Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Saved on the brink of death after her family was slain, a mysterious stranger appears and offers her a choice, with her new life Constanta is transformed from a medieval peasant into a bride fit for an undying king. Centuries later Dracula offers the same choice to a clever noblewoman and a starving artist. Constanta soon realizes that her husband is capable of terrible things. Finding comfort in the arms of her other brides, she begins to unravel their husband's dark secrets.
This short story had me completely hooked from the beginning, and I finished it in around four hours. I have read many retellings of Dracula but never any from one of the bride’s points of view, and I found it thrilling and refreshing. Constanta is given her name by Dracula, and she never reveals her original name before she becomes a vampire, the story reads like a love letter but also a confession. It’s dedicated to him and opens with the moment they meet, while she lay dying after her home is raided and she has been beaten almost to death. Constanta is obsessed with her love and is willing to do anything to keep up the whims of her husband, who is cunning and secretive in her favour, including inviting others into their family of death.
I am happy to rate this book a four star, just because of the book's length, as I thought the story could have developed slightly more. Would I buy this book for myself? Yes definitely

Yes, I know. This one is better than Dracula itself. A Dowry of Blood is a lushful story... Lyrical written and absolutely beautiful. I love sapphic theme in this story and definitely give me gothic romantic Vibes from the book.

The only thing, I don't love about this book is the cover. I prefer the other version than this one.

A haunting and lyrical tale spanning centuries A Dowry of Blood is the LGBTQ reimagining of the Brides of Dracula written in the form of an open letter by his first bride, Constanta.

Uniquely Sapphic and decadent, Gibson immerses the reader following the "rebirth" of Constanta and the complex balance between love and devotion towards the man who saved her from certain death.

The prose is raw and heartbreakingly personal, exploring themes of love and love masquerading as abuse along with the trauma of emotional manipulation - themes I feel are very relevant today.

I was utterly enthralled by Constanta's letter. The author has created a truly visceral, romantic and yet horrific depiction of the experiences of an abusive relationship which I feel make it a most memorable and remarkable piece of work.

I highly recommend this book but do encourage that you explore the trigger warnings as explained by the author due to the topic that it covers.

I’ve been waiting for this book since forever?? And I loved it! It met all of my high expectations and I just don’t have anything negative to point out.
Recommend!!!

I was hoping for big things from this, as I am a huge fan of Dracula and horror. Unfortunately it didn't live up to my expectations, the writing and the plot felt more like a young adult novel than a classic horror tale, it's really a romance (something I'm not a fan of), felt like it was for the BookTok market. I hate writing bad reviews but sadly this really didn't work for me.

Beautifully written story of love and horror with a unique take on familiar characters and settings. All I knew going into this one was that it is a story about vampires, a Dracula retelling.

It spans over centuries and explores love in all its aspects: passion, jealousy and devotion. The characters are interesting and complex, morally grey to the point you will hate to love them at the end.

My favourite part of this story, however, was the writing. The author did a fantastic job at capturing all of the complicated emotions as well as the horror elements. I would definitely pick up some of their other works.

Thank you to Orbit and NetGalley for sending me a digital arc of this book to read and review.

I utterly adored this book and could not put it down.

A Dowry Of Blood is a blood soaked, queer polyamorous reimagining of Dracula’s Brides, told from the perspective of one of his brides Constanta.

Constanta is a medieval peasant, saved from the brink of death by the strange and mysterious Dracula and whisked away to become his bride and lead an undying life of aristocratic luxury.

This novel spans centuries, narrated from Constanta’s perspective and written as an open letter to her husband and sire.

When her husband adds an aristocrat and a young Russian artist to their household and marriage bed, Constanta starts to notice a much darker side to her husband.


This book explores heavy themes and subject matters. I would recommend researching the trigger warnings.

This novella was so beautifully written and atmospheric. It’s a perfect Autumnal spooky season read.

I am keen to read more of S.T Gibson’s work.

Deeply seductive and lush. This was a piece of rich, lyrical prose at its purest and most passionate, full of metaphor and turns of phrase that very literally made me shiver.

4.0/5

This was such a beautiful and unique book, and I absolutely adored it. It might be a new favourite, simply for the lyrical, loving way it's written.

A Dowry of Blood is a retelling of Dracula's brides, and is written in its entirety by his first wife, Constanta, in the form of a letter to you, as Dracula (though she will not give him credit by naming him/ you as such).

This book was a love letter, an apology, a damning confession, and it was just wonderful.

I've never read a book in second person before, and I really liked it. It drew me right in, and between that and the purely poetic way in which Constanta addresses us, the reader, I really FELT her words.

Constanta tells us her life, from her making, to his unmaking, and all the ups and downs in between. An explanation of why things became what they did.

“Love makes monsters of us , Constanta, and not everyone is cut out for monstrosity."

It was just, wonderful. Truly. I'll definitely be looking for more by S. T. Gibson in the future!

Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group UK for sending me an ARC of this book!

A Dowry of Blood is a love letter from a wife to her husband. The form of this book is unique, it is dark and full of blood and lust. The main character is Constanta but it is not her real name. Her husband took it from her and for revenge, she took his name from us.
This book is so special, its form is fresh and extraordinary but limiting at one time. Because it is a letter to him, there is not much description and everything is about Constanta's feelings. Time flies so fast, we do not know many things and I missed them.
This book is bold but could be so much bolder if we could fall in love with her husband if we did not know whether he loves her or not. The beginning was too hasty. I would love to know more about vampires. How works their desire, because when Constanta becomes a vampire, it feels too rushed.
I read this book in one day, it is gripping and fascinating, but sometimes I felt that the goal of this book was to shock. Spicy scenes were twisted and monstrous. It is not a book for children, not even young adults. It is clearly 18+ and I believe that fans of J. R. Ward will love it.
I am fancy of this form of storytelling, it is so refreshing, but it could be done better. I missed worldbuilding, I missed showing and not telling. And I wanted to doubt what is evil and what is good. I needed to feel torn about that ending. I was not. That is the reason why I give it 3*.

Thank you Little, Brown Book Group UK for eARC!

This short book gave me the most intense roller coaster of emotions my literary life has ever known and I didn't expect to love it as much as I do.

It dives right in, with our narrator Constanta sharing the scene of her lord/lover/sire's death. In short paragraphs, we can already see the conflict she had toward her relationship, moving between almost sorrowful writing about the scene of his death, remarking on his love for her and the others in the family and aims to justify their actions "to you. To my own haunted conscience."

Written almost like a diary or a conversation between Constanta and her captor/lord/lover/sire, we start at her turning. Straightaway she is devoted to someone who she says 'never saw me as a whole woman'. She keeps her humanity by selecting victims that, for lack of a better word, deserve it. Given she was born in a battlefield, this is perfectly fitting and I'll admit I loved her vigilante vampire justice.

When Magdalena comes into the picture, and in particular the bed, I'll admit the scene made me quite sad for Constanta. The emotional conflict of wanting and seeing her lover in bed with Magdalena was an emotional scene. The writing of it alone, you can feel the cast aside feelings Constanta held in the room. It does turn out well, with a love and sisterhood blossoming between the two, but it'd he hard to say 'all's well that ends well'.

With the addition of Magdalena we see a number of changes. I quite enjoyed the depiction of depression and recovery Magdalena brought as the decades and centuries went on. There's a comfort in vampire's also finding things endlessly tedious since many of us have probably thought it'd be great to live forever.

Because one addition to a marriage bed isn't enough, we also get Alexi. Constanta, Magdalena and Alexi make together a fantastic trio of all the best and most lively personalities. The three form a beautiful relationship of family, lovers, confidants, friends and all the best of positive relationships. This is especially important as the three have to navigate a growing anger in their sire and lover. Ultimately, their bonds are what allow them to free themselves from the eternity of captivity at his hands and it feels weird to cheer on a murder scene, especially one like this, but you really can't help feel proud and relief for them.

If you're looking for a roller coaster of emotions packed into a story reimagining of Dracula's Brides with LGBTQIA+ representation, poly romances and can cope with a wealth of trigger warnings throughout, I cannot recommend this enough.

A Dowry of Blood is the story of Dracula's brides told by Constanta, his first wife. A short story, it charts her life with him, beginning with her death and ending with his.

I wasn't totally sold on the writing style, and the book felt a bit too quick for me. Other than that though, I enjoyed it!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

A Dowry of Blood had been on my radar for a while and I was so thrilled to finally read it. It is so incredibly written that I could not help but read it all in one go. It's not too long either, which makes it the perfect read to finish in a day or two. S.T. Gibson's writing is chilling and heartachingly atmospheric. The writing style used in this book is quite different from what you'd usually see in a fantasy and that is what makes it truly incredible. The fact that this book had poly vampires?? I was completely sold.

It's a really stunning book and I am definitely getting myself a physical copy of it.

