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soniaereyes's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- 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
3.75
aleciatalbot's review against another edition
5.0
“I lost myself so entirely in charting the contours of my love for you that there wasn’t any room for tracking time. There wasn’t any room to examine the past or the future, there was only the eternal now.”
This book was INCREDIBLE. I truly do not know how I’ll pick a top read for this month because I’ve loved almost every book I’ve read so far.
A Dowry of Blood is the story of Dracula’s first bride, Constanta and is written from her perspective as if she’s writing a letter to Dracula detailing their time together. It has a very gothic feel and starts in the 1400s after a town is ransacked by military men, and Dracula saves Constanta by turning her. The way that he speaks to Constanta is deep and captivating and she quickly falls for him, but she realizes that he’s not what he initially seemed.
This book is DARK. The language and descriptions are absolutely beautiful, and ST Gibson is a master at immersing you in Constanta’s story and expressing the feelings of intense hatred and sadness, but also love that she felt for Dracula. Constanta never loses her strength and is an absolute powerhouse main character. The other characters in the story were also so well-developed, and I love the different relationship rep that Gibson puts into her books. The writing style had me completely hooked, with lots of alternating chapter lengths and some small cliffhangers at the end of chapters. I can’t wait to keep reading more by this author.
Check tw for this one. They are listed at the front of the book.
sarahgoff's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
4.0
sarakas's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
lefttoread's review against another edition
2.0
Story -
"Saved from the brink of death by a mysterious stranger, Constanta is transformed from a medieval peasant into a bride fit for an undying king. But when Dracula draws a cunning aristocrat and a starving artist into his web of passion and deceit, Constanta realises that her beloved is capable of terrible things."
Strengths -
• Intrigue
• Set up
Weaknesses -
• Plot
• Atmosphere
• Marketing
Overall thoughts -
A Dowry of Blood had so much potential. It started out with amazing atmosphere, and the setup was fantastic, I was annotating anything and everything, and I thought I was going to have a new favourite.
Unfortunately, that was not the case. Maybe this was my fault because I went into this story not knowing much, not knowing it was a Dracula retelling of which I've never read the original and not knowing the focus of the plot, but when I started reading it I thought I was going to get a revenge story, a kind of dark version of Rosalie's (Twilight) backstory.. that's how it began anyway and then the atmosphere and the story telling dropped.
So far in it's main focus became lust, sex, erotica.. not the gothic horror I was promised. I'm more than happy to read within the genre, too, but when I'm being told that I'm going to get something completely different.. yeah, I just wasn't into it. I also have to add that I wouldn't have cared for a sex scene or two, but it literally became THE story.
So yes, this may have been a me problem, but I've also read other reviews that have had the same experience as me and by people who have actually experienced the original Dracula.
(Thank you, netgalley, for the ARC)
"Saved from the brink of death by a mysterious stranger, Constanta is transformed from a medieval peasant into a bride fit for an undying king. But when Dracula draws a cunning aristocrat and a starving artist into his web of passion and deceit, Constanta realises that her beloved is capable of terrible things."
Strengths -
• Intrigue
• Set up
Weaknesses -
• Plot
• Atmosphere
• Marketing
Overall thoughts -
A Dowry of Blood had so much potential. It started out with amazing atmosphere, and the setup was fantastic, I was annotating anything and everything, and I thought I was going to have a new favourite.
Unfortunately, that was not the case. Maybe this was my fault because I went into this story not knowing much, not knowing it was a Dracula retelling of which I've never read the original and not knowing the focus of the plot, but when I started reading it I thought I was going to get a revenge story, a kind of dark version of Rosalie's (Twilight) backstory.. that's how it began anyway and then the atmosphere and the story telling dropped.
So far in it's main focus became lust, sex, erotica.. not the gothic horror I was promised. I'm more than happy to read within the genre, too, but when I'm being told that I'm going to get something completely different.. yeah, I just wasn't into it. I also have to add that I wouldn't have cared for a sex scene or two, but it literally became THE story.
So yes, this may have been a me problem, but I've also read other reviews that have had the same experience as me and by people who have actually experienced the original Dracula.
(Thank you, netgalley, for the ARC)
melzbookbuzz's review against another edition
3.0
A Dowry of Blood was written as a note to a lover. A very abusive, narcissistic, and violent lover. This could've been the life story of a human woman sitting in prison reminiscing all her previous crimes, but it was written about a trio of vampires who hate their maker. It was beautifully written but the story just didn't pin me down. I would've DNFd if it was longer.
melissah's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
taymbb's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
bookbabe_jazzie's review against another edition
4.0
This book really heightened my interest because it is about the brides of Dracula and everything that they went through and how they survived. First you have Constanta the first Bride of Dracula. He found her beaten and at the brink of death when he finally decided to help her and change her to a vampire as well. Dracula was very into his studies and very stuck in his ways. Constanta still grasping the thread of humanity to be inherently a good person and only use her new form to hunt people who were murders and abusers.
Constanta's feelings start to change again to doubt her Un wavered loyalty when they move to Spain and greeted by the lovely Magdalena. Dracula takes Magdalena and changes her, which brings her into the folds of their family. Constanta was jealous but she finds a true friend in Magdalena.
After centuries of Darcula's control tightening, Magdalena started to lose her mind which led him to turning Alexi, something new to occupy her time. While that satisfied the needs of their sanity for some time, it was the beginning of the end. Once completely imprisoned by Dracula they had no choice but to use his darkest secrets against him in one last collaborated stance to fight for their freedom.
The Spice in this book was amazing and this was definitely one of my top reads 2022.
Constanta's feelings start to change again to doubt her Un wavered loyalty when they move to Spain and greeted by the lovely Magdalena. Dracula takes Magdalena and changes her, which brings her into the folds of their family. Constanta was jealous but she finds a true friend in Magdalena.
After centuries of Darcula's control tightening, Magdalena started to lose her mind which led him to turning Alexi, something new to occupy her time. While that satisfied the needs of their sanity for some time, it was the beginning of the end. Once completely imprisoned by Dracula they had no choice but to use his darkest secrets against him in one last collaborated stance to fight for their freedom.
The Spice in this book was amazing and this was definitely one of my top reads 2022.