Dot de sang by S.T. Gibson

Dot de sang Reviews

• 
  chai (thelibrairie on tiktok!) ♡

  I hear “queer reimagining of Dracula’s brides, ft. sapphic yearning at the opera and tangled polyamorous relationships” and my serotonin levels immediately skyrocket.
• 
  Riley

  will someone carve this book onto my tombstone cause i am deceased
• 
  chloe

  "It was never my intention to murder you. Not in the beginning, anyway."
  
  THIS BOOK IS OUT OF THIS WORLD
• 
  Ayman

  the only brides of dracula retelling that exists ✔️
  real literature is back people 🤍
• 
  Robin

  ↠ 5 stars
  
  I heard "sapphic yearning at the opera” and smashed that want to read button. An exquisite reimagining of Dracula's Brides in the form of an open letter from his first bride Constanta; A Dowry of Blood is an achingly haunting and beautiful novel that spans centuries in the life of its narrator. Saved from death and transformed into a bride, Constanta is drawn into the web of her savior, blurring the line between love and devotion. With the addition of an aristocrat and an artist into their ranks, Constanta begins to realize the evil her husband is truly capable of, unearthing his dark secrets and bringing them to light.
  
  A Dowry of Blood is the queer reimagining that I never knew I needed, but will not shut up about for months to come. An incredibly personal look into a dark and classic tale that doesn't hold back from the get go. This is a story that is just as breathtaking as it is heart wrenchingly beautiful, and the use of language throughout epitomizes that perfectly. I mean I basically highlighted the entire first chapter, the writing was just *chefs kiss. Truly a testament to how poetic I found the prose. While the use of a narrative form is one I have never read firsthand, given the nature of the entire novel being an open letter to Dracula from Constanta it made it much more personal. The emotions and reactions by Constanta are raw and all the more powerful as a result. What really stole my attention early on, was the ever changing relationship between Constanta and her rival consorts Alexei and Magdalena. The jealousy and hatred between the three of them, which quickly transforms into love and a sense of family, was my favorite part of the novel. What I wouldn't give to read a story from either of their perspectives following the events of this book. I need it. Badly. There truly is nothing I love more than a well-executed retelling, and this achieved that and so much more. S.T Gibson devises a story so evocative, chronicling the quiet descent from love into violence over many years. An empowering look at the many different forms that love can take and how it can transform over time.
  
  Thank you to the author and Nyx Publishing for the arc in exchange for an honest review
  
  Trigger warnings: alcohol consumption, violence, murder, depression, mania, self harm, blood, gore, gaslighting, intimate partner violence (emotional, verbal, physical), sadomasochism, drug use (mentioned), sexual assault (mentioned)
• 
  Aneta

  I'm almost sure I read some faulty copy because I couldn't have read the same book as everyone else gushing about this book.
  
  This was just... not good: shallow characters, the most perfunctory and basic world/history descriptions, basically a soulless summary of events instead of actual plot. Everyone keeps calling this book sexy but the main relationship was just weird, not sexy at all. Unless you find it sexy when lovers call each other sisters or feel a motherly instinct towards their partner and keep thinking how young the partner is. Even the prose - a thing everyone gushes about, a thing I was very excited about - I found was trying too hard and not succeeding at all at being literary. Rather cringeworthy aside from a couple nice quotes here and there. Yikes. Yikes. Yikes.
  
  Side note, I found it curious that characters who were supposedly: a peasant from medieval Romania, a noble from medieval Spain, and a poor actor from early 20th century Russia all spewed references to Anglo-Saxon popular culture. Almost as if... the author drew that from own experience. I'm not saying they couldn't know these things,
  they lived in various places, but how come they never ever referenced anything from their cultures? Never felt influenced or shaped by their country of origin and upbringing, like a real person would be? US-centrism never rests, and why even try to put yourself in the shoes or your Eastern European characters I suppose. I'm only bothered by it because I'm Polish, anyway.
  
  It hurts because I fully expected to give this 5 stars.
• 
  Zainab Qadeer - HIATUS

  “You did not let me keep my name, so I will strip you of yours. In this world, you are what I say you are, and I say you are a ghost, a long night’s fever dream that I have finally woken up from”
  
  This review is definitely going to be controversial I’m sorry I didn’t love it so dont hate me for it i have my reasons 😭😭😭
  
  “If you can still hear me wherever you are, my love, my tormentor, hear this:
  It was never my intention to murder you. Not in the beginning, anyway.”
  
  The story starts off with Constanta apologising to her lover for murdering him which I must add had me intrigued. It then moves on to how she was lying there in blood vulnerable cold and barely breathing until he found her and gave her a new life. By Siring her and taking her as his wife they both travelled and had fun until they grew bored and then they were met with Magdalena a beautiful rich independent women who was full of life. He promised her a life that was Endless and due to her nature she took it and they both became Dracula’s wife’s. The cycle continued whilst the 3 were all infatuated with another they eventually grew bored and they met with Alexi a young painter Dracula promised him riches and a life worth living for an offer which Alexi could not deny . So they all got together until one day they realised he was controlling manipulative and possessive and that’s when they decided to end it all. That’s it that’s the book
  
  “Put the stake down, Constanta,” you ordered. Harsh, curt. The way you would speak to a dog. “Listen to me. Don’t make me angry.” Erm my guy needs to sit back down 😂💀
  
  I can’t lie I’m disappointed there wasn’t really a plot he turned her into a vampire they had their fun until they grew bored they meet a girl turn her into a vamp they all have fun until they got bored for them to meet a boy they have fun and get bored Do you see the cycle ??? Once they realise he’s controlling they kill him that’s it there was no anticipation no climax even the part where they killed him was just meh 🫤
  
