This is a hauntingly beautiful book that drops you in the middle of a gothic period drama saturated in mystery, murder, and the macabre. It's a perfect addition to any spooky season list, and has little tastes of Phantom that I love OH so much.

First off, can we talk about the cover. It's SO stunning and even the UK version is *chef's kiss*

I will ALWAYS love gothic fantasy and horror. A few years ago, I'd probably turn away from them, but since reading some fantastic books by equally fantastic authors, I now reach for them whenever they come across my suggestions.

I relate a lot to Signa - maybe not on the whole "my inheritance is my identity and I hate it" front, because, let's face it, I don't have one! However, I can wholly relate to not feeling like you belong in a family. I understand the longing of so desperately wanting to belong that I change my inner-design to meet the expectations of others.

The descriptions in the book were amazing and I truly felt transported to the misty grounds of Thorn Grove. The dankness of the manor, the isolation of the garden and surrounding areas, and the slightly off-kilter social events at Thorn Grove lend well to the feeling of seclusion.

Character development is well done. Signa becomes an island to herself as she learns to navigate the new social environment that she is set in, and the reader gets to watch as she starts to find herself as she spends time with Silas and as her relationship develops with Death.

Adalyn does well with organically infusing paranormal and fantastical abilities into her plots. As with All the Stars and Teeth, she subtly transforms the story to include a piece of magic. As Signa's proximity to Death changes, so does her hold on her own power over death and the world between worlds.

Overall, very well written and a happy improvement from Adalyn's first duology. It does end on a massive cliffhanger and the introduction of a new character, but I can't wait to read more of Signa's story!

Thank you for the advanced copy of this book! I will be posting my review on social media, to include Instagram, Amazon, Goodreads, and Instagram!

I devoured this book and it has lived in my soul since finishing it early this year.

Adalyn is both gritty and vulnerable and so beautifully broken. She is the perfect balance to Death, her most constant companion. The gothic ambience is perfection in this slow burn dark mystery.

A girl that can’t die, despite her best efforts, is met by a handsome stranger and whisked away to a sprawling manor to family she isn’t sure she wants to know. At least she can call on Death if she needs a familiar face. But there’s something different about this place, and it’s not just the angry ghost that isn’t like any of the others she’s experienced.

Please note: I was given a digital arc copy through NetGalley. The desire to collect each stunning print edition and the thoughts within this review are my own.

Actual Rating: 4.5

When I tell you I finished this book so fast! Adalyn’s writing is solid as always and I was so immersed into this gothic fantasy! Murder mysteries are always fun to read and I was fully invested in this one. It was also a very interesting take on Death as a character!

I did really like Signa as a character and there’s so much of her I want to know more about! The romance in this book was the most intriguing part, I was a tad iffy on the whole immortal/mortal stuff (and the fact that Death knew her as a baby) but it was done well!

every time i say i’m done with ya fantasy, a book like belladonna comes along and reels me right back in.

though mysteriously unable to die herself, orphaned heiress signa farrow is no stranger to death. he has shadowed her all her life, even as each of her guardians has met an untimely end—but when she arrives at the estate of her latest guardian, she finds a family already in mourning and the ghost of their late wife and mother, who claims she was poisoned.

determined to identify the murderer before they can claim another life and risk her place in her new home, signa turns to the stable boy and death himself for help.

the gothic vibes of belladonna are immaculate (and i’m very picky about my ya gothic fantasies) and i really enjoyed signa and death as characters, but i did find the world-building to be lacking and i wish the romance had developed more slowly. overall still an enchanting read that has me excited to read the sequel!

If you have ever been oddly attracted to the Grim Reaper, this book is for you

Belladonna is a fun genre-bending YA book - it's a historical fiction, it's a mystery, it's a romance it's paranormal fantasy... There's probably going to be some aspect of this book that you'd like!!

