ebookreview | Entries tagged with series: a dowry of blood

A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson

Series:
A Dowry of Blood #1

Genre:
LGBTQAI+, Horror, Vampires, Sapphic, Romance, Gothic, Historical Fiction, Adult, Queer, Fiction, Fantasy, Thriller, Paranormal, Retellings, Book Series, First Person Point of View

Publication Date:
January 31, 2021

Pages Numbers:
292

Read Date:
October 8th, 2023

Date Finished:
Octorber 8th, 2023

Rating:
4.5/5

Blurb:

S.T. Gibson's sensational novel is the darkly seductive tale of Dracula's first bride, Constanta.

This is my last love letter to you, though some would call it a confession. . .

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 dizzying nightmare of a romance that will leave you aching, angry and ultimately hopeful." --Hannah Whitten, New York Times bestselling author of For the Wolf

Review:

This book is a queer reimaging of the brides belonging to Dracula. You always hear about Dracula and his exploits but you never get a story about his brides. This book gives this to you. From the moment of her rebirth, Constanta's love for Dracula blurs between obsession and devotion. She believes in everything he has and she goes with whatever he wants to do. He even gives her leave to enjoy whatever city they are currently residing in as long as it allows him to be alone in his work. When Magdalena joins, Constanta finds herself jealous believing that Dracula has been keeping her a secret. It is nice to see that Constanta is capable of jealousy. It adds a layer to her character that makes her more human than she is meant to be. When Alexi joins the group, there is a triangle of emotions from all three of them - love and hatred until it all blurs into love. You feel all these raw feelings from them and it draws you further into their story until you find that you cannot put the book down until you have finished it.

I enjoyed this book. I enjoyed the character growth. The raw feelings from our narrator. A story that had never been told until now. This was definitely something different within the Dracula universe and it was a really nice edition. It needed to be told. It needed to be said. Our narrator needed a voice, a history, and raw feelings we could feel just as she did. And this book delivered every bit of it until the end.

I also saw that there is to be another book in this series and I am excited to see how it will go further. I want to see how things progress now with them and how things may or may not end in the future. So, I am definitely looking forward to reading it as well.

Final Thought:

Overall, A Dowry of Blood is definitely a book that you should pick up and read especially if you are interested in reading something from the Dracula universe. It is well worth the read and something you could enjoy this Halloween season.