  I was weirded out from the start Constanta’s parents had literally been murdered and she goes and sleeps with Dracula like hello … well I guess that’s her way of grieving 😂😂😂
  
  “I will never lift a hand against you, Constanta,” you said quietly. “Never in anger, or in lust.” I can see what she saw in him because I would have folded 🥵💀
  
  Dracula was a major red flag the way he controlled everything and just knew how to manipulate each one of his lovers based on their personality was impressive like god he’d been doing it for centuries. At the start he even had me thinking that he’s swoon worthy only to be a deranged control freak 😂😂😂💀
  
  “And you can go. Take your sister and give me some peace. ”
  
  “ We reveled in our love of you, of Magdalena, but the affection between us was more mother and son than lovers.” ewww what in the incest but it’s not incest 💀
  
  I STILL CANT GET OVER THE FACT THAT HE TOLD THEM ALL THAT THEY WERE LIKE SIBLINGS AND THEY ALL WENT ALONG WITH IT IT WAS WEIRD HE ALWAYS CALLED CONSTANTA HIS WIFE THEN TOLD HER MAGDALENA WAS HER SISTER WHEN THEYR LITERALLY SLEEPING WITH EACH OTHER AND HOW CONSTANTA THOUGHT OF ALEXI AS HER SON BUT SLEPT WITH HIM MAKE IT MAKE SENSE 😭😭😭
  
  “Your memory will fade to shadow and I shall never speak your name again”
  
  The one thing I’ll say is the descriptions and the writing style was BEAUTIFUL but that wasn’t enough I get that this was Constanta’s story but it wasn’t something where I was dying to turn over the page it was just long descriptions which like I said were perfectly written like where’s the horror the plot all it was is everyone screwing each other and Dracula being possessive and manipulative
  
  “Every kindness you had ever shown me revolted inside me, rioting up in mutiny against my purpose. Every smile or small gesture was as sharp as a pinprick, inviting me to see the bright spots embroidered through the ugly tapestry of our marriage.
  
  But a few flourishes and embellishments couldn’t change the fact that the very fabric of our life together was tangled and suffocating. I had given you a thousand second chances, made a thousand concessions. And this wasn’t just about me anymore. It was about Magdalena, and Alexi”
  
  I loved that near the end Constanta wasn’t manipulated by Dracula the hate she had and the way she saw past his begging made my eyes swell up with tears of joy because remember she’s spent centuries with this man who had initially saved her from dying and in his weird and twisted way he did love her so pushing all of them feeling aside and to kill him must have taken everything especially when he’s begging her and telling her that he loved her and will forgive her for trying to kill him so I’m proud of her 🥰
  
  Last but not least I’m soo happy that I read this with my gorgeous baby giuliana as we vented our anger disappointment and love for this book😂 here’s to reading many more books with you 😘❤️
  
  Now remember everyone this is NOT a love story 💕
• 
  Gabby

  4.5 stars
  Okay shit I didn’t expect to love this book as much as I did. I’m usually not the biggest fan of reading about vampires, but this is legit one of the most gorgeously written books I’ve ever read. I had to stop and reread certain lines again because I thought they were so beautifully written.
  
  “I wanted to dash myself against your rocks like a wave, to obliterate my old self and see what rose shining and new from the sea foam. The only words I had to describe you in those early days were plunging cliffside or primordial sea, crystal-cold stars or black expanse of sky. I dove down deep into your psyche, turning over every word you gave me like a jewel. Looking for meaning, seeking out the mysteries of you. I didn’t care if I lost myself in the process.”
  
  I am usually hesitant to read horror that also involves romance, cause usually I feel like the balance between romance and horror is never great, but I absolutely loved the romance in this book. I loved that there were so many queer relationships in this book. I also loved the way this book is basically written in second person, how the protagonist is writing to you, as if you are Dracula. It was such a fascinating writing style. I also tend to get squeamish whenever there are scenes about blood or sucking blood, and there were quite a few scenes in this book where I felt so disturbed and disgusted hahaha.
  
  “You seemed to me a fire burning in the woods. I was drawn in by your enticing, smoky darkness, a darkness that still stirs memories of safety, of autumn, of home.”
  
  So yeah I’m super impressed with this writing, I’ll definitely be checking out anything this author writes in the future.
• 
  Mel

  Y’ALL NEED TO READ THIS BOOK OKAY?!
• 
  ♥︎ Heather ⚔(Notification Issue)

  ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗ 𝔸𝕝𝕝. 𝕋𝕙𝕖. 𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕤. ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗
  
  ࿐ ࿔* :･ﾟ "𝓛𝓸𝓿𝓮 𝓲𝓼 𝓿𝓲����𝓵𝓮𝓷𝓬𝓮 𝓶𝔂 𝓭𝓪𝓻𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰; 𝓲𝓽 𝓲𝓼 𝓪 𝓽𝓱𝓾𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓻𝓶 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓽𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓼 𝓪𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓽 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝔀𝓸𝓻𝓵𝓭."༊࿐๋࣭⛧
  
  “𝓔𝓿𝓮𝓷 𝓵𝓸𝓷𝓮𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓮𝓼𝓼, 𝓱𝓸𝓵𝓵𝓸𝔀 𝓪𝓷𝓭 ����𝓸𝓵𝓭, 𝓫𝓮𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓼 𝓼𝓸 𝓯𝓪𝓶𝓲𝓵𝓲𝓪𝓻 𝓲𝓽 𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓼 𝓽𝓸 𝓯𝓮𝓮𝓵 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝓪 𝓯𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓷𝓭.”
  ︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶
  
  A Dowry of Blood is a Dracula retelling following his brides. Constanta thought she had been given a second chance when a mysterious man appeared to her at the brink of death and made her his bride. She spends years doing everything he asks and thinking she was lucky.
  
