at Thorn Grove. Signa is sent there to live with Hawthornes: her last remaining relatives, trying to understand the complex family dynamics.

As the patriarch of the family: Elijah mourns his wife Lillian through wild parties he throws at their eerie mansion where ghosts lurking around the corridors, Percy: his young son does everything to take his father’s attention, caring the young Blythe who is ill, showing the exactly same symptoms with her dead mother.

Signa meets with the spirit of Lillian and she realizes somebody in the house murdered her and unfortunately only Death and a sarcastic stable boy can help Signa to solve the mystery!

I loved to see how Signa’s character evolved and accepted her true powers. Of course Death was the most alluring and charismatic character of the book definitely intrigued me!

I loved the final twist and cliffhanger! I’m absolutely looking forward to read the second book! I had amazing reading time!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Little Brown Books for Young Readers for sharing this amazing digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.

I loved this book! I couldn't get any further into a review without stating that simple fact.

The writing is lush with vivid descriptions. The characters are amazing and three dimensional. The romance is so sweet and genuine and swoon-worthy. The plot is exciting. The magic is interesting. I seriously loved every aspect of this book!

Let's start with the characters. Signa, the main character, has been able to see Death all of her life and is also immune to dying. However, every guardian she's ever had has died while she cannot. After the death of her latest guardian, she goes to the only relatives she has left--the Hawthornes at Thorn Grove. Death is near at Thorn Grove as well, and Signa must solve the mysteries surrounding the poisoning of the Lillian Hawthorne--who has died--and her daughter Blythe, who is barely clinging to life. Together with help from grumpy, handsome stable boy Sylas and from Death himself, Signa sets out to uncover a killer while discovering more about herself.

Signa is strong and strong-willed, even though she desires nothing more to be rid of Death and to fit in. I love that she loves the idea of being social, attending parties, and wearing beautiful gowns, despite the fact that she can see Death. I also love that as she discovers more about herself and the mysteries in her world, she becomes so much more sure of herself. Her arc throughout the book was riveting and I can't wait to see where the author goes with her character in the next book.

Death is also such a fun character. He's surly at first, sasses Signa right back when she sasses him, and has a lot more to him than meets the eye. I loved getting to know his character along with Signa and seeing their off-the-charts chemistry together.

Though Death and Signa definitely steal the show, the side characters are well fleshed out and interesting from start to finish. I can't wait to see more of them in the next book too.

Another thing I absolutely loved about the book was, simply, the premise. The Death and his maiden trope, with a gothic murder mystery in a historical setting was everything I wanted and more. This book checked all of the boxes for me, and I really can't wait for more.

I could talk about this book all day long, but I won't. Suffice it to say, you should read this book!


*Releases August 23, 2022*

*I received a free electronic copy of this book from NetGalley
*Review also posted to Goodreads

The dark, romantic and utterly haunting novel I didn’t know I needed in my life. It’s so hard to find a good scary book with ghosts and romance and this author absolutely nailed the theme perfectly. Fans of House of Hollow, and the Kingdom of the Wicked series need to add this to their bookshelf immediately.

Belladonna is dark, romantic, Victorian, and a murder mystery woven together in utter perfection. A romance with Death? Sign me up. A headstrong MC? Check. The prose? In freaking love. Ghosts? Poison? Shattered champagne glasses? Dark deeds in dark places? A freaking MASQUERADE BALL? GIVE ME MORE. I don’t think I will ever stop screaming about this book.

I have been chasing the feeling Belladonna gave me ever since I read it in Summer 2021 as an early reader, and I haven’t found a high quite like it. Once I put it down, I started googling “books like Belladonna by Adalyn Grace” and got nowhere. Thankfully, there is a sequel coming out, and let me tell you, it is epic.

Five stars FOR SURE.

This was a fun gothic murder mystery! I clocked the actual killer pretty early on, along with his motive, but I still enjoyed reading the book. The romance did feel very like 2004 paranormal YA though.

I will read the sequel for sure!

