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errie's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.25
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment
skypotion's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.0
Also, if you're worried about homophobia, don't be. It's in the background, as this is set in the 60's, but neither girl is put in a situation where they have to experience it for themselves.
If you have any concerns about the Toxic Relationship TW:
If you're curious about any potential Dowry crossovers:
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, and Blood
Minor: Abandonment
bookameme's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Dark, Gripping, & Stimulating
Quote:š
In the end, I stayed. I had the awful, yawning feeling inside myself that for her, I would always stay.
Thoughts: š”
The first chapter had a slightly slow and meandering feel to it, but as soon as the story dove into the rivals to lovers vibes I was hooked. There is this moment of intense attraction that quickly burns into rivals that grabbed all of my attention in a sharp flash and from that point on the story had a fast and dark vibe, and I adored every minute of it. The imagery and poetry that permeated everything was spectacular. It was very LGBT positive but still recognized the struggle of marginalized people in the time period. I canāt sing enough praises for this story.
Writing Mechanics: āļø
The plot is inspired and the language used and structure of it all is brilliant. All the characters were beautifully developed with rich backstories and deep motivations. There were points of the story that were so eloquently written that I had to reread and ruminate on the context and beauty of it. And the poetry! Gah! I canāt sing the praises of it enough! Everything in this book was spectacular!
Fun Bits:
āļø Sapphic Vampires
āļø Academic Rivals
āļø Needing to Please The Teacher
āļø Beautiful Poetry
āļø Sizzling Romance
āļø Plus Size Heroine
Important Note:āØ
Standalone companion novel to A Dowery of Blood.
Full Content Warning:ā ļø
Uneven Power Dynamics, Inappropriate Relationships Between Professor & Students, Toxic Academic Environments, Blood, Gore, and Murder, Alcohol and Drug Use, Smoking, Racist Political Policies, Homophobia, Religious Discrimination Against Women
Stats:š
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Characters: ššššš
Dark Historical Fantasy: Dark Academia, Sapphic Romance, Academic Rivals to Lovers, Vampires, Mystery Vibes
First Person, Present Tense, Dual POV
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, Lesbophobia, Outing, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Moderate: Death of parent
jems_'s review against another edition
4.75
I had heard about this book before, as well as the authorās other work, though I had not read or otherwise consumed any of it myself so far. This was thus my first encounter with S.T. Gibson.
That said, listening to this was a very pleasant experience. The narrator, Stephanie Cannon, did an amazing job of the voices and has a beautiful voice. Multiple times I went back in the audiobook to hear her narrate professor De Lafontaine because it sounded like an entirely different person. It greatly helped immerse me in the story.
Going into this, I wasnāt entirely sure what to expect of the story, especially the relationship between the professor and her students. On that, I am still not entirely certain what I think, though although strange, technically nothing too damnable happened in that aspect which I appreciate. (By damnable Iām mostly referring to anything explicit since I donāt know how I wouldāve felt about that. That aside the relationship was still really toxic! However, I donāt think the book acknowledged it as anything but if Iām not mistaken which is important.)
I did really enjoy the relationship between Carmilla and Laura. As a very loyal and faithful person myself, unfaithfulness is generally something I canāt tolerate and there was at least one instance in this book that tested me in that regard. However, surprisingly it didnāt make me drop and dnf it like I would other books until now so that definitely says something. I think the other partyās reaction influenced my own reaction to it as well, but thatās as much as I want to say on that to not spoiler too much!
Overall, I enjoyed the narrative style and the writing as it was read beautifully was nice and not too complicated. The characters were fleshed out with interesting, albeit a bit strange dynamics, though those were a big point of the story anyways and werenāt supposed to be the most healthy.
In my opinion it was a very nice experience and Iām very grateful I got approved for this ARC!
Moderate: Confinement, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Blood
Minor: Death, Abandonment, and Alcohol
herelieshenry's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Sexual content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Bullying, Death, Violence, and Abandonment
Body image issues; Secondary relationship with power imbalancetakarakei's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I absolutely devoured this book. Almost read it in a day but ended up taking a little more time with it intentionally. Some beautiful writing and lush descriptions:
Mississippi was a study in green, crawling with Spanish moss and bedecked with heavy-laden magnolia trees, but I never realized how many colors there were to be found in nature until that first fall in New England.
I am obsessed with Lauraās character and I really identified with aspects of her personality. There were some just real good quotes about female rage, feeling othered, and life. The academic rivals to lovers I thought was well done with the appropriate amount of angst.
Slight pacing issues that dragged about 70-80% of the way through. The ending was both expected and unexpected in different ways.
š¶ļø4/5
Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Minor: Drug use
The teacher is the emotional abuse/toxic relationship w a studentbookspills's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Sexual content, Gaslighting, and Abandonment