Have you ever wondered what it would be like to enter into a romantic relationship with Death? If so, Belladonna by Adalyn Grace is here to let you know what that would be like. While this book wasn’t a five star read, I still enjoyed it. This review will be spoiler free.
I like to give a heat level rating for all books with romance. If you’re curious about my rating system, you can check it out here.
Synopsis:
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—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.
However, Signa’s best chance of uncovering the murderer 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.
My Thoughts:
- Rating-
- Heat Level-
This book does a lot of things right. Death personified falling in love with a human girl? I am so absolutely here for that. A spooky murder mystery in a Gothic mansion? Count me in, baby. I found Belladonna to be easy to read and digest. I wanted to keep reading because I was genuinely enjoying the story and wanted to know what would happen next. Unfortunately, each time the next big thing happened, it fell flat.
My first main issue is with the relationship between Death and Signa. I am really over the super ancient being falling in love with the young girl trope. It’s especially icky in this book because Death has been watching over Signa since she was a baby… ew. I tried to put that out of my mind, however, as their relationship developed. I really did like their dynamic together but it was a bit too YA for my taste. Yes, this is a YA book and I knew that going in but YA relationships can still be angsty and intense. Those aspects were lacking between Death and Signa.
I also found many of the twists to be very easy to figure out. The “love triangle” mystery was obvious to me from the beginning. As for the murder mystery, I was surprised by who the murderer was but at the same time, I didn’t love it. The reasoning behind the murder, and attempted murder, was just kind of meh and I think that whole plot line could have been executed better. I found the characters themselves to be likable but not remarkable. Overall, this was a book that I enjoyed reading but not an all time favorite.
Final Thoughts:
There will be a sequel, Foxglove, releasing soon and I do plan to read it. I am very interested in where the story is going to go and I do think my issues in this book could be improved on in the next. Have you read Belladonna? Let me know what you think about it! Thanks for reading and have a great day!
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