Signa has had quite the life. She’s been living with guardians since she was 2 months old, but her guardians have a tendency to… die. Death circumstances surrounding Signa are WEIRD. Which makes it kind of make sense that Death himself talks to Signa... Did I mention Signa can see spirits and literally can’t die??

She goes to her next guardian, hopefully her last as she’ll be inheriting her family home when she has her next birthday. What she isn’t expecting when she gets there is to be thrust into a murder mystery. The lady of the house recently died from a sickness and Signa’s cousin Blythe is very ill with the same sickness. She has to work fast to figure out what’s being done, and who’s doing it.

Signa rages against traditional feminine societal rules, she makes a few friends, she gets comfy at a home, really comfy, for one of the first times in her life.

It might not all make a ton of sense all the time - why can't Signa die and why does she have the abilities she has? What really happened the night she became an orphan? How tf does Death have a physical tangile body? But hey, that's what we have book 2 for, to maybe clear some stuff up.

It's a gothic type story that I personally found more interesting than a lot of gothic stories I've read because the main character felt a lot more accessible. Even with the historical AND fantastical elements, I still feel like I was able to digest the writing easily, as someone who usually works through such books pretty slowly.

I do have a little bit of concern around the romance - Death is like, really old, and Signa is like 19 and he saw her when she was a baby and has been waiting for her since.... yeah, it's morally questionable, but I'm not gonna lie, it was still fun enough to read. I just think it's a little weird lol it's giving Jacob and Renesmee lowkey

This book. It was a damn fine book.

@authoradalyngrace creates such a visual presence!

I just loved Signa’s journey, her growth and self acceptance.

Definitely kept me engaged the entire time.

Thank you to @netgalley and @littlebrownyoungreaders for gracing me with this story

An orphaned girl who can speak with ghosts and Death himself finally lands in a welcoming home--sort of. After being around to different family members who only take her in because they want access to the fortune she'll one day inherit and then die in a variety of mysterious circumstances, Signa is on her last chance. Unfortunately, this family has been nearly destroyed by the death of her aunt. Signa is intimately familiar with belladonna and its effects on the body since near-death is the liminal space in which she can speak to Death--and sometimes yell at him for messing up her life again. So when her cousin's illness--similar to the one that killed her aunt--manifests the same symptoms as belladonna poisoning, she must hurry to save her cousin and satisfy the ghost of her dead aunt.
Underpinning all of this is, of course, a delicious romance. Adalyn Grace sets up something of a love triangle and while I didn't see it coming, you can head to Goodreads if you want to be spoiled for the twist. During the climactic reveals, I looked back at the foreshadowing and felt rather sheepish for having missed it, but I had more fun being surprised so really... I win. Grace's All the Stars and Teeth worked well for me but the sequel let me down, so while I absolutely loved the romance in this (there's on page sex if that's a concern), I'm cautiously optimistic about the follow-up, Foxglove.
I love a gothic romance and Adalyn Grace brought the ghosts, family trauma, spooky house and Death himself to us in Belladonna.

I received a digital copy of this book for review but purchased the audiobook.

Wow. This was a fantastic book. There were so many times that I thought I had figured out where the story was going. I was wrong. I did not see what was coming at all. Just when I thought I knew what was coming there would be a twist or turn in another direction. Some parts were a bit slow but the second half of the book was fantastic. I don’t want to spoil anything so I won’t go into detail. This is worth all of the hype. I can’t wait until the next book!
*thank you to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for a review.

I had heard Adalyn talk about this book well before it came out and was instantly intrigued.

I loved Signa. She's smart and curious and is eager for something different in her life. There are a core group of characters here and I don't want to say too much about them because they way they are introduced felt important to the story. I will say that they're all interesting.

Plot wise, I was captivated. The story is atmospheric and gothic and I was here for all of it. There were parts that felt like they dragged a little or maybe a bit repetitive, but it was easy to overlook because I was so invested. I absolutely ate up the scenes with Death and could have read 100 more pages of the two of them.

