Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson

113 reviews

jackiepreston's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Murder, Sexual content, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Torture, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Confinement, Death of parent, Mental illness, and Alcohol

foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, War, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Mental illness, Blood, Murder, Confinement, and Grief

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

jbird_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Mental illness

Moderate: Violence and Gore

Minor: War and Death of parent

jemms's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Mental illness

Minor: War and Injury/Injury detail

bugsoup's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

this book was so sexy and perfect to feed my gothic desires of fall. i adored gibson’s writing throughout and fell in love with the characters. read this if you want a short but sweet queer vampire story with revenge on abusers!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Blood

Moderate: Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Dysphoria, and Mental illness

Minor: Self harm

bellist's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

I wanted to like this queer and poly take on the brides of Dracula, and part of me did. The writing was solid and it scratched my autumnal itch for spooky vampire content. But the characters were pretty one dimensional, and since you knew the outcome at the book’s start, it was mostly a meandering walk through an abusive relationship that grew from two to four people over the course of centuries. The author captured the tactics and behaviors of abusers very well, and many scenes were chilling/difficult to read for that reason. This is essentially a very realistic, disturbing and sad story about intimate partner violence, but it’s turned into fantasy because it involves vampires. I wouldn’t recommend it unless you really like Dracula/vampire content and wouldn’t find the themes of abuse triggering.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Mental illness

amyreadstomuch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

 This book has a content waring list from the author, please read it.

I was captivated from the first page and compelled to keep turing them. This reimagining of Dracula's Bride is written from her POV, and is both a haunting love letter and beautiful confession.

Told over hundreds of years, this story pulls you into the obsession, loneliness, despair, and eventual freedom of Constanta and her fellow consorts.

If you are a fan of dark and emotional reads, then this is a book worth picking up.
 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Physical abuse

thecaffeinatedlibrary's review against another edition

5.0

A dark, lusty and vengeful series of letters from Constanta to her unnamed husband that inspires feelings of love and hate in equal measure. 

The relationships were complex and the prose was elegant and vicious. There is so much power to be had in words, and Gibson does this beautifully — and powerfully — through Constanta. I found myself rooting for Constanta from the very first page, and for Magdalena and Alexi later as they were introduced. I adored the complex relationship between these three, and their camaraderie in the end. There’s not much more I can say without spoiling anything, but please read it!

Please check your TW before diving into this one, but was an extremely thought provoking read that I absolutely devoured!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Blood, Gaslighting, Gore, and Rape

aileron's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Blood, Domestic abuse, Violence, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

Moderate: Mental illness and Infidelity

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Self harm

rene_kampfer's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

This book is both sensual and devastating. The author somehow managed to deal with heavy topics of abuse in a way that isn’t glorified but is also tragically seductive. The author took everything I love about vampires and threw it into a book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Murder

Moderate: Drug use and Alcohol