  Until her husband brings others into their life. Constanta begins to realize that as much as she loves the others, their husband is capable of terrible things. And now she needs to reveal his dark secrets to save them all.
  
  ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ If you’re looking for something quick to get through, this book could be the one for you. It’s less than 300 pages, with some of that being an extra short story set after the original book. You don’t have to read both, but I recommend you do. It might not sound like many pages, but Gibson packs so much into it.
  
  ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ The writing in this book is stunning. There are so many quotable moments and beautiful lines. If you want a book that reads like an absolute lyrical gem with all the gore, melancholic vibes and darkness? This is the book for you.
  
  ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ Nothing about this book upset me, or triggered me, but I can see how it would trigger others. There’s definite abuse in this book, so it’s good to bear in mind if you’re not comfortable reading that. Please check trigger warnings.
  
  It’s hard to say how I felt about the characters in this book... You feel the rage Constanta has for Dracula. This book is partially written as a goodbye to him. An explanation as to why she did what she does.
  
  And you can totally understand how this ending came about, it really draws you in. Constanta and her fellow wives though? I felt sorry for them and was fascinated by them. But not much else. This is a very character focused-novel...I wasn't necessarily on this ones side or that ones side... I was just…watching everything happen.
  
  I will say that I enjoyed reading a book about a poly relationship though. These are so rare, and you could tell that aside from Dracula…they all loved each other. It was a little strange in places as they refer to each other as a sister or think of Alexi as a son.
  
  It made the book feel a little incestuous, but since it wasn’t actually…I can forgive that. It just had me pulling faces every now and then.
  
  ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ This is a book that I think I’ll be thinking about for a long time to come and can see myself coming back to revisit again and again.
  
  ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ If you’re looking for a beautifully written Dracula retelling, then this is definitely one you should check out.
  
  ╰⪼ 🩸Gothic Fantasy
  ╰⪼ 🖤Dracula Retelling
  ╰⪼ 🩸LGBTQ+
  ╰⪼ 🖤Poly Rep
  ╰⪼ 🩸Dark Fantasy
  ╰⪼ 🖤Vampires
  
  ⋆✴︎˚｡⋆ “𝓣𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓲𝓼 𝓶𝔂 𝓵𝓪𝓼𝓽 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮 𝓵𝓮𝓽𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓽𝓸 𝔂𝓸𝓾, 𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝔀𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝓬𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓲𝓽 𝓪 𝓬𝓸𝓷𝓯𝓮𝓼𝓼𝓲𝓸𝓷. 𝓘 𝓼𝓾𝓹𝓹𝓸𝓼𝓮 𝓫𝓸𝓽𝓱 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓪 𝓼𝓸𝓻𝓽 𝓸𝓯 𝓰𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓵𝓮 𝓿𝓲𝓸𝓵𝓮𝓷𝓬𝓮, 𝓹𝓾𝓽𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓭𝓸𝔀𝓷 𝓲𝓷 𝓲𝓷𝓴 𝔀𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓼𝓬𝓸𝓻𝓬𝓱𝓮𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓪𝓲𝓻 𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓼𝓹𝓸𝓴𝓮𝓷 𝓪𝓵𝓸𝓾𝓭.” ಇ
  🩸⸸︶꒷꒦︶ 🍷
• 
  mina reads™️

  Welp i started my day crying over this masterpiece. Love that for me
• 
  Melanie

  “I made you into my private Christ, supplicated with my own dark devotions.”

  
  I love epistolary novels, but this one could very well be my favorite. This is a reimagining of dracula, but told from the pov of his first bride who is writing a letter to him about their story, and we learn from the very first letter that she became his downfall. But this is also a story about abusive relationships and how power dynamics, manipulation, gaslighting, are sometimes very difficult to see. We get to see their story unfold from the very first day he made her a vampire under the promise of saving her to the very end where promises of love could no longer be masked as unconditional.
  
  This book also very much discusses consent and how power dynamics and manipulation also can play a part in an individual saying yes when they may not under other healthier and safer circumstances. And also just… how hard it can be to leave an abusive relationship… especially when he is a powerful immortal vampire.
  
  There is a lot of overall morally grey things happening too, and something in part 3 I just personally didn’t love - so that is why this sadly did not receive a full five stars from me. But everything else was actual perfection, the writing felt like eating honey in reading form (truly some of the best prose I've read in years), and overall this was such a powerful read that i know i will keep with me forever.
  
  trigger + content warnings: blood, war, death, murder, abuse, gaslighting, ptsd, trauma, grief, depression, self harm for blood, self harm (with needle), anxiety, plague, medical experimentation, brief mention of human trafficking, loss of a loved one
  
  
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• 
  Maditales

  Obsession, submission, dominance and jealousy were portrayed beautifully in this book. This was definitely a very poetic book and I was sucked in right away.
  
  I loved the way the themes were discussed and how the story was told. The perspective was something new and rare and I loved seeing her fight back for her independence and slowly start to question what she had to follow.
• 
  Nenia ✨ I yeet my books back and forth ✨ Campbell

  
  
  
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  I've had A DOWRY OF BLOOD on my to-read list for a while but I'd heard it was a densely atmospheric read and I have to be in the right mood for those, so it's been sitting patiently on my Kindle for months. Finally, after reading a string of creepy and gothic reads, I decided I was ready to top off my Halloween-in-March sundae with this blood-dark cherry of a book: a confessional, and a toxic love story, depicting Dracula and his not-so-willing brides (and bridegroom).
  
