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“Hello, Little Bird. Come to stab me again?”

What is the Book about?

Signa is touched by death. Since her parents died, her relatives believe she is cursed. Until one day, Signa is invited by her cousin to the beautiful Thorn Grove mansion. The lavish balls and elegant guests fascinate Signa, but the glamour hides a dark secret. The daughter of the house, Blythe, was poisoned, and the perpetrator is closer to the family than suspected. When Death himself appears to help Signa solve the mystery, he awakens forbidden feelings in her that could plunge her into a dark abyss…

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Rating
Plot ☆☆☆☆☆
Characters ☆☆☆☆☆
Excitement ☆☆☆☆☆
Atmosphere ★☆☆☆☆
Writing Style ★☆☆☆☆

Favourite Character
None

My thoughts while reading it

The disappointing journey through the murky twists of “Belladonna” left me with a bitter aftertaste. It was an experience filled with incomprehension and frustration over the nonsensical portrayal of characters and plot elements. The hope for an engaging story was dashed by the nauseating love story and the lack of coherence in the plot. It was a book that whisked its readers into a dark world but failed to provide genuine fantasy and depth. I cannot recommend it, and I will never read anything by this author again. This review is imbued with a lot of my personal disdain towards this book, so if you don’t want to read that or if you enjoyed the book, then please don’t read this review. It’s very subjective.

Let’s start with the naive, foolish, and superficial main character, Signa. I strongly hope that this character is not meant to represent a woman, because in terms of maturity, Signa falls far short. How anyone could like this main character is beyond my comprehension. I simply cannot believe that in today’s world, we are presented with a girl who only superficially observes men, finds pleasure in living in a wealthy household without contributing, and lacks any understanding of the world. While such individuals may exist, is it truly necessary to portray them as the main character? In fantasy stories, I expect to encounter different types of women, including those who enjoy their “princess lives,” but please, let’s depict them in a way that doesn’t come across as ludicrous. Furthermore, I must add that overall, the characters are written in a very childish manner. Even as a twelve-year-old, I would not have wanted to read about them. And the icing on the cake is Signa’s character… Yes, she’s a naive little princess, but suddenly, because other young girls dream of living their own independent lives, Signa decides she wants the same. Of course, we are influenced by others, but please, explain this in the book instead of describing it in passing. Moreover, her actions clearly demonstrate that she is not independent at all, but rather relies on the handsome, muscular men to save or lead her… Phew… If a man had written this book, everyone would have been up in arms, but because the author is a woman, apparently we’re not allowed to say anything…

Then, this love story is just so disgusting. I don’t have a problem with love pairs having a big age difference in stories. But when the guy has seen you as a baby and then falls in love with you, it’s kind of really disgusting… He clearly had to wait until she was old enough… At least something. Everyone complains about Twilight, how an ancient vampire can fall in love with a young girl, but here it seems like nobody minds. Also, the guy keeps throwing really gross grandpa-like remarks at her, which she finds totally fascinating. This isn’t a slow burn romance; rather, at a young age, she jumps right into bed with a man. And of course, we have a love triangle here, which I don’t actually find as bad as the majority of readers do; I actually like that. I don’t want to spoil anything, but the way the love triangle is resolved at the end just doesn’t make any sense. It’s clear from the beginning what will happen, and it just doesn’t make logical sense.

When we’re talking about logic, I should also mention in my scathing review that this book makes absolutely NO sense plot-wise. This book is supposed to be a mystery story alongside the love story, but where the mystery was in this, I have no idea. There are so many plot holes, there’s no suspense in solving the mystery, the ending is clear from the start, and just when there are potentially exciting moments, they’re interrupted by some poorly executed plot distractions that leave me speechless, but in a bad way.

I can say that anyone looking for fantasy here will search in vain. Apart from one of her guys being Death, there’s no fantasy here. Her ability to see the dead was actually totally irrelevant and played an almost imperceptible role.

Lastly, I can say that the whole book, in terms of writing style and characters, is actually more geared towards very young teenagers. But with all the disgusting influences of love here, no teenager with a brain should read this. I’m sorry, I’m really going to be a bit offensive here, but this book was just so painful to read. And as a woman, I somehow felt insulted. Despite everything, I finished the book because my hatred drove me to it 😀

(My quote from the book above already shows what ridiculous romantic conversations the lovebirds have.)

Reading Recommendation? ✘
Favourite? ✘