Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson

10 reviews

gondorgirl's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Gore, Murder, Death, Infidelity, and Violence

Moderate: Confinement, Cannibalism, Stalking, Grief, Blood, Alcohol, Body horror, Cursing, Misogyny, and Self harm

emeliah21's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

This story had me cheering, gripped, thrilled and I truly felt the emotions of the characters. 10/10 would read again, got me out of a massive reading slump 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Death, Mental illness, Confinement, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, and Sexual content

Moderate: Stalking, Incest, Misogyny, and Kidnapping

Minor: Physical abuse

marsh_mall0w's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Bullying, Gaslighting, Grief, Blood, Death, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Murder, Sexism, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Sexual content

Minor: Self harm, Alcohol, Stalking, Medical trauma, and War

nyx_belial's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

3.75

I read this for a book club, so would not be what I would choose normally. 

I like how this book is written, and the flipping of the Dracula story on its head taking it from the perspective of those closest to him.

Main thing that knocked the marks of is that I didn't particularly like the short chapters, I understand it's a style choice made for the type of book it is but it's not something I liked too much.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Physical abuse, Blood, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Confinement, Gore, Gaslighting, Violence, Murder, Grief, and Stalking

jackheart180's review against another edition

dark medium-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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Sexual content, Murder, Gaslighting, Death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, War, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Blood, Stalking, Violence, Sexism, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, and Gore

slicebread's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense fast-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? Yes

4.25

I grasped unto this book faster than I expected after putting it off for months. I wished they had taken their time with the relationships they felt rushed and only busted on lust and troubling time I just wish there was more insight on the relationships. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Stalking, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

natashaleighton_'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Gore, Emotional abuse, and Body horror

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Stalking, and Mental illness

Minor: Gaslighting, Infidelity, and Misogyny

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.

kelleykamanda's review against another edition

dark sad tense 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

2.5

I wanted to like this but found it incredibly slow. Interesting themes but overall kind of cringey and sad. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Murder, Death, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Blood, War, and Violence

Minor: Stalking and Medical trauma

caitsidhe's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Confinement, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Stalking, and Violence