Beautiful photo by @onetruedaydreamer!
Hi Fairy Friends!
Welcome back to day 2 of our readalong of Belladonna. I hope you’re all loving the book so far!
Today we’re reading from chapter 10 to the end of chapter 18. Let’s goooo!
Please be warned, the following section will include spoilers for Belladonna by Adalyn Grace, from chapters 10 to 18. Please only read on if you’ve finished this section!
-!SPOILERS!-
Signa takes a trip to the stables to make her journey to the garden a bit more unbearable and bumps into Sylas. Funnily enough the horse Signa is insistent on riding, is none other than Lillian’s.
Sylas is a little bit flirty, he helps her up onto Mitra telling Signa he won’t allow her to go alone. Signa leaves Sylas behind and reaches the garden, but it’s locked. Luckily… Signa knows a guy, and the berries she needs to summon said man are just within her grasp!
Death appears quickly, asking Signa whether she intends to stab him again. She just wants to know whether she can access any other of his powers. He doesn’t know a great deal about her abilities, but he thinks she has many more abilities than the few she’s showcased so far. Interesting…
He suspects Signa possesses abilities similar to his own, and he lets her know that when she killed Magda, who was not intended to die that night, he had to give that life to someone else, and it was Blythe he gave it to. Signa technically saved Blythe’s life by murdering Magda.
He tells her that he can walk through anything, and if she summons the power, she’ll be able to do the same. Do we trust him? He seems quite enamoured and amused by Signa. He watches her, says she makes the time pass quicker. Alas, after a bit of back and forth, Death helps her enter the garden.
He warns her to be careful when she speaks with Lillian, if she’s angry, she could try to possess Signa. No pressure then…
Lillian arrives. She knows she’s dead, she tells Signa she was killed using poison. Whoever killed her, is now doing the same to Blythe. It was never an illness. She doesn’t know who poisoned her, but this is definitely a step in the right direction.
By the time Sylas catches up to her, Death and Lillian have thankfully departed. Signa enrols Sylas in her plan to track down Lillian’s murderer, and Blythe’s would-be assassin. Sylas definitely has some useful inside knowledge about the family, so this isn’t the worst idea… but I’m still wary of who we can and can’t trust!
As well as solving one murder and preventing another, Signa has to keep up with her lessons and meetings. Marjorie has arranged for her to have tea with some fellow young ladies… and not all of them are strangers.
One of them is Charlotte, Signa’s only friend. When scandal struck between their families Charlotte moved away and Signa hasn’t seen her since. Charlotte doesn’t let on to Eliza or Diana that she knows Signa, so Signa follows suit.
The image of four young ladies taking tea… with Death sipping tea and whispering to Signa if they should give the other ladies the pox. I love it.
I agree with Death though. Signa should eat the scone, why not?!
On top of normal lessons, solving murders and tea with judgmental ladies, Signa now also has to meet Death at midnight for lessons. I’m not saying these lessons aren’t needed but Death… are you not available any earlier?
Signa gets her chance to meet Blythe again and apologise, and she has the rousing suspicion that Blythe is being poisoned through her tea. Blythe has been told it’s medicinal and she has a lead, Elaine brings her all of her tea. Could it be her?
Elaine arrives to assist Signa that evening, but she’s immediately confident it’s not Elaine that’s poisoning Blythe… just as she’s about to leave, a note arrives. Once she’s gone, Signa reads it, it’s from Sylas, they’ll meet at eleven to ride to Grey’s. How is Signa not exhausted?????
Another jam packed section!
I still have no idea who’s responsible, but I’m confident Signa can get to the bottom of it! Do you have any theories so far? Let me know!
Love,
Shannon
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Look at Signa go, feeling attraction toward every male figure who wanders into her sheltered life! Sylas is sweet, but also a little mysterious. I get the impression that he is not who everyone thinks he is…
I’m super suspicious of Marjorie. Signa just sort of brushed her off as a potential poisoner but she’s got access to lots of places and people in her position in the household. I hope that Blythe gets better through not drinking her poisoned tea!
I’m loving the book so far! and no theories yet..
I have no theories yet… I’m still very clueless. Maybe Marjorie? But why? I have no clue, Lilian sounds like an amazing person so I don’t know. And why a month between killing Lilian and making Blythe ill? Did something happen in that month to convince the killer Blythe also had to die? Or was that the plan all along? I’m intrigued and I definitely want to get to the bottom of this! I saw there are more books coming in the series but I do hope we solve the mystery in this one! I can’t deal with murder mystery cliffhangers…
I was also sad for Signa that Charlotte didn’t really say anything to her about the past. But maybe Charlotte is just scared that Signa will share their scandelous history? I hope they will get closer again and become friends.
Btw how is she going to meet with Sylas and be back an hour later to meet Death?! I still wonder if they’re the same person or not. Nobody else has acknowledged Sylas so can other people really see him? I wonder… But he can’t be a ghost because he could travel all the way to her. I need to know more, back to reading!
Okay let’s summarize: So first I was totally right to suspect that poor Blythe was poisoned by Belladonna! Given the name of the book and the fact that Sygna uses this berry to see Death, is it so silly to think that maybe this is the same fruit that would have poisoned everyone at the party at the beginning of the book? ?
