S. T. Gibson

'DARK, LUSH AND HEARTRENDINGLY ROMANTIC' Lyndall Clipstone, author of Lakesedge This is my last love letter to you, though some would call it a confession. . . A deliciously dark retelling of Dracula, A Dowry of Blood is a sensual story of obsession, desire and the lengths we will go to protect the ones we love. 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. Praise for A Dowry of Blood: 'A dizzying nightmare of a romance that will leave you aching, angry and ultimately hopeful' Hannah Whitten, author of For the Wolf 'Atmospheric and lush. . . it will haunt you in the best possible way' Genevieve Gornichec, author of The Witch's Heart 'Ornate. Delicious. Hedonistic. Bloodied and bejewelled. This isn't a book; this is a feast' Reader Review 'Gorgeous retelling of Dracula's Brides. . .lush, incisive prose with gorgeously lyrical turns of phrase' Reader Review 'This is a story that is just as breathtaking as it is heart wrenchingly beautiful' Reader Review

A Dowry of Blood

aleksandra

4.5/5

I have no words. It was utterly gorgeous and I never expected this story to consume me from the very beginning to the end.

I stepped out of my comfort zone reading it, as usually I don’t go into stories with romance which involves more than two people, but I absolutely don’t regret picking this book up. Although it was so much more than just romance. The book mainly focused on our narrator, Constanta, and the centuries she lived by her husband's side. Everything changes when her beloved brings two more people into their relationship. Magdalena, an aristocrat full of life, and Alexi, a starving artist who attracts people with his charm. Over time and many experiences, Constanta grows closer to two lovers and realizes that there is room in her heart for more than one love. Unfortunately, at the same time, Constanta also realizes that her husband is hiding more dark secrets than she thought.


I think one of the reasons I loved this book is the writing style. It was surprisingly easy to follow and beautiful in its own way. The descriptions of Constanta's feelings, the jealousy, falling in love, being trapped by her lover and betrayal were presented realistically and really spoke to me.


  
    "The force of your love nearly drove me to my knees. I was no woman; I was merely a supplement, a pilgrim who had stumbled across your dark altar and was doomed to worship at it forever. I don't know what I have been thinking, supposing I was strong enough to leave."
  


While I adored all the characters, except maybe Constanta's husband, our main character Constanta outshone the rest here. Her growth throughout the book, from a rescued girl to a strong woman with a heart of gold, made the whole book for me. 


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


I also know that the ending may not be fully satisfying for someone with a romantic heart, but for me personally, the book could not have ended better. I say this as a person who cannot read books without a happy ending. Or at least a little happy.


If you want to read a story full of desire, seduction, obsession and love, not the beautiful kind, but the one that instead of making you feel alive causes the complete opposite, I highly recommend it. The book has great meaning and message, so it’s definitely worth reading.

liana

3⭐️

⚠️
  THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS
⚠️


A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson is a horror and gothic book about Dracula’s brides, 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 an aristocrat (Magdalena) and a starving artist (Alexi) 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.


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






➳
  Even loneliness, hollow and cold, becomes so familiar it starts to feel like a friend.



The characters:
While I loved Constanta, Magdalena and Alexi, I despised who I suppose is Dracula, their husband. 
-Constanta is the narrator of this story and one of the main characters. I loved how she tells you the story of her life through letters (directed to her husband) to understand what she had to do in order to escape and liberate herself of his constant abuse. As the first wife of Dracula, at first she’s very obedient and does what he tells her to do, but as the book progresses she starts finding stuff about her husband and makes a huge decision that will change their lives. Unfortunately (and this happens a lot) when you’re in an abusive and toxic relationship it takes you time to get out of it because it consumes you completely and that’s what happened to her. Most times she wanted to confront her husband but she was super scared of him. She’s someone whose character development is slow but so good, and I loved that she was the one who killed him.
-Magdalena is totally the opposite of Costanta. Before meeting Dracula and her in person, she used to love her freedom, saying she didn’t want to marry anyone, but a few hours after meeting them she happily becomes another shut-in concubine who is never allowed to go anywhere without him, and that’s what really pissed me off. She and Constanta fell in love and were each other’s support while staying together. After some time Magdalena becomes really depressed. She was a very strong woman who was used to running her section of Spain by herself in a time when women were thought only to be good for giving birth. Now she was reduced to a concubine with no control over her life. While I liked her character (because at the beginning she was really liberal and didn't care about anything because she was so excited to live an eternity) I hated how she slowly became consumed with Dracula and his manipulations.
-Alexi is the last Dracula’s lover. He’s the youngest so he just wants to hang out with his friends, but Dracula won’t allow it, so that’s when everything went downhill for all of them. Constanta loved him in a way a mother loves her son (but they had sex so it was really weird) and Magdalena took him as her lover. I really liked his character. He didn’t want to be under Dracula’s demands and he didn’t like how he treated Constanta and Magdalena, and thanks to his realisation they get out of that abusive enviroment. 
-Dracula is the worst of all of them. Abusive, controlling, gaslighting is his passion, etc. I hated when everytime he fucked up, he was always like “I love you, my wife” like please shut up. He even had the audacity to turn Constanta into a vampire AND change her name just because he wanted to🙄. Everything he did was horrible, I just have nothing to say about him, only that karma destroyed him and I loved that.