Overall, this story was a slow build up that had me setting down the book and then greedily reading more more more when I picked it back up. I can't wait to read book 2 and see what's next.

**Huge thanks to the publisher for providing an arc free of charge**

This was such a fun book. I loved the element of solving a mystery and the role that death played in helping her solve it. I also loved Signa's complex relationship with death. The pull she has toward him, yet the frustration she feels at him as a result of losing everyone she has come to care for. I was there for the romance and the mystery. I loved the ending and I can't wait for the second book!

From the gorgeous cover to the last page this book leaves you wanting more with the turn of every page!!! This is one of the best books I have read this year!! Original and suspenseful fantasy with a gothic feel. It feels like a delightfully wicked fairytale full of poison, secrets, magic and mystery! I anxiously await the next Book!! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this amazing book!!!

You know how sometimes a book just doesn’t resonate with you? That’s what happened to me here. The book was good - had all the requisite pieces there for me to love it - it just wasn’t for me! The concept itself is great though, too, especially with that last sentence in the epilogue - very reminiscent of Kingdom of the Wicked. I would recommend this to fans of the His Fair Assassin books by Robin LaFevers and Princess of Souls by Alexandra Christo!

I'm not sure what I loved most: a snarky MC caught between the patriarchal world she knows she should want and the paranormal world she's destined to control, the gothic, spooky, atmospheric setting of Thorn Grove Manor, or the sexiness that is Death.

Death follows 17-year-old Signa Farrow wherever she goes...literally. Orphaned as an infant, she carries the curse of constantly straddling the thin veil between life and death. This unfortunate curse seems to afflict all who take her in, with her relatives dropping like flies not long after adopting her. Fortune finally seems to favor her when the death of her most recent caregiver brings an invitation at the hands of Sylas, an arrogant yet charming stable boy, to come stay with a long-lost relative at Thorn Grove Manor. Upon her arrival, Signa is thrust into the mystery of how the lady of the house, Lillian, met her suspicious demise with symptoms that seem to now be afflicting her daughter, Blythe. Since Signa is the only one who can not only see the litany of ghosts haunting the manor, including Lillian, but can also call upon the powers of Death, she takes it upon herself to solve the mystery of what plagues Thorn Grove before it takes her last remaining family.

Adalyn wrote this gothic fantasy x paranormal mystery SO WELL! I am not a mystery reader, but my goodness did this book deliver. Just when you think you've figured it out, she throws in not one but TWO twists that caught me entirely off guard! There were so many lines and moments that were phenomenal, words that I know will haunt me like the ghosts that roam the garden. One of my favorites was, "do not change the parts of yourself that you like to make others feel comfortable. Do not try to mold yourself to fit the standards someone else has set for us..."

This book is beautiful metaphor of how we must all let parts of ourselves die in order to become what we need to, but it's our job to commit to the shapes we take and not just adhere to the shape the world wants of us. I cannot wait to read Foxglove, but I am so sad I have to wait another year to find out what Fate awaits Signa and all the sexiness that is Death.

4.5 stars

What a delicious & deadly book to dip into for autumn reading!
An immortal heroine, a love interest is Death, a ghost that is hellbent on discovering their murderer before they kill a loved one and a mystery that helps find the power within our heroine; this book was made for me!
I read this on my trip to Ireland, and I wanted so bad to get the Irish cover, too, but it was SOLD OUT at Waterstones (no surprise), and I was SAD! I WANTED BOTH COVERS AS THIS STORY IS SUCH A BEAUTIFUL WRITTEN GOTHIC TALE!

“Signa Farrow was a girl who could not die.”

Belladonna by Adalyn Grace is a gothic fantasy romance with a bit of mystery and a historical feeling. And somehow it all blends together really well. Let’s dive into it.

