S.T. Gibson's sensational novel is the darkly seductive tale of Dracula's first bride, Constanta. 
This is my last love letter to you, though some would call it a confession. . .
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.
"A dizzying nightmare of a romance that will leave you aching, angry and ultimately hopeful." --Hannah Whitten, New York Times bestselling author of For the Wolf

I devoured this in two days. I was absolutely captivated by S.T. Gibson’s writing and the voice of Constanta, Dracula’s first bride.

“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.”

– A Dowry of Blood, S.T. Gibson

A woman able to communicate with spirits must assemble a ragtag crew to pull off a daring heist to save her community in this timely and dazzling historical fantasy that weaves together African American folk magic, history, and romance.
"Never make a deal with shadows at night, especially ones that know your name.”
Washington D. C., 1925: Clara Johnson can talk to spirits—a gift that saved her during her darkest moments, now a curse that’s left her indebted to the cunning spirit world. So when a powerful spirit offers her an opportunity to gain her freedom, Clara seizes the chance, no questions asked. The task: steal a magical ring from the wealthiest woman in the District.
Clara can’t pull off this daring heist alone. She’ll need the help of an unlikely team, from a handsome jazz musician able to hypnotize with a melody to an aging actor who can change his face, to pull off the impossible. But as they race along DC’s legendary Black Broadway, conflict in the spirit world begins to leak into the human one—an insidious mystery is unfolding, one that could cost Clara her life and change the fate of an entire city.
Praise for The Monsters We Defy:
"Full of mesmerizing magic, The Monsters We Defy weaves together threads of real history with bits of the utterly fantastic." ―P. Djèli Clark, author of A Master of Djinn
"Masterfully crafted, with gorgeous prose, colourful characters, and a compelling plot. This smart and entertaining, magical heist novel hits all the right notes!" ―T.L. Huchu, author of The Library of the Dead
"Leslye Penelope blends magic, mystery, and mayhem in this deliciously complex historical fantasy.” —Veronica Henry, author of Bacchanal 

I love it when books have a mix of genres. The Monsters We Defy is such a great mix of historical fiction and fantasy. Set in the 1920s in Washington DC, some characters and events in the book were actually inspired by real life. I’m not at all familiar with what happened in DC around this time, and while a fictional book isn’t the best source, learning about it was still really cool!

A sweeping tale of clashing cultures, warring gods, and forbidden love: In 1000 AD, a young Inuit shaman and a Viking warrior become unwilling allies as war breaks out between their peoples and their gods-one that will determine the fate of them all.

"There is a very old story, rarely told, of a wolf that runs into the ocean and becomes a whale."

Born with the soul of a hunter and the spirit of the Wolf, Omat is destined to follow in her grandfather's footsteps-invoking the spirits of the land, sea, and sky to protect her people.

But the gods have stopped listening and Omat's family is starving. Alone at the edge of the world, hope is all they have left.

Desperate to save them, Omat journeys across the icy wastes, fighting for survival with every step. When she meets a Viking warrior and his strange new gods, they set in motion a conflict that could shatter her world...or save it.

I received a free copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.

Imagine the earth in 1000 AD and what it must have been like when the Inuit first encounter the Vikings. Two clashing cultures with different gods fighting to survive in the hostile environment of the frozen tundra.

Above all else, Jordanna Max Brodsky is a master storyteller. I was immediately transported to this time and place in history within the first pages of her book and the amount of research she’s done to honour the Inuit past is eminent. Brodsky weaved an atmospheric tale with magic, culture, heart, and grit and I’m in awe of it. Her worldbuilding was incredible and I felt, heard, and saw life and death in the arctic.

There are few sounds at night on the frozen sea besides the roar of the wind. No plants to rustle, no waves to crash upon the shore, no birds to caw. The white owl flies on hushed wings. The white fox walks with silent tread. Even Inuit move as softly as spirits, the snow too hard to yield and crunch beneath our boots. We hear little, but what we do hear is vital: the exploding breath of a surfacing seal, the shift and crack of drifting ice. But in the forest there is always sound. The trees, even in their shrouds of snow, are alive, and their voices—groans, creaks, screams—never cease.

This story begins with Omat, a young angakkuq (shaman) born with the spirit of her father. Omat is raised as a man to follow her grandfather’s footsteps in working with the spirits of the land, sea, and sky to guide and protect her people. As an Inuk with a man’s soul and a woman’s body, Omat deals with her own struggles of gender, sexuality, and identity. She’s neither fully man or fully woman and must learn to navigate her world as the ‘third gender’ of the Inuit. I absolutely loved reading about this part of Omat’s journey and see her not only deal with her own doubts/questions, but also fight through traditional male and female roles among her family and strangers unaware of her peoples’ customs.

I am no longer scared of being a woman — it doesn’t make me any less a man. I am both. I am neither. I am only myself.

When Omat meets Brandr, a Viking warrior, chaos breaks out. With him comes a group of Vikings eager to conquer and battle for glory. While Brandr comes from a society that finds joy in war and destruction, he wants to get away from it. As fate would have it, Omat and Brandr must work together despite their differences and I enjoyed seeing the changes each of their characters brought to the other.

All of us had been loosely stitched together from mismatched parts. An Inuk with a man’s spirit and a woman’s body. Three animals caught between dog and wolf. A stranger with a giant’s frame and a man’s heart. Yet somehow, we were becoming a seamless whole.

One of my favourite things about this book was how rich it was in Inuit and Norse mythology. There were Inuit spirits like Malina (Sun), Taqqiq (Moon), Singarti (Wolf), and Uqsuralik (Bear) and there were Norse gods like Odin, Thor, and Loki. I never thought I’d see all of them in one story and it did not disappoint!

The Wolf in the Whale is a beautiful yet melancholic book. Its magic comes with events that are painful to read and hard to swallow. There is rape, physical violence (human, animal), death and gore. But with it also comes hope, family, and friendship. It’s not a story to be rushed (it personally took me a while to read), but the journey is worth it. The Wolf in the Whale is one of the best standalone fantasy novels I’ve read in some time. Steeped in mythology, history, and heart, it’s bound to captivate many readers to come.