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Belladonna (Belladonna, #1)

Adalyn Grace

Start date: October 1, 2022

Finish date: October 31, 2022

Discussion: 2022 Member's BOTM discussions

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What Members Thought

Sep 19, 2022 Ashley rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2022-releases

Star Rating: —> 5 Stars
🌟⭐️🌟⭐️🌟

How can i give this but 5 stars— I CANNOT! HOLY PERFECTION & it was EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING!— it gets ALL of the stars!!!!

Just…

"Because I have waited an eternity to meet you, Signa Farrow." The words were a balm she clung to, relished. "To me, you are a song to a soul that has never known music. Light to someone who has only seen the darkness. You bring out the absolute worst in me, and I become vindictive toward those who treat you in

...more

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Sep 08, 2022 Sylvs (NOVELty Reads) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favourites, arcs

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

If you ever wanted a Tim Burton-esque YA book, look no further than Belladonna.

This book had everything my gothic romance loving heart could've ever wanted. From the very first page in arguably one of the best prologues I've read in YA, I was hooked. I was obsessed. Everything jumped from the page and felt so real.

Belladonna follows Signa Farrow, an orphan girl with a unique ability to communicate with Death. Whe ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

If you ever wanted a Tim Burton-esque YA book, look no further than Belladonna.

This book had everything my gothic romance loving heart could've ever wanted. From the very first page in arguably one of the best prologues I've read in YA, I was hooked. I was obsessed. Everything jumped from the page and felt so real.

Belladonna follows Signa Farrow, an orphan girl with a unique ability to communicate with Death. When one of her relatives dies, she is brought to Thorn Grove, the residence of her last remaining family. When the wife of the patriarch of the house appears and claims she was poisoned, Signa enlists the help of stable hand, Sylas to find out the killer, fearing they might strike again.

The very first thing that jumped out for me was the writing style. This book is gloriously thematic and aesthetic and I was in awe of how the ambience was built up so well from page one. The book flowed so easily, the progression of events feeling so natural and rich with description. From the very start we discover the unfortunate circumstances that lead to Signa's orphanhood and her relationship with the mysterious figure, Death who she's tried seeking out since her parents died when she was a baby. Layering and backstory really enabled a deeper understanding of her character and I loved reading about her on the page. She was a lonely, sad, yet kind main character who was just seeking friendship, a thing she had the misfortune of never experiencing. Her characterisation was one of the best elements of the book.

We also got a lot of backstory and depth to the side characters which was a delightful touch. I found myself connecting to Blythe, Percy, Elijah, Marjorie and Sylas and I enjoyed the moments when Signa was alone with them so we could understand them better.

The one thing that brought this book down a bit rating wise was how predictable some parts of the book were. I predicted the storyline between Sylas and Death from the very start, thinking how strange it was that these characters were never seen together nor seen by anyone other than Signa. I just wished we had more emotional scenes between them so that I could connect to their characters a bit more.

That being said, I am confident the connections between all characters would further develop in book two. This book, especially the ending has left me wanting more and I'm so excited to read Foxglove as soon as it releases.

ACTUAL RATING: 4.4 STARS ...more

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Jul 13, 2022 akacya ❦ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audience-young-adult, format-ebook, buddy-reads, genre-fantasy, arcs-finished, own

~~still obsessing over this cover btw~~

disclaimer: i received a complimentary review copy from the publisher in exchange for a review. this did not affect my rating.

signa was orphaned as a baby. now nineteen, she has a list of family members who agreed to raise her just to gain a portion of her inheritance. but so far, all the family members she’s lived with have met their untimely deaths.

now, six months from her twentieth birthday, when she can have her inheritance to herself, she is off to what sh ...more

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Jun 25, 2023 Bruna rated it really liked it

✯ [4/5] ✯

A very intersting spin in the YA genre, that I think it needed. I loved other books by this author, but the sequels scare me, so I will wait for the next books feeling anxious hahahah

1 like · Like · see review

Mar 09, 2022 Andi rated it it was ok

Shelves: on-kindle, arc

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 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.

(view spoiler)

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. ...more

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Sep 27, 2022 Banseh rated it it was amazing

*4.5 ✨
That was everything I was expecting and more 😊😊

1 like · Like · see review

Jan 10, 2023 Hennie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, romance, fantasy, thriller, mystery, young-adult, gothic

I am torn between 3 and 4 stars.. I will round it up to 4 just because she (view spoiler) Kudos to her.

It was okay, I guess? I am not a huge murder/mystery reader, so.. There’s that. ...more

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