Now I’d love to hear your thoughts about Sylas! Am I the only one who finds him a little too eager to help? Am I the only one who finds him a little bit of a “illegitimate son of Mr. Hawthorne and the governess” vibe ?
Especially with this remark from that dear (awful!) Lady Diana Blackwater: “That perhaps Missus Hawthorne-poor thing-took it upon herself to end her life after discovering her husband had had a series of torrid affairs and too many illegitimate children to care for. They even say the help is in cahoots to rally against the family.” ?
Especially since in a book where death is so ubiquitous, the fact that she only runs into Sylas when she’s alone, doesn’t talk to anyone about it, and no one talks about him is very suspicious.
In short, I find that this character smells of betrayal ! ??
In conclusion, it is always a pleasure to be back with Sygna! At the same time a little lost but who faces everything that falls on her with a lot of bravery and cold blood! Even if I can’t wait to see her stop struggling with her ugly dresses and reveal herself in a ball scene for example? ??
PS : Can we talk about that replica from death ??!
! “Apologies, I forgot to bring my dress and gloves.” ???
The plot thickens! The interactions between Signa and Death are very amusing. I don’t trust Sylas too much because it seems like he’s not being entirely forthcoming about himself.
Despite the fact that Signa doesn’t believe so, I strongly suspect Marjorie of poisoning Lillian and Blythe. She knows people in high positions and she seems to have an attraction for Mr. Hawthorne.
I really enjoy this book so much already! I do still like Sylas and I could really imagine that he is Death cause nobody knows about him. Signa is a great main character and I just love the vibe of the book so much!
This book keeps getting better and better.
I loved the scene with Death crashing the tea party and Signa’s reaction to it.
I also noticed the banter between Signa and Sylas how Signa seems to be attracted to Sylas. I wonder who he really is. Just a groom? or is there more to him than meets the eye?
I’m glad Blythe and Percy already know about the poisoning and are on board with Signa’s plan to catch the person who is doing it by pretending they are none the wiser while she keeps investigating.
Looking forward to those midnight lessons with Death!
I’m loving all the bantering between Sygna & Death! They’re so funny! But I also love how protective he is towards her and her happiness…eat the damn scone, Signa!
There’s so much at play here…a murder to solve, a life to save, a Season to get ready for, and Sygna’s overall destiny. In the prologue, Death could see her future. Is that future by his side?
Is Sylas the embodiment of Death?
Is Marjorie the killer? I don’t think so because it’s just too convenient and it’s rarely the early front runner.
All I know is I’m excited to continue and we get to start with more Sylas time!!
I don’t have any suspicions yet. I am curious about Elijah. He seems to be carrying a lot of guilt with him. The late night meeting in the kitchens had me thinking. I don’t think he did it but maybe someone did it to push him over the ledge? Who knows though. Also I kinda like Blythe she tells it like it is.
I was correct about it being poison.
Sylas is very mysterious, I need answers… Is he a disgraced servant? An illegitimate son?
I love afternoon tea but wouldn’t want to have to have it with those girls.
I preferred this part to the previous one. I liked the way the characters of Lillian and Blythe were introduced and oh, there is a murder to solve. I think I am going to love this book. For the moment, I have no idea of how this situation will be developed and how Death is involved in it. Also, Signa is so mysterious and I am wondering if her mismatched eyes mean something.
I’m definitely liking Sylas but I’m getting a weird feeling about him. I love Death and Signas interactions so far. I’m feeling like maybe Marjorie is poisoning Blythe but I’m not sure on motivations yet
I’m really surprised Blythe and Percy believed Signa so easily, not even questioning why this person they just met was so invested in their welfare. Or why she was so familiar with the taste of a deadly poison.
Sylas is starting to feel a little sinister to me, what’s his story anyway? I feel like there’s definitely more to him than what we know so far…still unclear if the Sylas=Death theory could be true or not, but he sure is around only when Signa is alone…
I have no theories. But I believe Signa Will help Blythe recover from her illness now that Singa knows Blythe is been ill. Maybe a lot of bad stuff will happen? I also am starting to like Sylas!
I fell a bit behind on this readalong, since I’m working on a paper I need to turn in soon. Luckily I managed to catch up today, so that’s nice. This is my second time reading the book, and I’m still enjoying the vibes and the atmosphere, but I’m still not too big on the characters second time around. Except for Lillian (and her daughter) though.
I’m actually starting to suspect Sylas, ya’ll. I initially was like, Elijah is a murderer but he seems TOO obvious. Sylas knows about secret passageways and has become Signa’s confidant of sorts, and a betrayal would make this so much more interesting! I’m not sure what the exact motive would be though… Still trying to figure that out. Marjorie also seemed too obvious a choice so I’m ignoring her for now. I find it odd that it’s the women being murdered though. The fortune can’t pass down to them so money can’t be a motive. This is such an interesting read though!!
The tea scene was so nice, Signa keeping up appearances, pretending to be normal… I can totally understand that she wants to belong even though the rules are confusing her.
I’m so behind but am sticking with it:) I’m enjoying it just not had much time to read this week.
I like the idea of Signa coming into her power more.
I feel like all the suspects so far are too obvious.
She shouldnt trust any of them!
I have a bad feeling about Syla’s.
The only trustworthy one I can see so far is Death.