Age Group: Adult
Format: Fiction
Genres and Categories: Gothic Horror, Supernatural, Mental Health, Sapphic Characters, Vampires
Series: Vampire Companion #1
My Rating:
Published on: 22nd March 2022
Pages: 304
Disability Representation: Depression, Trauma
Buy this Book! Amazon UK / Amazon US / Barnes & Noble / Blackwells / Bookshop.org US / Bookshop.org UK / Waterstones
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In this dark, fantasy sensation, S. T. Gibson spins the gothic, 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.
This book was provided for free by NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book!
Content Warnings:
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A Dowry of Blood Review
I was instantly attracted to the idea of a gothic story from the perspective of Dracula’s first bride, promised in A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson. This dark love letter confessional was brilliant; however, please take the time to check the content warnings before reading this review, as this book covers a lot of dark and difficult topics.
Dracula has been the subject of many pop culture adaptations, and sometimes he’s portrayed as a monster and other times as a lover. In A Dowry of Blood, S.T. Gibson invites the reader to join a new take on the old mythos while also taking on the role of Dracula. I’m not usually a fan of books written in the second person; however, it is the perfect perspective for Gibson’s novel. Written from the perspective of Dracula’s first bride, Constanta, it is a love letter, diary and confessional all in one that begins with her death and rebirth as one of his brides.
He is never named in the book, and the effect of his remaining nameless and the choice of perspective make this an incredibly intimate read. There is no doubt that the woman now known as Constanta, her original name taken from her by her vampire sire and husband, is writing from the very depths of her heart and soul. She writes to him as she relays her thoughts of their life, and of what she finds out along the way. She begins to realise that her husband is keeping things from her, and as she unlocks his secrets, Constanta recognises how truly trapped and powerless she is in their relationship.
This exquisite gothic novel interrogates the links between love, lust and entrapment in the lives of three people and the man who forges the bonds between life and undeath that connect them. A Dowry of Blood is a dark modern take on the Dracula mythos that you do not want to miss.
About S. T. Gibson
S.T. Gibson is a poet, author, and village wise woman in training.
She holds a Bachelors degree in Creative Writing from the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and a Masters of Theological Studies from Princeton Theological Seminary.
Over to you
Thank you for reading my review for A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson, which is out now in the US and out tomorrow in the UK. It’s available for purchase and pre-order from any of the links in this review.
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