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A review by wokeupolder
A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson
2.0
I received an eARC copy of this book from NetGalley and Little Brown Books/Orbit in exchange for a review.
Warning: this review contains some mild spoilers (marked with *)
I want to start by saying that the writing in this book is very well done. Gibson has a great talent for creating vivid imagery and giving her characters a unique voice.
That being said, you could probably read the back cover of this book and you know the whole story already. There's not much meat on the bones with this book. I had heard a lot of recommendations from friends that this was a dark and romantic story that they held in high regard. Unfortunately it wasn't the case for me.
I'll admit that I'm not really a romance fan in general. I don't mind it in a story, but I don't like when it IS the story, if that makes sense. But the trope of insta-love has got to be one of my least favourite things to read. *Constanta falls in love with 3 people throughout this book, and one of those times it's basically against her will because she gets turned by Dracula, but the other two are based on very little. Constanta is just a lusty, horny woman I guess. But honestly, it's kind of boring. I like when characters build a relationship and you can see them change and grow, whereas here, they just instantly want to bone each other. If you take the sex out of this book, you'd probably be left with about 10 pages.
Finally, throughout the book, Constanta constantly mentions things like "I've seen what you do when you're angry" or "you treated me so badly" or "you were so cruel", but that's it. Dracula basically does nothing in this book. I love the premise, getting a first hand POV from Dracula's wife, that's awesome. We all know the phrase 'show don't tell' but this book doesn't follow that. I constantly found myself thinking "come on, show me SOMETHING!!"
I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who will enjoy reading 300ish pages about vampires having sex and drinking, but although it's well written, it's just not my style.
Warning: this review contains some mild spoilers (marked with *)
I want to start by saying that the writing in this book is very well done. Gibson has a great talent for creating vivid imagery and giving her characters a unique voice.
That being said, you could probably read the back cover of this book and you know the whole story already. There's not much meat on the bones with this book. I had heard a lot of recommendations from friends that this was a dark and romantic story that they held in high regard. Unfortunately it wasn't the case for me.
I'll admit that I'm not really a romance fan in general. I don't mind it in a story, but I don't like when it IS the story, if that makes sense. But the trope of insta-love has got to be one of my least favourite things to read. *Constanta falls in love with 3 people throughout this book, and one of those times it's basically against her will because she gets turned by Dracula, but the other two are based on very little. Constanta is just a lusty, horny woman I guess. But honestly, it's kind of boring. I like when characters build a relationship and you can see them change and grow, whereas here, they just instantly want to bone each other. If you take the sex out of this book, you'd probably be left with about 10 pages.
Finally, throughout the book, Constanta constantly mentions things like "I've seen what you do when you're angry" or "you treated me so badly" or "you were so cruel", but that's it. Dracula basically does nothing in this book. I love the premise, getting a first hand POV from Dracula's wife, that's awesome. We all know the phrase 'show don't tell' but this book doesn't follow that. I constantly found myself thinking "come on, show me SOMETHING!!"
I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who will enjoy reading 300ish pages about vampires having sex and drinking, but although it's well written, it's just not my style.