Belladonna (Belladonna, #1)

by Adalyn Grace

A girl confronts Death—and her own deathly powers—in this Gothic-infused, romantic young adult fantasy.

Nineteen-year-old Signa Farrow, orphaned as a baby, has been raised by a string of guardians, each more interested in her wealth than her well-being—and each has met an untimely end. Her last remaining relatives are the Hawthornes, an eccentric family living at the glittering and gloomy estate of Thorn Grove. Thorn Grove’s patriarch, Elijah, mourns his late wife, Lillian, through wild parties and drink, while eldest son Percy grapples for control of the family’s waning reputation and daughter Blythe suffers from the same mysterious illness that killed her mother. And when Lillian’s spirit confronts Signa and claims she was poisoned, Signa realizes that Blythe could be next to die.

Signa’s best chance of uncovering the culprit and solving Lillian’s murder is an alliance with Death himself—the very man she hates most. And Death, that fascinating, dangerous shadow who has never been far from her side, shows her that their connection may be more powerful than she ever dared imagine.

• ISBN13: 9781529367225
• Publish Date: 30 August 2022
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Hodder & Stoughton
• Format: eBook (Kindle)
• Pages: 416
• Language: English

Reviews

[pamela]

Belladonna was a fun read, if not particular original or groundbreaking. It was well written and imaginative, but ultimately a cookie-cutter YA romance with a predictable plot and a "chosen one" narrative.

Signa Farrow was an interesting protagonist, and I found the premise intriguing. The pacing was good, with a decent gothic mystery to push the plot along. Despite nothing coming as a surprise, and each potential twist, including the cliffhanger being not so much foreshadowed, as floodlit with a big neon sign, it was still an immensely enjoyable reading experience.

Where my enjoyment fell a little flat was in the characterisation of a lot of the secondary characters, and the motivations of the antagonist. There were some pretty big leaps that led to the ultimate reveal that really broke my immersion, and there were a host of characters who were not really developed, and used more as props. I've also got a pretty huge issue with the YA obsessions with ancient beings falling in love with young girls. It's just weird, and kind of gross.

Still, I enjoyed reading Belladonna and will definitely read the next book when it comes out. I'm already predicting a love triangle to finish up my YA romance trope bingo card.

[bookstagramofmine]

But Death did not need to be seen; he was to be felt. He was a weight upon the chest, or a collar buttoned too tight. A fall into frigid, lethal waters. Death was suffocating, and he was ice.

 

Thank you NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the chance to read Belladonna by Adalyn Grace. In case someone doesn’t want to stick around for the full post, Belladonna is a fantastic read, perfect if you’re a fan of the V. E. Schwab books, The invisible life of Addie LaRue and Gallant.

 

Belladonna comes out on the 30th of August and was published by Hodder & Stoughton. It’s a young adult book, and can be further classified as YA fantasy or YA thriller or mystery. It’s 416 pages long and beautifully written. I can 100% imagine all the merchandise that people can make from this because the book is pretty quotable. I hate saying that but it’s true! I have 101 lines highlighted on my kindle! Belladonna is also the first book in the series by the same name, and while I’m not sure how many books we’ll get from the series, I can already tell you that I will request the second one on NetGalley as soon as I can and probably get pretty hardcover editions of all of them. The second book is titled Foxglove (according to Goodreads).

 

It’s also not Adalyn Grace’s first book. She’s also the author of All the Stars and Teeth duopoly, which seems to have incredibly well received (NYT called the it the biggest YA fantasy of 2020).

 

Signs has always been surrounded by poison; her parents death at a young age to her immunity from belladonna. As an heiress, she’s also been surrounded by poisonous people, who really just want access to her money so that they can finance their lives. As she moves to her final guardians home, she discovers that she may have the chance to actually live the life that she wants; one where she is a lady and be wooed and swept off her feet and have her own home. It’s just the home that she gets to is in disarray as her aunt has died and her cousin lies there kicking on deaths door.

 

Signa trembled like a hummingbird. Someone had truly arrived to retrieve her. To whisk her away to a family high within the social hierarchy, with whom she might wear beautiful gowns and sip tea with other women and have the life she yearned for.

 

Signa, as a charter goes through tremendous growth. She starts off as someone who doesn’t understand what her abilities could mean and is ready to be rescued, to someone who takes action when she needs to. She knows that if she doesn’t investigate, this group of people, who she is getting fond of, could all be gone soon; the life that she wanted could be gone, and she works to keep it.:

 

I did feel like her relationship with Death was done a bit too quickly; I wish it had developed more. The way it was, it felt more like brutal attraction rather than something more.

 

Why, then, was it that whenever she was with him, something within her seared hot and fervent?

[Rach Wood]

Orphaned as a baby, nineteen-year-old Signa has been raised by a string of guardians, each more interested in her wealth than her well-being. Incapable of dying but set to unravel her cursed power, she often stands at the thin line between life and death. So, when a letter comes from Thorn Grove inviting her to the manor, Signa can’t help but feel excited about a new start. However, between family secrets and Signa’s own entanglement with Death and the stable boy, her stay will not be as expected.

The premise is great ‒ a romantic gothic-infused murder mystery ‒ and the prologue got me intrigued from the start. The plot is gripping as fuck. I couldn't make out at all who the murderer was (I was pretty certain it was someone, and then Signa tries to prove me right just to end up proving me wrong). I was utterly surprised. And the author also does a wonderful job at drawing me into the gothic and haunting descriptions of Thorn Grove Manor and its grounds. The writing includes some exquisite descriptions of the Victorian/Georgian type of setting.

As for the cons, I must confess I didn’t completely fall in love with Signa. I liked her cousin Blythe's personality much better. While Signa thinks often about finding a love match and settling for what probably will be a very dull life, Blythe repeatedly expresses her desire to be a free and empowered woman. Although Signa undergoes significant character development, I feel that this only happens because of a more carnal desire than anything else.

Speaking of desire, another thing that felt lacking was the development of the two love interests. I ended the book feeling that I never got to know Death and Sylas; Signa's relationship with them was limited to interactions related to the unsolved mystery and reckless flirt in between. The banter was fun, but I missed some deeper conversations. Their personalities felt a little flat: Death is just this mysterious and provocative reaper cloaked in shadows, and Sylas is an annoying but always-there stable boy.  

I greatly appreciated the family dynamic between Signa and the Hawthornes. And I hope we get to see the friendship between Signa and Blythe grow in the sequel the epilogue hints at.

I received an eARC for free, through NetGalley, and I am leaving this honest review voluntarily.