  
  
  When Constanta first meets Dracula, she is dying: a casualty to a war. Her family was burned alive while she lay broken and bleeding. Dracula meets her and offers her a chance for new life and revenge. In her innocence, she takes it, not realizing what kind of bargain she's struck. Because as his bride, he has full control: of her, of everything. And he is only pleased with her while she's dancing to his tune.
  
  
  
  As the story progresses, he takes on two more "brides": a scheming Spanish noble named Magdalena and a penniless artist named Alexi. Both are far more mercurially tempered than Constanta, who basically lives up to her name, and she often feels pale in their light. But neither Alexi or Magdalena are fully happy either, and their willfulness is causing tensions in this not-so-happy household.
  
  
  
  I often lose patience with books that are written with a deliberate ornateness, and I did not have that happen here. If you're going to write a book with dense and flowery prose, this is how you do it. I can totally see why this book was snapped up from its indie publication and published traditionally so quickly: the writing is literary and philosophical, and I liked how Dracula was both a product of his times and also an abuser, and how he likely perpetuated cycles of abuse that he probably experienced from his master while living as a slave in Athens. I also liked how his control was so insidious, and how it was because he loved them that made it so hard to leave. Seeing that kind of nuance in books is rare.
  
  
  
  The downside is that because this book was so flowery, it often felt like the plot was a vehicle for the prose, rather than vice-versa. Large spans of the book were just waiting for things to happen, and a lot of the "story" is spent residing in Constanta's head, hearing her story, and experiencing her small world from her eyes. Even though the book is just over 200 pages, it felt a lot longer, and I did find myself skimming a little at times. Despite that, A DOWRY OF BLOOD is still a very good book and it looks like now it's going to be book one in a series? So I'm very curious to see what happens next.
  
  
  
  3 stars
• 
  Ashleigh (a frolic through fiction)

  This book is just a work of art. The words, the story, the depth of the relationships…adored it. Adored it all.
• 
  Katie Colson

  December 2021:
  I listened to the audio last month. Got the book and started physically reading it immediately. It is so much better that way. The audio is fantastic but the writing is superb in such a delectable way that is deserves to be read with your eyeballs.
  
  Constanta and Magdalena are such phenomenal characters. I adore them. Favorite characters of the year for sure. When Gibson described Magdalena as a “Modern Machiavelli” I swooned. Ha!
  
  I hope this wins best horror of 2021. If you haven’t read it…why not??
  
  November 2021:
  ⭐️4.5
  
  Y’all wasn’t lying. This shit slaps.
• 
  aleksandra

  4.5/5
  
  I have no words. It was utterly gorgeous and I never expected this story to consume me from the very beginning to the end.
  
  I stepped out of my comfort zone reading it, as usually I don’t go into stories with romance which involves more than two people, but I absolutely don’t regret picking this book up. Although it was so much more than just romance. The book mainly focused on our narrator, Constanta, and the centuries she lived by her husband's side. Everything changes when her beloved brings two more people into their relationship. Magdalena, an aristocrat full of life, and Alexi, a starving artist who attracts people with his charm. Over time and many experiences, Constanta grows closer to two lovers and realizes that there is room in her heart for more than one love. Unfortunately, at the same time, Constanta also realizes that her husband is hiding more dark secrets than she thought.
  
  
  I think one of the reasons I loved this book is the writing style. It was surprisingly easy to follow and beautiful in its own way. The descriptions of Constanta's feelings, the jealousy, falling in love, being trapped by her lover and betrayal were presented realistically and really spoke to me.
  
  

  "The force of your love nearly drove me to my knees. I was no woman; I was merely a supplement, a pilgrim who had stumbled across your dark altar and was doomed to worship at it forever. I don't know what I have been thinking, supposing I was strong enough to leave."

  
  
  While I adored all the characters, except maybe Constanta's husband, our main character Constanta outshone the rest here. Her growth throughout the book, from a rescued girl to a strong woman with a heart of gold, made the whole book for me.
  
  

  "Laying with her made me feel so vibrantly alive. It was almost enough to make me forget that I was already dead."

  
  
  I also know that the ending may not be fully satisfying for someone with a romantic heart, but for me personally, the book could not have ended better. I say this as a person who cannot read books without a happy ending. Or at least a little happy.
  
  
  If you want to read a story full of desire, seduction, obsession and love, not the beautiful kind, but the one that instead of making you feel alive causes the complete opposite, I highly recommend it. The book has great meaning and message, so it’s definitely worth reading.
• 
  Ellie

  This is a darkly lush and blood-soaked gothic novella about a heroine who embraces monstrosity, written like a final love letter addressed to her abuser who she ✨murders✨. It is stunningly written and shows how abusive relationships masquerade as love, and also contains a well-developed polyam relationship (M/F/F/M).
  
  When my order of Dowry came yesterday, and I decided to jump right in - I did not realise I'd be up reading until the early hours. I've been wading through a book slump, but this novella was so incredibly engrossing and just the right length that I devoured it all in one single bite.
  
