This isn’t exactly a terrible book but there’s two major things from keeping it from being good.

The first is the lack of plot movement. There was very little solving of Blythe’s poisoning. There was some investigation but little was learned ever. Mostly there was just a big reveal at the end that made sense but didn’t make you say, ah I see how all the pieces fit.

The second was Signa’s relationship with death. Which was creepy on two levels. It was firstly creepy because, death, in this world where the only supernatural being are Death and Fate. Secondly the way Death was originally like a uncle/father figure and became her lover. Like I was just no ok with that. Also the way she went to hate to love for dead in a matter of seconds with no real lead up was unrealistic.

The ending makes me wonder if this will be a series.

I apologize for waiting until now to submit a "review." Goodness it probably means nothing at this point.

Long and short of it, I had a love-hate relationship with this read. I loved the premise, I loved the beginning. But it went down fast with the characters, pacing, and all around prose here.

-Characters: Signa was ok--kinda slow on the uptake, but I didn't dislike her or anything. Her "I don't need to fit in society's mold!!!1" was trite, but fine for a YA audience. Death was an utter disappointment. For being the embodiment of a FORCE OF NATURE...he was no different from any other brooding teenage heartthrob. I laughed every time he called Signa "Little Bird." Can someone direct Ms. Grace to the Tony Pizza copypasta so she can understand why that diminutive is so unserious? The other side characters were fine--nothing of note, but they got the job done. I will say though! I DO like the end of Signa's character arc when she's more comfortable in her skin. It seems like she'll be a more enjoyable perspective to read in book 2.

-Pacing: Again, the beginning was engaging until Signa arrived at the manor. Then everything slowed to a crawl. Sometimes scenes had the gothic atmosphere Ms. Grace was going for, but I was already bored from prior "Signa Tries To Fit In" scenes that I didn't care when the supposed Good Shit was happening. God, the middle portion was so slow in such an unforeboding way. The climax couldn't come fast enough

-Prose: This irritated me the most. Is this just how YA prose is now? We gotta hold our precious baby reader's hand to ///tell/// them exactly how Signa's feeling as she slowly adds 1 and 1 together to get 2 like the big, smart girl that she is? I'm sorry, I didn't know I was reading Gothic Blue's Clues. Trust your readers more.

-Romance/Relationship: A quick bonus section that could be attached to the characters section but whatever. It was underwhelming. Signa's fickle "I hate him or maybe I don't~?" with Death was irksome. I get she's still young and awkward--a real late bloomer in social development. I get that. Doesn't make it a pleasure to read. And when she was figuring out her attraction to "Sylas," it would be happening at the most inopportune times. Like, you gonna get sidetracked by Sylas' big, strong arms NOW, girl? it was such an eye-rolling distraction that took me out of whatever scene I was reading. Her and Death's romance was shallow as hell. I've seen people complain about how Death was intrigued by Signa's immortality since she was a baby an "eww, how pedo!!1, what a groomer!!11" But that label would imply that he had enough of a presence in her life to influence her feelings for him. And no, he was just a creeper in a shadows who never approached her until he deemed her old enough by OUR PRESENT DAY MORAL STANDARDS.

And that's just boring. What a boring ass foundation to be working off of. But that fits for this boring book I guess.

Thank you for the ARC. I dunno if I'll ever make a video on it anytime soon--it's so damn uninspiring. I hope book 2 finds its footing though.

Belladonna sounds like a lush, decadent, gothic fantasy dream, but unfortunately I found it too cheesy, obvious, and clunky in its prose to enjoy very much. Plot details didn't quite hang together, Signa's character feels all over the place, and it's trying sooo hard to be a certain type of gothic-sexy, without having the sensuality or chemistry that requires. Somehow, the corporeal manifestation of Death as a love interest is...dull and corny. That takes doing.

(Also, the quantity of The Secret Garden details and similarities would be fine if it was acknowledged, but it's weird without that! The main mystery plot line is literally just doing The Secret Garden, names and all!)

There are some vibes, there's the decadent gothic aesthetic I guess (although it's been done better elsewhere)... but the plot is a mess, the characters are annoying, and the writing is flat. I won't be bothering to read the sequel.

Thank you to the publisher for the review copy.

This is the first book I read by Adalyn Grace. This books reminded me of Bridgerton, a classic murder mystery, with a some reaper magic.

I haven't read that have death magic or deals with reapers. It was refreshing magic system for YA fantasy.
I adore Signa, and cannot wait to see what her future holds in the sequel, Foxglove.

There was plenty of twists and turns in this book, some I was quite surprised about, and maybe one or two I caught on early but was still pleasantly enjoyed.

I really liked Adalyn's writing and her ability to make characters/world pop off the page.

I can't wait to read more of Adalyn's books.

Please note that I will not be counting this towards my reading challenge goal and that I DNFed it after the first chapter, so take my thoughts with a grain of salt. 😂

Thank you to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for a copy of this book for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

My immediate thoughts upon starting this were that I liked the writing style! It reminded me of This Vicious Grace writing, but then it started feeling like a crossover with A Series of Unfortunate Events. On the first page, I was raising my eyebrows like "A baby was smart enough to sense *what now*?"

That had me feeling a little skeptical, although it is 'explained' on the next page, so when (this is all in the synopsis, but feel free to skip this paragraph for spoilers!) the narrator says the baby should be dead because she has is full of poisoned breastmilk, I was like ???? If the mother dying was meant to be belladonna (which maybe there is a very slow poison and it wasn't belladonna???) and all of the party also died immediately, this does track because "Apparently works within seconds to cause unconsciousness and kills within 2-3 minutes at most." but then... how is the baby full of poison? Google says it takes 1-24 hours for what a mother eats to enter her breastmilk?? She wasn't even feeding the baby on page?? Anyways, I was laughing at that, and I finished the prologue even more confused because it seemed like the narrator tried to say the baby was crying because she could sense Death was on his way, but then later says she was so calm because Death didn't scare her? Who knows, I was still laughing.

I jokingly sent "If XXX is the romantic interest, I'm DNFing (:" to a friend but then.... I Googled again... and read some pretty disgusting quotes/scenes between them, so I am, in fact, out. (:

Pros: this cover was gorgeous. Truly, even the naked cover is breathtaking. I felt a twinge of sadness that I wouldn't want this book on my shelves.

When a girl is born unable to die, she catches Death's interest. Orphaned young, Signa is passed from guardian to guardian in her extended family, the specter of Death taking some and scaring off others. When Sygna accidentally dispatches the latest herself, she finds that at her new home, Death has for once preceded her rather than dogging her footsteps. Thorn Grove is in disarray, mourning the matriarch of the family, Lilian. Elijah Hawthorne throws parties to drown out the sounds of his late, beloved wife's ghost. Their son, Percy, searches for responsibility to fill his empty days. And Blythe wastes away from the same illness that took her mother. Except Signa learns from Lilian's ghost that it isn't an illness at all, but poison. The furious ghost and Signa's own curiosity compel her to investigate the murderous plot and save her cousin.

One of the best parts of the book for me is Signa's character arc. After growing up largely alone and unloved, Signa thinks she wants the high society life her mother once had, sparkling with friends and a handsome husband. But the more she experiences at Thorn Grove, the more she finds herself suited to rebelling against society's strictures and to her newfound abilities borrowed from Death. It turns out that being polite and dainty is quite exhausting, whereas the rush of power is sweet.

On the other hand, the romance of the book features a love triangle that includes Death Himself so prepare for some emo vibes. A little ~too~ emo for this reader, to be honest. In contrast, I loved cousin Blythe's announcement that she intends to never marry so she can live wild and free. Sounds amazing.

In terms of the mystery, I fell for a red herring, and as strange as it sounds, I enjoy being tricked, so that was a welcome surprise. The mystery quickly lost its charm for me early on, lacking the eery suspense or psychological oomph to leave me on the edge of my seat. Getting a twist at the end didn't rectify the situation, but it did leave things on a pleasant note.

In the end, this ya fantasy offers an ok romance and an ok mystery, but Signa's journey has a strong message. For those who like the drama of a love triangle or the angst of being so misunderstood that dating Death is the best option, I think this book will have great appeal. Thanks to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for my copy to read and review!

This gothic read with an unlikely romance was the perfect ya fantasy of last year. This has to be one of my favorite romance mysteries of the ya genre, and I can't wait to see what else Adayln Grace comes up with. I have now read this story thrice, and I notice something different that I didn't see before every time. The way the writing captures your attention and has you on the edge of your seat makes this book fast-paced and able to read in one sitting. This is the perfect story to help you escape your reading slump. I loved the romance with this one and the parties of an orphan trying to solve a murder to save her cousin. This one should be on everyone's TBR.

I absolutely devoured this gothic romance about orphan Signa and her connection to Death. From the opening pages of the novel when the reader is thrust into the lavish and celebratory party that Signa’s mother is throwing, to the end when one mystery is solved only to have another present itself, I could not put this book down. This book was everything that I could’ve wanted in a gothic romance with a mystery and paranormal underpinning to it all.

Signa was such a fun and complex character to lead the reader on this strange journey between the living and the dead. From Signa’s first introduction as an infant when she is orphaned under terrible circumstances to the young woman she grows into who wants nothing more than to be a proper lady of society who is both well educated as well as up to date on the proper etiquette in the hopes of finding a husband and the lasting and loving home she has always yearned for, I couldn’t help but understand why Death would find her such a fascinating human. It was this bizarre and unique connection between Signa and Death that I found myself most interested in and drawn to and one that much like Signa I wished for them to explore more of.

I loved the writing and descriptiveness in this book and the pacing was spot on as there was never a moment where I felt as though the story was lagging behind. While the mystery of who the murderer is and why is resolved, I found myself being left with so many more questions about Signa, her parentage, Death the how fate potentially plays a role in Signa’s life and the lives of those around her; that these questions coupled with the “Nooooo! What do you mean that’s how the story ends and I have to wait until next year for the next book?!?” have left me hoping that these answers will be answered in the next book and that there will be many more books to come in this series as I can’t imagine it ever coming to an end and having to one day say goodbye to these characters.

After many put-downs, I FINALLY finished this.

Gotta start with the pros right? Signa. is THE main character. Her development is incredible and she loves so ferociously that it's beautifully tragic. Her relationship with Death did not sell me at first... but then I found myself holding my breath until they interacted again. (Also was that plot twist totally obvious or was it just me?)

I will preface this by saying, I really did enjoy Grace's writing style. But oh my gooodddnessss was this slow and boring. I am not joking when I say I fell asleep multiple times while reading. I just truly couldn't care less about Signa's lessons and introduction to society. Not to mention the murder mystery that seemed to drag on forever and a day.

SO overall... characters fun, book boring?

I have no idea if I'll pick up book two. I'll probably wait until book three is out at least because that cliffhanger was not fun!

Thanks to Netgalley and Little, Brown Books for the ARC of this!

This somehow got pushed to my backlog and I have no idea why I allowed that to happen. It was SO AMAZING. I love books where Death is a character, and there was so much action and suspense and light creepies.

Two reasons why I won't be finishing this book:
1. It involved a romantic relationship between "death" who is thousands of years old, and the 19-year-old girl he's been watching since she was a BABY. Labeling it as a forbidden romance doesn't change the predatory and grooming undertones.
2. It's boring.

This is extremely disappointing because I'm a huge fan of the All the Stars and Teeth duology by this author, and the cover of this book is gorgeous.

DNF @ page 102

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book and cannot wait for the sequel! My only complaints were that the characters could have been more strongly developed and at times, the plot seemed to drag. 4 stars!

Alas, I have encountered another overhyped book that I just could not get into. I have had this arc forever but every time I was trying to read it, it was just not giving with me. Which brings me to the conclusion that it was the book, not me. While the world building was beautiful and the writing style was great, the characters.. um, no thank you. They were just super not my type, I found them annoying and unlikeable and I wish I had more to say.

Belladonna is the first book in a new series by Adalyn Grace. I had previously read her ALL THE STARS AND TEETH duology, which I really enjoyed, so I was expecting to love this one. I didn't. There wasn't any problem with the writing. Grace always captures the world perfectly and her writing is beautiful. The characters were very unlikeable. It took me MONTHS to get through this book because of how much I didn't like Signa's Pov. The book was pitched as a mystery with a cross between Bridgerton and a haunted mansion mystery. This story is very gothic and if you chose to pick it up do it during October! This book did have redeeming qualities like the worldbuilding, captivating mystery, and atmospheric gothic elements.

Loved the gothic vibes of this book. That aspect was pretty well done. Most of the book, really, was pretty well done. The mystery, the magic. And then Death, himself. A complicated relationship. Largely inappropriate. But I can't help but keep reading.

The most frustrating part was that so many questions weren't answered at all. I know there's a sequel coming, but come on man. I needed a little bit more context for Signa's past. Just a tease? Please?

Oh how I love books with gothic vibes and some mystery! It took me forever and a day to have a chance to read this and I'm so glad I finally got to it! This ya, regency era, fantasy book was a very interesting concept and kept me thinking. The characters were well developed and interesting. The authors writing made me feel like i was right there in that time. My only complaint was the slight predictability of a couple things but I thoroughly enjoyed it and can't wait for the next one!

Moody and dark, this is a Gothic romance in the same vein as The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue or Kingdom of the Wicked. I wish it were a stand-alone, though. The ending clearly points to a series, and I feel this story would have held more weight if it had ended with Signa debuting in society.
Full review on YouTube

What a pleasant read!

Mixed with murder/mystery, romance and friendship.

I really enjoyed every moment of this and looking forward to the next book. 📖

I am ready to solve the next murder. 🔍

very meh. very boring. i couldn't care less what happened to the plot or the characters.

- thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the free e-ARC.

This is one of the most enjoyable reads I've had in a while. Loved it so much! Could tell right from the start that it was going to be a page-turner for me and I was not wrong. Cannot wait for FOXGLOVE!