➳
  Love makes monsters of us, and not everyone is cut out for monstrosity.



My opinion:
This book is beautifully written, the descriptions are incredible and the worldbuilding really suprised me in a good way. However, Gibson filled it with sex and Constanta’s angst instead of a concrete story. It felt mostly like the same few scenes being recycled over and over with only vague differences.
The book is not bad at all, but I expected more. There’s no plot whatsoever, the book only talks about their polyamorous relationship and how fucked up it was. It was a little awkward when they referred to each other as a sister or think of Alexi as a son. It made the book feel a little incestuous, but since it wasn’t actually…I can forgive that. I thought the start of the book was fantastic, but after reading half of part two I just completely disconnected. I just feel like it had so much wasted potential. I would’ve loved to know more about Dracula’s research of vampires and human deceases/illnesses of the period this book is located, but they barely talk about it. Also, it would’ve been perfect if Magdalena and Alexi appeared more. 
I loved how the author referenced Dracula by Bram Stoker, mentioning “the Harkers” (If you haven’t read Dracula, they are two very important characters in that classic book). I also really liked that the book was a polyamorous bisexual representation (even though their relationship was the worst, it is not common to read about polygamy and there should be more books of it).
If you like vampires, this is your book. Although I think not everyone can read it so I suggest that if you’re not more than 16 years old, don't read it because it’s really graphic and it contains sexual content.


➳
  It is easier to think of a woman as cruel than competent.



Last but not least, I have to thank my beautiful love Zainab for buddy reading this book with me♥️. I loved talking about it with you and that we even shared the same thoughts🥰 I would love to BR with you again, I love you my girl💖



  THIS IS NOT A LOVE STORY
. Check the trigger warnings before reading!! (
  TW such as
 domestic, emotional and physical abuse, toxic relationships, murder, violence, war, gaslighting, mental illness, confinement, sexual content, infidelity, blood, etc.).
Read at your own risk.







(English is not my first language, if you find any mistakes please let me know).

Love makes monsters of us, Constanta, and not everyone is cut out for monstrosity.
  


Whew. Where do I start. 

A Dowry of Blood is a rich, hauntingly gorgeous and poetic story of dracula brides, told from the perspective and the letter of the first bride.

This book is full of surprises. It made me speechless since the first few pages. 

The way Gibson managed to describe toxic relationship between the narrator that we knew as Constanta, the one that abuser of husband gave her. He gave her a new identity, stripped her of her previous life as human. There is a power in name, they say, and it's true. Given on how till the end of the story, the name of dracula husband were not revealed, or else it would gave him power even more on Constanta and his other brides.

I love the relationship between Constanta, Magdalena, and Alexi. Their love are achingly sweet and beautiful and unconditional, the one that last centuries and more.

In the end, how these three lovers able to overcome their fear of their husband and killed him on their marital bed was such an important move—how abuse and manipulation victim able to stand against their abuser shackles.

In conclusion, A Dowry of Blood is such an important book. It gave me what I wanted and more.

Trigger warnings:
- war, famine, violence
- descriptive blood and gore
- verbal, physical, and emotional abuse
- manipulation
- gaslighting
- mania
- drug and alcohol use

Beatriz Aguiar

This book is out of this world amazing showstopping beautiful <3 
There is absolutely nothing i didn't like in this book
this is the book i was hoping for without even knowing it 
i'm so glad i read this

A Dowry of Blood

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