Book Review: A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson

A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson
Length: 248 Pages
Genres: Horror, Fantasy, Historical Fiction
Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Spoilers Ahead!

"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 debts being wiped clean. I say you do not have a name."

A special thanks to NetGalley and Nyx Publishing for providing me with a copy of this book!

Trigger Warnings in this book for Blood, Gore, and Mental and Physical Abuse

The very first time I saw Bram Stoker's Dracula (at much too young an age, might I add) I've been fascinated with his brides. Played in the film by the beautiful Monica Bellucci, Florina Kendrick and Michaela Bercu, they cut seductive, yet somber figures. Powerful, yet squashed beneath Dracula's thumb, reduced to living off the meager scraps he brings home (Live babies anyone?). 

In S.T. Gibson's A Dowry of Blood, we get answers to all the burning questions we've always had. What were their lives like before? Did they consent to become creatures of the night, or were they forced? And most importantly, what happens after his story ends?

Following his first bride Constanta, from her rebirth to his inevitable end, we learn just how sweet - and how cruel - he can be. He gives her the run of the house, excepting his laboratory where he researches their kind, but won't let her leave. Then he takes another bride, the willful and intelligent Magdalena. He lets her have just enough freedom to placate her - then snatches it all away. Constanta can't help herself and falls head over heels for Magdalena - her sister, her lover, her confidante. Eventually another bride is made, a beautiful and poor boy living through the October Revolution called Alexi, and he turns their world upside down. Constanta loves him, first as a son, later as much more. He challenges their master when the others are too scared, even brings human friends back to one of their many houses. As Dracula's anger and violence grows, Constanta decides something must be done. It's him, or them.

S.T. Gibson perfectly captured the eras, from old war-torn Romania to 1920s Paris, in her seductive and lyrical prose. I felt this was one of the most accurate depictions of Dracula outside of the original novel, and loved him and hated him as much as his brides did. Constanta was a breath of fresh air for female protagonists. Gibson let her be strong, but didn't demonize her for showing her naivete and weakness. She waited, even if it meant biting her tongue, for the perfect moment to save all their lives.

I couldn't recommend this more. It is one of the best vampire novels I've read in a very long time.