This is a splentactuar gothic horror novel. Johanna van Veen knows how to write dark, gothic novels that make me uncomfortable. This is a great story of a sisters' love that know no bounds. If you love bog stories, vampires, gore and body horror following strong and determined women, you need to add this book to the top of you TBR.

Blood on Her Tongue, while not bad just kind of fell into the okay category for me. Van Veen creates a lovely eerie period atmosphere and then the characters will speak in a wholly modern manner which would jolt me out of the story. It was a curious style choice to make and I personally think it detracted from the success of the novel. My biggest problem with the book is it just seemed a little derivative of other gothic vampire novels and didn’t bring much new to the table. Not a bad book but one I doubt I will remember.
Thank you to @netgalley and @poisonedpenpress for this arc.

First and foremost, thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and Netgalley for the ARC! I enjoyed this one a lot!

Since I'm currently in my Gothic Horror Era, I was so, so happy to be able to read this one prior to publishing and I can say it did not disappoint in any way.

The story begins when Lucy, our narrator, rushes to her sister Sarah's sickbed after receiving notice that she is currently battling an unknown sickness. Ever since growing up, Lucy always made sure that Sarah was okay, and that her twin was happy, going as far as letting her marry the love of her life without saying anything. So it's no surprise that she left everything behind in order to help her sister in any which way she can, even if it's just sitting by her bedside. The only thing anyone knows about her sister's sickness is, that it followed immediately after her discovery of a bog body on her grounds. Once Lucy is on Sarah's side she notices just how peculiar this mysterious illness really is. Her sister doesn't eat and speaks in riddles, telling about a mysterious woman haunting her, her delusions making her act irrational in Lucy's eyes, going as far as biting her husband Michael and drinking his blood. Lucy, a prisoner of her time, needs to act fast to discover how to help and save her sister before the men in their life act.

Oh, how I liked this one. Johanna van Veen has such a way with words, it immediately pulls you into the story and era it plays in and paints this haunting, mysterious atmosphere you can't help but wonder about. Reading the letters Sarah wrote Lucy highlights just how fragile her mind truly is, how much she's haunted by the presence surrounding her. Lucy, in the beginning, feels very much trustworthy, even angelic, having nothing on her mind but saving her twin and looking after her. Only after a time do you start to realize that Lucy isn't the angel you think her to be at the beginning, having done things in the past, not only frowned upon but also hurtful against the very sister she's trying to save. And still, you understand her reasoning, where she came from, and why all of it happened the way it did.

The ending both surprised and actually made me happy, as haunting as it was. I wouldn't go as far as saying it's a happy ending, at least not in the traditional sense you'd expect. They break boundaries, do the wrong thing and the reader is left asking themselves, what happened after.

This book is as haunting and dark as you'd expect, with a surprising and yet satisfying conclusion. For all the gothic horror fans out there, this one is a great read!

This was such a unique and interesting story. It definitely made me more curious about exploring the gothic horror genre. I liked the characters I was supposed to like and hated the characters I was supposed to hate. The ending of the book was done masterfully with all the loose ends tied up. I'd definitely recommend this!

Posted on Goodreads: 3/29/2025

Nothing like a little gothic thriller to get your blood pumping! This story follows twin sisters, Lucy and Sarah. After Sarah assists with the discovery of a body in the bog on her and her husband’s estate, she seemingly slips into madness. Lucy works to figure out what is wrong with her sister, and why she has had such a change in appetite. It has themes of family loyalty, guilt, deception, and how far people will go for the one’s they love. This is definitely a great addition to gothic literature, and I’m so glad I was given a copy to review through NetGalley.

Note: Please check the trigger warnings! If things related to eyes freak you out, proceed with caution!

This historical horror puts a unique spin on vampirism combined with Victorian gothic fiction. The historical details and the beliefs of that era enhanced the narrative. I enjoyed the main character Lucy’s perspective, and her desperation to figure out what ails her twin Sarah. The sisters have a special and complex relationship that plays out well with all the spooky, supernatural happenings. Fans of slightly gory horror will enjoy this book. I’ll be adding My Dreadful Darling Thing to my TBR.

