This was gorgeous in the creepiest way. Incredibly immersive with vivid imagery. I really like how van Veen toys with madness in her writing. I’m never sure if something is supernatural or just plain madness. Gothic horror at its best.

This book was so close to being a five star read. It was great, I started reading and couldn't stop.

This book is a slow burn in the sense that it takes a little bit for the story to take a more engaging pacing, but since the start of it there are a lot of elements that contribute to the mystery of the story and gives us some insights about the characters. The atmosphere is so well done, I especially loved the scenes in which the author describes the bog body as well as when the chapters where intertwined by letters or news articles.

It's an eerie, dark and sometimes a little gorey book, and I was having a god time reading it since these days I've been having a mood of wanting to read gothic books.

The thing that stood out the most is the relationship between the sisters, Sarah and Lucy. The author does a great job portraying a lot of conflicting emotions between the two of them, but the most important thing is that they love each other and they would do anything for the other.

Also the drama was on point, it was quite enjoyable, the descriptions of the scenes with more impact in terms of plot relevance and the horror aspect of the book were also really good.

I think my favorite thing about this book is how it shows us a different side to vampires, at least I haven't read a book where it depicts them like in this one, and I liked the way this book does so since early in the story. I found this concept fascinating and loved what it meant for the plot and for the characters, especially for Lucy.

If I found one thing that I have to critique, and the reason it didn't get five stars, is that the ending felt abrupt, I wanted to read a little bit more, but all in all this book is amazing and I'd totally recommend it.

If you loved the atmosphere and setting of Nosferatu, read this!!!✨The vibes were immaculate. As someone who loves body horror, this was the perfect amount. Johanna’s writing just pulls you in and takes you into this gothic setting making it hard to put down. I need a physical copy asap!!

*Thank you NetGalley for providing this ARC*

Blood on Her Tongue is gothic, creepy, and twisted in all my favorite ways. Johanna van Veen’s story is a unique exploration of sisterhood, relationships, mental health, bog people, and vampires! The body horror is also a wonderful addition to this classic read. This was a quick read because I was so excited to keep the story moving!

Thank you NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press, and Johanna van Veen for this ARC

* I read this book in one sitting. I legitimately could not put it down. I was up till 3am. It is a gripping tale of terror, questioning oneself, truth and gore. While there are plenty of things in this book that could be improved, it stands to say the bones are fantastic and it was truly a thrilling read.

The writing took me a few chapters to get into, but once I did, the prose flowed and enchanted. It was also deliciously imagery-heavy, and for a book that is steeped in horror, it made for quite the reading experience. My imagination was rife with body horror while reading. I really loved the different methods of storytelling, through Lucy's perspective, as well as through letters and newspaper articles. I also enjoyed some of the more charming and funny quips throughout.
I also appreciate how Lucy grew throughout the book, her love for her sister made me think about my own family and that was quite poignant.


My main qualms and thoughts are as follows:
- some characters don't feel fully fleshed out, they have one personality trait and stick to it throughout. I feel like the side characters especially could have been given more thought. Regardless, they didn't feel fully flat.
- I would have loved a bit more tie-in with the aunt and her storyline - it was interesting to read about this character and yet she didn't have much to do with the story. It felt like a hint that she fell into a type of madness and was wrongly committed, perhaps it was to be nothing more than a coincidence and a reason for wanting to avoid being committed in the future, but I feel like more could have been done here.
- I loved reading the letters from Sarah. I would have loved more, especially as she grew more obsessive and eventually became host to the parasite. I would have loved to see more of that rather than hear about it from the parasite itself later.
- So the parasite felt not as Gothic and atmospheric as the rest of the book once we were introduced to it. It felt rather mundane actually. I was excited about the prospect of some sort of vampiric entity, and while initially likening it to a tick is interesting, I did feel like some of the supernatural flair disappeared once we learned about what the parasite was.
- I love a sapphic romance, but Katja and Sarah's love felt underdeveloped. Katja seemed fully devoted to Sarah, to the point of being throwing all caution to the wind. Whereas Sarah seemed to merely appreciate her, the love being told and not seen. I would have loved some more scenes to see why Sarah and Katja were drawn to each other and how their love manifests, and especially how the parasite changed that.

Ultimately a good book, with some potential to make it really great!

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book in
exchange for an honest review.

This was such an unsettling story, very eerie and creepy throughout with heavy body horror themes. However, the I was not a fan of the ending.

This novel toes the line between psychological horror and the paranormal. The story is dark and the tension builds slowly. Sometimes making one want to skip ahead, but not wanting to miss any details. Once the read believes they know how the plot will progress they are faced with new information that makes them revisit their first assumptions. This novel is deeply gothic calling to mind Edgar Allen Poe, Sheridan Le Fanu, and the transgressive eroticism of Anne Rice. This is a slow burn but one that only builds in dread and unease for fear of could happen next.

