The main couple has sex, with some detailed description of oral sex, followed by penetration and climax. Other scenes of groping and pleasuring a partner with clothes on. A statue is described with three people in the "heat of passion." Talk of affairs.
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A man dies from poison at the start of the book, and his ghost lingers before it's reaped. Suffering ghosts who were poisoned at a party 20 years before linger; one tries to choke someone to death. A character suffers visions of dead people. A mother mourns a drowned child whose ghost tries to say good-bye. A foal and a pregnant woman nearly die. Talk of many dying in a plague long ago. Characters joke after a man gets hit in the privates by a croquet racket.
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Be true to who you are, even if polite society wouldn't approve. Embrace both change and not fearing alone time. Reminders that death is a natural part of the life cycle and that mourning a death can look different for everyone.
Positive Role Models
some
Signa finds out a lot about herself when a man tries to tell her who she is and she rejects his assumptions. She embraces her powers and revels in alone time. She shows courage and compassion when she confronts the ghosts around her and empathy in what she decides to tell the Hawthornes about Percy's disappearance. On the other hand, Signa is still impulsive about using her gifts, even when it hurts her physically to do so. Signa's cousin Blythe will do anything to clear her father's name and uses her cunning to keep her family together.
Educational Value
a little
A reminder of what the expectations were of young society women in the 1800s: to be demure and chaste, receive potential suitors on certain days and hours each week of the courting season, wear extravagant dresses, and attract a rich husband. A little botany and chemistry lesson: on the toxicity of foxglove and cyanide, how the herbs tansy and mugwort can be a stomach and headache aid with some side-effects.
Diverse Representations
a little
Fate is described as having bronze skin, and a few minor characters -- including the son of a duke and the queen -- are described as having brown skin. Two female ghosts confess their love for each other. Signa is an orphan with a chosen family.
Parents need to know that Foxglove is the second book in the Belladonna dark romance-fantasy series by Adalyn Grace (All the Stars and Teeth). Content is consistently mature, with a bit more description of sex between the main couple than in the first book. Drinking is mostly of the social kind this time and involves characters ages 20 and up. Violence is about the same and focuses on death by poisoning and ghosts. A man dies from poison at the start of the book, and his ghost lingers before it's reaped. Suffering ghosts who were poisoned at a party 20 years before linger, and one tries to choke someone to death. A woman suffers visions of dead people, and a mother mourns a drowned child whose ghost tries to say good-bye. A foal and a pregnant woman nearly die.
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What's the Story?
In FOXGLOVE: BELLADONNA, BOOK 2, the Duke of Berness lies dead on the ballroom floor after cyanide poisoning. Signa's Uncle Elijah served him the drink that killed him, so he's whisked away to stand trial for the duke's murder. Signa and her cousin Blythe are determined to clear Elijah's name just as the courting season is amping up, which makes gossip all the more rampant. Signa is less concerned with gossip and more concerned with who's come courting: a man she met the night of her uncle's murder who claims to be a prince. But Signa, new to both her powers as a reaper and her amorous relationship with Death himself, knows the Prince in his true form as Fate, and suddenly Fate won't leave her alone. He claims she's the reincarnation of his lost love and will stoop to any manipulation to win her away from Death. With Elijah's life at stake and so many secrets to hide from Blythe about her powers -- and her hand in Blythe's brother Percy's disappearance -- Signa has little choice but to consider a life without Death.
This sequel mixes a potent brew of paranormal romance, haunted manors, and murder mystery that fans of the first book will die for. Fate is right on time to the ball for the next murder at Thorn Grove, home of the Hawthornes and Signa Farrow. With his assertive designs on Signa, it's both frightening and fun to watch in Foxglove as Fate hosts a ball and muddles the minds of a whole room full of people as he tries and fails to woo Signa. And it's a pleasure to watch Signa's arrival at her family home, Foxglove, where she finds out how much she cherishes alone time and how useful her powers are to ease the suffering of ghosts and the ones they leave behind -- a scene of a mourning mother on the seashore is particularly poignant.
Away from Fate, Signa realizes that he can't tell her who she's supposed to be or whom she's supposed to love. Signa's cousin Blythe is also delightful, both for the intrigue around her paranormal gifts and her fierce personality. She's not to be messed with, not after she's cheated death so many times and definitely not in a game of croquette. Readers may grasp some of her secrets before the big reveal at the end, but not all, and they'll be excited about what's to come, especially for her, in Book 3, Wisteria. As long as Fate doesn't mess things up, that is.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the character of Fate in Foxglove. How does he manipulate everyone around him? Does he deserve the compassion he receives from Signa after his behavior?
Women often don't treat other women well for most of the story. How does the courting season automatically make it harder for women to be supportive of one another? When does Signa show empathy toward Blythe and Eliza? When does Blythe change her behavior toward Signa?
Available on:
Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
Last updated:
September 13, 2023
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By Carrie R. Wheadon
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