BLOOD ON HER TONGUE is a gothic horror that follows the harrowing journey of twin sisters Lucy and Sarah.

Lucy receives an alarming note from her beloved sister that she is unwell—and displays alarming signs of madness. As Lucy tries to unravel the mystery surrounding her sister’s condition, Sarah dies. And then comes back. HUNGRY.   

This book has so many awesome elements that I love!

Gothic horror, Vampires, rich atmosphere, love & violence, and hunger & hope to not only survive but also try to re-Alive.

If you are into a chilling fever dream - then this is for you!

I’m not sure this clicked for me currently! I may have to revisit this later on. I think it’s more me than the book itself.

"Blood on Her Tongue" is a gothic novel set in the Netherlands at the end of the 19th century. The story follows twin sisters, Lucy and Sarah. After the discovery of an ancient corpse on her husband’s estate, Sarah develops an increasing obsession that soon leads to erratic behavior and a diagnosis of temporary insanity. As her condition worsens—refusing to eat, speaking incoherently, and becoming aggressive—Lucy desperately seeks to uncover the truth behind her sister’s transformation. The novel explores themes of possession, madness, and the deep bond between sisters, weaving together tension and a rich gothic atmosphere.

That being said, this novel had the potential to become one of my favorite reads, but it actually left me with mixed feelings.

The first part of the story is absolutely stunning—it almost made me cry out "masterpiece!"
I loved how the author played with typical 19th-century atmospheres. The erotic gothic mood she crafted, along with the vivid portrayal of the twin sisters and their deep bond, is truly enchanting. The overwhelming tension—so full of shadows—kept me glued to the pages, as did the ambiguity surrounding Sarah's transformation.
Is she simply mad, or has some kind of vampiric creature really taken possession of her?

I also admired the effort of stitching together different horror themes: vampires, possession, madness and asylums, sinful passions, haunted places, and eerie legends.

However, as the story progressed, I started to like it less.
Despite the powerful message about female oppression and the struggle for freedom, I found it excessively delirious and extreme. The execution felt rushed, inconsistent with its initial premises, and lacked deeper insight into the characters. As a result, they lost their strength and became mere grotesque figures.

Don’t get me wrong—I love grotesque. But in the second half of the novel, it felt more like a stylistic excess rather than something that truly served the story. Instead of making it more powerful, it simply made me shudder.

Still, I’m giving this book four stars for its mesmerizing atmosphere, beautiful language, and the brilliant way it intertwines different gothic traditions. At first, we all think of Dracula, but there’s so much more! Most of all, I appreciate the choice to tell this story from a female perspective—something we need to see and read more of.

If you liked Johanna van Veen’s debut novel, My Darling, Dreadful Thing and would’ve even stuck around had things gotten bloodier, weirder, and more sexual, then you’re going to love Blood on Her Tongue.

I’m telling you all, at about 22% of the way through this book I found myself saying, “Johanna van Veen, you filthy lil’ hussy!”

I love a great twin story, and BoHT delivers one full of that tremendous twin attachment, sibling infighting, family superstitions and lore, avarice, manipulation, grief, weaponized emotions, infidelity, secrets, lies, domestic abuse, gaslighting, misogyny, violence, and forced medicating. Oh, and we can’t forget the bog body.

If My Darling, Dreadful Thing felt almost like a fever dream at some points, Blood on Her Tongue feels like a blood-soaked gothic horror film in technicolor. Nothing but the reddest of reds would do to match the rage and pain the women in this book both experience and mete out. Sometimes it just feels good to gorge yourself on the violence. 4⭐️

I was provided a copy of this title by the author and publisher via Netgalley. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: Body Horror/Feminist Horror/Gothic Fiction/Historical Horror/Horror/LGBTQ Horror/Sapphic

A macabre tale of sisterhood and women fighting for their lives!

I fell in love with Johanna's eerie narration style last year when I read her debut novel, My Darling Dreadful Thing, and she has made me plummet into a story once again with this marvelous novel! Her stories are dark, her characters are brutal, and this story was so delightfully bloody that it felt like my own hands were slick with it while reading. I loved how the topic of vampires was done in this novel! It felt familiar but also extremely unique, something that had me flipping the pages until my eyes burned. The main topic, though, is the indistinguishable bond sisters have, specifically twin sisters. What wouldn't you do for someone whom you share blood with!

This was an ode to women deemed hysterical by men who can't and don't want to open their minds. It was a clever choice to characterize these men the way the author did — it was realistic and worked on so many levels. I don't want to dissect furthermore because I would spoil a lot of the story, but know that this is the type of book I would love to annotate from cover to cover and talk about for hours with a book club.

Highly recommend both this one and the author's debut! Immaculate gothic atmosphere, twisted relationships, perseverance, eye gouging (*wink*), and much more you can find here!

What a fun book. The story follows two sisters who lived in the Netherlands in the late 1800s. However, something is wrong with Sarah, and Lucy is trying to help her. This book had some great twists and turns, and was just a wonderful, dark jaunt through gothic horror. It has a wonderful dark, dreary feel, and the characters were so interesting and multi-faceted.

I would absolutely recommend this for horror lovers, but also especially if you love a wonderful historical piece that has a foggy, dark feel.

This ebook was provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Blurb:
The Netherlands, 1887. Lucy's twin sister Sarah is unwell. She refuses to eat, mumbles nonsensically, and is increasingly obsessed with a centuries-old corpse recently discovered on her husband's grand estate. The doctor has diagnosed her with temporary insanity caused by a fever of the brain. To protect her twin from a terrible fate in a lunatic asylum, Lucy must unravel the mystery surrounding her sister's condition, but it's clear her twin is hiding something. Then again, Lucy is harboring secrets of her own, too.

Thoughts:
Blood on Her Tongue is a gothic tale about two sisters and the lengths they’ll go to for each other, for love, for hunger and for survival.
This was my first read by this author and it DID NOT DISAPPOINT.
I loved this read. So atmospheric, suspenseful, beautiful, delicious, disgusting. Everything you want in a horror novel.
4 star read, easily.
& have already been recommending this read.

Thank you to Johanna Van Veen, Poison Pen Press, & Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. 🖤

This was a new take on the gothic vampire novel. Lucy is summoned to her twin sister’s bedside only to come to the realization that her sister is no longer her sister. The plot sucked me in pretty fast and I found the writing quite enjoyable. I do think that maybe the author tried to do a bit too much - the feminist vibe felt thrown in and the ending felt rushed. All in all, a fun read! I look forward to checking out this authors back list.

Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book!

Okay. I have a thing for vampires. I can't explain it, but since reading Dracula in High School, I've been obsessed (I never read Twilight, though, LOL). I saw this on NetGalley, and I was excited. I'm a simple gal. I see 'Vampires,' and I click. It was even better that it was a Gothic Horror set in the Netherlands in the 1880s. How Unique? Right? So, you can see I had high hopes for this book.

Was I surprised by this book? Yes
Was I disappointed? Maybe a little bit.
Did I want to focus more on "Vampirism" and less on the sub-plot weirdness? Yes.

The gore was goring. Why does it always have to be eyeballs?! I made the mistake of eating while reading this, and I had to put my sandwich down because the descriptions were... wow.

This book is beautifully written. I wish it was expanded a little bit like I wanted Sarah, Not-Sarah to go out and hunt like a vampire. I wish we had more relationship-building between Sarah and Katje. I loved the girl gang hang out scenes between Sarah, Lucy and Katje.

This book, although not a typical vampire tale, was a great, addicting read. Once I started, I couldn't put it down. Check Triggers because, wow, there are a few.

Thank you to NetGalley for this eARC.

3.5⭐
The beginning Is a Little slow and It seems that there Is no horror and gothic. When the sister dies, It changes. The story Is a Little too simple but i appreciated the vibes. The waiting style Is fluente.

Another delightfully creepy horror novel from Johanna van Veen! I found it more dynamic and much scarier than the Dreadful Thing - which I also enjoyed.
In this novel, I thought Van Veen did a wonderful job developing her characters and weaving the strange relationships between them. Both Sarah and Lucy are very distinct and interesting. I loved the exploration of the relationship between the classes and the stigma of mental illness in that era. The mansion is dark and creepy and the surrounding bogs add to the gothic atmosphere.
Van Veen works beautifully with sounds and smells (and by that I mean the descriptions of them), creating at times revolting but powerful scenes.

The cover is gorgeous, too.

Thank you, NetGalley, and Poisoned Pen Press, for providing an early reader's copy in exchange for my honest review.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the opportunity to read this wild eARC!

I love when books leave me feeling all, "WTF did I just read?" Completely unhinged, delightfully slow burning Gothic horror. 10/10 would read this author again.

Mysterious, suspenseful, unpredictable, and gruesome. This book is definitely an experience.

Minor spoiler - I love that the book ended with casual cannibalism as a problem solving tactic.

A gory gothic horror featuring bog bodies, co-dependent sisters, and an inventive take on vampirism? Yeah, sign me up.

This is my first Johanna van Veen book, and I'm please to say she's got a new fan. I loved the relationship between the sisters because it felt very real. It's hard to describe the love and hate that get melded into a symbiotic relationship like that, and van Veen excels in doing so. They cannot survive without each other and isn't that beautiful and terrible? The ways in which they betray each other but still love one another fiercely is brutal.

The author doesn't shy away from gore, and I really appreciate someone who's unafraid to go there. Look, there's a lot of eye stuff in this book, so if that bothers you maybe skip this one (though you'll really be missing out).

The book leans into melodrama at some points and becomes a bit repetitive, but obsession and heightened emotions are to be expected - that be the genre, my friends.

Overall, a great dark tale that I felt I needed a shower after (that's a good thing). I'm looking forward to reading what she does next.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

The cover of this book drew me in and while it is not my normal genre, I could NOT put this down. It is labeled as Gothic Horror and oh boy oh boy, was it ever. Creepy, mysterious, and delicious!

BLOOD ON HER TONGUE details the harrowing story of twin sisters Lucy and Sarah. When Lucy receives an alarming note from her beloved sister that she is unwell—and displays alarming signs of madness. As Lucy tries to unravel the mystery surrounding her sister's condition, Sarah dies. And then comes back. HUNGRY.   

A big thank you to @netgalley, @johannavanveen1997, and @poisonedpenpress

Praise has poured in from authors and media alike:

"Immersive and disturbing, Blood on Her Tongue etches itself into your mind and leaves behind a permanent mark. Fans of modern gothic and masterful prose, look no further."   — Marcus Kliewer author of We Used to Live Here 

“A new gothic masterpiece. Blood on Her Tongue is decadent, full of gore and rot, and viscerally, relentlessly engaging. I devoured this one. Once you’ve tasted a little, you’ll need more, then more, then more…”  —  CJ Leede, author of Maeve Fly and American Rapture

“Chilling in its intimacy, this tale of monsters and monstrous love is a gorgeous gothic treat. I drank up every delicious word.”  — Jennifer Thorne, USA Today bestselling author of Diavola  

"Blood on Her Tongue is a lush gothic fever dream, a tale of love, violence and spiraling madness that will linger long after you've read the last page."  — Christina Henry, author of The House that Horror Built 

Publishers Weekly in a starred review praises the book as “gothic horror for the ages…combining shiver-inducing horror with sharp-fanged social commentary, this more that merits comparison to Dracula and other genre titans.”