How far would you go to hold onto your sister?
In this creepy slow-burn gothic horror, Lucy is forced to ask herself this question. Lucy's sister Sarah uncovers a corpse in the bogs and, together with her husband and sister, try to uncover the identity of the deceased. When Sarah starts acting strange and sickly, Lucy is left to wonder if the bog corpse has anything to do with it.

This was a moody, eerie, and bloody horror with an interesting spin on the classic vampire trope. Without spoiling anything, it was a unique look at societal roles for men and women, the bonds between siblings/sisters, what constitutes a person, and how far would someone would be willing to go for their loved one.

I'd recommend this for fans of gothic horror. Also if you enjoyed Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno Garcia (for the atmosphere) or A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson (for the feminist slant), you might enjoy this.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

This book was stunning and had me intrigued from the beginning. It’s perfect for fans of “A Dowry of Blood” for the vampireness of it. The relationship of the sisters is also something I really enjoyed. And sapphic vampires, you know I love it. I’ve already recommended it to my friends.

Avid supporter of women’s rights and more importantly their wrongs. Many times I thought I could anticipate the outcome of this story, but was always met with a new twist. Creepy, Gothic and a little sinister. Lucy and Sarah are twins that have many secrets between them. Lucy’s loyalty is put to the test after Sarah falls mysteriously ill. The answer may lie in the series of letters Lucy received about the centuries old body Sarah found in the bog on their land. Is the bog body really infecting Sarah? Or is it all in her mind.

As usual, men are the true horror.

A fun little book! The first half had me hooked - beautifully written, mysterious, enthralling… then midway it felt like the author lost steam? The writing style seemed more rushed, there was a lot of telling and not showing, and there wasn’t any big revelation or a way of tying things together (Aunt Adelheid’s madness felt like it would be way more relevant).

I enjoyed it but felt underwhelmed. Interesting in reading more from this author though! I think her style is very promising and I loved the gothic vibes.

Thanks to NetGalley and Poison Pen Press for the ARC!

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for providing me with an excerpt in exchange for my honest review.

Recently I've been reading more horror whether it's the Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice I'm reading or one offs like this, I have been wanting one that is unapologetic in its horror and the gore that comes with it. This does have its moments of typical gore, especially with regards to eyes, but it feels it can't be unavoided due to the concept brought to this book.

I really appreciated the vampiric/zombie parasite kind of concept brought here and was incredibly interesting and liked how it tied into the bog woman that made appearances throughout the book. Also loved how the main character, Lucy in the last third of the book instead of being scared of the terror that has become her twin sister, she welcomes it and will do anything to prevent anything happening to Sarah. The men that attempt to stop it, even revealing how little sympathy, care, or feelings they had towards one character or the other truly have you rooting for Lucy + Sarah. It was completely codependent, which is absolutely delicious in horror.

If you aren't sensitive to eye gore and find yourself interested in this, it's a fun read! Also, the absolute joy I had when halfway through this book I found out one of the main characters is sapphic

as someone who favors gothic horror, i have mixed feelings about this book.

the good: the prose style was lovely. it was very grotesque and poetic, exactly what you'd expect from a premise like this.

the eh: the writing itself. lucy, the protagonist, felt flat to me. for most of the story, she's lustful and disloyal; she regularly sleeps with her sister's husband and is very preoccupied with him. yet as far as horror goes, she's harmless. there's little to no real character reflection (or development) for her, though, which makes the end baffling and unsatisfying. lucy eventually does something drastic, sudden, and violent. as a reader, i hoped to see the moral implications of her behavior explored... the build-up, the tension, the internal conflict prior. it isn't, though. we get none of that. the book gives her a biased motive, sure, but how, morally, did she get there? there is no descent, no development for the reader to track. as a result, she and the climax feel hollow, the changes unaccounted for.

Take my review with a grain of salt. Gothic horror isn't the type of horror I normally enjoy, but would like too. In the sense of the genre, the writing in this exemplified the gothic atmosphere very well. It was beautiful and very descriptive. There were a few moments where the language felt more modern than what the time period was supposed to be, which took me out of the story quite a bit. There were a lot of gruesome images and stomach turning descriptions that really amplified the body horror, which i enjoyed. But as far as the story itself, I became bored pretty quickly. For a relatively short book, it was pretty disappointing. I know gothic horror is much more slow and...damp and dark...but something about this just didn't engage me enough. I think this is a book for those who love this subgenre of horror, but it wasn't for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

This is my first book by this author and overall I enjoyed it. Blood on Her Tongue is a gothic horror book with delicious prose and is about Lucy and Sarah who happen to be twins with an unhealthy connection to each other. Sarah then starts to become very, strange. And "hungry." I really appreciated the horror aspect of this novel. It was dark, disturbing, and gritty. The writing was elegant and was super immersive. I am interested to see what other ideas this author comes up with and I will be checking out their first book! Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of Blood On Her Tongue by Johanna van Veen.
I had seen this title was available to request, but decided to pass as I don’t generally read this genre. Then I saw a post on TikTok with people’s reactions to reading this book, so I decided to give it a go. I am so glad I stepped out of my comfort zone and read this. I cannot put into words how much I loved this book! It had everything I never knew I needed in my life. Now I’m off to secure a copy of My Darling Dreadful Thing…

Forewarning: this book is deliciously weird. It's creepy, it's gory and gruesome, and undeniably gothic. I loved everything about Blood on Her Tongue, even the parts that were uncomfortable. And there are many.

It dives into themes of sisterhood, mental health, and Victorian-era patriarchal values. It also presents a fascinating, unique take on vampires that is *chef's kiss* disturbing. A+ to van Veen there. Just prepare thyself for the spinning wheel of emotions that will inevitably surface, sometimes simultaneously. Things like disgust, morbid entertainment, feminist-fuelled rage, and other such feelings.

The tension is slow to build, but where the plot dips, the characters shine. Namely with Lucy and Sarah, and the unfortunate predicament that tests their sisterly bonds. Lucy is really difficult to like at the start and throughout the story, in my opinion, but that thankfully changes by the time the climax happens. The prose is beautifully haunting, filled with lush imagery and vivid descriptions that now has me obsessing over bog bodies.

I'm really glad I was able to read this so early. Thank you to NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press publishing, and the author Johanna van Veen for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

4.75/5

Lucy's twin Sarah has fallen gravely ill and no medical treatment seems to work. Sarah is feverish, incoherent, rejects food, and has grown obsessed with a bog body that was found on the property. Lucy fears that whatever afflicts her sister might not be only physical but mental, with insanity running in their family, and the prospect of sending Sarah to an asylum scares her beyond measure. As Sarah grows weaker, and stranger with dark bloody cravings, Lucy's suspicions turn to the supernatural as she tries her best to help her twin before it's too late.

Absolutely adored this. A different fun take on vampirism that had twists I never saw coming. The ambiance of this book was well managed, it had all the makings of a gothic horror. Specially liked the use of newspaper articles and letters, it made everything seem more real and like a world existed outside of the family state. Lucy and Sarah's toxic sibling relationship was the heart of this story and the author did an excellent job of portraying all the nuances that made their bond so strong and twisted. I hadn't read anything else by this author, but you bet I'm picking up the rest of her works now.

Wow, where do I even start with Blood on Her Tongue?

This book is a total gem! From the moment I dove in, I was hooked by the creepy atmosphere and the rich setting of the Netherlands in 1887. Van Veen really knows how to make the estate and the mysterious bog feel alive, almost like they’re characters themselves.

The story revolves around twin sisters Lucy and Sarah, and it’s such a wild ride. Sarah is losing her grip on reality, obsessed with an old bog body, and Lucy is doing everything she can to save her sister from ending up in a lunatic asylum. The tension between them is palpable, and it had me turning pages like crazy!!

What I loved most is how the book blurs the lines between madness and something supernatural. Is Sarah really going crazy, or is something darker at play? It kept me guessing the whole time! The slow build-up of suspense is an element that is hard to find nowadays.

Plus, the emotional depth of the story really hit me. It’s all about love and sacrifice, and how far we’re willing to go for the ones we care about, even in the face of horror. Van Veen does an amazing job of exploring that complicated bond between the twins.

In short, *Blood on Her Tongue* is not just your typical horror story; it’s beautifully written and has a haunting quality that sticks with you. If you’re looking for a chilling yet heartfelt read, this book is a must! Five stars all the way!

What lengths would you go to to protect your twin sister?

Now THIS is a gothic novel. It has alllll the elements. twins, supernatural elements, rich and isolated characters, a mansion, a long history of the property, gloomy weather, gore, romance.

This story follows twins: Lucy and Sarah. When Lucy receives a letter from her brother in law summoning her to their estate right away, Lucy arrives to find her sister critically ill. As Lucy investigates the cause of Sarah's sudden decline, she discovers that things far more sinister are at play.

Van Veen has crafted a near perfect modern gothic. The relationship between Lucy and Sarah was captivating, the story was well thought out, and the pacing was wonderful. The body horror and gore were appropriate for the story and very well written. I highly recommend this novel to any fans of gothic horror.