The writing style and atmosphere are smooth and darkly delicious, as befits a vampire book. All actions are steeped in meaning; all emotions leave characters breathless and desperate. Constanza drags you down into her crimson velvet hell of a life as surely as she was dragged into it by her unnamed, fanged husband.  The book opens with Constanza promising to explain why she killed him, and why she refuses to name him, and though she takes time to get to that point, the rush of seeing her reach it will satisfy readers looking for stories of feminine empowerment. 

That said, I appreciated the nuance to her husband's character too, and was a little disappointed to see it drop off every time a new bride (or bridegroom) came onto the scene in need of pagetime. They were lovely, and I understand centering victims in what is unashamedly a domestic abuse metaphor, but they are also my biggest complaint with the book. I had to justify Constanza's immediate, deep love for every new member of their family as 'a vampire mind-trick' in order to excuse it. Would have preferred she actually be rivals, or even just disinterested, with one instead and let that love sneak up on her, or perhaps just leave them as allies to her so that she is not always sharing her husband's tastes.