It’s a culmination of the last couple of years—as well as the last couple of months for me, personally—that’s led to me being drawn to books hyperfocused on death. You don’t need to look far lately to find books with themes on grief, death, and horror, especially in the YA genre. There’s a boom happening here with standouts across all genres, and Adalyn Grace’s Belladonna is an enticing romantic gothic fantasy that carves out its own space among the macabre. Signa, at the age where it would be acceptable for her to marry, has some other prospects as well. Watching her navigate that, while trying to decipher her unusual feelings for Death was super compelling. I was eating it up. When Signa accidentally killed her venomous Aunt Magda, she broke the important rule without knowing. Magda was not meant to die at that night so when a life is taken, another must be spared rule saved her cousin Blythe’s life. If people are afraid, then let them be afraid. Your shoulders were not meant to bear the weight of their expectations, Signa. You were not made to please others."

Had I read this as a physical book instead of an ebook i would’ve ran out of post-it notes tabbing all the red flags. Let’s not beat around the bush, this book is about an old ancient immortal being Death grooming a young girl until she’s legal and then gets with her. Talking about secrets and solving mysteries… I am not that impressed with Signa’s investigative work honestly. She does find clues and relevant information, but half of the important twists and facts were just dropped in her lap for her to find. The author did a great job with the identity of the killer(s) though because I was really suspicious of everyone at one point, and I couldn’t figure out if it was one killer or more, and who it could be since so many people seemed to have motives, but on the other hand, there are some revelations that I did see coming. There are numerous variants of this same phrase throughout the ending half of the book and when I tell you I giggled like a maniac throughout all of them (still in public, might I add)There will not be any ARCs for Wisteria, either digital or physical. My team and I really want to keep everything a surprise, and have everyone read it simultaneously once it's released :) No one outside of my team and a a very small handful of people will be reading it before it's out! Have you always been a bit too into the grim reaper? Worryingly so? Would you kiss him if tempted? Touch? Fu-... sorry, got a bit lost in a personal fantasy there haha. It had been weeks since Signa had seen the reaper. Only a final breath would draw him out from hiding, and he never left empty-handed. At least, that was the way it was supposed to be. But Signa Farrow was a girl who could not die. I don't know if anyone else guessed it or if it was really obvious but LET ME HAVE THIS MOMENT PLEASE Death spoke as though Signa were a child. As though she were a small, fragile thing that needed to be coddled”

So overall, this was an amazing way to begin the month of March. I highly doubt any other book will beat this one as my monthly favorite unless it is an absolute masterpiece. I was so excited to get my hands on this book! I loved Belladonna so much that I could not wait to read the follow up! So, did it live up to expectations? Hmm not quite. But to be fair the bar was really high, and I did still really enjoy a lot of it, it just wasn't what I was expecting, and I was a little disappointed with some things.but the most frustrating was how Adalyn Grace wanted Signa to be a red herring to distract us from it actually being Blythe… but you at least need to WRITE the red herring clues. you need to show us why it could be Signa and Blythe 😭 all i could see in that scene was how everything pointed to Blythe like Signa was not even on my radar.

Signa’s best chance of uncovering the murderer, though, 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. TL;DR: I'm honestly unsure whether I want all of you to read this or whether I want to gate-keep it for myself. One more time. One more mystery. And then she could finally—finally —have the peaceful life she’d always wanted. No more murders. No more mysteries that kept her mind churning at all hours of the night. Just a peaceful life with the Hawthornes, and the man that she loved.” So let's talk about why this book was great. The writing was good. The setting was wonderful-- creepy and atmospheric, with body horror and real stakes. Honestly, there were some moments in this book that made me glad I wasn't reading it at night. The heroine was delightfully awkward and it wasn't portrayed as too quirky or twee. I could sense her inability to fit in and her loneliness, and the author showed us instead of telling us. Part of the book is watching Signa grow and blossom, like a dark orchid, in a hothouse full of society people who don't quite know how to deal with her. There was a scene so beautiful at the end, it made me cry and manifested my decision to give this 5 stars.

For what it's worth, I think the idea here is stellar: we have a young lady who loses her family at a very young age and is bounced around between relatives who keep dying due to pesky unforeseen reasons. Signa, our main character, has some mysterious ability to not be able to die, and when she does something (like eating poison berries), instead of passing on she has an encounter with Death. Part of the fun of the book is learning why this is happening and watching the blossoming romance between the two. Also, there is a bit of murder mystery at play here once Signa reaches her latest relatives' estate, which is always appealing to me.