Atmospheric read! Belladonna by Adalyn Grace.

Synopsis

New York Times bestselling author Adalyn Grace brings to life a highly romantic, Gothic-infused world of wealth, desire, and betrayal.

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. 

Review

5 stars

What a fantastic read!

I got that book in my Fairyloot box and would never have imagined how much I’d love it!

In Fall, contrary to many, I don’t do horror or very spooky. But what I do is atmospheric and gothic and that book was just that perfect blend!

I loved Signa’s growth.

From a surely teenager who wanted to summon Death when eating deadly berries to the young woman who wanted to fit in society and be all proper to, finally, the powerful girl who embraced her powers and her differences to be who she always was meant to be!

At the beginning of the story, Signa is very angry with Death.

She has lost her parents, her grandmother and many relatives, forcing her to go from one home to the other her whole youth.

All she wanted was to stay in one place, have friends and people who care for her.

To say Death is not her favorite person is an understatement.

It’s not important if these relatives treated her poorly and welcomed Signa only for the allowance she brought them. She is fed up of moving all the time and be lonely.

When she moves with her last living relatives to the Hawthornes estate, she discovers a grand estate and a wealthy family who is broken by the mother’s death.

The father is still mourning, throwing wild parties and being drunk all the time while his son Percy tries to maintain some decorum and desperately wishes to manage the family business.

And as for her cousin Blythe, she is slowly dying from a mysterious illness.

But Signa is determined to stay at the manor and if she wants to reach that goal, she has to save Blythe from Death!

Soon she’ll realize that her deceased aunt has been poisoned to death and that someone is targeting her cousin. She sets to unmask the assassin with the help of Sylas, a mysterious and sarcastic stableboy and… Death himself!

I adored Signa’s growth and her fiery temper. She (thought she) wanted to be a lady and find a husband. She desperately tried to fit in spcoety and recall how to sip tea, how to dance but…that was so exhausting! It was so much more fun to follow Death’s way of life and just embrace her powers, sod conventions!

The romance was also very well done when you saw Signa torn between dashing but poor Sylas and the alluring charismatic Death!

The mystery was also top notch as I never guessed “who did it” and that was not for lack of trying!

Add to it ghosts, poisonous plants, secluded gardens, secret passages and you have a very gothic atmosphere to boot the story! And that ending! I was so happy to see that we’ll get another book!

Belladonna is a  gothic and romantic story with a lyrical prose that had me enthralled from the first lines!  

Thanks for reading!

Sophie