Today I’m reviewing Belladonna by Adalyn Grace, releasing at the end of August.
Belladonna is about a girl orphaned as a baby, whose string of guardians have each met an untimely demise, who allies with Death himself to save the poisoned daughter of her latest guardian. It features poison, politics of the upper echelons of society, and Death as a character.
For me to sum up why you should read this book in one sentence, allow me to say three words:
Death is sexy.
Belladonna has more reasons than that for why you should read, of course, but the personification of Death into a character (and the usage of that character as a potential romantic option for the main character) is something that distinguishes Belladonna from other books out there.
Belladonna is a mystery at its heart. As such the characters within are all complex and multidimensional in a way that will leave the reader guessing at the answers to the central mystery until the very end.
But with all that said, it is protagonist Signa Farrow herself that is most compelling. She has grown up mistreated by her various guardians, the one consistency in her life her inability to die. She desires nothing more than to turn twenty, access her inheritance at last, and finally immerse herself in high society. She is a lonely girl at heart, and conflicted between her own spirited nature and the docility she believes high society requires of her. Readers can’t help but root for her to get her happy ending.
Overall, Belladonna is an excellent gothic tale of death, and one that will leave readers dying for the sequel.
Comments