A review by literarycherub
A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

5.0

 
A Dowry of Blood was our first Wilted Rose Book Club pick! I don’t think we could have had a more perfect start. The writing was so hauntingly beautiful and I could have easily read hundreds of more pages! I wish this was a full novel instead of a novella, but I heard the author plans to give us bonus content in her newsletter. I signed up immediately!

“You could have kissed me or slit my throat and either would have made as much sense.”

I loved the way this was written in second person in the form of a letter to a former abuser. Constanta never names him and I felt that was such a powerful move. Watching her go back to the start and showing how she slowly woke up to the situation she was truly in had me in awe. The strength she had to stand up to her abuser was inspiring and I feel so many will relate to her situation. I am happy it starts off with her finally free and writing this letter because I was able to look forward to the abuser’s downfall. It made it all the more satisfying.

Now I want to get into the other brides. I absolutely loved Magdalena and Alexei! They turned Constanta’s relationship into a polyamorous one. I really enjoyed how smart and witty Magdalena was. She was always glowing when she was fully herself. Alexei was so creative and social. The definition of charismatic. I loved seeing how quickly the loved and protected each other, especially against the abusive one. My favourite moments were the time the three of them spent together. I really wish we got to see more once they were finally free.

“You did not let me keep my name, so I will strip you of yours. In this world, you are what I say you are, and I say you are a ghost, a long night’s fever dream that I have finally woken up from. I say you are the smoke-wisp memory of a flame, thawing ice suffering under an early spring sun, a chalk ledger of debts being wiped clean. I say you do not have a name.”

I respected Constanta by not naming her abuser, but I will now mention him as part of my review. Obviously, this is Dracula. I really liked that he wasn’t romanticized and stayed true to the manipulative character we learned about from Stoker. It was refreshing to see him as the abusive person he is and to not even give him a perspective. I liked that this was all about his brides and his downfall. Honestly iconic.

If you have always been interested in Dracula’s brides and love polyamorous relationships with hot badass vampires, please read this beautiful novella with its stunning prose! Also if you love Deathless, definitely give this a read! I plan to read more from this author.

Thank you to Nyx Publishing for the arc! This title was released January 31, 2021.