I’m going to be slightly switching up the format of my reviews so that *hopefully* they look better, so without further ado today’s review is of the book Belladonna by Adalyn Grace.
Title: Belladonna
Series: Belladonna
Author: Adalyn Grace
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Release Date: August 30th 2022
Pages: 408
Source: Purchased Fairyloot special edition, signed by the author
Rating: ✰✰✰✰
CAWPILE: 8.57 /10
Synopsis
For as long as Signa Farrow has been alive, the people in her life have fallen like stars . . .
Orphaned as a baby, nineteen-year-old Signa has been raised by a string of guardians, each more interested in her wealth than her wellbeing – and each has met an untimely end. Her remaining relatives are the elusive Hawthornes, an eccentric family living at Thorn Grove, an estate both glittering and gloomy.
Its patriarch mourns his late wife through wild parties, while his son grapples for control of the family’s waning reputation and his daughter suffers from a mysterious illness. But when their mother’s restless spirit appears claiming she was poisoned, Signa realizes that the family she depends on could be in grave danger, and enlists the help of a surly stable boy to hunt down the killer.
Signa’s best chance of uncovering the murderer, though, is an alliance with Death himself, a fascinating, dangerous shadow who has never been far from her side. Though he’s made her life a living hell, Death shows Signa that their growing connection may be more powerful – and more irresistible – than she ever dared imagine.
Review:
“Your name is no curse, Little Bird. I just like the taste of it.”
Belladonna had intrigued me since learning of it at YALC, and I was excited when I realised it would be the Fairyloot book for September! You can read my review of that box here: https://www.fictionalmusings.com/post/september-fairyloot-unboxing
Belladonna is definitely what it says on the tin, ‘A deliciously deadly Gothic romance’ according to the praise from Stephanie Garber, author of Once Upon a Broken Heart. I think Garber describes it perfectly, because reading it I could only think it was delicious, dark and deadly, and obviously it is a Gothic romance. It has definitely left me with an appetite for similar books so if you do know of any please let me know!
It immediately starts with intrigue, pulling you in and leaving you searching for answers which is always a good sign! We start off with what is essentially a mass murder of party guests, that provides us with the backstory for why Signa is orphaned. And we get our first glimpse of Death throughout it all… But the intrigue doesn’t stop there, as Signa tries to solve a murder throughout the book we go along with her amateur detective skills and try and uncover the murderer. I think Grace also did a really good job with the murder mystery aspect here as she definitely keeps the reader guessing as we go through, and I was honestly pleasantly surprised in the end as I had multiple theories throughout.
I enjoyed Signa as the main character, typically as it is a YA book at times she could be quite annoying. However, it wasn’t overpowering as she does go on a journey throughout the book and her motivations always felt very clearcut to me. I really enjoyed seeing her character progression and eventual acceptance of herself, and I’m intrigued to see where this will go in book two! Signa as a character also felt like she could be so relatable in ways, a character desperately trying to belong in a society that isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. I think many people will be able to view Signa as similar to them in many different ways.
“Do not change the parts of yourself that you like to make others comfortable. Do not try to mold yourself to fit the standards someone else has set for us.”
What was undoubtedly my favourite aspect of the book was the romances throughout and trying to avoid spoilers I’ll talk about them very briefly! While a little odd at times, I thought on the whole they worked really well and were written in such a good way, from the understanding between them to the repeated check ins and assurances when things started to progress. I just really liked the way the relationships were written, it felt quite special and has definitely left me wanting more and counting down the time to book two!
As we got towards the end and things started to wrap up I really struggled to see how this would become a series, until we got towards the final pages. I was completely hooked, and I can’t wait to see where the story progresses in book two and if we’ll uncover answers to some of the questions I still have! And hopefully we’ll be able to see more of characters like Blythe and Charlotte too as I want to explore them in more depth going forward.
Ultimately, I think this was a perfect autumnal read. I think the only reason it wasn’t a 5 star read for me was because of how long it took me to read it, but that is nothing to do with the book itself and rather me, but it affected how I felt while reading it unfortunately. I wish I’d potentially read it at a different time. I really loved Belladonna though, and Grace’s writing which wasn’t as beautiful as some of the writing I do tend to love, but it worked incredibly well for the book. It wasn’t too flowery, which for everything that is going on in this book might have been too much, but it was still incredibly powerful. I’m incredibly excited for Foxglove, and looking into Grace’s other books!
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