4.5 Stars
A Dowry of Blood is a decadently lush, gothic reimagining of Dracula, from the perspective of Constanta-the first (and oldest) of the infamous Vampire Brides.

Saved from the brink of death by a mysterious stranger, Constanta is transformed from medieval peasant into a bride for an undead king. But when Dracula draws a cunning aristocrat and starving artist into his web of deceit, Constanta realises that her beloved is capable of terrible things.

Finding comfort in the arms of her rival consorts, she begins to unravel their husbands’ dark secrets. But with the lives of everyone she loves on the line, Constanta with have to make a decision—to choose between her own freedom or her love for her husband. But bonds forged by blood can only be broken by death….

This was an absolutely Intoxicating story that I loved so much I literally finished in a single evening!

I loved that, true to the original source material (which is told through diary entries, newspaper clippings and letters) Constanta’s complex, blood soaked story unfolds in the form of a letter, addressed to Constanta’s unnamed vampire husband. Part love letter and part confession, Constanta chronicles her long life and relationship from the moment of her vampiric rebirth to the murder of her tempestuous husband, and what a mesmerisingly rich and atmospheric tale it is!

Although, steeped in dark and horror-esque imagery, Constanta’s story revolves around the abusive relationship she and the other brides endure. S.T. Gibson’s Dracula is a manipulative, patronising and possessive creature and, unlike the sexy brooding Hollywood version his monstrous actions are rooted in realism. Constanta (like many abuse victims) struggles with her complex feelings towards her husband, the creature she has equated almost god like status in their life and his vicious and hurtful actions that govern the claustrophobic life she must endure.

I did love how Constanta refuses to give him a name throughout the entire novel—he took her true name from her when he made her a bride, so she similarly robs him of his name. A fitting punishment for a creature governed by his immortality.

I genuinely liked Constanta and loved her relationship with the other brides, and it’s her love for them—and her affection for Alexi in particular that motivates her enough to break free, something she would never have done for herself.

There is also TWs for abuse (domestic, physical and emotional) and abusive relationships in general as well as: blood, gore, death, sexual content including sexual violence, gaslighting, confinement and mental illness—this is not an exhaustive list so I do recommend doing some research before reading.

Overall, this hauntingly rich, seductive and devastating tale of desire, obsession, abuse and emancipation is an absolute must read for vampire fiction lovers and fans of Anne Rice or Bram Stoker.

A massive thank you to Orbit and Netgalley for the e-arc.

Wow! I am at a loss for words… Incredible… Kept me on the edge of my seat… It broke my heart…I could not look away from the pages for a second. I was completely engrossed in the story from start to finish…

A Dowry of Blood
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
S.T. Gibson
⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book is written in the style of letters from the bride/brides of Dracula which was different to most books but it was confusing at times. The characters are well developed and I was supporting Constanta from the beginning but I wasn't keen on Alexei.

The atmosphere/setting was very gothic and dark with themes of violence, war, abusive relationships (mental and physical) and murder as well as other TWs. I'd like to see more world building throughout the book.

The plot itself was interesting and made me curious but I found the pacing wasn't always consistent, in some parts it was fine but in others it was really slow.

For me this was just an 'ok' read. It is interesting but I don't think I'd read and sequels.

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 deathThis 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

*Thank you to @netgalley and the publishers Littlebrownbookgroup for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review*

I feel in love with a dowry of blood. It is poetry the whole way from start to finish and I couldn’t stop thinking about it; still can’t. I read this in two days - whilst looking after my 4 month. The plot and writing had me gripped from the first page and I can’t wait to see what S T Gibson does with book 2!

A kind thank you to the publisher for the e-RC.

I came across this book by accident, and I'm so thankful for it. Then, I started reading it, and it completely took me by surprise. A Dowry of Blood is like nothing I've read before.

First, it's written almost in an epistolary kind of way, with the male main character being referred to as "you". I've never encountered this before, and I was intrigued right away.

Secondly and most importantly, the writing itself. The prose is gorgeous and evocative without ever getting dense. It's easy to read yet it evokes meaning and emotional resonance. Beautiful in its simplicity and immediacy. It's like the author's words strike right at the reader's heart, as if the author is talking straight to us. I fell in love with this storytelling. I had a very long and very tiring week, but I read this book within days. I used to read a little every night, but with this book, I flew over the pages like I was starved and didn't know it. I was utterly engrossed, and I loved that reading more pages every night didn't make me feel more tired. Instead, I felt refreshed.

This is a story about a man capturing others' hearts--and lives. An extremely controlling man who also happens to be a vampire. Constanta is our main character, and we follow her journey from being rescued to being controlled, and all the way to her emancipation. We also met Magdalena and Alexi, who joined Constanta in her journey. Each character was unique, and everyone was intriguing on their own way.

