Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson

50 reviews

celestriakle's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Read this book for prose alone. The language is poetic and beautiful and flows so nicely that it makes this a quick read; I finished the last two sections in one sitting. The intensity of the relationships each "wife" has to Dracula is gripping. It's fascinating to see how the dynamics slowly shift over the long timespans of the book, and how differently each character reacts to Dracula's abuse.

The main weakness of the book however is the characters relationships outside of Dracula. The book ends with

all 3 in a romantic relationship, and supposedly they fell in love this whole time, but they never have very much chemistry. They read far more like sister-wives trying to protect each other from Dracula than lovers with their own relationship outside him, with nothing to keep each other together once he's gone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Grief, Confinement, Bullying, Blood, Gore, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Classism, Domestic abuse, and Death

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Murder, Abandonment, and Incest

Minor: War, Homophobia, Death of parent, Torture, and Misogyny

I tagged for incest, but it's not true incest: all four main characters are not related, but are frequently described with family terminology, despite being in a romantic relationship. Alexi and Constanta in particular are constantly described as mother/son, with Alexi's youth compared to everyone else frequently mentioned, but they still end up romantically entangled and share a sex scene.

anapthine's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Murder, Violence, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, Confinement, Bullying, Blood, and Toxic relationship

Minor: War, Incest, and Fire/Fire injury

poirot's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexism, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Gore, Blood, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent and Sexual assault

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and War

brookey8888's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.75

I enjoyed this, but not as much as everyone else seems to. I enjoyed the way this was told(the audiobook was really good!). I do wish we got to see more of the relationships because I feel like we hardly got to see the man be like rude, you say it in small ways which I guess it what it it, but it was just a short time period. This doesn’t make any sense I’m sorry 😭 I did like that this different sexuality representation! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gore, Violence, Sexism, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Misogyny

notpresent22's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Where to begin with this book. Easily a modern classic, Gibson has an incredible way with words that left me agape at every sentence. The characters where incredibly compelling and the toxic relationships between them even more so. This is a queer feminist take on the brides of Dracula, focusing on the toxic relationship and the liberation from it. Incredible!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Murder, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Bullying

rebeccaxpaige's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexism, Blood, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Cursing, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Misogyny, and Murder

tanazja_'s review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Murder, Gaslighting, Death, and Blood

snowydaze's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-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 was a truly amazing read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Misogyny, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Abandonment, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual content

Minor: War

shahdm895's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Misogyny

angiepoggi's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Scarily accurate abusive relationship, I could understand and feel how the main character Constanta felt and the reasons for her actions being those right or wrong.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Physical abuse, Death, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Sexual content, and Infidelity

Minor: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Colonisation, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Rape, and Lesbophobia