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A review by annoyedhumanoid
A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson
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.
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".
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Incest, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Alcohol, and War
Minor: Cursing, Drug use, Genocide, Homophobia, Self harm, Sexism, Grief, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, and Fire/Fire injury
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