Reviews with content warning for Incest - A Dowry of Blood

A gut-wrenching example of the best independent publishing can be. Constanza is saved from certain death and horror by a mysterious creature who welcomes her into the darkness of his life- that of a vampire. He promises to never force her to do anything, and then proceeds to spend the next few hundred years gaslighting, manipulating, and guilting her into make the choices he wants her to make. Along the way, he adds others to their "family" and I'll state here that this is very much an adult book for a multitude of reasons. Those others continue to show the different ways the vampire controls others, and controls each of them through each other.

My favorite aspect of this book was that while watching Constanza fall prey to the abuse and controlling whims of the vampire, she regularly uses language that makes it clear she is now aware of his abuse and how he wielded different emotions and controlling tactics. To paraphrase one of my favorite lines: "I was thriving as you were miserable, I later realized my thriving is what made you miserable"

Watching the world change through her eyes was gorgeous and haunting, as she explained the constant thrum toward modernization, as she watched the world change outside her window. I loved how the other characters could double as actual historical figures linked to the specific place and time they were found. How each bride of the vampire brought their own habits and interests to the passage of time. And how those interests were stymied and crushed by the Vampire out of jealousy and an incessant need for complete control.

Equally a great guide on abuser red flags, and a feel good horror read, there was very little I disliked about this book. Suffice to say, which reading there were some aspects, but once I finished the book- I couldn't tell you what they were. I honestly just adored everything about it.

Content Warnings

celestriakle's review against another edition

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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.

Content Warnings

anapthine's review against another edition

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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

Content Warnings

annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition

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dark hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

some absolutely fucked up family dynamics: characters are siblings, mother/son, father/children, yet everyone has sex with everyone. the writing was pretty but frequently over-the-top with its figurative language. it had a monumental task of pacing its story across several millennia but i felt it succeeded, focusing on single scenes or letting decades slip away to emphasize the narrator's experience (especially relevant in her description of "plague time" o.o ).

despite this, i just unfortunately was not that into it, the sex scenes made me uncomfortable lol and not that much happened, but i did appreciate the ending.
speaking of calling her "the narrator," it's interesting that it shares this unnamed-woman-narrator quality with the last book i read, The Handmaid's Tale, but a notable difference is that here the narrator only refers to her Commander-equivalent as "you" and never his name in order to strip him of his power.

cover design review: ★★★★☆. love the presentation of the author's name at the top, the decorative border, the central image; not a fan of the title's presentation. i like the typeface but i think "Dowry" could be weighted more like "Blood", the line spacing between "of" and "Blood" is wonky compared to the first three lines, really don't like the "A".

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