Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson

212 reviews

bashsbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-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

Such a sexy and engaging vampire novel. I love the bisexual drama of it all, and the eroticism of the blood drinking in particular is done so well. Epistolary novels are usually hit or miss for me, but this one was a hit - I think the fact that Constanta was speaking to Dracula the entire time was really in this novel's favor. I do think that marketing it as a Dracula reimagining is a little misleading as it doesn't engage much with the actual text of Dracula. If it didn't mention the Harkers in passing, it would easily be any other vampire story (and in this version of events, they survive the Harkers anyway? I was confused as to why we surpassed the point in time where they would've been). That said, I do love that one of the "brides" was a man. I also greatly enjoyed Gibson's take on vampirism as a slow-grade draining of humanity over a long period of time rather than an instant transformation. That was super cool, and I'd love to see that in more vampire media.

"Encore of Roses" was included in the version that I read; I thought it was a sweet epilogue to their story, and I love that Constanta, Magdalena, and Alexi remained important to each other while living out their own lives. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Homophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, and Classism

megsssss_'s review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

emily_dunn's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Infidelity, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and War

jojothefool's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

Perfectly succinct and beautifully written. Lovely story of love and abuse and fighting back and the struggles of standing up to an abuser. Polyamory representation is such a slay and put in seamlessly and beautifully. I enjoyed myself so so much with this one

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Murder

Moderate: Gore, Misogyny, Sexual content, and Gaslighting

kathrynok's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

marena02's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

lyss_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement, Domestic abuse, and Mental illness

Minor: Sexual violence

geooo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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? Yes

3.0

It was a good book, but I would have changed some things.

i think they should have died in the end as a consequence of killing him, it would have been very sad and tragic, but i think that is the ending this book deserves.  I didn't like the incest kink, it is unnecessary and besides other small things i disliked, this novel was very heavy handed. It feels like it tries way too hard to show that it's free of prejudice. Also, while i liked the writing style, it's not as fantastic as everyone says.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and War

Minor: Incest

brenna4231's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gore, Mental illness, and Misogyny

Minor: Confinement, Torture, Medical trauma, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

megad_06's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.25

Very intense mix of psychological and non-monogamous relationship

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Confinement

Minor: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic