Reviews tagging 'Grief'

A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson

99 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. 

---

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

kennyleigh1999's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

Well written villain. You really can understand why the characters are so easily manipulated by him, and it makes you hate him even more. There were multiple scenes where I wished I could reach through the page and drive a stake through his heart first! 

A rough read that definitely took me a while to finish, but was well worth it.  

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Blood

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Grief

raisinreads's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

i like this better than the original dracula sue me

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, and Murder

donnacavazos's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense 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

4.0

The word magnanimously was used so much and it made me feel like I was reading a fan fic. But a captivating story and definitely a polyamorous love story that made me feel a part of it. 

Would recommend 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

mckays's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Gaslighting

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

---

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

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.

---

Content Warnings

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

Minor: Incest

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.5

There were some things I really enjoyed about this book but sometimes I'm not really one for really flowery and descriptive language.

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

mj_nightingale's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

I've heard so much about this book, and it disappointed me so much I can't even. The one thing to know when you go into it especially being a reader from Ukraine is there is glorification of the neighboring terrorist state. In a book written in 2022. Because there's literally nowhere else in the world this story could go, right? Disgusting. 

Up until the third part I was thinking, well, it's an ok read a 3 or maybe even a 4 if it picks up, a bit repetitive, and not very well written out. I tried to explain the shallowness of the narration by the fact that it is addressed to someone who was there to see it all so no need to go into the details, not that it made my experience as a reader any better toh. But I tried to justify it for myself. 

But the freaking 3d part just did it for me. There's literally nowhere else to go, right? Nowhere in the world that would not glorify a terrorist country destroying thousands of lives in the modern day. I'd really love to see a mention of that at least somewhere in the description of the book, so that I can avoid picking it up since I know that I am not interested in anything trying to glorify imperialism especially in this case. 

But there was nothing. So in writing this review, I warn whoever intends to pick it up. I'm disgusted and really upset on where this went. 

I had high expectations of this book, it being so universally praised but it's just not good.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and War

Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Blood, Grief, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Classism

thewitchykitty's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail