Finally, I've found the vampire story, I've been dying to read. No sparkling vampires in sight, nor only mere mentions of vampire goings on, or any bats. Everything I found lacking in a certain classic was provided here, in spades. A Dowry of Blood was EVERYTHING I wanted Dracula to be and more. (That's not to say I didn't enjoy both Twilight & Dracula btw!)

S.T. Gibson doesn't shy away from anything gritty and provided blood, lust and the revenge of her fierce female protagonist, in all it's glory. Through an intensely written final letter to her lover, Constanta, Dracula's sired and faithful wife, bares all.

Her story is one of desire, obsession and control. A powerful reimagining, the writing is beyond intoxicating, it's flooded with beautiful and poetic lines, has an irresistible relationship to unpick and obsess over, and a feeling of unease continues throughout. I lapped up every word - A gorgeously gothic romp with a hint of tragedy, I loved it! ❤️

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.

I absolutely adored this book, the perspective of Constanta is so beautifully written that I read this book over the course of a day, would have been one sitting if I hadn't had to go to work! I loved the reclaiming of the story of her love for this man, who is never named, as she explores her feelings her fear with reflection as she is writing to this man. The fact that he is never named is so powerful as is the fact that we never know her name from before she met him, names have power and she recognises her lack of power and removes his whilst claiming the name he gave her as his own.

This is such an amazing, interesting book of queer polyamorous relationships, obsession and dangerous relationships. I will definitely be reading more by S.T. Gibson!

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 him remaining nameless and the choice of perspective makes 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 connects them. A Dowry of Blood is a dark modern take on the Dracula mythos that you do not want to miss.

This is a feminist retelling of Dracula told from the point of view of his brides. I love that he’s not even named once in this story. We only see the effects he has on the brides and how he brings them together.

First we have Constanta who is the main character recounting her story and writing as if she’s speaking to him. We see how she is made and conditioned by his controlling and gaslighting ways to accept everything he does. He slowly starts to introduce other “brides” into the mix and we see how Constanta is forced to work through her jealousy, resentment and lust as she starts to fall in love with them as well. They have a truly polyamorous relationship.

The story is dark and lyrical. The way it is written gives it an additional edge that wraps you up in the plot. It is a little slow at times but still a very enjoyable read. I loved the feminist angle, I loved how the brides banded together and how the story concludes. Highly recommended read.

Excuse me while I go recover from the emotional damage this book has caused me 😩

A Dowry of Blood was a stunning read. The prose was beautiful, pleasant and flowy which was in stark contrast to the content of the book as it's about an unhealthy relationship that spans over centuries (unhealthy because Constanta's husband is abusive, both subtlety but also obviously so at times) as our characters are vampires and therefore eternal (well...).

It's a gothic and dark retelling of Count Dracula and his wives, but instead of following Dracula, we follow his first wife, Constanta. The book is also written as a letter with her addressing "you", so Dracula is never mentioned by name, which was very interesting. It made me feel hopeful but also hopeless at the same time, and it is absolutely heart-wrenching all the way through though you know from the start that it's building to something in the end.

Deducting just a little bit since I would've liked a bit more from the ending, but overall it was a beautiful book 4.8/5⭐

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review

5 of 5 stars
https://lynns-books.com/2022/10/13/a-dowry-of-blood-by-st-gibson/
My Five Word TL:DR Review: Sweeping gothic story of abuse

I will say from the outset that I loved this. I was gripped from beginning to end and couldn’t put it down. This is my catnip.

Retelling famous stories from the point of view of side characters, victims or misunderstood characters is popular without a doubt at the moment and I for one am enjoying this trend. Dowry of Blood is no exception. Take the classic vampire story, Dracula, and take a look at him and his life through the eyes of three of his ‘children’. Dracula’s chosen ones.

As the story begins we meet Constanta, rescued from certain death after her village is ransacked and turned into a vampire. Constanta is telling her story, in epistolary format, almost as though she’s speaking to her husband. The style is beautiful and quite captivating.