  Written from the perspective of heroine Constanta, it follows her as she's changed by a vampire during a village raid. Together she and her vampire lord make a home in a remote castle, and when plague sweeps near they begin to travel Europe. Over the centuries they add two more to their family: daring, cunning Magdalena and the bright, beautiful Alexi. What is powerful about this novella (and one of my top favourite aspects of the novel) is how Constanta denies giving her vampire lord a name in her story - he is just 'my lord' or 'you'. She takes that agency and power from him, just as he took her own agency and power over so many years.
  
  Dowry, first and foremost, beneath the vampires and the blood, is a novella that shows the knotted web of abusive relationships, and how they snare people and then never let go. It shows how people will try to survive in these relationships, in their own ways: some will become pliant and diminish themselves; some will retreat from the world and fall into depressive episodes; some will try to fight back, even if they know it will only end badly. It's a story about abuse survivors, and that's important.
  
  The polyam relationship in Dowry is significant in the way it shows how the daily lives of everyone in the relationship intertwine, and how different characters have different dynamics with each other. Polyam relationships are often simplified down to sexual relationships (and Dowry does have its fair share of sex scenes), but seeing Constanta's dynamic with Magdalena, and Constanta's dynamic with Alexi, and Alexi's dynamic with Magdalena and so forth, was something I enjoyed.
  
  In terms of narrative, Dowry stretches from perhaps the 1400s up to the mid 1900s, skipping through history with all of its toppling empires and revolutions. The story does not dive deep into any specific historical event, but you still feel the weight of the years settle. That said, however, it is not a novella that lags at any point. Constanta's retelling of her life is lyrical and bloody, and my copy is full of tabs highlighting stunning quotes. Fans of Catherynne Valente's Deathless, another dark and lyrical book about two other immortals locked in a twisted, war-like relationship, will enjoy this (also, I've heard the author cite it as an influence).
  
  If you've been considering reading Dowry, I urge you to nab yourself a copy (if you don't have one already) and treat yourself. It's a beautifully queer novel with an important lesson at its dark, beating heart.
  
  > 4.5 stars
  
  content warnings: blood; violence; abusive relationships (emotional, verbal and a few instances of physical towards the end); gaslighting; war/plague/famine.
  
  Read for F/F February (#FFFeb2021)
• 
  S.T. Gibson

  Hello everyone! I wanted to add a quick note about content warnings for this book. It winds through some dark places on its way to a triumphant ending, and I want folks to be able to opt in or opt out at their leisure.
  
  A DOWRY OF BLOOD contains depictions of:
  
  - emotional, verbal, and physical intimate partner abuse
  - gaslighting
  - war, famine, and plague
  - blood and gore
  - consensual sexual content
  - sadomasochism
  - self harm
  - body horror
  - violence and murder
  - alcohol use
  - depression and mania
  
  It also contains brief references to:
  
  - sexual assault (not directed at any named character)
  - drug use
  - drowning
• 
  Antje ❦

  The most beautiful prose I've ever read. This is a masterpiece.
  
  It's not hard to satisfy me when it comes to books. If I have fun and it's decent, it'll receive a good rating from me. I don't consider myself a critic, I read for fun and write reviews since some of you guys like to read them. I mostly use this account for finding out about new books or sharing opinions.
  So, since I only read books I expect to enjoy and am genuinely interested in, I end up rating the vast majority of my reads 4-5 stars.
  
  BUT
  
  BUT
  
  Every once in a while, I read that one book that completely consumes me. That book that plays ping-pong with my brain and my heart, that book that shatters me and then glues the pieces together. That book that is perfect from start to finish, that book that doesn't have a single sentence which doesn't belong on those pages. That book that makes you wonder, how did the author come up with the story and what am I exactly doing with my 24 hours every day? That book that you, if you were the author, would NEVER shut up about. This is THAT BOOK.
  
  I can't believe this book exists. My mind went so many places while reading this, it was dark, it was atmospheric, it was gruesome, IT WAS PERFECT. I'm about to recommend it to everyone I know (I'm throwing my Kindle towards my sister as we speak). And yes, I'm about to give the ultimate compliment to the author, YOU REMINDED ME WHY I LOVE READING (and in the times of reading slumps and failed reading challenges, that doesn't happen very often).
  
  This book has around 300 pages and I finished it in a couple of hours. I mentioned this in some of my previous reviews, but I have this little notebook where I write down good quotes from books... I REWROTE HALF OF THIS BOOK THERE.
  
  I need to read more from this author, I need to h(a)unt their every thought, I need to live in their walls, I need to be their WELCOME rug (I promise this is not a threat).
  
  I'm begging you to read this book and talk about it in the comments. I'm a changed person.
• 
  Althea ☾

  I ABSOLUTELY ATE THIS UP. The way this is exactly what I love: dark and lyrical... and I'm surprised that I loved it... (do know what you’re getting into before you pick this up though, content warnings at the end as usual)
  
  This review is a mess but this book grinded up my brain cells
  
  

  “You could have kissed me or slit my throat and either would have made as much sense.” 

  
  
  This book is for you if a dark and lyrical, queer retelling of dracula’s brides but the brides are f/f/m and they fall in love with each other sounds interesting to you.
  
  

  “Through her eyes, I was able to experience the story for the first time all over again.”

  
  
  THE WRITING. The fact that the name "Dracula" wasn't actually mentioned the whole book was really interesting from a reader's perspective and given that it's told from second POV just made the narrative that much easier to drown myself in. It really sold the vampiric passage of time on me, a little change here and there but not really enough for it to make a big difference. Given the plot and it’s a little more about the “romance”, I love that it focused more on the agelessness of vampires rather than other supernatural abilities.
  
