Belladonna

Where to even begin with this one. Dark, dreamy, and deathly, those are the words that come to mind thinking about Belladonna. With lush storytelling that makes you feel like you're there the world building in this book is second to none, I could smell the smoke of the train, feel the sway of the carriage Imagine the feel of the fabrics and taste the food as it was being described, that kind or detail is something I love in a book.

This story will take you on a journey, one in which Signa our main character will have gone through numerous guardians just trying to make it six months until her birthday so she can become her own woman and never have to depend on people who only want to use her for her money again. She can see so clearly what she wants in the future, but will it be what her future holds?

She has never been able to be on her own or make her own choices, from the day her entire family died at deaths hands tragedy has followed her and those who choose to take her in. She's lost everyone she ever cared about or thought cared about her from family, to friends, to a garden she loved to be in she's seen more than enough loss at the hands of other people and is ready to begin the life she's been dreaming about for herself.

We start out story with an infant that fascinated death, and she learned lather that she could call on him, the only catch she has to "almost die". In finding that she can call death she finds she has certain abilities, some good, some very very bad and she has to learn how to handle not only her own life but the afterlife of those she encounters.

You see one of the abilities she has is to see spirits, some are good, some are bad, some Signa has to fight to not send on to the next phase of the ever after they're so annoying, that aunt of hers was interesting to say the least.

Before I go too far, I will say one thing I loved about the story was the balance, there is a price to be paid when Death saves her, or anyone is saved for that matter and it's a steep price. When her cousin Blythe is saved Signa learns just how steep that price is.

Because even living the life she's been given, so intertwined with death, with the choices she has to make, Signa wants to be good, and do the right thing, to not hurt anyone and to find a place to call her home, it's really not that much to ask.... or is it?

Thinking about everything that happened in this book I would almost call it a reverse fairy tale where the dark is trying to find and possibly the light, free the spirits, and save the girl, (who just happens to be her cousin and, in the beginning, slowly dying of the same wretched disease that killed her mother). However instead of leaning heavily on a prince (There is a fantastic male character here who is very much her match so don't worry about that) she does things on her own, in her own way, does that include eating poison to have discussions with Death himself, well yes, and does that include her chasing after spirits and threatening to light things on fire, also yes but what's done is done and Signa is moving forward, at least that's what she tells herself.

With everything from mention of a "gentlemen's club" to unusual parties, eerie illnesses and accidents that seem to follow Signa this story takes you on a wild ride that will have you sitting on the edge of your chair ready to cry one moment and ready to throw something the next it's fantastic and I can't wait to read more.

This is one book you can most definitely judge by its cover, it's breathtaking just like the story is and I will be reading more by this author as soon as I can.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown Books for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.