Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - A Dowry of Blood

Wow… this book…

Seeing how S. T. Gibbon articulates an abusive with how the three spouses react to Dracula was so intriguing. One may adapt and learn to live with it, another may fall into a deep depression that at times consumes them, and another may fight back. But we see them break constantly under Dracula’s control as they are lead to believe he loves them even though they know he doesn’t.

This obsessiveness Dracula has with his spouses is so toxic but he’s able to wrap it up as a dream, to make them dependent on him. When they finally find a way to break free of him, them almost back out because of this. The seeds of dependency he planted in all of them are rooted so deep that they almost don’t take the risk of leaving.

This is such a beautifully toxic story and I wish we where able to see more of all the spouses after that climax.

Content Warnings

markedwithanm's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

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cadence_e's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional slow-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

3.0

This books prose and style was enchanting, it pulls you in and feels so very real. It's incredibly vivid and poetic, however it lacked certain depth, particularly in the plot.

I found the romance to very strong lean towards insta love, especially when it came to Magdalena and Alexi. I understood the allure and love surronding Dracula a bit more especially where it leaned towards manipulation. However, the depth of love and affection towards the fellow spouses felt a bit unexplained.

The characters were interesting, but were a bit too closely tied to lust, while claiming the love and passion of actually affection. This left me feeling like I was seeing the characters perspective and feelings with the prose, but without any lasting impressions.

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imskylow's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

This book had me strapped in. I ate it up like a person starved. I listened to the entire audiobook in one sitting. I have nothing but great things to say about it. It's lyrical. It's moody and gothic. The prose had a lovely rhythm and the characters and relationship dynamics had me feeling all sorts of things. I didn't know whether to like him and accept that vampire life and culture is different from humans or to want him to die. The ending, however, left me incredibly satisfied and I loved how it tied everything together. Obviously, with how vague I'm being, I don't want to give much away but I definitely recommend this book. And if you like audiobooks, the narrator does a fantastic job reading. It's as if Constanza's is reading her own journal to you.

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thegayestghost's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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mogojojo1013's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious 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

3.5

The writing in this book is exceedingly slow and incredibly decadent. I felt like I was watching one of those Dove chocolate commercials only for blood and vampirism. I spent most of the book just WAITING for that jerk to die (not a spoiler, she tells us right at the beginning that she kills him) and damn was it worth the wait.

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emilyjamison14's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.0

This book started strong and ended strong for me, but the middle kind of dragged a lot. I think part of this is that the writing style is very flowery, and that can get tiring fast for me. I also didn’t feel like a whole lot happened in the middle of the book.

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