  I love dark stories that pack emotion, nuance, and still sends the right hopeful message while still being whimisical. So if you are like me, and 'light' horror is your thing, you really will enjoy this. That saying that “the best villains are the ones you secret love” was depicted so well with the story while still maintaining the idea that… well, it’s gaslighting and manipulation. I got so sucked into the narrative that I really felt all the emotions and contradictions that you would expect to feel from a story about dracula’s “wives”.
  
  

  “I want to live. But I want to live in the world, not on the outskirts of it.”

  
  
  I do kind of feel like it was cut short but if i look at it through the lens of horror, it’s a common trend in the horror I’ve read. When I say horror, it's not jumpscare horror in case that's what you were wondering. It's just a little more on the extreme of dark, which is exactly my kind of horror. I still do wish we got more of the trio living their lives together because it would have pushed this to be a new fave. In short, I needed more Alexi.
  
  If I were you, I would go into this more for the the lyrical writing than a grand plot in case that’s something you’re expecting. It’s more focused on character relationships and dynamics, which isn’t a problem for me but it might affect you.
  
  

  “The people only call me cruel because it’s easier to think of a woman as cruel than competent.”

  
  
  ↣ If you’re a sucker for dark and savory words, that promise a lifetime of sweetness that feels too good to be true… please read this. The longer I am apart from this book, the more I feel embroidering a blanket from S.T. Gibson's words. ↢
  
  — 4.0—
  ⇢ content warnings// Depictions of: Emotional, verbal, and physical intimate partner abuse, Gaslighting, War, famine, and plague, Blood and gore, Consensual sexual content, Sadomasochism, Self harm, Body horror, Violence and murder, Alcohol use, Depression and mania, Sexual assault (not directed at any named character), Drug use, Drowning, Child abuse (off-page), Death
  
  
  ⤜ pre-read review ⤛
  
  queer reimagining of dracula's brides ft. polyamorous relationship/s... yes, thank you.
• 
  Em Lost In Books

  Story of an old vampire, I won't call him Dracula because he was never given a name throughout the book, and his brides that he takes over the time. Story was told from the perspective of one his bride, Constanta. She started with how she was turned and how it was love, devotion, and adoration for a long time until he decided to take another into his family. His new bride, Magdelena. It was jealousy at first but soon she too come to love Magdelena and life was again roses for sometime until the consequences of having a long life hit Magdelena and to some extent it effected Constanta too but she suppressed it. Soon it was depression, fear, insecurities, and melancholy surrounded the brides. But things hit a low point as Alexi entered the family.
  
  While the book was enjoyable but I found events to be repetitive at times and that made the story predictable which killed the joy. Characters were written beautifully, specially Constanta and Magdelena, it was the other two which were half baked. Book has little to no world-building but as soon as Alexi entered the equation, I felt like author was in a hurry to wrap things up. There was no built up to the finale.
  
  Sad to say I loved Constanta and Magdelena but they were not able to save the book for me.
• 
  Hayley

  this book evoked in me an emotion that no other book has made me feel.
  THE PROSE WAS EXQUISITE. never have I ever been so captivated by writing alone, and the story on top of that only made the reading experience even more enthralling.
  I’ve never read anything like this...I think I’ve found a new favorite book.
• 
  Jasmine

  A Dowry of Blood is a dark and delicious story of Dracula and his first bride, Constanta, spread across centuries.
  
  Constanta lies in the mud on the brink of death when a man suddenly appears, saying he cannot save her, but it is in his power to help her. And so Constanta begins her second life with this arresting man who is as passionate as he is cruel.
  
  Constanta tells her story in the form of a letter to her husband, although she never once utters his name. It is her first and last love letter to him because in her own words:
  
  It was never my intention to murder you.
  Not in the beginning, anyway.
  
  As her husband adds two more people to their dysfunctional group, Constanta gradually realizes how brutal and suffocating his love could be.
  
  This seductively written story is a quick read and can be consumed in a single sitting. It held my rapt attention from beginning to end. Although, it took some time to get used to the second-person singular voice.
  
  I thought it would be a bit spicier than it was, considering most vampire books I’ve read are heavy on the spice. The open-door scenes were pretty brief.
  
  The polyamorous relationship was well done, not just in the bedroom, but in their deep connection with each other.
  
  As this is a dark vampire story, the author has a list of possible triggers at the beginning of the book and on Goodreads (in her review).
  
  I have no clue what the next book will be like, but I cannot wait to read it.
  
  Thank you to Redhook (Orbit) for providing me with a copy to review.
  
  
  https://booksandwheels.com
• 
  Hannah

  I don't enjoy writing bad reviews. It is, obviously, easier for a writer to make herself sound intelligent with a bad review than with a good one, which is most of the reason for my suspicion. Sneering at something implies that you're in a position to sneer from, but it doesn't require you to elaborate on what that position is, even to yourself. Increasingly, I get antsy around a certain cadence in prose—five-dollar words used imprecisely, snappy one-line paragraphs, paragraphs that make sweeping claims and hurry past providing examples—a cadence that seems aimed to stoke superiority, righteousness, and intellectual comfort. I get antsy because I've used that cadence, I've purposefully evoked those emotions, and I know that this is not a style that requires intellect or integrity in order to achieve an effect.
  
  Dowry of Blood is this kind of writing. I wish that fiction were a better home for this style than essays are, but it is a worse one. I generally enjoy being angry—to kvetch is an art (requiring entirely different skills from the sneering critique I describe above, I should add), and like most Jews I would consider myself socially lacking if I could not spontaneously improvise five tight minutes of stand-up comedy on the topic of Having Recently Had A Bad Time. I did not feel angry about this book. I felt sour and sad.
  
  The book pretends at darkness while flinching away from its own violence. It pretends at moral ambiguity while flinching away from that, too: it repeatedly passes off impurity of action for complexity of ethics, and temporarily felt shame for lived guilt. It pretends at intellectualism and poetics: it passes off “making reference to Christian beliefs” as the former and “use of Christian vocabulary” as the latter. Coming from a white person, this association is socially conservative and personally insulting.
  
  It pretends at being an exploration of abuse. This is the part where, if I were writing the sort of snappy rant that I might have written if I were really angry, I would say something like “Its thesis is that abuse is bad.” This would not really be fair—the book's thesis is that abuse is a verbal, emotional, financial, sexual, religious, and physical pattern of relationship behavior, containing honeymoon periods that give way to building tension and explosions, in which one person exercises control over another. This is true, which is why it is also the thesis of the Wikipedia page for “domestic violence”. But this sentence also is a little too pithy, and so let me say that the book feels less simplistic than immature. Every page is a breathless discovery—what happened was wrong!—a state of pure shock, pure abjection, pure innocence in a way which has nothing to do with either the heroine's sex life or her acts of violence against others (criminals, we are repeatedly reassured, a sentiment of shocking moral hollowness). Even the abuser's verbal abuse focuses entirely on the heroine's innocence: he decries her “obsession with justice”, her “moralism”, the fact that she is “charitable”, her desire to murder criminals rather than everyone, her piety. I am disappointed by this obsessive abjection, this obsessive innocence. I think it is dangerous.
  
  I'll move on to picking apart the book's craft, which will at least make me feel less helpless in the face of its general unsoundness.
  
  I'll begin by reworking a single sentence to let you know what we're dealing with. The narrator says “And as Magdalena wound her fingers around my wrists and covered my chest in hot kisses, calling me sister with that mischievous smile on her face, I couldn't help but wonder if I was being trained, too.” In the first instance, “wound” is not quite the right word—it's used for snakes, roads, and vines, and implies a coiling motion that fingers are not really capable of doing to wrists. In the second, I'm not sure why “chest” would be used rather than “breasts” in an erotic scene, since they rely very heavily on physical specificity for the reader to project into—is Magdalena kissing her entire torso from collarbone to waist? Third, Magdalena is described as taking three actions with her mouth at once (kissing, saying “sister”, smiling). This isn't impossible, exactly—presumably we are meant to understand that she does these things sequentially—but it's not good writing to put all three in one sentence and two in one clause. Fourth, “with that smile on her face” is a redundancy; we do not assume the smile is on her toenail. Fifth, “I couldn't help but wonder” is a sentence so deeply associated by meme with the television show Sex and the City that it belongs nowhere in a scene set in the year 1529, especially if what the narrator “couldn't help but wonder” is something about her relationship.
  
  On this last note there is really no attempt at historical voice in this book whatsoever. The prose is, of course, meant to be generally elevated—“Paris was happy, for a time”, “She had taken to lowering her voice”, “You always knew how to thaw my heart right when I had resolved to freeze it against you”. But these italicized phrases are not elevated or historically located by themselves. They are common in the prose of the nineteenth century, which is not the same. It is the equivalent of having American actors playing ancient Romans speak in upper-class British accents. In addition, they're inconsistent: right when is intensely modern, located in a completely different register from the rest of the sentence. (Queerness, I should note, is present in this story but entirely unexplored. The narrator, a devout Christian born in the Middle Ages, never makes an attempt to reconcile her faith and her habitual extramarital queer sex—presumably because she is familiar with progressive American Christian discourse of the 2010s regarding Christ's accepting nature and therefore feels no need to revisit it in this book set over the course of the second millennium in Europe.)
  
  The heroine visits multiple cities over the course of the book. Vienna is described as “the seething, shouting mass of life outside my home”. Venice is described as “seething color and swirling masses of people” and “a whirl of color and sound”. Berlin is described as ��minds all moving together in a great human sea”. Petrograd is described as “a swirling watercolor of browns and brass”. Paris is described as “a living, breathing thing, bursting at the seams”. A wharf is described as “noise and bustle swirling around us”. I genuinely don't feel that it's absurd to ask an author not to copy-paste her own descriptions.
  
  Metaphors include: “her dark eyes flashed like twin daggers”—I think the author would prefer “cut” rather than “flashed” for a dagger comparison, but perhaps she just did want any shiny object and daggers were sufficiently edgy, so to speak; “your mouth as close to my ear as the snake must have been to Eve in the garden”—to rely myself on an overused phrase, this metaphor is as subtle as a brick to the head; and my least favorite paragraph: “I was tired of being your Mary Magdalene... I was tired of groveling on my knees and washing blood off your heels with my hair and tears. I was tired of having the air sucked out of my lungs every time your eyes cut right to the heart of me.” I wish that the author had been this enthusiastic about naming specific body parts during the sex scenes. Mary Magdalene is not discussed in the story before this moment, nor afterward. The narrator has no personal connection with her other than being a generally pious person, but she identifies herself earlier in the story with Judith and with Jesus, rather than Mary Magdalene. I must also note again how deeply, deeply frustrated I am at the author's empty reliance on Christian imagery. The assumption appears to be that there is something so universal about Christian narrative and theology that every audience member will be highly familiar with them, deeply emotionally stirred by them, and recognize them instantly as the sign of an intellect that is deeper and more thoughtful than non-Christian intellects. This assumption is incorrect.
  
