A Dowry of Blood: THE GOTHIC SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

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You will learn, little Constanta,” you said with a fond, patronizing smile. “I’m going to open whole worlds to you.”

There wasn’t enough air left in my body to scream. My only protestation was silent tears streaming down my cheeks, my body a rictus of rigid pain as you drank your fill of me. But you found me alone, my lord. Beaten down to a shadow of my former self and very near death. It was as though fate had laid me out for you, an irresistible banquet. What else could I have said? I didn’t know what I was asking for, besides begging not to be left alone in the dirt to drown in my own blood. If I had refused you, would you have left me there? Or was I already marked for you, my cooperation merely a bit of pomp and circumstance to mark the occasion? This book also very much discusses consent and how power dynamics and manipulation also can play a part in an individual saying yes when they may not under other healthier and safer circumstances. And also just… how hard it can be to leave an abusive relationship… especially when he is a powerful immortal vampire.

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content warnings: blood; violence; abusive relationships (emotional, verbal and a few instances of physical towards the end); gaslighting; war/plague/famine. I've had A DOWRY OF BLOOD on my to-read list for a while but I'd heard it was a densely atmospheric read and I have to be in the right mood for those, so it's been sitting patiently on my Kindle for months. Finally, after reading a string of creepy and gothic reads, I decided I was ready to top off my Halloween-in-March sundae with this blood-dark cherry of a book: a confessional, and a toxic love story, depicting Dracula and his not-so-willing brides (and bridegroom). Constanta soon becomes lovers with the other members of her husband's harem and begins to truly find out the depths of evil he's capable of. As things begin to unravel, Constanta will ultimately have to choose whether she wants the love of her husband and her own liberty. Most vampire novels are extremely grounded in places and times, especially romanticised ones. Anne Rice set a precedent for seduction-by-location with her Parisian revels and New Orleans mansions, growing sensuality from the ground up. Dowry of Blood eschews the heavy historicity in favour of a vague, lovely sweep across Europe, differentiating between Vienna and Venice only in the broadest of terms. I have no words. It was utterly gorgeous and I never expected this story to consume me from the very beginning to the end.

Atmospheric and lush. . . it will haunt you in the best possible way’Genevieve Gornichec, author of Th e Witch’s HeartI know you loved us all, in your own way. Magdalena for her brilliance, Alexi for his loveliness. But I was your war bride, your faithful Constanta, and you loved me for my will to survive. You coaxed that tenacity out of me and broke it down in your hands, leaving me on your work table like a desiccated doll until you were ready to repair me. A dizzying nightmare of a romance that will leave you aching, angry and ultimately hopeful’ Hannah Whitten, author of For the Wolf

I think it would be perfectly natural if Constanta were to struggle with polygamy or being in a polycule, but I also think it’s perfectly reasonable that she doesn’t. She slaughters humans like rabbits; even for an erstwhile churchgoer like her, what’s an open marriage to the toll of her dead? Her casual embrace of non-monogamy is refreshing, and I like very much that Gibson did away with the hand-wringing. Rice already did the tormented vampire, and the unrepentant one. We already know—oh, do we know—vampires under threat from hunters or from their own guilt. Here we see the vampire at home, at rest. Their natural habitat is luxury, and it turns out their natural inclination is to form groups, albeit rather dangerous ones. Laura and Carmilla alternate povs were great to introduce you into their minds and their rivalry. And Carmilla's scenes were extremely uncomfortable, because what she has been through can only end with violence and pain. I just felt like i needed a bit more time in her mind and I would be completely sold to her. Laura is also quiet interesting, because as much as she's the devoted and more diligent student, she's quite affermative with her essence, she's very determined and that was the only kind of sparring partner I would see standing up to Carmilla.You seemed to me a fire burning in the woods. I was drawn in by your enticing, smoky darkness, a darkness that still stirs memories of safety, of autumn, of home.” So strong,” you said, tilting your head to take me in the way a jeweler might a perfectly cut diamond. “Hold fast, Constanta. If you live through this, you will never know the sting of death again.” My only issue with the book is that I found that a lot of the stakes were told rather than shown, and that made the climax of the story feel a bit out of nowhere and unearned despite the time spent building up to it. I think the story deserved to be even longer (I think this could've easily been an absolutely tome) and that would've given more space to build that plot up. I'm way too fond of that casket of precious words to see anything ever matching and comparable, but nothing will ever be A dowry of blood. 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.