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

4.0

I originally was going to rate this 3 stars but as i thought about it more, i think 4 stars is more appropriate, just because of the exquisite writing and the historical/gothic setting. In the first half of the book i was very much engaged but as I went further the plot started to feel a little repetitive. Definetly not bad but not the best thing I've ever read. I feel like what i should have at least gotten out of this book was a hard hitting story about an unhealthy relationship mixed with vampires throughout different periods of time. In concept, this is what I got and the vampire lore/setting was very well executed and my second favorite thing after the writing. However, the toxic relationship aspect is where it felt off for me. I'm not gonna sit here and say that the relationship was healthy in any way but it wasnt portrayed with as much nuance and depth as I wished. There was a lot of tell not show with how toxic Dracula was (never in my life would I have thought I'd say this phrase). But again, this was nowhere near to be a bad book. If half/quarter stars existed id give it 3.75. Highly recommend if you want a nice and quick Gothic story for this fall season !