Book: A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson
Read On: 1st October 2021
Rating: 4/5 stars
Summary: This is a queer, dark, lyrical retelling of Dracula's brides - told from the perspective of one of his wives, Constanta.
This was meant to be a buddy read... sorry girls🤦🏼♀️🤣 I had absolutely no intentions of reading this in practically one sitting but I couldn't tear my eyes away! Obviously the story itself was addicting, but the WRITING!!?? I've never read prose like it, every sentence left you wanting more and more and the next thing I knew, I'd finished the book!
This book deals with some potentially triggering topics so I would strongly advise you check those before I get into my 'everyone needs to read this book!!!' spiel. The entirety of this book is essentially dealing with gaslighting and the affects of a domestic abusive relationship, but it also depicts death, murder, violence and blood (note that although I've highlighted the main triggers, the list does go on, so please do check for yourself before reading)!
If you feel as though you're in the right headspace to read this book then I cannot express how much you should. As I've already mentioned, the writing style was absolutely gorgeous. Not only were the characters written so well I had the most vivid image of them all in my head, there were so many STUNNING quotes and my book is now covered in tabs.
I think that the second person narration really helped in elevating the story and massively helped me as a reader connect to Constanta, particularly as whilst she is essentially reciting the story to us, it still feels like two separate timelines. When the events of the past are unfolding, you can't help but feel like you are there alongside the characters in the moment. But often, the story is interspersed with almost a 'present' timeline, which is more Constanta reflecting on her situation, and its toxicity, with the benefit of hindsight in the form of either specific paragraphs or even random sentences in the midst of her infatuation. I really haven't explained this very well but trust me when I say it's written in the best possible way and the only way to truly do it justice is to read it for yourself.
I can't stop thinking about this book! It's worth every single penny and I couldn't have timed this vampire-filled read more perfectly with it being spooky season! I'm so sad that I haven't seen this around on bookstagram because it's worthy of all the hype it's getting on booktube at the moment and it's time we brought that onto insta. Highly highly HIGHLY recommend!