Six out of 5 stars!!! The best book I have read all year. Maybe in my whole life?

No but everything about this book was perfect, from the writing, to the characters, to the way the storyline flowed. V.E. Schwab made me feel so immersed in the story with this one.

Reading this book was an emotional ride, one that left me both satisfied and deeply moved. V.E. Schwab has once again proven her remarkable ability to craft a story that goes beyond just a plot, creating a connection to both the characters and the readers themselves.

The emotions within this book are palpable, from grief to rage, love to loneliness, and moments of hope scattered throughout. Schwab expertly intertwines the stories of three women, Maria, Sabine, and Alice, each from a different era, yet each one struggling with a similar hunger that drives them in ways that are both compelling and complex. The way these characters are developed with their individual struggles and desires make it impossible not to feel deeply invested in their journeys.

This isn’t a fast-paced, action-packed book; it takes its time, allowing the lyrical prose to sweep you up and captivate your attention. There’s a tenderness to the relationships between the characters that is quietly powerful, and the intimate moments between them carry a sense of longing that is beautifully portrayed.

The slower pace allows you to truly take in the details and reflect on each character's path, making the experience all the richer. This is a book that begs to be read slowly, savored, and appreciated for the depth of its characters and themes. When you reach the end, you’ll realize there's no way to rush the journey, since that's what really sticks with you.

For a book I’d been eagerly anticipating all year, it didn’t disappoint in the least. It was everything I hoped for and more. V.E. Schwab clearly poured her heart and soul into this work, blending elements from her past writing into something that feels uniquely her own. If you’re a fan of her work, this book is a must-read, and if you’re new to her writing, it’s an excellent place to start.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in return for my honest review!!

V.E. Schwab can do no wrong in my eyes!! 😮‍💨😮‍💨 wow I cried, I laughed, I giggled and was kicking my feet! This gave me everything and more !!! What an amazing compelling story! Beautifully written and executed to perfection. So atmospheric, so gripping. If you haven’t preordered this book PLEASE do your self a favor and do it!! This gave me the dowry of blood plus the invisible life of Addie larue ! Pure perfection!

V.E. Schwab has been one of my favourite authors since I read Addie Larue. I never could have imaged she would write a vampire novel and I’m so here for it! I loved the hints of gothic horror and would highly recommend this novel to anyone!

I am so thankful to have gotten my hands on a physical ARC (thank you, Tor!) and an eARC (thank you NetGalley!).

This book gave me Addie LaRue vibes which I loved, but also stood all its own. We follow 3 ladies at different stages of their vampire journeys, traveling through the past and the present. I figured their stories would eventually connect, and connect they do! They are all strong, fiercely angry, angsty ladies that you loved or loved to hate.

I do feel like it was a bit long though. The vampire journeys (and chase) spanned over centuries. & also, the ending felt a bit too easily wrapped up and convenient after such a long book.

I am full, yet I am still hungry.

Reading this book left my heart bursting while also carving out an empty piece that can only be filled in the shape of this book. VE Schwab always knows how to write a book that becomes more than just a story but a love letter to the characters and to the readers.

As you read this book, you are able to feel the grief, rage, love, loneliness, and hope that covers these pages and bleeds on to every person that touches it. From Maria to Sabine to Alice, the interwoven stories and the unraveling of themselves, you learn to love and to hate how three different women, from three separate time periods, have a hunger so deep it courses through them equally.

This book is not action packed but instead filled with lyrical and poignant writing that captivates you, body and soul. The yearning throughout this book feeds your hunger. The relationships between the characters are sensual and intimate, leaving your heart almost bursting.

The slow paced nature of the books has you gliding through the pages, letting you get the chance to savor the details embedded in the characters and journey they each have to take to become and become undone. I suggest you take your time reading this book because there is nothing like it once you have finished.

For being one of my most anticipated reads of the year, I can confidently say it was everything I could want and more. VE Schwab poured all the pieces of herself into creating this masterpiece, plucking out individual details from all her separate works and translated them into ‘Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil.’ VE Schwab has always been one of my favorite writers, but this has solidified her spot.

Thank you to the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

“I am still here.” I love Schwab’s books. I always love them. They always haunt me and I continue to think of them long after I’ve read them. I’m not sure I’ve been as consumed by one as I was with this one though. I didn’t want it to end but I couldn’t stop reading to see how it ended. I took a day off work to keep reading it. Beautifully written, giving you insight into each mind. This book is full of breaking and making and rebreaking, and in the end always still being here. Finding strength to be new and step into newness even when it hurts and even when you’re afraid.

"The only thing rolling off this man is confidence. He is so sure which of them is predator, and which is prey."

This book is everything and ya'll are not ready. I never anticipated this book would hit as hard as it did, even while sitting at the peak of my highly anticipated titles list. I expected to be entertained. I expected to love the characters and the world they live in. But what I actually got was a masterpiece. And one of the best standalones I've ever read.

What I actually got was a read as beautiful and poetic as it is biting and tragic. A passionate story dripping with feminine rage and the innate and desperate desire to live a life unchained and vibrantly alive. A celebration of autonomy and a reclamation of power. A book that left me with a beautifully fragile feeling of hopefulness, which feels unfortunately timely given today's world. It's unapologetically sapphic and painfully beautiful. It's messy and toxic and euphoric, sometimes in turn, sometimes all at once.

The worldbuilding is atmospheric and incredibly immersive. The storytelling is intricate and twisty with some of the most balanced multi-POV characters I've ever experienced. Every character is equally fascinating and fully fleshed out. I wanted to spend my time with all of them rather than wishing to rush anyone's story to get back to someone else's. While that's an obvious credit to good writing, it also helps that each character is integral to the growth of the others. Every timeline intertwines so carefully that you can't truly understand any one main character without also understanding the others.

And while the storytelling is breathtaking, the characters really are what makes this book shine as brightly as it does. We watch these characters experience such a unique perception of time and witness how it changes them. How a split second of time or a seemingly insignificant decision can alter reality forever. We see how simple pleasures can become mundane. How loving relationships can devolve into obsession. How trauma shapes us all and the many ways, both quiet and loud, that those same traumas can manifest and shape who we become. How all the emotions that make someone human can ebb away until only the most vile parts remain. How someone can be impossibly powerful, yet still vulnerable and insecure in the face of a changing world and an uncertain future.

I wasn't ready for this book. I wasn't ready for all the things it made me think and feel. But I know I'll be thinking about it for a long, long time to come. A true triumph for V. E. Schwab and I can't wait for you all to experience it. Please come scream off the rooftops with me.

Forever grateful to Tor for sending an ARC as part of a library marketing campaign. ily til the end of time, Tor.

**Quote taken from an uncorrected bound manuscript. Text may vary from final published copy.

Schwab's entry into the vampire genre is clumsy at best, boring at worst. While the prose wants to be sweeping and elegant it's completely overwritten and about 200 pages too long. I couldn't quite understand the character's motivations at times, especially Sabine toward the end of the novel. It felt very one-note to have her become a comic book villain after spending an entire century with Charlotte. It's difficult to write a truly toxic romance, and this book fails on all fronts. Ultimately, Schwab seeks to answer boring questions without posing anything new or of value.

Amazing!! Wasnt a fan of the invisible life of addie larue but this made me fall in love with ve schwabs writing style. The plot eas executed to perfection and i loved the different plotlines. Looking forward to getting a physical copy once it get published!!

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil truly is V.E. Schwab's literary follow up to the phenomenon that is The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue. Sabine, Charlotte, and Alice will have you frothing at the mouth for more well after their story has ended. This book is truly dripping in bloody soil, growing a dark flower with teeth.

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab is a haunting, atmospheric tale that lingers long after the last page. Schwab’s prose is as poetic as ever, weaving together grief, longing, and the weight of history with a dreamlike quality that feels both intimate and otherworldly. The characters are raw and aching, their stories unfolding like whispered secrets in the dark. It’s a book that doesn’t just ask to be read—it demands to be felt. Beautiful, eerie, and utterly unforgettable.

Three tales of toxic lesbian vampires, interwoven across different times and circumstances but all subtly connected. I've heard a lot about Schwab from coworkers but this is my first time reading something by them. I enjoyed most of this book and will still be recommending it to patrons. However, this didn't really hit the way I was expecting it to. I think most of this was due to the ending (I wanted something punchier, after all those pages) and the character switch after the first half of the book (after spending so much time with Maria, it was jarring to switch over to Charlotte and fully leave Maria's perspective).

All this being said--still a damn good book. Will be recommending it for patrons on the lookout for darker queer tales with lyrical prose and complicated characters.

V.E. Schwab you have my little heart forever and ever. Reading this book was more than just an experience, it transcended that. If you loved The Invisible Life of Addie Larue you're going to enjoy this one as well! Thank you Netgalley for the early access.

I really enjoy VE Schwab’s writing and this was no exception.
I had such a fun time getting to know our 3 main characters and I loved the darkish setting of the book!

I’ve read a lot of books in my day and have yet to find any that have truly necessitated being over 500 pages long, this one being the perfect example. It easily could’ve been 300 pages and would’ve been better for it. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue was phenomenal but I can agree with those who criticized it for being slow and very long winded and this one reads a LOT like Addie LaRue.

That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the read. It read kind of like Bridgerton but with lesbian vampires (what’s not to like about that?) but the ending felt sooo…inconsequential? If I’m with the same characters for 560 pages, I want an ending that’s gonna knock my socks off. Unfortunately, my socks are still very much intact.

Overall, it was a middle of the road read for me. Didn’t hate it but it could’ve been a lot better. A better ending would’ve made a world of difference!

A dark tale of three women connected by a curse and blood through time. Sometimes as lovers, sometimes as killers but all feral roses of the midnight soil. A young woman seeks a way out of an arranged marriage only to find the strange widow with the solution. The price is high and that is what continues on. A captivating love story, historical connection of trapped women seeking independence and finding love in another's kiss of death. V. E. Schwab is a first rate storyteller able to turn vicious vampires into tragic wanderers doomed to live forever without really living a life. This will appeal to readers of THE HISTORIAN and Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles in addition to Schwab's many fans. Didn't want it to end! My thanks to the publisher for the advanced copy.

I adored this book so much. I could not stop reading it. The characters were perfectly crafted and flawed. I got frustrated when one particular character took up so many of the chapters but I did not need to. It all came together

V.E. Schwab used to be my go to author or autobuy author, but ever since Addie Larue, that no longer stands. This book feels plagued by their approach to writing Addie Larue. It's as if Schwab feels the need to write literary to be respected, but doesn't quite know how to turn a sentence. I found myself sitting there begging the narrative to get on with it because I want to read about the vampires. What should've been a short read, plagued me and it's a little disappointing to see.

I feel like I'm going to be the odd one out on this one, but I could not get into this book. There is so much I love about it: the characters, the writing style, the lore, the alternating perspective, the mystery; but unfortunately it drags on. I have been trying to read this book for close to six months now, and I cannot get attached to it. I'm sure a lot of this is important for whatever happens later in the book, but after 33% in, I felt like I had already read four novels. This is one of those cases where this one simply isn't for me, but it deserves a good rating for all that it does beautifully.