Reviews tagging 'Torture'

A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson

13 reviews

amabel_xo's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad fast-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 has now become my favourite book . I finished it in wine sitting and i’ve never been happier. I read it on kindle but i will be rushing into waterstones to by the  physical copy . Constanta has my heart and shall have it for a while. This book got be out of a reading slump and will be rereading sooner than later. <spoiler >The  ending was sad in the sense i had i obviously wanted them to remain together but i also know that this ending was the correct. This is why i should never be a worse. Gibson has done the hard but truely remarkable job of making a book where the mc is able to regain power and control while still being lovable and not over the top . The romance is just everything especially between my new favourite sapphics <spoiler >. I highly recommend that it should be read by all who love gothic polyamory with a strong and inspiring .main character 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship and Blood

Moderate: Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexism, Body horror, Death, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Confinement, Death of parent, War, and Domestic abuse

bookishcookiemonster's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I went in to the book without knowing anything about the story and it was not at all what I expected. A lot darker than I was expecting. 

This book was reccomend to me as a Sapphic Vampire horror novel but its very much a Bisexual Vampire horror novels. There are sapphic moments in the story, but all characters are bisexual 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Murder, Death, Blood, Torture, Physical abuse, Sexism, Gaslighting, and Mental illness

this story is about an abusive polygamous marriage from the perspective of one of the abused wives. The abuse is not physical until the end. But the psychological torture the characters endure could be potentially triggering for some

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.

---

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.