Belladonna by Adalyn Grace
Belladonna #1
YA Fantasy (Magic - Orphan - Mystery)
Publication Date: August 23, 2022

Signa was orphaned at an early age following an incident that left her as the sole survivor. Since then, Signa has discovered she possesses unique abilities. She is close to the age of receiving her inheritance when she moves in with distant relatives whose estate is haunted by a spirit. Signa uses her unique abilities to find out what is happening at Thorne Grove.

Death for most of us is this scary thing that we would rather not embrace. We put off thinking about it or craft ways of coping with it in order to comfort us when faced with it. So a story romanticizing death is an interesting concept that Grace accomplishes beautifully. Romanticizing not in the sense of glorifying but literally making us both root for and swoon for the grim reaper himself. Two words. Little. Bird.

I have a feeling this series is just getting started because it will barely satisfy your cravings and leave you hungry for answers. It just dips a small toe into the universe in which Grace is creating.

This book is a bit of a change from the typical orphan story in that the last home she gets placed in is a mostly loving one. The family was just wrapped up in their own problems.

Me being me wouldn’t be able to write this review to not mention the one scene that was kindly set up strangely. Signa leaves the mansion in anticipation of overhearing a conversation between her “suspects”. The fact that said “suspects” left the mansion to have a conversation was odd but why didn’t they just talk in the carriage? Why did they wait until they appeared at the club, discuss, physically fight and then awkwardly sit beside each other in said carriage to return to the estate? Couldn’t Signa have just discovered them in a corner during a party? Did they just talk about the weather on the ride over?

I look forward to reading more about Signa in the sequel Foxglove.

Thank you to Netgalley and Little Brown Books for Young Readers for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4/5 ✨ s

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this advance reading copy of Belladonna in exchange for an honest review.

The beginning of this book really drew me in. I really like supernatural fantasy and I loved the relationship between death and Signa. While I suspect some things early on to be true I will say the murder in this book had me guessing for awhile. However I’m sure some more astute readers will pick up on it easily.

Again I think death and signas scenes were my favorite. I also enjoyed the muster around it all. I will say ghosts are seen and play some parts in the story but not a lot. The core of this book is solving a murder with supernatural elements.

I quite enjoyed this book and look forward to the next!

I'm actually blown away, y'all. I've never read a story like this one before, and I absolutely could not put this down.
This book was absolutely fantastic. I've already added it to my list for an order.
A perfect supernatural murder mystery that I didn't want to out down or end.
Signa and Death were such interesting, intriguing characters.
Y'all have got to read this.

“I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!
I will post my review to my platforms, blog, B&N and Waterstone closer to pub date.

Orphaned as an infant, Signa Farrow has spent her life bouncing between guardian after guardian, each dead soon after. With only a few months until she turns 20 and receives her inheritance, Signa finds herself with the Hawthornes of Thorn Grove. Having suffered the recent lose of the wife and on the verge of losing his daughter, death seems to follow Elijah Hawthorne. But he’s not the only one. Linked to Death himself, Signa will do whatever it takes to solve the mystery of who’s killing the family.

I can see where readers could love this book (and it’s series to come) but it just wasn’t a hit for me. While the building of the Gothic world was really well done, I had a hard time getting into the main character and her story. The plot of her being orphaned is abandoned, when it could have been a character defining moment. I hope it comes up in the series.

Signa is written as a product of her time, obsessed with how society views her and how she’ll find a man to marry. Which is fine, but the ultimate romance felt very grooming to me and overall, super creepy and underwhelming.

I wasn’t expecting the ending, which was a redeeming quality. The slow introduction to the next book without being a cliffhanger was nice.

Overall, I was underwhelmed given how hyped the book was.

This book was so fun and I'm glad that I read it. After being immediately intrigued by the description, I did think the murder mystery would have been a much larger part of this. While it was still one of the main things going on I found for a majority of this it was mostly Signa repeating her same worries over and over again about things that we didn't get to see, which would have been fine if she wasn't acting like she was doing everything in her power while not accomplishing anything. I do think that a lot of people will love this book, I think I just went into this assuming it would've been more plot-oriented but wasn't in my opinion. Overall I did have fun reading this book in the beginning and towards the end, it just wasn't one of my favorites.

I like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me a chance at reading this book.

No surprise I like books that that have Death as a main character. So it was an insta-grab for me when this book showed up as to-read on Net-Galley.

