I ABSOLUTELY ATE THIS UP. The way this is exactly what I love: dark and lyrical... and I'm surprised that I loved it... (do know what you’re getting into before you pick this up though, content warnings at the end as usual)

This review is a mess but this book grinded up my brain cells

“You could have kissed me or slit my throat and either would have made as much sense.” 

This book is for you if a dark and lyrical, queer retelling of dracula’s brides but the brides are f/f/m and they fall in love with each other sounds interesting to you.

“Through her eyes, I was able to experience the story for the first time all over again.”

THE WRITING. The fact that the name "Dracula" wasn't actually mentioned the whole book was really interesting from a reader's perspective and given that it's told from second POV just made the narrative that much easier to drown myself in. It really sold the vampiric passage of time on me, a little change here and there but not really enough for it to make a big difference. Given the plot and it’s a little more about the “romance”, I love that it focused more on the agelessness of vampires rather than other supernatural abilities.

I love dark stories that pack emotion, nuance, and still sends the right hopeful message while still being whimisical. So if you are like me, and 'light' horror is your thing, you really will enjoy this. That saying that “the best villains are the ones you secret love” was depicted so well with the story while still maintaining the idea that… well, it’s gaslighting and manipulation. I got so sucked into the narrative that I really felt all the emotions and contradictions that you would expect to feel from a story about dracula’s “wives”.

“I want to live. But I want to live in the world, not on the outskirts of it.”

I do kind of feel like it was cut short but if i look at it through the lens of horror, it’s a common trend in the horror I’ve read. When I say horror, it's not jumpscare horror in case that's what you were wondering. It's just a little more on the extreme of dark, which is exactly my kind of horror. I still do wish we got more of the trio living their lives together because it would have pushed this to be a new fave. In short, I needed more Alexi.

If I were you, I would go into this more for the the lyrical writing than a grand plot in case that’s something you’re expecting. It’s more focused on character relationships and dynamics, which isn’t a problem for me but it might affect you.

“The people only call me cruel because it’s easier to think of a woman as cruel than competent.”

↣ If you’re a sucker for dark and savory words, that promise a lifetime of sweetness that feels too good to be true… please read this. The longer I am apart from this book, the more I feel embroidering a blanket from S.T. Gibson's words. ↢

— 4.0—
⇢ content warnings// Depictions of: 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, Sexual assault (not directed at any named character), Drug use, Drowning, Child abuse (off-page), Death


⤜ pre-read review ⤛

queer reimagining of dracula's brides ft. polyamorous relationship/s... yes, thank you.