A love story with Death? Sounds fun. My mind thought it was going to be more like Emily and Death from the show, Dickinson. It was not. And the more I think about it, the more predatory and weird the relationship feels to me, personally. I don't want to dissuade anyone from picking this up. I really wanted to give Adalyn Grace another shot because I wasn't a fan of her first duology. But I don't think her work is for me. And that's okay. I know many Fantasy and Gothic lovers will inhale Belladonna and I will still recommend it to them.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy.

I liked this, but unfortunately didn't love it. I hoped to love it and was reasonably anticipatory since the gothic, ghosty, dark, mysterious vibes are right up my reading alley. There's just something about Adalyn Grace's writing that doesn't work for me. The phrasing too often sounds stilted and clunky and keeps me from getting lost in the story. I did read this as an e-ARC (thank you Netgalley and Little Brown Books!) so I expect that some of this will improve for the final printing, but this was my opinion after reading All the Stars and Teeth too, and that wasn't an ARC.

The story is entertaining and it kept me interested throughout and I definitely think this will be a hit with the YA crowd! Signa is a very caring young woman and I enjoyed watching her confidence bloom as she fought to protect her family and worked to solve the mystery.

I also thought the romance was enough without overshadowing the rest of the story. I'm not sure whether I'll continue the series, but I do expect it to be successful and I'd personally like to see a couple of the other young women Signa gets to know in this book play a larger part in future installments.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sending me an e-arc of Belladonna!

I have very mixed feelings about this book. I really enjoyed the creepy, gothic vibes of the book. The plot also had a lot of potential. The main character, Signa and her powers were very interesting. However, I did have a hard time connecting to her character. I would have liked to see more from her past and more of her interacting with the people around her. The author talks about the abuse of the guardians Signa has endured over the years or her friendship with Charlotte etc but I probably would have liked to see more of that instead of just being told about it. I also think Signa mastered her powers a little too quickly. I would have loved to see Death training her properly, which would have also given us more interaction between them. While I did enjoy certain elements of Signa’s relationship with Death, I did not fully feel the chemistry between them. I felt that their relationship was underdeveloped and needed more time to grow. I also do not like the fact that he has kept an eye on her as she was growing up. Yes, he was protecting her over the years but he was also sort of waiting for her to grow up so that he could be with her. And that kinda feels like grooming to me.

It also took me a while to actually get into the book. Nothing significant or interesting happened in the first 30%. I was also able to predict most of the plot twists. I was really invested in the second half of the book, mostly because I wanted to see if my predictions were correct, which they were and I was not surprised. Overall, I felt like the writing was just missing something.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers/Hachette Book Group for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I loved the atmosphere of Thorn Grove and the gothic vibes it gave. It was the perfect amount of creepy (and the fact that the story takes place in the autumn/winter made it all the more better!) and I was constantly engaged the entire time reading the book. I loved the prose and the writing style too! However, I couldn't really get behind Signa and Death's relationship; it just seemed very...off or weird to me, I can't really describe it. I also managed to figure out the mystery pretty early on and it somewhat ruined the big reveals for me, but that's not on the author at all.

I finished this book in one day. It was extraordinary! Signa Fallow was orphaned as a baby. After her grandmother dies, Signa is taken in by string of guardians, each more interested in her wealth than her well-being, and one by one, they all perish. Her remaining relatives are the Hawthornes who live on a gloomy estate. Elijah Hawthorne is mourning his dead wife and ignoring the family business while his daughter seems to be dying from the same thing that took his beloved wife, Signa's cousin, Lillian. Lillian appears to Signa to point out that she was being poisoned. There's a mystery here that Signa must solve so that the family she has come to depend on don't come to a ruinous end. And Signa's connection to Death himself will come in handy in solving this mystery.
Oh, I need this to be a series so badly because THE ENDING! And how can Signa and Death be together?

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown for an e-arc of this novel.*

Belladonna hooked me from the start. It broke me out of a reading slump, made me stay up long past the middle of the night, until I was literally falling asleep while reading. The prose is lovely, clear, and strange; the premise is wonderful, and the rules of the world are original and exciting. While reading, I couldn't help but wish I could come up with a premise so compelling and execute it as effectively as Grace has. I'm a sucker for a gothic, for a mysterious house, for a protagonist with a grim past, for a strange set of powers. I love books about death, and books about characters playing with death. I love this book. I'm so excited about this book. Thank you so much for the opportunity to read it.

review ♥
belladonna- adalyn grace
★ ★ ★ ★ ★

“You have the power of the world within you, Signa Farrow. You need only to embrace it.”

•enemies to lovers
•forced proximity
•murder mystery
•dark romance
•gothic fantasy

Signa Farrow was born with a connection to Death. For as long as she can remember, she has never been able to die. In testing her theory, she consumes five belladonna berries, enough to kill a typical human being. Instead of dying when she eats belladonna berries, she meets Death behind the veil. After numerous deaths have caused her to jump from guardian to guardian, Signa is finally taken to her last relatives, the Hawthornes. When she gets there, she realizes the lady of the house, Lillian, was poisoned to death. Now, it is up to her, and a stable boy to figure out the culprit before her cousin Blythe dies of the same cause.

This book was so hard to put down. I haven’t read a story this magical in a while. Adalyn Grace has completely outdone herself! The closet scene? The tension? And chapter 38! All of the best quotes are in this chapter! I’m usually good at predicting the culprit in murder mysteries, but I could not tell until the answer was revealed! However, I did guess one thing right… but it’s a secret and I cannot share without spoiling (it has something to do with Sylas).

Belladonna is a whimsical story full of the pain, joy, and heartbreak that comes with love. I felt all the emotions while reading, and had to keep myself from crying at the end. Also, be warned for the cliffhanger that has me falling off of my seat! Can Foxglove come out any faster?!

#books #bookstagram #booktok #bookish #booklover #bookworm #bookshelf #yabooks #bookrecommendations #bookreview #reader #reading #read #belladonna #foxglove

“You are no soft thing to be coddled.” His voice was soothing as the season’s first rain, and she shivered from the way a glided upon her skin. “You are bolder than the sun, Signa Farrow, and it’s time that you burn.”

Grace gives as a fantastic Gothic murder mystery with a Death and the Maiden/enemies-to-lovers romance in Belladonna! Signa is a really intriguing character and it was empowering to watch her conquer her own wants as she navigates what “polite society” expects of her. The side characters are just as intriguing as Signa, and Death is a shadow magic dark suitor waiting in the winds. You’ll understand very quickly the “Belladonna” reference and wanting to go with Signa now the Who-Done-It storyline happening at Thorn Grove. I didn’t realize this was a series and ends on a very interesting cliffhanger!! Also, just FYI this is more of a mild NA romance storyline in terms of love scenes!

I received this as an eARC from NetGalley. I was really excited for this book and overall enjoyed it! It definitely reads more YA than adult in my opinion, and I was hoping it would’ve been a bit darker given one of the MCs is “Death” himself, so fingers crossed for that in the next book. But loved Signa and her fiery passion to find her place in this world, and how much she cares for those in her life. Will be picking up the sequel for sure, however hoping the causes of death start to diversify soon, as that aspect of this first novel (along with the freaking “ladies etiquette” book) felt a bit too repetitive.

I actually have no words. Signa has seen the dead since she was a baby. Every family member she has been sent to live with ends up dead. She ends up with the Hawthorns. With everything that is happening she needs death to help her. I loved the writing style and the entire book. I need more. Why did it end like that. AHHHHH!

I devoured Belladonna in a few days. I couldn’t stop reading, I was continuously intrigued. I had been keeping tabs on this book for a while and was thrilled and grateful to have received an ARC. I would categorize this book as gothic horror. The plot twists in this book had me on the edge of my seat. The plot was beautifully written and I loved Signa’s pov. Her voice and character was intricate and unique. As most of us readers love our morally grey men, Death did not disappoint. His broody, mysterious, and deep care for Signa kept me entranced. I thoroughly enjoyed this book cover to cover and the hype did not disappoint. Again I was truly honored to have been given the opportunity to receive an ARC of such a well done and beautiful book. I look forward to seeing more of these characters and this world in the future. Thank you💜

This is perfect hangover remedy for those pinning for more Bridgerton, but with a splash of gothic. There were things that surprised me, which is great because I can often predict what is going to happen. Signa was a character I enjoyed being with. I definitely recommend this one!

“𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐝, 𝐒𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐚. 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐯𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬. 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥, 𝐭𝐨𝐨, 𝐈 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮.”

“𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡. 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝. 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲, 𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞. 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝.”

“𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞.”

“𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐯𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬. 𝐒𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮.”

“𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐝.” 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧’𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐭 𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧. “𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐧, 𝐒𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐚 𝐅𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧.”

“𝐒𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫? 𝐓𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞?”

“𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲. 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮.”
“𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧.”

“𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥. 𝐈 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭.”

“𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞…𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬.”