Constanta is smitten to begin with and the two of them live in their castle until the plague forces them to move to Europe and from then onwards their life seems to be a constantly movable feast. Eventually Dracula takes another bride, manipulating Constanta into agreeing and although the three of them form a bond of sorts there’s always something lacking. At this point Dracula takes one more partner and ultimately this seems to signal the beginning of the end.

I don’t really want to say too much about the story but talk more about what I really enjoyed about it.

Well, firstly, as I mentioned I love the format used to tell the story. Constanta has a lovely narrative voice and it feels like she’s talking straight to us at the same time as confessing to her husband. The writing is lovely and there are some fantastic passages that I wish I’d noted to copy here.*shakes fist at self*

Secondly Stoker’s Dracula is a firm favourite of mine and I confess I enjoy any opportunity to revisit it and to look at it through a different lens was perfect.

Thirdly, gothic. All the gothic. I love the gothic elements ranging from castles resplendently dressed in tapestries to crumbling houses, not to mention a brooding central character. The story quickly takes us through the years. We witness plague, wars, the fall of empires. Only briefly touching on these as our small family are swept from place to place staying just ahead of the chaos or sometimes using that same chaos to feed heartily sowing death in their wake.

On top of this, A Dowry of Blood gave me different vibes whilst I was reading. For example I couldn’t help but be put in mind of Anne Rice at certain points and I think that boils down to the focus here which I don’t think has been touched on with Dracula or any of his retellings before (although I clearly haven’t read everything). With Lestat/Louis, etc we enter the world of ‘making vampires’ and the issues that this inevitably causes, think of Louis and his struggles not to lose his humanity also Claudia and the right or wrong of making a young vampire, not to mention the power struggles between the dynamic and the camaraderie that builds between certain characters. Certain elements of those struggles are apparent in these pages.

Which leads me to the characters here and what for me was the key element to the story which is the manipulative and controlling relationship that Dracula had with his brides. This is a story of abusive relationships, how people develop certain behaviours in order to cope and also about breaking free. In a way you couldn’t probably find a more manipulative and controlling abuser than a vampire – I mean, they take your blood after all and it is rather essential to life! I think over the years we’ve all developed romantic notions of the immortals and forgotten their true nature is that of a predator and we their prey but if you look a little deeper could there be anything more invasive than the mind control that some vampires exercise. In some novels this runs to glamouring or a sort of hypnosis, with Dowry this is less about a perceived superpower and more about Dracula controlling his partners through a variety of means. He offers love for good behaviour and on the opposite side he shows immense anger when his more gentle methods fail. He is emotionally and mentally abusive keeping each character in their place by whatever way seems the most successful. All his partners seem to begin from a point of gratitude but slowly and surely their rose tinted glasses come off. Dracula controls everything. He holds the purse strings and on top of that he is very careful about sharing knowledge so his progeny rely on him for everything. As strange as it may seem this is a hopeful book, a book about breaking bonds and breaking free.

I think this book is around 300 pages in length and it surprises me how much the author manages to fit in. I wouldn’t say the world building is focused on but at the same time I would defend that choice quite strongly as this is set in our world, the history is unchanged and we simply catch a fleeting glimpse of how the vampires move through it.

In conclusion, this is undoubtedly a dark, sexy, romantic, gothic, well told, twisty, retelling of the story of Dracula by one of his brides. I loved the writing and thought Constanta was a wonderful character. An absorbing and hypnotic read. I will definitely read more by this author.

I would also point out that this story contains numerous trigger warnings which the author outlines on Goodreads. So take a look before picking this one up.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

I had a hard time getting into Dowry mainly because I thought it was going to be completely different from what it actually is. Dowry is an epistolary novel, which essentially means that the story is told through letters, in this case from Constanta, 'Dracula's' first wife - although he is not named throughout the novel. I personally didn't find the content in the letters compelling, but I really loved, Gibson's writing the prose was lyrical and provoking, and the symbolism thoughtful.

Some of the chapters (letters) I found more compelling than others, particularly ones that moved the story forward, but it was also odd trying to find a balance between moving the story forward and really being able to sit in a time period as this is a novel that spans centuries. I think Dowry could have been a bit longer so that could have been achieved, especially as the ending is given away at the start; it just felt at times like the letters were bullet points of the plot.

Constanta and Dracula were the best-developed characters out of the four, Magdalena's background developed however, Alexi was just kind of thrown in there. Least developed, not much known, and frankly unlikeable as a character for me. However, I also think that speaks well to Gibson's writing because Constanta did say that he was too young to be 'turned' and that did play into the maternal role she took on towards him; however, they did sleep together, so that was odd.

Constanta was the reason I kept reading because at its core this is a novel about her emancipation and her arrival at freedom from Dracula's manipulation and control.

Overall, I gave it three stars because the quality of Gibson's writing is just superior and I will be buying a copy.

Thanks to S.T. Gibson, Net Galley, Little Brown Book Group UK, and Orbit for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Book #244 of 2022

2 Stars?

Synopsis: Constanta was his Wife. Then he took Madalena, and finally Alexi.

CW/TW: Domestic Abuse/Emotional Abuse/Manipulation/Violence/Murder/Blood/Gore/ others may be present.

Rep: Polyam relationship | Bi/Pan MC’s

So I was really looking forward to this book – it is a reimagining of Dracula but with the focus on his Spouses: Constanta, Magdalena and Alexi. But, I was unfortunately disappointed by the book overall.

Prose. The prose and narration is unique, the book is told through a series of letters Constanta wrote to Him (The Lord Vampire is never named – which I actually really liked – it bought power to Constanta’s narrative). Initially, I really liked this prose choice, it was unique and compelling, Constanta being quite a compelling voice in the book. However, as the book went on the narrative choice felt lacking, more of a summary than a story – which I understand, it is a recollection of a story, but it could have been done in a more compelling way. The prose is pretty, descriptive and lyrical – but it lacked that depth I wanted for the lyrical nature to be full captivating.

Story. The story was interesting, I liked the change in perspective, the power given to Constanta to recall their lives. We know how the book will end as it is said at the start so we get tension and a build up to this inevitable conclusion. However, while I enjoyed the story, not much actually happens. Lord Vamp and Constanta get married, go around Europe and find Magdalena and Alexi, and the spouses (particularly Constanta) slowly begin to realise the unhealthy and toxic dynamic they have with their ‘Lord’. The best parts of the story were the beginning and the very end – I actually enjoyed the ending much more than the rest of the book and would actually have preferred the story to go beyond this ending, exploring Alexi, Constanta and Magdalena’s lives.

I was intrigued by the polyam and bi/pan rep in the book – I was quite excited to see how it would play out. Now, I hated Lord Vamp and his relationship with all the spouses, however, I loved Constanta’s relationship with Magdalene, and I initially liked her relationship with Alexi. However, I could not get on board with all the agreement that this book was sexy in any way! I understood the literary choice for the spouses to call each other ‘Sister’ and ‘Brother’, but it made their intimate moments seem uncomfortable. Similarly, I did not like Constanta and Alexi’s dynamic as the book went on. Minor Spoiler – > > Constanta cares for Alexi in a maternal way, which is fine – it worked well. But, despite this maternal bond between her and Alexi the book takes a turn and the two get intimate and it made me uncomfortable – it just felt like a weird choice to build this bond and then suddenly make them have sex. << — Spoiler End.

Characters. The driving force of this book was, and truly is, Constanta’s character. These are her letters, her perspective on the story, and her heart in turmoil. I thought Constanta (and Lord Vamp) were the best developed characters in the book, Magdalena following behind, Alexi the least. I loved Constanta’s character, watching her development, her desire to protect, her struggle with her situation – it was compelling and heart-aching. I loved her love of Magdalena too. Lord Vamp was despicable and I hated him to my very core, so naturally, he was well developed enough to make me despise him so. Magdalena was bright and inquisitive, which I loved and watching the effect of Lord Vamp on her was devastating. Alexi, I feel, lacked much depth, he brought noise and charm, true, but there was little to him aside from this and I so wanted to feel more for him.

Overall, A Dowry In Blood, by ST Gibson is a unique and interesting take on the Dracula story. However, it didn’t live up to my expectations and the story and characters just fell a little flat.

*I received an eARC via #Netgalley from Orbit in exchange for an honest review – Thank you!*

https://kbbookreviews867789450.wordpress.com/2022/10/12/mini-book-review-a-dowry-of-blood-by-s-t-gibson/

A dowry of Blood is a darkly sensual story of carnal delights, spiritual disillusion and violent awakenings.

Rising up from debris in a war torn village, an elusive stranger rescues Constanta from the brink of death and promises her an immortal life of nobility, vengeance, and protection. She spends decades ensnared in his castle and even longer enthralled by his gaze, but once the plague chases them around Europe, Constanta finds joy outside of his shadow, in the cobblestone streets of animated cities and colourful opera shows. Threatened by her happiness, he tightens his grip using control tactics but when two other lovers are drawn into the web, the power of three just might set them free..

In a series of letters addressed to her unnamed sire, Constanta recounts the episodes that impelled her to murder the man who gave her life – from the gentle beginning to the brutal end – casting an intimate study into the unremitting cycle of coercive control and the luminious moments of freedom that kept her alive.

Constanta foregrounds herself in her narrative by stripping her sire of his name, taking back control after being beaten down and refused agency for centuries. She starts her story with her euphoric transition into a vampire, symbolic of the way S.T. Gibson herself breathes new life into these previously overlooked characters in this retelling of Dracula. Gibson takes Dracula's "weird sisters," usually depicted as the embodiment of sinful seduction and immoral love, and gives them identities and stories of their own, and by never mentioning the iconic character by name, she allows her story to stand up in its own right, without being reduced to just another reimagining of Dracula.

Gibson writes with unflinching candor, as Constanta speaks from the perspective of the present, no longer under Dracula's thrall, she recognizes the abuse for what it is. She wields her words like a stake, aiming for the thoracic cavity, and strikes. (Too on the nose?) Gibson's prose is intoxicating and rhythmic, as these subtle acts of violence delicately unfold. While this story lacks the terror and melodrama found in the original tale, it makes up for it with curious, vibrant characters and multitudinous moments of unadulterated pleasure.

If Bram Stoker's Dracula drew upon fears of societal progression in the late Victorian era, Gibson does the modern equivalent here with privileged men misusing and abusing their power, a reality we see too often. The horror in Gibson's scintillating novel is not the existence of a vampire, but the manipulative, emotionally abusive man underneath. His vampirism is almost symbolic of the way he drains the life out of his lovers, not through drinking their life source but through covert coercion.

Gibson explores the nuances of intimate partner abuse, the multilevel factors that contribute, and the complex ways individuals react to ensure their safety, with the three lovers all responding differently. She illuminates the importance of a support network, as once the three lovers establish a bond with each other deeper than the one they share with their sire, they are able to fight back against his oppression.

This dark reconstruction of Dracula spans centuries with cultural references woven in serving as time markers. The fragmented epistolary format, that emulates the journals Jonathan Harker kept, never feels disjointed.

Gibson's storytelling is mesmerising. I would recommend to all readers who love great character development and stunning prose.

This queer retelling of Dracula´s brides is perfectly timed for Halloween, I thoroughly enjoyed it too. S.T. Gibson‘s writing style is so beautiful, almost lyrical and I devoured this book. It’s bloody and gruesome things I really love but also full of jealousy, passion, betrayal, love and obsession. Everything just feels perfect from the dark, gothic setting of this book to the relationships between the three main characters. This is such an addictive page turner I can’t recommend highly enough

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

This book has some of the most beautiful and lyrical writing I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. A truly stunning read with a dark and gothic tone that was just perfect for the spooky season. This is a book I definitely want to own physically so I can annotate and tab away.

I love the way this explores the themes of manipulation, control and freedom. Reading as both a love letter and a confession, this was a truly unique reading experience and one I will never forget. As someone who has never read Dracula, I don’t feel as if this affected my ability to engage with the story at all.

Constanta was such an engaging and powerful character to read from, and I really empathised with her situation and the emotions she was feeling. This is definitely a character driven book with little plot, but the atmosphere it creates more than makes up for that!.

I would absolutely read this again, recommend it to everyone and read anything else from this author!

(Thank you NetGalley, Orbit and the author for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review).

Haunting and atmospheric - this is the queer gothic vampire novel of my dreams!!

The prose is lush and melodic, and the pacing is phenomenal. For a book as short as this to tell a story spanning so many centuries and to get deep into the characters and their relationship dynamics like this novel does… I really don’t know how S.T. Gibson managed this seemingly impossible feat,

I… have nothing to critique about this book. As a vampire novel, it is staggeringly beautiful. As a novel about an abusive relationship and how hard it is to leave one, it is frighteningly realistic. Just… All the stars.

If you love the original Dracula, you will probably also love this one. And to me it feels like a spiritual heir to Interview with a Vampire somehow? In any case, despite these benchmarks, A Dowry of Blood feels wholly original as well, especially the interesting choice of narrative voice.

(Thank you to NetGalley, S.T. Gibson and Little, Brown Book Group Uk, Orbit for providing me with an eARC for this book in exchange for my honest feedback. All opinions in this review are my own.)

I read this without reading Dracula, so while I understand the project of this book, I maybe appreciate it a bit less since I wasn't thinking about the original story while reading this. I did overall enjoy the experience; the writing is beautifully lyrical, and the story of how Constanta turned against her sire was compelling. But this is a character-driven story, so if you're looking for a plot, there's not much of one here. What we do get is a detailed look into how the relationship develops between Dracula and his consorts, and between the consorts themselves, and it's not always a pretty picture.

Abuse comes in many forms, and my heart went out to Constanta, Magdalena, and Alexi throughout this book. They each deal with Dracula's manipulative and toxic behaviour in different ways. Constanta withdraws into herself, Magdalena becomes depressed, and Alexi constantly struggles against the restrictions placed upon him. The relationship feels a lot like the turning of a new vampire: first, the sire sucks all the blood out of his victim, until they are an empty shell, and then he grants them some of his blood, just enough to survive, not enough to become strong. It's a pattern that gets repeated more than once, until Constanta decides it has been enough.

The ending feels a bit lackluster, but there is a sort of second epilogue in the form of a short story that you can read online, which will probably feel a lot more satisfying.

Thank you to the publisher Orbit and to NetGalley for the digital ARC, it has not affected my honest review.

I first read A Dowry of Blood when it was indie published and I was delighted to get the ARC for its re-release. This is a confession and a love letter to Dracula from one of his wives, Constanta, and tells the story of his abusive, manipulative control over her and the other wives for hundreds of years. S.T. Gibson has a glorious writing style and lyrical prose that is gorgeous to read. The characters of Constanta, Alexi and Magdalena were beautifully real and I loved their gradual friendship, trust and eventually poly relationship. I do wish the book had been longer, and parts more fleshed out, but I'm still delighted to read it again.

A Dowry of Blood is a dark gothic retelling of Dracula's brides. It's moody and delightful, and is written as a kind of letter from Constanta to her husband (Dracula) after his death.

"You did not let me keep my name, so I will strip you of yours. In this world you are what I say you are, and I say you are a ghost, a long night's fever dream that I have finally woken up from. I say you are the smoke-wisp memory of a flame, thawing ice suffering under an early spring sun, a chalk ledger of depts being wiped clean. I say you do not have a name."

This is a very clever little book and such a delight to read. The relationships, the story and the writing weaves together seamlessly to create the most perfectly dark and disturbing novel. It was a beautifully intoxicating reading experience.

The only thing I would say is not to go into this hoping for some big plot, because this isn't that kind of book. It's more melancholy and quiet and very character focused.

4.5 Stars.

You know when you read a book, so good that you have a hard time writing a review?
That's how I feel about 'A Dowry of Blood'. It's reads partly as a confession letter and a diary and does it beautifully. I'm normally not interested in polyamorous relationships, but I do think that the love between the 'brides' was written beautifully and so was the relationships to their site.
It really felt like I was reading something velvety, dark and luxurious.

