When I finished A Dowry of Blood and my first thought was that it was beautifully written. I wasn’t sure what to make of it when I first picked this for October. What first sold me on it was the title, it’s so hauntingly beautiful and I would say that phrase also describes the book. I’ve seen people refer to it as a Dracula retelling but I would say this is more like a re-imagining than a traditional retelling.
Elements from the traditional Dracula, besides the titular character himself, aren’t really important in A Dowry of Blood and outside of some nods to the original story throughout, the main story being told here is almost unrelated to the original, which I personally prefer. I do like a good retelling here and there but this being a re-imagining works so much better. The format of storytelling is also interesting but works so well. It’s like reading a series of love letters in a diary but the letters aren’t addressed to anyone. It’s like if you had stumbled onto an old notebook at an estate sale or something and read through someone recounting their life. Everything is in first person and we rely on Constanta’s perspective to learn about what’s happening, who Dracula is, and what their life is like. In general, books with a first person POV will have unreliable narrators and I don’t think Constanta is an exception. The story itself is beautiful as it is haunting, tense as it is vulnerable. At times reading it felt like it was too personal, like Constanta was a real person who wrote all of this down and I was kind of intruding. A lot of what happens in this book centers around Dracula’s emotional abuse and manipulation of Constanta and the other spouses, it can be hard to read through but there is a sense of satisfaction in the end. This is very much a “good for her” revenge story with some love story moments - ultimately love and care for others is what drives Constanta to make certain choices. It shows all the ways that love made Constanta vulnerable and all the ways it made her strong. The side characters have their own charms, flaws, and struggles, I found them all likeable in their own way. The story has elements of found family but it also features a polyamorous relationship between the characters. I also want to point out that there are explicit sexual scenes, moments of physical domestic abuse, prolonged emotional abuse, manipulation, and gaslighting in this book. Something to take into consideration before deciding to give this a read, it might not be a good choice if you’re feeling particularly vulnerable. All in all, it was a good October read that I think it would also work well September or November for seasonal readers. I would definitely recommend this if you’re looking for something quick, emotional, and a little harrowing.