I'm afraid I didn't like this book.
The first thing that bothered me was the way it was translated to english except for the names. I read along with the audio and it gave me the ick the whole time I was reading it. But I didn't want it to deter me from the story itself. So I pushed through. You either translate or you don't, but don't do it halfassed. But it might just be a petpieve I have. As I saw a lot of raving reviews.

Sorry I'm late with my review, as it came out months ago. For some reason I kept putting this book off and couldn't pinpoint why. And now I know. I just didn't like it.

Let's just start with the fact that this book might just not have been for me. I don't mind gore, but I haven't really read a lot of horror so far.
We follow these 2 sisters Lucy and Sarah. Or Saartje.. please the translation?
I felt it was gruesome just to be gruesome and I felt desensitised by the end of this book. I hated both sisters and the choices they made. And then the gory eyeball details. And what was the monster exactly? Was it a tick or not? We didn't get more than that I think.
And the husband hurt the dog. Sorry just no.

Thank you to #netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press to give me the opportunity to read this book in return for my honest review. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Blood on Her Tongue is a gothic tale set in the late 1800s in the Netherlands about twin sisters Lucy and Sarah and the dark monsters that are hidden in this world and take advantage of the weak and vulnerable. The setting and atmosphere of a large manor surrounded by a bog in combination with the unraveling from madness was classic for this genre. The sisterly bond and Lucy's fierce need to protect her unwell sister from the negativity of masculinity add another layer. At times, it is bloody and visceral. My primary issue with this read was the pace, especially towards the latter half of the book. Regardless, it is a good one to pick up for spooky season.

A gorgeous yet eerie vibe that turned out to be nothing like I expected, yet I loved it all the same. Everyone is a little wacky and I loved that. Thank you netgalley for the e arc!

This book was WOW!! Very well written! I couldn't put it down! I loved it! Finished it in one sitting which i dont often do anymore.

Thank you!

⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3/5)
This book was creepy, atmospheric, and super weird—in a good way at first. I loved the gothic vibes, the eerie bog setting, and the dark sisterhood theme. The body horror is graphic (seriously, lots of gore and eyeball stuff 😬), which I actually thought worked well for the story. Definitely not for the faint of heart, but it gave the book its edge.
Where it lost me was toward the end. The last third felt rushed and kind of messy, like all the buildup didn’t really pay off. Lucy as a main character also frustrated me—she was so passive, always enabling, and I wanted more growth from her. By the time it wrapped up, I felt like the atmosphere had outshone the actual story.
Overall, I’m glad I read it—the setting and vibes were amazing, and the idea was really cool—but the execution just didn’t fully land. A solid read, but not a favorite.

It’s clear the author cared deeply about the story they wanted to tell. The characters are well written and flushed out in a way that makes the story feel more alive. While not my usual cup of tea I found my self pleasantly surprised by the amount of depth put into the story.

well this was a truly nasty book - the gore was so well written I was cringing in my seat

Fabulous, no notes.

Victorian gothic story YES! I absolutely loved this book the flow of the writing was great had you guessing and wanting to know more with every page. Very eerie dark and mysterious. Don't give it a second thought if this is your jam then this book is for you! it was very disturbing and has a lot of shock factor.

Thank you publishers and Net Galley for this gem!

This book has been unsettling; it got under my skin and left me anxious. I’m repulsed and enthralled at the same time. I’m on page 226, I know that it can’t have a happy ending (which is my usual wheelhouse), but I still want to know what happens next. Will Lucy be alive? Will the tick consume everyone? While the gore does put me off, I just can’t resist picking it up again. It also presents interesting questions, not Sarah has all of Sarah's memories and thoughts, but does this mean that a part of Sarah lives on in this creature that is inside of Sarah's body? I know that Sarah is dead, but as a person who has suffered the death of loved ones, I can see the temptation to just take this pretender as the sister that I don’t want to lose.

I have now finished the book. I was wrong, it did have a *happy* ending. At least it was an ending that I was pleased with. I have been surprised, and I truly enjoyed the book even if it repulsed me at times, and I believe that I will reread it in the future. It has a clear exploration of different topics like sisterhood, otherness, patriarchy, sapphic love and the views of women's madness and hysteria. I want to do a second reading to annotate and better look at the exploration of those topics.

Thank you, Poisoned Pen Press for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

In the Netherlands, 1887, twin sisters Lucy and Sarah share a perilous bond. Sarah falls gravely ill after obsessing over a centuries-old corpse discovered in the black-water bog of her husband’s estate. Diagnosed with temporary “fever-induced” insanity, she grows volatile and her hunger grows. To save her sister—and keep her from the horrors of a mental institution—Lucy returns home, only to uncover a darkness that may be supernatural rather than madness. As Sarah transforms before her eyes, Lucy must confront the monstrous truth possessing her twin—or risk losing her forever.
A vampire novel with a fresh slant, Blood on Her Tongue is at heart a book about sisters and the bond between them. A work of gothic horror, it also incorporates elements of historical fiction, including cultural and natural history of the Netherlands. Featuring prominently are bog bodies, human remains exceptionally well preserved by the conditions of peat bogs. They add to the damp, dark atmosphere of the Dutch setting, the desperate struggle with the stigma of mental illness, the restrictive environment for women in the 19th century, and the author’s lusciously evocative prose. Highly recommend for those who revel in the most gothic of gothic horror.

[Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for an opportunity to read an advanced reader copy and share my opinion of this book.]

So I DNF after a couple of pages, as the book just didn't grab me and lately I have not been in the mood for the type of book it seemed to be going to be. The writing style seemed good, and I do see people liking it. However, for now, I will not be continuing this book, maybe I will get back to it later when I am in the mood for these type of books again.

If you love historical gothic novels with a strong sisterly love, sapphic lovers, and bloody… oh, and vampires…. this is for you

Although I don’t read historical like ever… The I did enjoy this story and the audiobook was done really well.

I’ve been super into gothic horror recently and Blood on Her Tongue by Johanna Van Veen fits into this category perfectly! This book is perfectly dark and atmospheric and the characters (and their relationships) are complex and intriguing. Blood on Her Tongue doesn’t have a ton of gory scenes, but trust that the few that there are present are well-placed and GORY!

My only complaint about this book has to do with the pacing. I felt like the first 3/4 of the book was exceptionally well done. The pacing was slow, but I got to know the characters and their world pretty well. I felt like the last 1/4 of the book had too many things happening too quickly, so the pacing just didn’t match up for me.

Overall, I thought that Blood on Her Tongue was a very good example of gothic horror and I will definitely recommend it to other fans of the genre!

Blood on Her Tongue was a gripping and darkly atmospheric read that held my attention from start to finish. I really appreciated the way the story blended psychological tension with moments of raw, emotional depth, making the characters feel complex and real. Some parts felt a little slow to me, but the twists and eerie suspense more than made up for it. Overall, it was a compelling read that I found both haunting and satisfying.

Thank you netgalley for allowing me early access to this book. This book has helped solidify my love for books about sisters, and the gothic setting was chefs kiss.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this eARC. All opinions are my own.

This was an enjoyable reading experience.

It’s official. I’m going to eat up whatever Johanna van Veen spits out.

A delirious gothic romp through Victorian era life of twin sisters, upended by the discovery of a bog body on the dreary moors of Sarah’s husband’s estate. Lucy, the other twin is called not long after to attend to Sarah, whose health has plummeted. Horrified, Lucy rushes to her sister’s bedside but once she reaches the estate known as Black Water the horrors only worsen.

The shocks within just kept me turning those pages over and over, I could barely put it down. It’s one of those mad tales where after every mad thing you read you think surely it cannot get madder and then it does.

Whilst I loved the journey, the ending I wished had been left in the oven to bake a tad longer and been wrapped up a bit more neatly.

When Lucy hears that her twin sister Sarah is terribly ill, she rushes to her side. Sarah refuses to eat, lashes out violently against the staff, and has become obsessed with a centuries old body that was uncovered in the peat of the estate. To keep her sister from the asylum, Lucy must solve the mystery of the body and face unimaginable evil.

I'm such a sucker for Gothic horror, and I loved van Veen's first novel My Darling Dreadful Thing. This novel is such a juicy slow-burn with plenty of natural intrigue slowly being overshadowed by the, shall we say, less natural. Lucy is a frustrating but real character, a woman who struggles to overcome her submissive nature but who loves her sister deeply. Blood on Her Tongue reads more like a character study than an action-packed romp (as did My Darling Dreadful Thing), and I love van Veen's exploration of the layers of her characters.

This novel shifts from the fear of the unknown to the fear of the known: men's violent desire for control over women's bodies. I felt that the novel lost a bit of steam around that part, but it dials it back up for a gory, satisfying ending. What lengths would you be willing to go to protect yourself (and your sister) from imprisonment and death?

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CW gore, blood, death (adult & child), sexual content

Absolutely captivating, an incredible take on the classic tale. Perfect for summerween or those fall spooky vibes

A visceral, gothic plunge into body horror and codependency that is perfect for the spooky season 🎃🦇

Lately I’ve been trying to branch out from my usual romance bubble, and Blood on Her Tongue sounded like exactly the kind of dark, twisted story I’d love. I ended up doing a mix of audiobook and ebook, and the combination of narration and lyrical writing conjured such vivid visuals that I could easily picture it as an A24-style horror movie

What you can expect:
* Intense body horror 🫀👁
* Obsessive sisterly love and trauma 👭
* Gothic, atmospheric setting 🖤
* Slow-building psychological dread 😨
* Lush, immersive “show-don’t-tell” prose ✍️

At its core, this is a story about the toxic, codependent dynamic between twin sisters. Our FMC is completely consumed by her love and obsession for her twin, and it pushes her into some wildly stupid, vicious, and unhinged decisions. I physically paused the audiobook a few times just to say, “huh???” She puts herself and others in danger because she can’t let go, and it’s both infuriating and fascinating to watch unfold.

The writing style was the absolute star for me. The author nails that rich, atmospheric vibe that makes you feel like you’re standing ankle-deep in muddy water while fog curls around your ankles. I could smell the wet earth, feel the cold creeping in, and hear the grotesque sounds of body fluids. It’s dark, immersive, and appallingly enthralling.

If I have one regret, it’s that I didn’t wait to read this in the fall. This book is begging to be read wrapped in a blanket, with a crisp breeze sneaking through the window, and a halloween candle flickering nearby. It’s moody, haunting, and just the right amount of stomach-churning. This one will be a definite fall reread.

Thank you to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC!