Basic info: Belladonna
Author: Adelyn Grace
Genres: Gothic, Young Adult, Fantasy, Mystery
Publication date: August 30, 2022
Edition I read: Paperback by Hodder
Pages: 403
My rating: 4/5
Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62797985-belladonna
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.
A little bit of everything: fantasy, mystery, romance...
After this book being all over BookTok last year, I finally picked it up on a trip to London this September. And when I'd seen ahappyhermit reading Foxglove, its second installment recently, I finally chose it as my next read.
It was such an interesting mix of genres: the base is a young adult fantasy, but it's very gothic, centered around a mystery, with a little bit of romance sprinkled in. I loved how it was different from all the other YA fantasy books.
As you could see in the blurb pasted above, it's about Signa, an orphan, who can see spirits of the dead. She moves into Thorn Grove to her distant relatives, where she's trying to solve the murder of the late mistress, Lillian.
My overall impressions
Getting into this books was a little bit harder than I thought it would be. I think it was because of the writing style: it matches the setting of the book perfectly, making it a little more old-school and thus harder to read at first. But after the first third or so the story picked up and I got used to the writing and flew through the rest.
After that turning point it became the kind of book you'd keep thinking about whenever you weren't reading. I was at work, running errands, and all I thought about was going home and jumping back in.
And although having the crime/mystery storyline was unusual for me, paired with the perfectly executed haunting, gothic vibes, it really perfected this novel.
Spoilers ahead
Please beware, the rest of the review will be peppered with spoilers. So if you haven't read the book yet and would prefer not to know the details, stop here.
The characters in Belladonna
Signa. I liked her personality. Smart, cunning, and I loved seeing her character development as she started doubting the contents of her little etiquette handbook and gaining the confidence of being who she really is.
Death. At the very beginning I had a hard time wrapping my head around how he could be the love interest and it was still a little strange how Signa couldn't see his face (cause yay, there's a humanoid under the shadows) even when they were kissing.
But I liked how he called her "Little bird", though reading this book shortly after the OUABH trilogy, it reminded me a little too much of "Little Fox".
I wished we could see the darker side of Death too. He felt too much of a softie, obsessed with Signa and ready to do anything and everything for her. Which is nice, but I expected to get a glimpse of a darker side of his character.
Sylas. At the beginning I thought he was just going to be a filler character, picking up Signa, then disappearing for the rest of the book. After dropping the rudeness, I got to like him quite a lot: how he encouraged Signa to be her true self, to not care about what societal rules say she should be like.
I was actually surprised to see that Signa didn't figure out who he really was until the very end. The stormy eyes, the same mentality regarding her, their attraction and chemistry (which was 10/10), how nobody else knew about him or interacted with him... How he always conveniently disappeared right before Death came along.
I had a suspicion that he was Death parading around as a stable boy and was happy to find out I was right.
Blythe. I gotta be honest, I knew she wasn't going to die. (Saw someone reading Foxglove, sharing bits about Blythe from it.) This helped my nerves tremendously, because I really her character -or at least the glance we got of her when she was feeling well.
I loved how she turned around and grew close with Signa and how she's so fierce and independent. Even in that world, Blythe doesn't want to be tied to a husband to decide everything for her but just wants to live her life as she wants to live.
Knowing she's going to appear in Foxglove and seeing how the character on the cover of Wisteria (the third book in the series) looks a lot like her, I'm excited to see even more of her story and personality.
Percy. I went back and forth about him. One moment I liked him, then I just pitied him, then disliked him fog being an uptight ass. I did not expect him to turn out the way he did, but since I didn't get too attached to him, it didn't affect me that much I feel like.
Marjorie. She was kind of suspicious from the beginning. She felt like someone Signa just couldn't trust, someone with an alterior motive for sure. Even when she didn't really say or do anything bad to Signa, I had this feeling.
In the end, I felt bad for her but I liked how the author didn't bring her back to create a cotton candy setting. Instead her departure and cold demeanour felt refreshingly realistic.
Solving the mystery of Belladonna
The mystery in the book was written wonderfully. It wasn't easy to guess what happened and the story kept twisting and turning in a way that had me change my predictions over and over again.
I was suspicious of Byron, Marjorie, and especially Charlotte towards the very end and I'd have never thought it was Percy. Especially after him getting poisioned himself.
Reading the story of Percy being the bastard child of Marjorie and Elijah unfold was definitely a little bit heartbreaking. And seeing how Lillian truly did love Percy as his own made losing her character even more sad.
Percy's snobish and entitled response to Marjorie being his mother and his lack of remorse to his actions was really astounding and shocking. Previously I felt bad for him, but at that point all my feelings toward him quickly turned to disgust and despise.