A Dowry of Blood | S.T. Gibson

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🌟 A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson 🌟

📚 Genre: Fantasy, Gothic, LGBTQ+ Romance

📅 Release Date: January 31, 2021 Purchase Link

🖊️ Publisher: Redhook

🔗 Goodreads: A Dowry of Blood on Goodreads

💫 Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Synopsis

Constanta’s life changes forever when a mysterious stranger saves her from death and turns her into the bride of an immortal king. As she adjusts to her new, dark world, she discovers that her husband Dracula isn’t just dangerous—he’s hiding secrets darker than she imagined. Caught between love, betrayal, and survival, Constanta leans on the rival consorts drawn into their twisted web to uncover the truth. With everything she cares about on the line, she must decide what freedom really means—and what she’s willing to sacrifice for it.

My Thoughts 💭

🔍 Why I Picked This Up:

I’ve had this one on my list for a while and finally sat down to read it—and yeah, it delivered everything. 👏

✨ What I Loved:

This book is just… wow. Absolutely beautiful (and my first six-star book). The writing is so lyrical, it feels like you’re being gently pulled through this haunting, powerful story. It’s intimate, atmospheric, and surprisingly tender despite the dark subject matter.

I was completely enthralled by Constanta’s voice and how her trauma is revealed through the narrative itself—layered into every interaction, not just stated on the page. The overarching story is rich with emotion and meaning. This is the only book I’ve ever filled with tabs, just because of how many deep, meaningful sentences and paragraphs there are. 📑

The other characters are so rich and layered. Everyone has their own distinct presence and story, and I never felt bored for a second. This book consumed me. Watching how each character fell so deeply in love that they became intensely manipulated and abused was devastating—yet so important to witness from an outside perspective. 📖

✍️ Room for Improvement:

Honestly? Nothing. This book felt complete. ✔️

🥇 Overall Takeaway:

If you love gothic prose, emotional narratives, found family among bloodthirsty consorts, and sapphic undertones, this book needs to be on your shelf. Definitely 6 stars. I’m going to be thinking about this one for a long time. 🏆

💡 From The Margins:

• Mood Board: 🕯️Flickering candlelight, heavy gowns, moonlight through stained glass, velvet-draped castles, brooding mysterious figures.

• Favorite Quotes:

  “But I have loved you too long to imagine you do anything without an ulterior motive.”

  “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.”

  “I wouldn’t realize until later that you were irritable precisely because I was in bloom, because there were suddenly so many sources of joy in my life apart from your presence.”

  “Nothing existed beyond the range of your exacting gaze, not even me. I was simply a non-entity when you weren’t looking at me, an empty vessel waiting to be filled by the sweet water of your attention.”

  “Slowly, the noose of your love was loosening around my neck.”

*Major Trigger Warnings:

• emotional and physical abuse within a relationship.