Overall, this book was a surprise that I'll never forget. The writing was stunning and enthralling, inspiring awe. So fresh and unique and powerful and emotionally reverberating. I will seek out more books by this author. Their writing is magic, and dare I say, a league of its own. I really liked this book, and it resonated with me. Highly recommend!!!

beautifully written, both horrific and romantic. it's such an interesting exploration of abusive relationships through the lens of queer vampires. love to see it.

I got a free copy from Netgalley for an honest review, all opinions are my own.

This book is gothic, dark and it pulls you in right from the start. There is this moody tone throughout the whole book. Like dark, gothic moody, not bad moody, if you understand what I mean. The writing is so well done and sort of lyrical in a way.
It's written like a letter, and it was confusing at times because Constanta solely refers to the main male character as You.

This book is a blueprint of an abusive relationship and it pained me to read this, my heart hurt for Constanta!

But it was so beautifully written, and I would definitely read this again, even though my heart hurts.

*Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for an Earc in exchange for an honest review.*


Writing: 5
Plot: 5
Characters: 5
Setting: 5
Overall: 5

A vivid, blood soaked re-imagining of the brides of Dracula tales us all over both the centuries and Europe. From Medieval Romania to communist Russia, the brides of Dracula roam, each dying to leave their immortal husband.
At once a love letter, confession and outburst of concealed trauma, A Dowry of Blood as become one of my favourite books.

𝘚𝘰 𝘸𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴, 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘰𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘤𝘺


The writing was absolutely stunning. I could feel Constanta's voice echoing through the pages, horrific at times but always beautifully written and wickedly smart.

I'm absolutely in love with each and every character ST Gibson has created. They each have purpose, depth and I think the way such a difficult topic, as ADOB does heavily recognise domestic abuse, was presented in different ways to each bride.

There's steadfast Constanta, the war bride, the first bride. She genuinely loved him, at the start, but gradually becomes more and more disillusioned.

Next is Magdalena, the beautifully intelligent bride. She wanted the world, and was lied to and manipulated by him into marriage.

Finally we have Alexei. I didn't like him at all, so I'm not going to much into detail. I liked him in the context of the storyline and plot but as an individual character he lacked the vivacity of the other two main charactes.

A Dowry of Blood is written as though Constanta is unleashing her true anger at her husband. To regain the power she lost to him, he's never mentioned by name. I thought the short chapters and letter layout worked beautifully.
I will say, though that although I loved the beginning and middle, by the third section the action and general pace slowed down. This picked up again at the end, but was followed with a rather unsatisfying conclusion that I just couldn't really believed had happened and honestly just felt annoying, however I do know that the author is writing a companion novel so I think this will be resolved!

𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵. 𝘚𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘯

A Dowry of Blood has swiftly become one of my favourite books, and I can't wait to see what St. Gibson will write next.

REP: None of the characters specify their sexuality, but most if not all can be viewed as bisexual. There's a poly relationship, comprising of two men and two women.

I would say this is a NA (new adult) book, suitable for readers age 16+. It's dark, gory, but ultimately it's a book about throwing off your abusers and growing into yourself.


TWS: Emotional, verbal, and physical intimate partner abuse, Emotional, verbal, and physical intimate partner abuse, gaslighting, war, famine, and plague,blood and gore, consensual sexual content, sadomasochism, self harm, body horror, violence and murder, alcohol use, depression and mania


THIS REVIEW WILL BE PUBLISHED ON GOODREADS ON 23rd OCTOBER 2022

This was such a dark and intriguing story! It was definitely different than other vampire novels I have read! I love the way the author writes and her beautiful Gothic prose! I can’t wait to read more from the author!

"I had never been inclined to violence before. But then again, I had never borne witness to acts so vile they demanded retribution. I had never experienced the kind of agony that leaves the mind coiled and poised to lash out at the first opportunity."

Constanta lost both her true name and her human status when she was saved from death's doorway by a mysterious stranger. Wealth, luxury, and the twilight hours became her new existence, as did hunting for blood to feed her inexhaustible hunger and lounging in the arms of her new lover after her own personal form of justice was enacted with these kills.

Such exquisite prose existed on every single page of this novel, which heightened both emotion and atmosphere, leading me to become nothing but enamoured with everything about this story only pages after beginning it. Nothing but true beauty and true horror existed here and the close proximation of the two crafted a contrasting juxtaposition that delighted the senses.

I didn’t think I’d like it as much as I did but it is now one of my top 3 favourite gothic romances 😩

I loved it and will definitely read it again.

I liked that it was a novella I feel like if it was any longer I would have been bored.

Trigger warnings: Abusive relationship, Blood/Gore, Cheating, Death, Murder, Physical or mental abuse, Violence

This book had me mesmerised from the start! , the writing is hauntingly beautiful, lush and so descriptive.
I found the point of view very interesting, almost a sprawling lamenting love letter unfolding, never knowing what would happen next.
The secondary characters had their own unique personalities and you couldn’t help but love them despite all of their individual flaws.
Constanta was a conscientious main character, kind despite her nature and very conflicted, whilst she idolised her maker she also struggled with her remaining mortality.
This book was thoroughly enjoyable.