_____________________

Orphaned Signa Farrow has known Death all her life. As the girl who cannot die but who watches everyone around her succumb to untimely deaths, she grows to resent the very being that won’t accept her though he insists on taking everyone from her. Only months away from coming of age, collecting her inheritance, and finally claiming her own independence she makes one last move to Thorn Gove with distant family and a restless spirit determined to lead her to answers that will help her piece the family back together one grieving and tortured individual at a time. Together with her cousins Blythe and Percy, Signa must choose whether or not to embrace her connection with Death in order to solve the mystery before it’s too late or doom her cousin Blythe to a premature death at the hands of the killer who has been targeting the family and is poised to claim another victim.

This book was absolute perfection. The writing was descriptive and beautiful and it was so easy to just sink into the pages and allow yourself to get lost in the immersive world, storyline, and characters. This is THE perfect book for fall, spooky season, lovers of Agatha Christie novels, and seekers of a deeply disturbing and haunted take on Bridgerton.

There wasn’t a single character that I did not love. From Signa with her fire, her resilience, and her unwavering sense of love and compassion, to Blythe with her sharp tongue, no nonsense attitude, and fragile yet steel resolve, to Percy who so very clearly is a boy who was never allowed to be a boy trying to become a man who is in turn being snuffed out and forced to remain a boy. Even meeting Lillian’s spirit, while absolutely TERRIFYING and creepy, you couldn’t help but immediately fall in love with her and become desperate to see things righted so she could finally be at rest.

Death himself was absolutely everything. Suave and classy to a fault he was almost like a shadowed, other worldly Rhett Butler and though his purpose in Signa’s story and life was never to woo and seduce her he absolutely had me from the first time he graced the page.

Sylas was the grumpy groom from the stables who became Signa’s unlikely ally and her first major love interest. The sparks that flew between them were absolutely perfect and you couldn’t help but root for them to admit their true feelings for each other, even as Signa had to make her decision between a normal human life and one forever intertwined with Death’s power and purpose.

The side characters were just as wonderful and each one had the deepest desires and the richest backstory, despite every single person being a murder suspect. Elijah, Marjorie, Byron, and Charlotte were all slightly threatening in their own ways but were also to be loved and pitied in spite of themselves. They were all simultaneously strong and tragic in their own ways and there wasn’t a single interaction that didn’t have me thoroughly enthralled.

I somehow thought this was a stand alone novel so I was BEYOND excited to read the Epilogue and realize that this is only the beginning. Which that Epilogue by the way…all I can say is WOW!!

I can’t recommend this book enough. It is excellent in every way and I CANNOT WAIT to read it over again in the fall when the air is crisp and the leaves are crunchy.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, the author and Little, Brown and Company for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for my review!

I feel so sad but I have to DNF this book. I usually would never write a review on a book I didn’t complete but I don’t want my feedback ratio to be messed up. I loved this authors other duology so much and I wanted to read more from her, but I really don’t like the historical setting and I wish Death was shown more. I don’t like that the main character has to go to another place where women are expected to act a certain way. I think I would enjoy this book more if she didn’t have to change where she was. The first chapters sucked me in, but I could care less about the historical aspect. I don’t want to rate a book I DNF but this makes me.

So, I was excited going into this book because it said gothic on it, and I’m into pretty much anything gothic. And boy, did I get gothic! I also got a mix of fantasy elements that I love so much. And Death. Death was great as well. In some ways the atmosphere — something — about the book reminded me of Sorcery of Thorns, one of my all time favorite books. As well as Down Comes the Night. The combination in this book was just so well done. I was living for it. It is going to be a must re-read this fall when it's spooky season. (I promise, you won't be disappointed!)

Grace’s writing has only improved since her debut series, and I was gripped by it in this book. It was great before, and it is even better now. While the themes are different and styles are different, she does both very well! I found it easy to read and very addicting. I kept wanting to hug Signa. I loved her so much in this book. I adored her story — I felt connected with her even though she experienced things I hadn’t. And that is Grace's talent, she can make you connect with a character even if it isn't something you have experience. You feel empathy with them.

Also, the prologue was amazing . One of the best prologues that I have ever read to be honest. And I mean…the prologue was something else. What a way to get you into a book and keep you reading! Hook, line and sinker!

This book was a slow burn in many ways; the romance, the plot, the world building, but it was beautifully done. I was obsessed with the idea of this glittering world, of “witches” of the personification of Death.

The romance in this book was much like Grace’s previous, it was slow and twisting; I rather enjoyed those aspects of it. Then you had the complicated factor of the mystery. Honestly, the mystery and ghosts were some of the best parts of this book. It incorporated well into the book, and it gave the book more body. And I love a gothic mystery that incorporates paranormal elements. I'm a sucker for it, and Grace had all of that.