🍷A Dowry of Blood🍷

By S. T. Gibson

Description:

This is my last love letter to you, though some would call it a confession. . .

A deliciously dark retelling of Dracula, A Dowry of Blood is a saga of obsession, desire and the lengths to which we'll go to protect the ones we love.

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.

🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷

I generally love vampire stories (although notably, not Dracula itself) so I was looking forward to this one.

Sadly it just wasn’t for me. I’m often not keen on first person narration so that could have something to do with it, but basically I just couldn’t connect with the story at all. It took me weeks to get even a third of the way through. I nearly DNF’d but decided to push through and managed to finish it. There are elements here that I liked. Other reviews have described it as dark, atmospheric, seductive and lush and I definitely agree with all those aspects.

The story was just too slow for me, and possibly the fact that the ending was a foregone conclusion (we’re told on page one what will happen) meant that I was just anticipating that moment and struggled with the getting there.

I really wanted to love this one but it just wasn’t for me. What’s a highly anticipated book that just didn’t do it for you?

Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy, A Dowry of Blood will be released on the 6th of October.

5*’s. Beautiful writing, exquisite character work. A deeply personal and beautifully lyrical exploration of abusive relationships and healing ones. One of my favourite books of the year I am obsessed.

Oh my god this book!!!!! I read this in one sitting and I am completely obsessed. The storyline was perfect, the romance was amazing, I am so glad I had the opportunity to read this.

A dowry of blood is a reimagining of Dracula’s brides.

Saved by the brink of death, Constanta owes her husband her life. However, as time goes on she realises all is not what it seems. She must choose whether to leave or perish in the heart of a monster.

I recommend this beautiful book to everyone! Go read it now!

The plot is a story about vampires, a baroque retelling of the brides of a never clearly named Dracula.
The content is the narrative of an abusive relationship, and the author's great intuition is to use the most parasitic of fictional characters to create a disturbing allegory that has nothing sensual: the control-obsessed narcissist who chooses as victims of fragile people, he conquers them, alienates them, makes them dependent and exhausts them, sucking them off and making their lives worse.
At least for once, however, the executioner has the end he deserves: not even a name to remember him, while his victims take back their lives.

I literally loved it in every single word, it is a truly phenomenal and well written book, plus I love this new graphic design brought by Orbit!

Thanks to Netgalley and Orbit for letting me read this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Bram Stoker's Dracula is one of few classic I've ever read. Normally horror isn't my first choice but A Dowry of Blood premises really peak my interest. The main ideas about twisted love stories about a Master Vampire and three of his brides/coven is intriguing. Their story unravel beautifully with a romantic long letter style. All of events wrapped with beautiful poetic lyricals narration make this one a great gothic read too. The plot it self is simple dramatic and lush with all potential promises for next installment.

Actually some Vampire's facts is fresh made but some of it didn't give much additional to the lore we already knew. Every twists and turns still give me alot emotional rollercoaster. I personally love how author wrapped polyamorous relationship with perfect romantic scenes. She capable to wrapped alot of sensual tension and steamy hot scenes with gothic vibes without use too much explicit words.

I am truly enjoyed my time when reading this book, and would gladly recommend to friends who love this genre. Perfect read and gift for fans classic gothic horror Interview With The Vampire (Annie Rice).

Thank you Netgalley and Orbit Little Brown Book group UK for letting me receive a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. A Dowry of Blood will be publish 6 October 2022.

A Dowry of Blood is dedicated to people who’ve experienced toxic and abusive relationships. I’m not one of them so I can’t talk about this aspect of the book but I can talk about how beautifully written it is and how impactful it is. The first page brought me to tears maybe because I had already read it last year and I was just reminiscing on how much this book means to me. For those who don’t know I’ve written a 20 page long dissertation on queer representation in vampire stories and this book is why it came to be. (Yes it was kind of awkward when I ha to talk about the intense sex scenes with my professor but we move one).
If you want a story that solely focuses on vampirism it may not be the book for you but if you like a well written story about a vampire gaining their freedom back then this is the perfect book for you.
Just read it and thank me later.

I thought this reedition came with an epilogue but I guess I was wrong, it’s still perfect the way it is though.
This review will be posted 23/09/2022

genuinely one of the best horror novels I've read in a long time!! I was not expecting the story to be written in one go and not be divided into sectioned parts. I love how the story continued which reminded me of the fact that the dude had lovers before and how the lovers were repetitive to him. would highly recommend this to anyone who wants to dabble in horror <33