S. T. Gibson

A lyrical and dreamy reimagining of Dracula's brides, A Dowry of Blood is a story of desire, obsession, and emancipation. Saved from the brink of death by a mysterious stranger, Constanta is transformed from a medieval peasant into a bride fit for an undying king. But when Dracula draws a cunning aristocrat and a starving artist into his web of passion and deceit, Constanta realizes that her beloved is capable of terrible things. Finding comfort in the arms of her rival consorts, she begins to unravel their husband's dark secrets. With the lives of everyone she loves on the line, Constanta will have to choose between her own freedom and her love for her husband. But bonds forged by blood can only be broken by death.

A Dowry of Blood

Romy

I wondered if you could feel how fast my heart was beating under my skin, smell the fear coming off me like an animal scenting the hunt.

I waited for you in white, ever your willing bride.

“It would be easier if he hated us,” she said. “But he loves us all terribly. And if we go on letting him love us, that love is going to kill us.”

But now, all my carefully crafted excuses for you dissolved like sugar under absinthe, revealing a truth I had spent centuries avoiding.

You always knew how to thaw my heart right when I had resolved to freeze it against you.

I knew then I was truly trapped with you, and any pipe dream of running away was nothing more than a flight of fancy.

You made it into an art form, this quiet sort of violence.

This makes my heart shatter so violently.

I don’t know what I had been thinking, supposing I was strong enough to leave.

Only violence felt like holiness to me anymore.

An infinitesimal life seemed preferable to an endless one trailing after you like a dog.

Laying with her made me feel so vibrantly alive. It was almost enough to make me forget that I was already dead.

You were fond of these paternalistic rules, always circumscribing our freedom with little laws.

How can I blame you for wanting her, my lord, when I wanted her so badly myself?

I didn’t know if I wanted all of your attention, or all of Magdalena’s.

Vienna made you irritable as much as it made me blossom. I wouldn’t realize until later that you were irritable 

 because I was in bloom, because there were suddenly so many sources of joy in my life apart from your presence.

In my mind, I was God’s lovely angel of judgement.

I think, my lord, that this is when you loved me best. When I was freshly made, and still as malleable as wet clay in your hands.

You did not let me keep my name, so I will strip you of yours.

It sounded Biblical, apocalyptic, beyond the grasp of human experience. But I wasn’t human anymore and you hadn’t been for a long time.

Wow. The narratives flows so perfectly it almost seems like it’s poetic prose. The representation of intricate toxic relationships in a household was so beautifully achieved, the depiction of the difficulty of breaking this "cycle of brutality and tenderness" impressed me. It felt so real, it felt so deep. Also, the vampire representation, as monsters, as beautiful, dangerous monsters but monsters nonetheless whether they are cruel or kind as a lamb delighted me.

this was so boring. i liked the ending but god the rest of the book was such a drag. alexi was a cutie tho, love him 🫶🏻

will

Grace Stanger

this was so boring. i liked the ending but god the ready of the book was such a drag. alexi was a cutie tho, love him 🫶🏻

Ummmmm, no, not for me. In the book’s defense, I read it based on some false advertising about its contents (tik tok!), so it was not what I was expecting. An easy read I guess, but overall, ‘meh’ sums it up. 

Sophia 

S T Gibson

I am only giving it four stars because I would've liked the provenance of our beloved. Other than that, it was a fun ride.

Karla

Audio book was read beautifully. 

I am only giving it four stars because I would've liked the provenance of our beloved. Other than that, it was a fun ride.

i could treat u better than him constanta 

Miranda Hall

If I knew this was about bisexual vampires I would’ve read it sooner

Alex

Mira <3

claire

tori 👻

"Every kindness you had ever shown me revolted inside me, rioting up in mutiny against my purpose. Every smile or small gesture was as sharp as a pinprick, inviting me to see the bright spots embroidered through the ugly tapestry of our marriage."


I've been a fan of horror for as long as I can remember. To me there is nothing quite like the eerie feeling you get from a story well told. I truly find it to be a beautiful genre that when well worked on, can create moving pieces as this one. But my favorite thing is when it's mixed with other sentiments, especially love.
Perhaps I'm too attached to the way it is described in The Secret History, the notion of beauty being terror, of quivering before beauty. Well, that is one of my favorite books after all.

I went into A Dowry of Blood completely blind, didn't even know it was a retelling of Dracula's brides. I'm glad I was clueless, since it was lovely to put the pieces together from the very first page and Constanta's first contact with him. That continues to be one of my favorite parts of the book, that start.
This is told through the format of a letter. A long letter to a lover. It was beautiful, melancholic, scary and touching all throughout.
A Dowry of Blood does not hold back on showing just how scary love can be, but at the same time shows the reader other ways of loving. The relationship between the main characters are complex by nature and they depict with no exposition the different ways one can love another.
Love and horror walk hand in hand in this book and sometimes it's terrifying to tell them apart. As it reads as a confession, as a shared letter between lovers, it's strong and honest and sad.
I found it hard to go back to the book every time I took a break from it, but couldn't put it down the moment I had it in my hands again. It's funny, since that mirrors Constanta's feelings towards her husband completely.

I feel like I want to write more, but at the moment I can't seem to find the words. Great read.

vampires, bisexuality, polyamorous relationship, poetic writing, gothic atmosphere, and addresses an abusive relationship.

kelsey

arwen

Helena

i enjoyed it and the writing was nice but the way the story is told made it feel like it was a summary of the actual book idk

An exploration of manipulative, religious love and hate for an abuser. Recognizing what wasn’t her fault, validating her own confused feelings. It was heartbreaking and truthful in ways that hurt deeply but left room for hope and justice towards a life of well deserved freedom.

Jordan

To write a story that spans centuries without ever losing the reader in the slow currents of tedious and dragging chapters of ennui, but still manage to catch the sweetly poisonous moments of privacy the characters experience… that takes a very good storyteller. And this was a very good story. It read fast paced with moments of slowness, of comfort and of seemingly endless despair. I suffered with the characters, felt with them and raged with them at times, all the while they fought to find their way. 

This is a sapphic book, one of passions and desires, set in a very dark and moody world. Whoever still needs their dose of gloomy storytelling, this could be a very good choice. 

I enjoyed it a lot and the only thing taking away from 5 stars was the length for me, because i would have wished it to be a little longer. Which might be a compliment in itself. 

Leonie

To write a story that spans centuries without ever losing the reader in the slow currents of tedious and dragging chapters of ennui, but still manage to catch the sweetly poisonous moments of privacy the characters experience… that takes a very good storyteller. And this was a very good story. It read fast paced with moments of slowness, of comfort and of seemingly endless despair. I suffered with the characters, felt with them and raged with them at times, all the while they fought to find their way. 

This is a sapphic book, one of passions and desires, set in a very dark and moody world. Whoever still needs their dose of gloomy storytelling, this could be a very good choice. 

I enjoyed it a lot and the only thing taking away from 5 stars was the length for me, because i would have wished it to be a little longer. Which might be a compliment in itself. 

A Dowry of Blood

Reviews

Highlights