Not my cup of tea. The mystery was predictable, and not even the main character's connection with Death piqued my interest. The beginning was the only part of the story that I found mildly interesting, but not enough to make me want to read the sequel. I listened to the audiobook version, and Kristin Atherton did a good job.

Firstly I love the front cover I think it’s simple but cool. I would love to thank the publisher and the author for accepting my request to read this book as I absolutely adored it. The writing style is fantastic it’s descriptive but also moved into action very fast without feeling like it’s dragging. I loved the main character and her relationship with death especially with a little bit of mystery added it’s fun and cool. I loved the narrator the way that each of the diffrent character had there own thing of diffrences added a lot of depth to the story 5/5 would reccomend

I found this to be an amazing and interesting read! And the cover is so lovely!! Looking forward to the author's next story!

This was amazing! The audiobook was fantastic and meant I whizzed through this book - what a great narrator!
This is such a beautiful, fantastical story. I loved the mystery of it and the revelations at the end had me gasping out loud! Each plot line was teased out and revealed in a masterful way, I was kept on the edge of my seat!
I’m so excited for books 2 and 3!!

This book!!! I was interested in this book when I first heard about it, and was happy to get an arc of it, but wasn't really expecting much. But oh my god, this book was so good! The thing that drew me in from the get go were the characters - Signa and Death (and their relationship) were so perfect, I was just melting every time they interacted. And as someone who isn't usually very easily swooned, this is a huge bonus!!
The world building, the pacing, the writing was all top tier, I literally cannot think of a single fault I had while reading it. The gothic vibes and ghostiness was so well done and atmospheric... honestly I could gush forever. Highly, highly recommended!!

The gothic atmospheric vibes of this book were everything. I find that sometimes its hard to pull this setting off but this book did it justice.

The characters were written and developed beautifully and i loved every single one of them. Adalyns writing has become much more elevated and mature and i loving seeing their growth as an author.

The audiobook was great at creating the gothic feeling and i enjoyed it so much.

Excited for book 2 and to see where the story goes.

nice read! interesting writing style. kept me engaged but got predictable very quickly very disappointingly.

- thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the free e-ARC.

I loved this book! It was very simple but not in a bad way. This had amazing character development and relationship development. Not to much in the way of setting but I didn't find that a problem. I found that I very much felt sorry for Signa. She has gone through so much only to find that the last of her family is depleting as well. The twist was very well done even though I had kind of tuned into it and figured it out. Death was a brilliant character! Very much one of the great morally grey ones! I cannot wait for the next one to come out!!

I really loved this book! I've read from this author before so I knew I would like the writing style but I loved the story too.

I'm a sucker for anything to do with death so a book where the main character can see the dead? Sign me up!

I connected to the main character almost instantly and was immediately invested in her story and found the whole mystery aspect of the story to be very compelling.

I did a mixture of physically reading and audiobooking it for this one and loved both. I even picked up a physical copy for my collection because I think that this is one that I will want to re-read.

Belladonna by Adalyn Grace is a YA fantasy book with Signa Farrow, a girl who can't die as the protagonist.

I was under the false assumption that this was a slow read but was pleasantly surprised when I picked it up and realised that this was so engaging and fast moving that I did not realise when I was fully immersed into the story.

This was so unbelievably good that I believe it single handedly brought me out of the reading slump I was slowly falling into with the end of the year. It did remind me of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue at some points which I absolutely loved as well.

The thing that first pulled me towards the book was it's beatiful cover and I am so glad that the story itself was every bit as good as the cover. This book had all the elements of romance, mystery, gothic paranormal fantasy and a whole lot of drama. I especially liked the historical setting of the book and I believe this is one of the very few books I have come across which blend the Victorian era so well with fantastical elements.

The mystery of the book kept me guessing the whole while and there wasn't a single moment I felt bored or dragged out by any of it. The spirits helping her find the murderer was another element that I truly loved especially Thaddeus in the library. It was no doubt heartbreaking towards the end and I truly felt bad for Elijah but never did I find any bit of the plot annoying or unnecessary.

Death aka Sylas was this dark, brooding character who albeit I did not like at all for the first half but somehow amidst all the drama, his corny dialogues just ended up winning my heart.

5 stars for this super amazing experience.

Murder mystery and fantasy in one book is like a dream come true for me! I absolutely loved it, so much so that I bought the physical copy as soon as it was released!

I loved this story. It created a beautiful relationship that was unexpected. The solving of a murder mystery mixed with fantasy really worked well. I can’t wait for another book.
The narrator was fantastic and really helped create tension and excitement.

I absolutely adore everything written by Adalyn Grace, it is always so addicting and emotional and page turning !!! This book made me laugh, it made me cry, it was a rollercoaster of emotions and I loved every second of it. I rlly loved it !!!!

