Belladonna (Belladonna, 1)

Just read this gem! Let me start by saying that the plot was mostly predictable, but the relationship between the MMC and FMC was so captivating! Can’t wait to continue the story! And the audiobook was a masterpiece as well! This is what I meant by saying I don’t need a Rambo FMC, I want her to be smart and daring! With a touch of mystery and detective work, this story is all that I was looking for! Not too smutty, I wish it were a bit more, but the development of the relationship and the backstory was perfect!😍

Belladonna by Adalyn Grace is a mysterious gothic fantasy that sweeps readers into a world where death is personified and lurks around every corner. Grace skillfully weaves a tale that feels both timeless and fresh, combining elements of romance, supernatural intrigue, and a whodunit mystery that keeps you hooked from the first page.The story follows Signa Farrow, a young woman who has been pursued by death since infancy. Despite her strange relationship with mortality, Signa longs for a life filled with love and belonging. When she is taken in by the mysterious Hawthorne family, she finds herself embroiled in a deadly secret and forms an unlikely alliance with Death itself to uncover the truth.The relationship between Signa and Death is compelling and complex, exploring the fine line between danger and desire. The plot is filled with twists that keep you guessing, and the reveal is both satisfying and surprising.The ending definitely leads us to the beginning of book 2.The Narration was excellent! Every time she voiced “deaths” parts I was thinking “MA’AM! Calm down, you should not be able to make a sexy man voice like that!” 🤣 but she delivered and I enjoyed all the different characters she voiced. I highly recommend.

What an interesting book.Signa has been bouncing from one foster home to the next, never fitting in because people think she is cursed. And maybe she is because Signa cannot die and she can see Death. Yes, that Death. But when she ends up in Thorn Grove with the elusive Hawthornes, she finally might have her chance at debuting to society. But when the former mistress Lilian of the house appears to Signa as a ghost, a mystery needs to be unraveled. Who killed Lillian and who is trying to kill her daughter Blythe? Signa will need to solve the mystery with the help of the stable boy Sylas and Death before the killer claims another victim.This is a wonderful blend of murder mystery and gothic romance and the backdrop of a cold estate works so well with the plot. We have plenty of ghosts to aid/not aid Signa's quest and the residents of Thorn Grove prove to be excellent suspects. There is a lot of layers to each character and not all are who they appear on first glance. I loved seeing the layers peeled back to reveal the truth.The romance took some getting used to, with it being so slow burn and having sort of a love triangle happening. But once I was there and could fully appreciate the love story, I found myself rooting for Death and hoping they could figure out a way for him to stay after the case was closed. But I did not expect that ending and I am thanking myself that I got the second book ready to go because I need to know more!

A slow-paced gothic-romantasy mystery that reminded me of Bridgerton, Wuthering Heights, and the Hades and Persephone story all rolled into one. The writing of descriptions in this book is especially beautiful. I spent a lot of this book vacillating between enjoying the mystery side of things and not enjoying the stereotypical gender-specific issues that you'd find in a historical novel. Personal preference, of course. Signa is fascinating when she's not focused on balls and dresses and being 'demure', and enjoyable when the plot is focused on the murder-mystery. Some of the supernatural aspects are left unanswered in regards to how she came to be who she is (especially because to me the prologue never got connected to the main story). This book feels very much like I'd expect a trad published MF romantasy to read. Just enjoyable enough to read to the end, but I'll admit, I was reading for the answers to the mystery, not the characters.Knowing what I know now about this book, would I still read it if I went back in time?Sure. While I wouldn't go rushing out to read it, I enjoyed it.See below for the four criteria I use to decide whether and when to read a bookCHARACTERS: As I mentioned above, I wasn't overly enamored with any of the characters. None of them truly stuck out to me and gave me an emotional connection that I could dive into. Signa half the time didn't feel enough like a protagonist to me and I honestly only partially enjoyed the relationship she had with Death. I'm averse to one-sided nicknames, especially when they're only given by the male to the female because they end up sounding so belittling to me, which is exactly what happened here. The eventual answer to the murder also came out of left field to me as well. There really weren't any clues and it didn't make sense in terms of how the characters had been crafted. And I personally didn't care for spending half the book listening to Signa thinking about how attracted she was to Death and Sylas in the middle of trying to save her cousin from death.PLOT: One one hand was the murder mystery, which I loved. The atmospheric gothic vibes involving some supernatural powers and death (literal, not character). On the other is the romance and Signa attempting to find herself a new home with a new family until she's old enough to lay claim to her inheritance. The former is really fun. The latter, eh. So I ended up waffling quite a bit through it all.EMOTIONAL INTENSITY: There is no good/bad here. Sometimes I just want a low-investment entertainment read whereas other times a high-stakes 'I need a therapist to recover' is what I need.1:5/low. I personally didn't connect with any of the characters enough to fully delve into the world. But likely someone else reading this would find the intensity a little higher.CATHARTIC FULFILLMENT: Is the emotional journey worth it? Do I finish this book feeling that I've crested the wave of the climactic moment and everything has been settled, leaving me settled and fulfilled?50%. Sure. We found out who the murderer is. Not that it made sense to me. Sure, the pairing ends up 'together'. But really, the complexity was taken out in the end and I didn't find myself feeling content with it. I did enjoy the very last scene and line of the book though. And that, perhaps, may be the only reason I choose to read the second book. Maybe. If I do, it'll be as a buddy read (as this one was).