Holly is a holiday novella set in the romantic, Gothic-infused world of Belladonna. The main four characters are back together: Aris (Fate), Blythe, Signa, and Sylas (Death) to celebrate Christmas—the first true one that they’ve had all together. This takes place 27 years after the main events of Wisteria and a few months after the epilogue. While the page count may be over 300, it is filled with illustrations by LotusBubble. The illustrations and style reminded me a lot of Spectacular by Stephanie Garber, a novella in the Caraval universe, which was illustrated by Rosie Fowinkle. They both had a lot of charm and capture the whimsical feel of the season, while reflecting each of the worlds the books take place in.

If you would like my thoughts on the original Belladonna series, I did a combined review, so feel free to check that out. I tried to keep the spoilers to a minimum.

The edition I have includes special endpapers and a special cover design under the jacket. The listing makes it sound like that won’t always be the case, so I figured I would make note of it. I really loved that each endpaper was different, with one featuring Aris and Blythe, while the other features Signa and Sylas.

Synopsis

Something strange is happening at Wisteria Gardens, the manor that Blythe and Aris call home. All they want is a peaceful holiday season with their family, but a group of restless spirits is determined to threaten their festivities. With a new mystery to solve, Signa, Death, Blythe, and Fate must uncover what happened to Wisteria’s ghostly inhabitants and help the spirits move on … before it’s too late.

Book Details

• Published: September 30, 2025
• Page Count: 384 pages
• Genre: Young Adult Historical Fantasy Romance

Thoughts on Holly

Originally, I found the ending of Wisteria to be lacking, though I still loved this series overall with the murder mystery plots. So, I was looking forward to seeing more from these characters. Especially Blythe and Aris, as they had just been reunited after twenty-seven years apart. Not to mention, I was curious how they would fit the elements of the original series in while making it centered around the holidays. To start things off, Aris learns that Blythe is planning a gift for him with the help of Death, which naturally prompts him to seek the help of Signa. Only to learn that she is also packing presents and won’t help him beyond saying it needs to be something meaningful. Aris, having been away for twenty-seven years, vows to make it a memorable and peaceful one… something that immediately isn’t going to happen as a host of spirits appear before Signa dressed like they were about to perform a holiday play.

Thus leading to Aris trying to distract Blythe from finding out their home is haunted with spirits (despite the fact her presence helps calm them), while Signa tries to resolve why the spirits have not moved on. Meanwhile, Sylas is off trying to find something for Blythe so it can be given to Aris as a present on Christmas. I’m not going to spoil what that gift ended up being, but that entire reveal of when Blythe gives Aris his gift left me in tears. Though that was also in part from the spirits finally moving on with the help of Signa.

There were a lot of funny moments with how competitive the characters are when it comes to games. Or with the ways Aris tries to draw Blythe’s attention away from the spirits. Such as when Blythe walks in on them playing music to find the orchestra. Just as one of the musicians goes to play the piano, Aris redirects them to go caroling, despite not wanting to do that. Or when one of the spirits freaks out about fire, since they had died in a fire, Signa made it seem like she caused the fire to swell rather than the spirit getting mad at them playing Snapdragon. Of course, Blythe knows they are hiding something from her; she just doesn’t know what.

The mystery behind the spirits isn’t the only thing going on. Aris is trying to come up with the perfect gift for everyone, especially Blythe, as he’s never really done that before. And of course, he wants to make it meaningful since he’s grateful to have her after centuries without her. I really loved all the gifts he came up with in the end. We also have Sylas and Signa moments throughout the book, so it’s not focused on a specific couple. Though Sylas does spend quite a bit of time away from the activities while he’s helping Blythe. Not to mention, there are a lot of souls he has to help cross given the season.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it if you loved the rest of the series. Not to mention, it’s got beautiful artwork throughout and is great for the upcoming season if you celebrate Christmas.

Love ya,

Mae Polzine

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