Now that I have finished, I am very disappointed and upset that such an interesting and macabre topic was treated so poorly! Stories of girls who are bound to death or Death follows them around are not uncommon. In fact, a way better handle of this topic resides in the popular European musical, Elisabeth. The creator of said musical used Elisabeth's fascination with the poetry of Henrich Henrie and the fact that her life was constantly overshadowed by Death to turn Death into a human who falls in love with her and follows her until her assassination.

I am also confused on what this story is trying to be? A gothic romance? A mystery? A supernatural tale? I mean, the book can CERTAINLY be all three but it was written so hodgepodge that it makes absolutely no sense visually. This girl is so determined to best death, but at the same time, her instant attraction to death is what causes the book to loose it's momentum. There has to be a better way to explain or express her pull and tug.

So the author creates a character that Death uses throughout the book to have her fall in love with him. Fine. But the character comes across as a rude, egotistical dumbass that it is clear the only reason she likes him is that he is good looking and touches her in all the right places. I saw what the author was doing with him when he first arrived and it was horrible writing that allowed you to figure out before the character. Instead of books where the author makes it very clear to us but not clear to the character, the author continues to bait us knowing quite well we figured it out.

The murder mystery was the more interesting and more solid portion of the story. This portion reminded me a lot of The Secret Garden. You have this estate where the father lost his wife and her name is 'Lillian' (or Lily like in the Secret Garden) and she is constantly crying and haunting the walls. There is a garden that used to be hers too. They say she haunts the garden. She left behind a daughter and a son. The son is to inherit the estate, the daughter is dying from a mysterious illness.

How does Death fit into this? Apparently when our main character was young she almost died from an illness that overtook people at a party but he spared her because he loved her? (She was a baby at the time, mind you.) And he has followed her for years. Meanwhile, the girl finds out that if she eats Belladonna berries she cannot die? and she can tap into his powers? because she is bound to him? and when she is half dead she can do what he does.

The ending did make sense, but the route and the awful set up / romance between Death / his other character and our main character was so badly written that I just had to keep going to find out how this solves itself and allows it to become a sequel.

If you want a better handling of this topic, as I said, there are other stories but the best one is Elisabeth das Musical which will give you that better pull and tug relationship of Death and his maiden.

I wasn't sure what to expect from Belladonna, but I ended up really enjoying it! I didn't like Signa at first; she seemed too caught up in being involved in wealthy society and finding a rich man to marry. But her character really developed over the course of the book as she became more entangled in the mystery of Lillian's death and Blythe's illness, and of course, Death himself. I loved the horror aspects of the book, especially mixed with the 'proper' lifestyle Signa strives for at the beginning, Very excited for Foxglove!

I'm surprised by how much I enjoyed this. I adore the setting of this book. Fantasy stories with a mystery thriller aspect intrigue me on a whole different level..Signa and Death are both compelling characters, I thought the evolution of their relationship was perfectly paced and the way they worked together, two thumbs up. I cant wait to read the sequel.

ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

An interesting, gothic YA fantasy with a mystery thrown in. The MC Signa Farrow is an orphan who has spent her life being shuttled among guardians who keep dying. She herself cannot die and can see spirits and Death itself. Finally at age 19 with less than a year left before she can claim an inheritance, she goes to Thorn Manor to live with her deceased aunt’s family. Her cousin is afflicted with the same illness her aunt suffered from and she must figure out what is going on in time to save her cousin. I was expecting to eye-roll the scenes focusing on the romance with Death but it was well-done. A few twists thrown in. I am looking forward to the sequel, focusing on a new mystery.

I was reluctant to put a star rating on this because I honestly think it was very much just a personal thing -- I know many many readers are going to absolutely fall in love with this book. I just didn't connect with it as much as I wanted, partially because I was expecting a romance with Death to be a little more...surrealistic, I guess? More weird, Guillermo del Toro kind of stuff and a little less mainstream. But that's just a matter of my personal expectations, which doesn't have anything to do with what the author herself was aiming for.

If you like the sound of a book that blends the energy of Meet Joe Black with some Crimson Peak vibes, you'll probably love this one.