Reviews tagging 'Lesbophobia'

A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson

3 reviews

bashsbooks's review against another edition

4.5

dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Such a sexy and engaging vampire novel. I love the bisexual drama of it all, and the eroticism of the blood drinking in particular is done so well. Epistolary novels are usually hit or miss for me, but this one was a hit - I think the fact that Constanta was speaking to Dracula the entire time was really in this novel's favor. I do think that marketing it as a Dracula reimagining is a little misleading as it doesn't engage much with the actual text of Dracula. If it didn't mention the Harkers in passing, it would easily be any other vampire story (and in this version of events, they survive the Harkers anyway? I was confused as to why we surpassed the point in time where they would've been). That said, I do love that one of the "brides" was a man. I also greatly enjoyed Gibson's take on vampirism as a slow-grade draining of humanity over a long period of time rather than an instant transformation. That was super cool, and I'd love to see that in more vampire media.

"Encore of Roses" was included in the version that I read; I thought it was a sweet epilogue to their story, and I love that Constanta, Magdalena, and Alexi remained important to each other while living out their own lives. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting

Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual content, Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Homophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Classism

annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition

3.5

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

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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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Incest, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Alcohol, War

Minor: Cursing, Drug use, Genocide, Homophobia, Self harm, Sexism, Grief, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury

no biphobia. homophobia and lesbophobia are only mentioned once as a concern of the narrator but are never realized. adult/minor relationship and incest are debatable because of the characters being immortal vampires and having an …unusual family dynamic, but there's definitely something messed up there

angiepoggi's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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

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

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