Reviews tagging 'Child death'

A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson

7 reviews

meowlo's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Toxic relationship, Gore, and Sexual content

Moderate: War

Minor: Child death and Physical abuse

caseymac's review against another edition

In theory this book has everything I want: a dark, atmospheric, horrifying story with bloody, body horror, romance, and murder… but I cannot cope with the toxic relationship and gaslighting. I don’t are enough about the characters to put up with it. Also the book starts with the man vampire turning a dying peasant girl and then they’re in love… why did he turn her? Why are they in love? There’s not enough meat to this story to get me invested enough to put up with the infuriating gaslighting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Sexual content, Body horror, War, and Death

Minor: Death of parent, Child death, and War

bushrasbookbabbles's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• 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? Yes

4.0

It’s strange because I wanted to hate this book. The premise was weird after I understood it and a part of me wanted to stop reading it but I couldn’t. I was completely enthralled by the Constanta’s development. Even though I tabbed at least 2 dozen parts of the story that made me ick or gasp, I still read the whole book and maybe even loved it??? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Child death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Emotional abuse, Gore, Self harm, Cannibalism, Sexual content, Abandonment, Blood, and Body horror

saurahsaurus's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Infidelity, Violence, Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Alcohol, Confinement, Death of parent, Grief, Child death, Physical abuse, Classism, and Medical content

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, War, and Abandonment

annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition

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

3.5

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

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

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

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

emilyyyyyyyy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, and Child death

madarauchiha's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

 ❤️ 🧡 💛 💚 💙 💜  my about / byf / CW info carrd: uchiha-madara 💜 💙 💚 💛 🧡 ❤️

In very brief summary, this book is 'Domestic Abuse, but vampires [Dracula variation]'.

The writing is beautiful and succinct, it never overstays its welcome. I am glad it doesn't romantizise the abuse. There is a happy ending. The characters feel very unique and with their own voices. 

I give this a 4.75 stars, because white people will never get my 5 stars of color.

Content warnings:

minor: mass death, incest, rape, csa, slavery, 

medium: child death, torture, violence, 

major: blood, gore, death, murder, diseases, body horror, grooming, NSFW, domestic violence, domestic abuse, body horror, gore, manipulation, nsfw, unhealthy relationships, toxic relationships, sexual abuse, marital rape / coersion.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Child death and Violence

Minor: Incest