Signa is considered a cursed main character; where she goes, death follows (literally.) She can see and talk to spirits. She also can’t die. She is taken in as a ward by her uncle who’s daughter has taken extremely ill with the same disease as his wife who passed away half a year ago. It’s up to Signa to figure out who’s killing the women of the house.

Once you get past the Greek alphabet name of the main character (Cigna insurance maybe????), it was a good read. Keep in mind, this is a “thousands of years old male interest and a just barely adult” romance, for those who are getting tired of those.

I enjoyed Adalyn Graces writing style. It did suck me in from beginning to end. This was another binge read.

SPOILERS (kind of. Like barely. But beware)
The conclusion to the mystery felt half thought out and baked. I really liked the romance in this novel but felt the antagonist was a huge stretch and made no sense. The fact that everyone but Signa couldn’t figure out what was happening is alarming to me.

Belladonna is a haunting exploration of grief and greed and love and loss. But I wasn't expecting the romance to be my least favorite part of this book. It won me over towards the very end but for most of the book I wasn't committed.

Despite my hesitation with the romance, I was really engaged with the story. The setting was amazing and the mystery made me not want to put the book down. Though it was on the predictable side, the mystery was so well paced that it kept me turning the page and made it impossible to put the book down. I could have easily read this book in one sitting because every moment of the plot was incredibly interesting. I loved watching Signa find a home with the Hawthornes. Her relationships with the Hawthorne siblings felt real and fleshed out rather than being a flimsy motivation for the plot.

I liked Signa as the main character a lot! She was genuine and clever and very easy to root for. However, it felt like we spent the whole book waiting for her to finally commit to being her true self. I wish we had seen a bit more of her dark and powerful personality, but I expect that we will see lots of her new powers in book two. Although Signa is supposed to be 19 she read very young. I forgot her age in the middle of the book and assumed she was 15/16 because of how young and innocent her internal monologue was. As the book is YA this shouldn't have been a problem, however, when the love interest is a being as old as time who very much reads like an adult it makes for an uncomfortable dynamic.

I think the romance could have been enjoyable if it had unfolded slowly over the course of the two books. It is clear that Signa is going to become someone more mature and independent in the next book and I think introducing the romance then would have felt more appropriate. Even though I knew exactly where the romance was going I wasn't on board until the very end of the book.

The mystery wraps up nicely with an interesting moment in the epilogue that left me intrigued for book two. I hope to enjoy Foxglove more now that I am interested in the romance.

This is a gorgeous, gothic mystery with an intriguing romance and familial bonds that will make your heart ache. Grace's writing is beautiful and lush and showcases the spooky and dark atmosphere that haunts every corner of this book. I was captured by our main character, Signa, who has the unusual ability to never die, and I'm interested to find out more about these abilities in the sequel! A fantastic gothic YA book with a heart-pounding romance that will draw you in and leave you wanting more.

holy surprise favorite!!!

ok lets get into the things that really super worked for me:

1. the atmosphere. oh my GOSh it felt like the house and property were another character with how earie and atmospheric everything was described all the time
2. DEATH. i don't care how toxic that is to say, I loved the character of Death. not going to spoil anything, but he is IT for me.
3. the mystery! I really had no idea where this story line was going and was truly shocked by several of the twists that came about.
4. the WRITING. the words and phrases were just gorgeous ok. I don't even know what else to say about it.

I will 100% be reading the second book in this series and think I'll be diving into this authors backlist (aka just two other books lol) because her writing is STUNNING.

recommend this book 5ever

I was so eager to read this book! I loved Sigma and her personality. I really loved how the main character tried so hard to fit a mold when she was totally different than what society said she should be. I feel like parts of the story were predictable, but pleasantly, so the middle did drag and felt like there might have been some unnecessary conversations for establishing relationships. I do love the character death, and felt like he had more characterization than anyone in the story. I’m intrigued to see where he will grow in the sequel. The last hundred pages kept me reading, though, and solidified this book was to die for. The love story seems slightly cheesy, but I really like where they’re going with their story.