This is now without a doubt one of my all time favourite books. Beautiful writing, lovable characters (mostly) and intriguing plot. 6/5 stars!

Thanks Netgalley for this book

I actually read this in one sitting. I love the way it was written.
Only want to point out the character is clearly Bi-sexual/polyamorous not lesbian as tagged on goodreads

TW for domestic abuse, mental abuse. It’s hard to gush about a book that contains these but it really was written well.

I started reading this on a weekday, and it was just hard to put down. Utterly engaging, and impossible to put down.

I marveled at the authors use of words to pain a picture of domestic horror, at the religious symbolism contained in the words and how gorgeously the protagonist was shown to shift her needs from survival to hatred of her existence, and a need for freedom, along with wanting to protect those she felt fiercely about.

An absolute recommendation from me.

Many thanks to Little, Brown Book Group UK and S.T. Gibson for the advanced copy of A Dowry of Blood via NetGalley, in return for my honest and unbiased review.

This inventive re-telling of the Dracula tale was engaging and dark. Told from the point of view of one of Dracula’s polyamorous wives, the entire book is written in the form of a letter from Constanta to her husband.
Whilst seductive and romantic, with rich Gothic undertones, there are true emotions that run deep underneath the storyline. When you have hundreds of years with someone, with multiple someones, what would you do?

Moods: challenging, dark, emotional, mysterious
Pace: medium
Character development: weak-medium
Plot or character driven: plot
Diversity: medium-high (polyamorous, hetero- & homo-sexual relationships)
Trigger warnings: Abusive relationship, Blood/Gore, Cheating, Death, Murder, Physical or mental abuse, Violence

Overall rating: 5/5

I'm always here for female focused re-imaginings of classic male driven stories, but especially when they're gloomy and gothic sapphic re-imaginings. The writing is aesthetically beautiful, and in an interesting style of being written in the form of a letter. It's a novella, so quite a short read, but definitely would recommend to curl up with in the upcoming spooky season.

(Many thanks to Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for the ARC.)

This book is still an absolute masterwork of art.

Written as a final goodbye letter to the abusive husband of the protagonist, whom she eventually murders, A Dowry of Blood is a polyamorous reimagining of the brides of Dracula, with themes such as abuse.

It follows Constanta from becoming a vampire and the first of Dracula’s brides, till the very end where she and the other brides kill him. Though we already know this from how the letter addresses him at first, the story still keeps its readers in a firm grip, as we watch as the vampire lord / husband slowly becomes more and more absurd to the brides, right until we reach a breaking point. I find the choice to leave him nameless and the reasoning behind this, ultimately stripping the vampire lord of his agency, as he did to her and the other brides, incredibly powerful and something that made me know this book would be a five star read from the beginning. Throughout the book he’s simply referred to as ‘you’ or ‘my lord’.

The brides were probably my favorite thing in this book. I loved how the polyamorous relationship wasn’t reduced to just a sexual thing, which polyamory often is in fiction. Though there were certainly sexual scenes, they were still fully fleshed out and had unique relationships with eachother (and with their husband). While it’s impossible to love the relationship between him and the brides, I do however still appreciate the complexity of it, and how the story showed each of the brides trying to survive in this abusive environment differently. The story was incredibly successful in depicting abusive relationships and how they usually don’t start out that way, but the abuser rather goes about it gradually, whilst also ensnaring their victims so they won’t leave them. I also really loved how the relationship between Constanta and Magdalena and Alexei (the other two brides) was a positive relationship. While the brides do split up at the end of the story, the author has also written an epilogue / short story, where they all meet up again after a while of their relationship having been long distance and it’s definitely a very healthy and also deeply romantic relationship.

Definitely one of my all time favorite books. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc of the republished copy. (This review will also be up on my Instagram (Kratist0) soon)

I loved this book. The writing was beautiful. I found myself fully captivated and I just couldn't put it down. A very emotional read showing both abusive and traumatic relationships but also healing ones.

This very easily could have been just another vampire story but the authors way with words turned it into so much more. I can definitely understand the hype that has surrounded this book.

5 ⭐️ Read!

I honestly didn’t expect to love this book as much as I did because how many retelling did Dracula can one read without them all blending into one?? But A Dowry of Blood blew away any misgivings I had and had me up till the early hours of the morning!.

I love the MC & the way it’s written from her POV… as a reader you get an intimate understanding of her world through her eyes & thoughts. The prose & rich descriptions paint a really vivid picture that’s beautiful yet brutal.

There is some spice in this book so it’s definitely an ADULT read but I also loved the LGBTQ+ representation which was done in an excellent way.

Loved this book so much, I’ve preordered a hardback copy & can’t wait till it’s released 😍

Thank you for the arc Little Brown Group & NetGalley 💜