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for this audiobook in exchange for an honest review

WHERE DO I START!?

So this book took me a long time to get through, not due to the fault of the book at all but I struggle to concentrate on audiobooks (and I didn't realise this until recently!) so I actually found a hardcopy of the book to finish, and finished it within a day. It was that good. The audiobook itself was still enjoyable and the narrator was easy to listen to, but I think I just get put off by the 'hours remaining' bit!

ANYWAY. So this book is about 19-year-old Signe Farrow who has had more than her fair share of meetings with death. When eventually she is shipped off to yet another part of the family - the wealthy and enigmatic Hawthornes - Signe soon realises that they are not done yet. Whilst Death frequently visits her sick cousin Blythe, Signe must find out what, or who, has caused this illness, or risk losing the best family she has had.

The writing is beautiful, atmospheric, dark and gothic. A perfect winter read. The characters are also very well written and there is some fantastic twists in that last quarter!

I'd definitely read another book by Adalyn Grace and will definitely be requesting book 2 of this series!

*also can we just talk about that cover? Gorgeous.*

WHAT A SPECTACULAR READ!
From the very beginning, I found myself hooked by Signa's story and wanted to see her flourish, while fearing for her wellbeing at every stage. Grace does such a fantastic job of giving you a protagonist tearing at the seams due to her loneliness and longing, a protagonist struggling with powers she has that she has been shunned her whole life for, a protagonist you can't help but want to see grow to accept herself and see others do the same until every bit of that loneliness if gone from her life. Except she has always lived with Death by her side - and what a twisty, intoxicating relationship these two have.
This novel is a triumphant addition to the modern gothic, so eerie in its atmosphere, and so vivid it imagery (once, it even got me to physically recoil, which is the heighest form of flattery I can offfer!). The mystery plot also had me guessing at every stage, and each reveal we stumbled upon felt bittersweet. By the end, I was undeniably sold on dying to read anything else in this world that Grace may want to release.
The audio narration was also spectacular and offered a whole new life to the novel. Overall a fantastic piece of media.

Belladonna by Adalyn Grace

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.

This perfect gothic tale was just what I needed, I adored the writing, storyline, characters and pace. This is exactly what everyone needs to read at this time of year!

This is a blend of historical fantasy, gothic and murder mystery. The entire family of our main character, including her, were poisoned when she was a baby and she just didn't die. She's been shuffled between family members ever since and death seems to follow her but she keeps not dying. However she discovers that if she takes Belladonna then she can interact with Death himself.

The mother of the family that she just moved to died in a fairly unpleasant way and it looks like her daughter is going to suffer the same fate. Can our main character figure out what's going on, who's behind it and save her - before it's too late?

I really liked this. It's more of a mystery story than some of the books I've seen this compared to, both in the sense of the murder mystery that she's trying to solve and also the mystery surrounding her own life.

There's definitely a romance element although I wouldn't say it's the focus - but there are a number of options for the romantic partner.

The only element which seemed a bit superfluous was the historical fiction side of things. The worries about etiquette and tea drinking didn't really add to the story for me.

It ends in a way which is definitely opening the door to the next mystery to be solved, but I wouldn't necessarily call it a cliffhanger as all of the key oarts of the story are wrapped up.

4.25 stars

This audiobook truly felt like a performance! I loved how gothic and haunting this story and its romance was. Grace did a fabulous job creating an atmosphere and setting in this story, I fell in love with all of the characters and did not see the plot twist coming. I need book 2 in my hands immediately.

Okay I start all these reviews similarly but I am so disappointed.
The premise was wonderful, the cover beautiful, and I really hated it. The book feels like the longest thing I’ve ever read but it wasn’t. It just never seems to stop being terribly dull.

The main character is interesting enough at times but she doesn’t really have enough personality to make me like her. Nevermind the fact that she oscillates between the sexy groom and literal death with who she is horny for.

Let’s ignore the fact that death met her as a baby, couldn’t kill her, and has been waiting around since. Now it’s definitely signs that kind of starts everything but the fact that she (spoiler) literally fucks death was a bit of a weird one for me. He’s known her since she was a baby and he’s millennia years old…but he can’t touch anyone without them dying. Okay? So how did he know so skilfully how to have sex? How can he even have sex honestly. He also clearly had a brother which means there’s other people like him but he acts like there isn’t.

Multiple times the author lays clues for information that’s meant to be a big deal but the fact that signa constantly gets it wrong is annoying. The fact that she doesn’t suspect the groom guy more is annoying. Everything about this book is generally pretty annoying.

A good audiobook with a good story. YA novels aren't usually my type of book but this book wasn't very YA. I really enjoyed the story.