  The setting is painted on cardboard. I reference again the various “swirling masses” of the cities of Europe—no character is ever interested in leaving Europe, despite mentioning multiple incentives to do so—I need hardly tell you that no member of these “masses” is ever individuated or characterized. Every single object mentioned in descriptions is a plural: “all the new inventions flooding the scientific markets... lined up carefully on your worktables”, “crowded with blank canvases and half-constructed wooden frames”, “twenty or thirty members of the gentry” (“swirling around me”, of course). I was particularly struck by a room described with “Every detail, from the iron candle sconces on the wall to the brightly colored rugs underfoot, boggled my mind.” These are the only details of the room that we actually get. I think it is reasonable to ask to be more boggled than I currently am. There are very, very few actual scenes in this novel—nearly every single action is described in the imperfect past, rather than the preterite, which is hugely frustrating for those of us who enjoy seeing characters say dialogue or take actions.
  
  There is no sense that the world exists, is touchable, is real. Let me use a metaphor here of a Target: to a customer, a Target (or other big-box store) may be described as "shelves lined with groceries and appliances". To someone who has actually worked at a Target, it may be described as "Home & Patio, Storage & Organization, three of the medium woven black baskets left and four of the XLs". It is always worthwhile to try to snap out of looking at the world through the lens of a customer (though obviously it's understandable to do so if you are, in fact, shopping at Target today). It is lazy to look at the world through the lens of a big-box store customer if you are the inventor and builder of the imaginary Target. It is unacceptable to use the lens of a big-box store customer to describe five centuries of international travel and domestic life.
  
  This is a book which believes itself to be, and is being marketed as, courageous, erotic, dark, and above all intelligent. I don't enjoy writing bad reviews. I enjoy being bullshitted still less.
• 
  B

  “You did not let me keep my name, so I will strip you of yours.”
  
  Such a lovely reimagining of Dracula, and honestly it’s reignited my interest in a potential reread of Dracula. I loved the family dynamic, but more than anything I loved S.T. Gibsons writing, so beautiful I couldn’t help but underline so many passages.
• 
  Poppyflowerjj

  4.5/ 5⭐
  2/5 🌶️
  
  “It was never my intention to murder you. Not in the beginning… anyway."
  
  I loved the format of the writing, it was like reading a farewell letter in the first person.
  
  Fantastic novel for vampires enthusiasts. I certainly never thought I would get to read a book about poly vampires that discusses toxic relationships and emotional abuse.
  
  It was sad. So much Sadness. True sadness.💔💔💔
  
  Quotes:
  “You could have kissed me or slit my throat and either would have made as much sense.”
  
  “You liked me best when I was like an oil painting; perfectly arranged and silent.”
  
  “This is my last love letter to you, though some would call it a confession. I suppose both are a sort of gentle violence, putting down in ink what scorches the air when spoken aloud.”
  
  “Even loneliness, hollow and cold, becomes so familiar it starts to feel like a friend.”
• 
  Jess

  I saw everyone in the reviews saying "sapphic yearning at the opera" and slammed the buy button I'm a fool 🤡
  
  -----
  
  2.5/5 stars.
  
  For me this one really boils down to "I kept waiting for this book to do something interesting beyond what I had already learned in the first few pages and from the synopsis aaaand…it never did." The relationships were insta-lovey; the settings (from Vienna to Paris to Venice to all the interiors our characters spent most of their time in) were vaguely/weakly drawn; and the framing device—the story is written in second POV as the protagonist, Constanta, addresses her abuser retrospectively—made the whole book feel rather predictable and repetitive, like a 5-paragraph essay in which the author tells you what they’re going to do, does it, then reminds you what they’ve done.
  
  Because of said POV and the short length, much of the story consists of Constanta quickly summarizing events instead of taking the time to paint individual, stick-in-your-mind scenes. And even when there are actual scenes, Present Constanta is constantly commenting on them with her power of hindsight, which I found overbearing. The scenes themselves don’t actually have to do any work because she’ll immediately come in with “and ah, so you see, in that moment, I realized I had to protect him,” and “ah, so you see, it was with these lies you would control us.” Nothing is left up to interpretation, because the narrator regularly jumps the gun and interrupts to tell us what everything means, often before the scene has gotten any chance to do so itself. This makes everything…super boring in my opinion. Straightforward to a fault. I never felt anything because I was never given the space, as a reader, to feel anything.
  
  All in all, this was not a bad book by any means, and I had a fine time reading it, especially at the start. I just don’t think it did anything particularly memorable (as a retelling or as a story standing on its own) and it underdelivered on the aspects I personally picked it up for. Not much atmosphere (where were the VIBES! there should have been so many Vibes but I just DID NOT GET THEM), very little sense of mystery, and the "dark secrets" that are to be "unraveled" according to the synopsis are not even a little bit surprising from a reader's POV. Other people seem to be liking this well enough so I won't *not* rec it but also if you're a dummy like me who saw the phrase "Sapphic Yearning at the Opera," took that and ran with it expecting some F/F deliciousness then you may also find yourself underwhelmed in that regard.
  
  P.S. On a brighter note if anyone else was also disappointed by this, then I can say I enjoyed S.T. Gibson's Robbergirl more, so may be worth giving that a try! >:) It was shorter, but felt more suited to the length, with the same beautiful prose but far less overwrought iirc. I’d certainly pick up Gibson again! This one just wasn’t a fave.
• 
  Nicole

  Dałabym cztery gwiazdki gdyby nie ostatni rozdział
• 
  myo ⋆｡˚ ❀ *

  this was so erotic… i’m obsessed