And I loved the plot. I kept flipping pages because I wanted to know what was going to happen next! Suffice to say, I LOVED this book. What was also nice was the MC was 19! An older YA character! Hurray! This book literally checked all the boxes I could ask for. And I am addicted. ADDICTED I TELL YOU.

I need to get my hands on the sequel because HOLY HECK I can’t wait to see what happens next! This is definitely going to be one of my favorite books of the year. I already have THREE editions ordered.

Another intoxicating read by Adalyn Grace! I loved the romance! This book has everything, romance, magic and a murder mystery! I plan on reading the next book in the series!.

4 stars

Belladonna initially drew me in with its insanely stunning cover and its immensely intriguing premise. I mean, a girl who can't die having to solve a mystery alongside Death? It's a gothic dream come true! Now that I have finished it, I am happy to report that Belladonna definitely hit the mark for me.

The book's greatest strength is definitely its protagonist, Sigma Farrow, who is an deliciously contradictory character. On the one hand, she wants nothing more than to be free of Death and yet, she revels in the power that she has over it. While the mystery at the heart of the story was certainly interesting, it is Sigma's journey throughout the book that really propelled the narrative forward for me.

That being said, I would have loved a little more time spent on establishing the setting. The beginning of the book read to me almost like a fantasy world, so it came as a bit of a shock to me when I realized we were just in the Victorian era. Really committing to that period would have further enriched Sigma as a character and her growth as she discovers that she doesn't necessarily want what society at large is offering.

All in all, I am so glad that I picked up Belladonna and I am anxiously awaiting the day when ARCS of the second book in this duology are released!

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

This is easily one of my favourite reads of the year!

Belladonna is a gothic murder mystery, in which the main character Signa has been followed by death her whole life. After her parents died when she was an infant, Signa was passed around to various (pretty crappy) relatives but each seemed to meet an untimely death. Not only that - but Signa can see death himself come to collect their souls. She blames him for her misfortune and just wants to be left alone but when Signa moves into the Hawthorne Manor and realizes her cousins mystery sickness is actually that she's being poisoned, and that her mother who died of the same affliction must have been murdered, Signa must work with death to solve the mystery.

This book was perfection. I never knew I needed a gothic paranormal murder mystery but now that I've read it, I will be thinking about this book none stop until the sequel comes out in 2023. This book kept me on my toes and I never knew what was going to happen next.

BIG BIG thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. It would have been a travesty if I never discovered and got the privilege of reading this book. It's THAT good!!

I didn't have any expectations going into this, but I ended up enjoying it. Grace's writing was atmospheric and gave off an eerie, Gothic vibe that I loved. I also really liked her characters. Signa was so interesting with these strange powers. I wish we learned a little bit more about her background because I wanted to know how she came to be with them, but I'm intrigued to see how they'll grow from here. I also liked her relationship with Death. It was teasing yet protective at the same time. They bickered constantly, but you could tell that underneath it all, they both truly cared for one another. I did see the twist of Death's identity coming from a mile away, so it wasn't as shocking when it was revealed. There were also little clues about the plot twist I was able to suss out as well, but I still liked how Grace wrapped everything up. While the pacing was too slow for me at times, and I think this would've worked well as just a stand-alone, I'm excited to read the next one.

I went in with high hopes because I love a gothic setting and add a girl who sees Death? I'm there. The prologue for this book was also fantastic. Moody, atmospheric, and just the right amount of melodramatic.

So why is my rating not higher for this book? Well, unfortunately after about 15% of the book, I feel like the original direction of the book was lost. I had absolutely no idea where it was headed, and unfortunately, that really showed in the story, which felt somewhat loosely cobbled together. from various tropes and images. I couldn't quite put my finger on

Belladonna is a gothic mystery, wherein Signa attempts to use her burgeoning connection to a personified Death. I love the Death and maiden trope, and I will probably read way too many Hades/Persephone retellings in my lifetime, so I was perfectly primed to like this book.

However, I'm not sure this book knew what it wanted to be. It doesn't quite go all in on the mystery aspect, nor does it fully embrace the romantic time period element. Nor does it fully embrace the gothic atmosphere. Instead it does a smattering of all three, and as a result, I think it never quite nails any of the three.

The romantic situations in the book also felt a bit odd. I kind of figured this book would have a heavy romantic focus, but it lacks the build up or foundational elements of a romance, so when the romantic situations occur, it honestly feels a bit off-putting.

I think if you enjoy a light gothic atmosphere and some mystery solving, then you will enjoy this book.