Thanks to Netgalley and Little Brown Book UK group for this arc!

Firstly I’d like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC 😍😍

This book is EVERYTHING!! I fell in love with Constanta almost instantly. She’s the perfect MC. Although she’s a vampire she’s got a conscience. You feel for her and her situation, her infatuation and reverence towards her sire, Dracula, and how conflicted and confused she is. How her feelings are towards Magdalena and later Alexi, she feels so differently towards each of them at yet they all end up having the same strange and yet completely beautiful, relationship.

Her relationships with her family are fascinating, with Dracula she is the first wife, she is all-consumed by her love for him and he completely dominates her life for hundreds of years until he has another wife, Magdalena, and a husband, Alexi, and then she finds different kinds of love and they open her eyes to new things.

The history of Europe is interwoven so perfectly into Constanta tale and you subtly hit very prominent and important historical moments without them overtaking the families life which I think is brilliant. I love that although Dracula is crazy famous he’s just a secondary character in her life, it’s all her narrative, her point of view and it’s perfect.

I cannot express how much I am in love with this book, it’s a queer romance horror, what more could you ask for?! ❤️❤️ This book is brilliant and you should read it because it’s a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read!!

Few books live up to their hype, but I’m pleased to report that A Dowry Of Blood is as good as you’ve heard it is. Complex and sensitive topics are handled with nuance and grace by Gibson, as we follow along with the centuries of abuse endured by Dracula’s brides (or in this case, spouses) at his hands.
The most important thing that I can impress upon anyone wanting to read this book is that this is a story about abusive relationships and trauma bonding, so PLEASE put the ten-second TikTok pitches of ‘bisexual and polyamory rep!’ to the back of your mind. Yes, those are definitely aspects of this story, but I would hate for anyone to go into this book blind. As I said, however, these heavy topics are dealt with very well, so if you feel up to reading about these kind of things then you won’t regret picking this book up.
If I HAD to pick a bone with this book, though, it’s this - this doesn’t work as a Dracula retelling. There’s only really one mention of the original Dracula story (Dracula isn’t even mentioned by name in this book!), and that’s that there is a throwaway line said from one spouse to another referencing the Harkers, who are “these dreadful Victorians that we encountered”. This is said in around the 1920s, and if, like me, you have read Dracula many times - Spoiler Alert - you would know that Dracula and his brides never made it to the 1920s - they died at the end of the original book. I don’t really understand why that throwaway line is included in the book, with no explanation as to how the vampires were all still alive. It felt like a line put in for name recognition, and the Dracula tie has been a big part of the marketing for this book so perhaps that is why. Really though, this book would have worked just fine, if not better, if it was just a vampire story without the needless reference.
The Dracula reference is a very minor bugbear however, and overall this book truly is amazing. It’s incredibly well written, and well worth picking up.

9/10

the writing was so beautiful and lyrical. It's dark and so gorgeous. I loved the setting. I adored the characters and the connection between them was amazing.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book in return for my honest opinions. Thank you to the author and the publishers for allowing me to read this before it’s release.

Dracula is a character that everyone has heard of; whether it be from film or from fiction, he is a character that is synonymous with vampires. A classic novel on many introduction to gothic literature courses, it is a book that I had the experience of reading through studying. But of course for me the characters I just wanted to know more about was his brides.

So I’m sure you can imagine my intrigue when I read the synopsis for A Dowry of Blood. This book certainly does a brilliant job evoking the sensations I’ve come to expect from classic gothic literature, while still putting a more rounded world spin on it.

I adored the stylistic decision that was made clear very early on, to not use his actual name throughout the book. This increased a sense of foreboding around the character, and served to create a distancing effect between him and the partners; emphasising the power dynamic within the household.

This entire book was filled with a sense of mystique, despite the fact that it is a story that has been revisited often throughout the media it felt unique and gave me chills.

I loved the character of Constanta and seeing her inner thoughts served to add depth and a new side to a classic story.

I appreciated the angle this book also took in regards to LGBTQ+ representation; not only did this feel realistic and a well written representation behind closed doors of the time, but it felt in keeping with the characters throughout.