Reviews

Belladonna by Adalyn Grace

kaitie_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

"𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓷𝓸 𝓼𝓸𝓯𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓸 𝓫𝓮 𝓬𝓸𝓭𝓭𝓵𝓮𝓭." 𝓗𝓲𝓼 𝓿𝓸𝓲𝓬𝓮 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓼𝓸𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓪𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓸𝓷'𝓼 𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓼𝓽 𝓻𝓪𝓲𝓷, 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓼𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓱𝓲𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓮𝓭 𝓯𝓻𝓸𝓶 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝔀𝓪𝔂 𝓲𝓽 𝓰𝓵𝓲𝓭𝓮𝓭 𝓾𝓹𝓸𝓷 𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓼𝓴𝓲𝓷. "𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓫𝓸𝓵𝓭𝓮𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓾𝓷, 𝓢𝓲𝓰𝓷𝓪 𝓕𝓪𝓻𝓻𝓸𝔀, 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓲𝓽'𝓼 𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓫𝓾𝓻𝓷."

Dark, atmospheric, and somewhat spooky with a suspenseful "whodunnit" theme throughout. 

Death follows Signa Farrow wherever she goes. She feels that she is cursed and she is often accused of being a witch, but all she wants is to fit into the high society that surrounds her. In this book, Death takes a physical form as the reaper. He has taunted Signa for her entire life, always lurking in the shadows, and it seems as though she is never far from his grasp. 

I loved the historic vibe, the suspense, and the swoon-worthy romantic tension throughout the pages of this book. This book has beautiful descriptive prose, and Thorn Grove is such a hauntingly beautiful setting. Personally, I'm a complete sucker for haunted manors and dark gothic settings. The Secret Garden is one of my favourite classic novels, and I felt that there were a lot of nods to that particular story in this one.

I did find Signa a little bit frustrating at times in her refusal to embrace who she is at the core, but her character growth is immaculate. Also, I think that the plot is at times predictable, but there were definitely some twists that I didn't see coming. 

I appreciate that there is enough closure to finish this book off, but enough suspense to keep the reader interested in picking up the next book.

A suspenseful gothic YA thriller that makes for the perfect rainy day read.

zepeng's review

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2.0

2 stars

The most disappointing book I have ever read. I love love the synopsis and prologue, and it has been hyped up by BookTok and Goodreads. I expect good things and good things only. But it just goes downhill from the prologue.

The vibes are not it, the characters are weird, the so called murder mystery is mid. It is just so boring and unrealistic, and I especially hate the stupid handbook. I'm still surprised that I managed to not dnf it as I hope that things can pick up. Alas, it did not happen. BookTok let me down once again.

19_juha_89's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

makisvcool's review

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It was too slow paced for me. 

reneerubiano's review

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3.0

3.5

the first 200 pages were rough
the last 300 were worth it

luciliamint's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

earkjgahgrsertjsyr's review

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3.0

Overall good story and unique ideas. However I felt there was little chemistry between the protagonist and love interest, and had some gripes with the writing.

_aquamarin3_'s review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

josiesmith's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

4.5

ninisheaven's review

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0