I'll admit—I think my sapphic hopes were a little bit too high with this one. I was thoroughly enjoying this book because it is marketed as sapphic Dracula's Brides (or Dracula's Wives), so you can imagine my confusion when the third and final addition to Dracula and the first two wives is none other than... a husband. *Blinks multiple times* Dracula's Brides have always been three women, so I was just thrown for a loop when Alexei showed up. Now don't get me wrong, I'm always down for bisexual/ pansexual representation within books, but I felt led astray on this one. It took me out of the reading experience, yet I know that's my fault because of my expectations. But also don't compare it to Dracula's Brides! Truthfully, I'm probably in the minority of people who actually care about this detail so do with this information whatever you want.

Besides that issue, I did have a really good time with this book. I loved that much like Dracula by Bram Stoker, Gibson uses letters as the writing style for this book. Constanza is writing letters to Dracula—what we assume because Constanza never mentions his actual name besides "Master"— after he has perished, and it was a great contrast to see both Constanza's feelings in the moment and the change to present day writing the letters. It gives readers the chance to understand not only Constanza better because of her stream of consciousness perspective but also her relationship to Dracula. She is looking back on their experiences and piecing the puzzle pieces together of his motivations and manipulations, and it is genius to sprinkle in her rage upon looking back at this moments.

Unlike Dracula's other partners, Constanza has the most character growth because she goes from fawning over Dracula to ultimately leading the plot to stake him. I found her to be the most compelling character within the book, which is largely due to the writing style, and I think for that alone people should pick up this book. It was interesting to also see the contrast between Constanza and Dracula when their relationship was merely the two of them. Constanza is brutally assaulted by men at the start of the book and specifically targets abusive men for meals as a vampire, yet Dracula condemns her constantly for her "emotional eating" as he terms it because Constanza cannot forget the reason for her vampire turning. Notably, the targeting of abusive men is Constanza's only main form of rebellion to Dracula throughout the entirety of their relationship, and it's sad for the reader to know that she herself is still being abused by a man—although an undead one.

A Dowry of Blood will definitely fall into my yearly reread pile for autumnal, spooky books. It's a quick, dynamic read and one of the few BookTok books that has pleasantly surprised me.

Thank you to Orbit Books for gifting me a finished copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.