Belladona

by Adalyn Grace.

In this book we follow a young woman called Signa Farrow. She’s lived a life haunted by Death. More or less her whole family died when she was just a baby. But Signa cannot die, which not only made her the sole heir to a fortune, but gave her a connection to Death and the world beyond the living. One by one of Signa’s (very unfitting) guardians is taken by Death, making Signa more and more lonely and angry with Death. But when Signa is sent to Thorn Grove to live with her last remaining relatives, the Hawthornes, she stumbles upon angered spirits, strange illnesses, and an array of eccentric people with plenty of secrets. Soon Signa realizes that the illnesses are in fact unnatural, and that the death isn’t natural. To solve the murder and bring peace back to Thorn Grove, Signa has to make an alliance with Death himself.

So, this was an interesting read with some very good elements. 

I find that the writing is detailed and at times poetic and a bit “old”, which fits the story since it takes place somewhere in the 1800s. I did find it a bit jarring to begin with though because it’s written in an almost omniscient POV. There’s a lot of distance to the main character, which I find odd and I think the story would have been better had we been closer to Signa throughout the story.  Or maybe I just have a hard time with the “but what she didn’t know was that xxxx”-type of narrative. I want to be there in the moment with the character, and this book isn’t that. However, it didn’t take long to get into the style and after the first few chapters I rarely thought much about it. 

The murder mystery is a very interesting plot that may perhaps not have the tension and “hold your breath”-excitement of a really good thriller/crime story, but it’s suitable for this book. And considering it’s not really the main plot either, it works really well. And the twists here had me surprised, but not chocked. Everything felt well developed and planned out, which is great. 

The main plot for me in this book is more about Signa and her journey in finding herself and who she is, which also incudes romance. And Signa is a likeable character who’s easy to follow and as a reader I want to know what’s going to happen to her, and I want the best for her. When it comes to the romance, Signa and Death has great chemistry and the romance is beautifully written. I do have a few issues with the romance that I’ll get to later, but I have to say that if I disregard certain things, the romance is good and it develops nicely throughout the novel.

The core of this novel is really good, and there’s many things to like about it. I’ve read an ARC of this novel, which might explain a lot of the mistakes I found in it. This really needs a final pass with an editor because there are a lot of mistakes. Words missing in sentences, wrong name in dialogues, grammar mistakes etc. But I’m confident those will be fixed before release. 

I also find that it’s too many words in it. Now, this is probably something of a personal preference too. I like fast novels that doesn’t dawdle along with unnecessary details and scenes that really don’t matter. And, well, this book has plenty of those. At least 30% of the book isn’t really necessary, and I’ve honestly skimmed large portions of it because it’s very slow. But I’m sure plenty of people would instead love the book for just this attention to detail and slow development.

So, onto the final thing. The romance. As much as I like the way it’s written and the chemistry between the characters, I can’t help but feel like this romance is seriously creepy. And not because Death is, well, Death. But because one, he’s as old as creation himself, and she’d 19, but two, she doesn’t even know what he looks like. She’s like swooning over a man cloaked in shadows that’s millennia old and she’s like “I don’t care what he looks like”. 

Sure, he’s waited for her a long time and all that, and even though I don’t like the whole old man with young woman thing in YA, I get it. This woman is the first one he’s ever been able to touch. She is his only wish and he loves her. But I would have still liked to have seen his face before they get intimate. I’m perhaps superficial in this, but what if he had a decaying face with worms swirling out of his bloodied eye sockets? I mean, he’s Death after all. How romantic would it have been to wake up in bed with that face, no matter how sweet the man was? So, yes, I would have liked to see his pretty face before any intimate details. 

But that isn’t really by biggest issue either. What I’m concerned about is that Death found Signa when she was a baby. A baby. He’s been watching her since she was a baby in a crib, waiting, grooming (?) and whatever until she was nineteen and then he comes and is like “you’re my everything and I love you, please sleep with me, be with me, give me your everything because you’re the only woman I’ve been able to touch, and I need you.” 

Yes, I find this extremely creepy and inappropriate, and the whole thought that this man has stalked Signa since she was a baby only so he could seduce her and take her for himself as a young adult makes my stomach turn at every line of that otherwise greatly written romance. Couldn’t he at least have met her at 16 or something? This is like Twilight and Jacob and the baby all over again. 

I’m sorry, but grown men falling in love with babies is wrong, even if they wait until they are adults to act on it.

But overall, this is a solid read and I’m giving it a 3,5/5 stars.