A review by syllareads
A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson

dark emotional sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I should have said no. I should have stamped my foot, or began to cry, or icily demanded we leave right away. But I didn't. I loved you too much, my lord. I craved you like maidens crave the grave, the way Death burns for human touch: inconsolably, unrelentingly, aching for the annihilation in your kiss. I had no practice saying no to you."


This book was such a visceral, blood-dripping Dracula-retelling that I had to pause every other moment to appreciate yet another line meant to end me entirely.

S. T. Gibson's Dowry of Blood is a polyamorous Dracula-retelling with more than just one gut-wrenching twist to it. Our narrator is, in fact, not even the man himself nor does she ever name him explicitely, for stripping him of his name is the only thing she feels appropriate. For this is not just a tale of vampires - it is also a brutally honest tale of toxic relationships, manipulation and undying love so painful it can only end in blood.

Our tale begins when our main character gets found by the vampire (A person she only ever calls "you") on her deathbed, with her brutalized village just behind her. Instead of leaving here there to die, he takes her in and changes her into a vampire, christening her as well - from now on, she is his lovely Constanta, his jewel of the night, his, his, his. And Constanta loves him for that. She revels in the attention he heaves onto her, in her newfound strength, the vengeance it allows her to take, and his seeming devotion in the bedroom. Until the signs grow darker, and her lover harsher, and she slowly, irresistibly, notices just how much her presumed lover and husband has kept her away from everything but him...

I fell in love with the writing style from page 1 and it only got better and better. The sorrow and longing, painfully put into words took my breath away - I literally cannot recommend this book enough! I'm gonna have to buy my own copy just so I can mark up some of the quotes I loved in particular, goddamn.



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