(3.5 ⭐) I read this as it was heavily marketed as "toxic lesbian vampires", seemingly inspired by Anne Rice's writing. Well, it wasn't. This is a poetically written novel, but it did not feel like a particularly fresh or new spin on vampire fiction or gothic romance. While I found certain sections to be dark and evocative, the excessively flowery prose that the author uses can often slow down the pacing, to the story's detriment, especially because it is more than 500 pages long.
There are three primary lesbian characters in the novel, but their sections are unequally distributed and their dynamics underexplored; the person I found the most interesting gets to have the least on-page time and her POV is introduced quite late into the story. In contrast, the modern timeline with the third POV character feels awkwardly inserted into the primary narrative, and does not fit in very convincingly with the other characters' storylines. The story remains within safe, tried-and-tested tropes and boundaries of conventional modern SFF writing, with emphasis on solely Eurocentric aesthetics and a lack of historical contextualization, except two contrived allusions to racism (using disposable Black characters) and calling racially ambiguous characters "tan".
The result is mixed: 60% of this is a fairly enjoyable toxic gothic lesbian romance, 40% is largely hyperbolic prose and lack of diversity + repeated themes from Addie LaRue, which neither accentuate the atmosphere nor further the plot. Overall, a bit more blood and grit, and a bit less melancholic prose would have elevated this into a truly cathartic tale.

Wonderfully written and mesmerizing. It's tragic and full of emotion.

I was given the opportunity to read this book for free and exchange for an honest review thanks to the publisher.

A fantastic vampire story across centuries and characters. Every time I thought I knew where the plot was going, I was very pleasantly surprised by the twists and turns.

This was the first book I read in 2025 and it is, now 8 months later and having read it twice, my favorite read of the year. I read this the moment it hit my kindle and when I tell you I knew nothing about it, I seriously mean I knew NOTHING (and definitely not that it was about toxic lesbian vampires).

This book, on its surface, is about toxic relationships and control and cruelty. Beneath the surface it examines so much more. It examines the human condition in a multitude of levels and with both a biased and unbiased lens. I was here for every heartbreaking moment.

As always, V.E. Schwab did not miss on the prose or her ability to weave a heart wrenching narrative. The character work was next level, and I truly hated one particular character in a way that made me tell people to read the book so they could love hating her as much as I did.

For starters who doesn’t love 3 toxic lesbians?!
I just want to say I absolutely loved the diversity within this book. Per usual V.E Schwab does a great job building her worlds and allowing us to be apart of them. Thank you so much for this opportunity I can’t wait to discover more of her writing.

VE Schwab never misses. This is absolutely a stunning work, rich with history and tension, and absolutely spellbinding from start to finish. Schwab's lyrical style of writing and rich worldbuilding is on incredible display here.

Some people keep their heart tucked so deep, they hardly know it’s there. But you, you have always worn it like a second skin. Open to the world. You feel it all. The love and pain. The joy and hope and sorrow. It will make your life harder, but it will also make it beautiful.”

This book had so many great quotes, it was hard to pick just one. I was seriously mesmerized by the writing, the plot and the characters in this one. V.E.Schwab has certainly reached a new level of writing mastery.

The characters are enthralling, the story structure is very smart and keeps the pacing brisk. The timeline(s) spans centuries and continents and cultures, and somehow Schwab makes it all sing. I stayed up reading until the wee hours, desperate to find out how all the characters were connected and how it would all play out.

V.E. Schwab has done it again, this time with a dark, atmospheric, sapphic vampire tale. The scope of this book is sweeping, and I liked how the narratives switched between the past and the present, while slowly marching towards when they inevitably converge. This will be perfect for spooky season lists, and I'm so glad vampires are back.

“Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil” questions whether immortality is a gift or a burden
This book reminded me a lot of Addie LaRue at first—there’s that same quiet, literary feel to the writing that pulls you in slowly. Maria’s is ultimately a story of ambition, but it begins as a story of seeking freedom from the expectations and duties society imposed on her. But this time we have vampires, romances, and much more complicated motivations.

it is also an exploration of ambition, desire and rage

Three centuries‑spanning narratives follow María in 16th‑century Spain, bound to a loveless marriage until she encounters Sabine, a mysterious widow who offers an escape. In 1827 London, Charlotte is uninterested in the path society wants her to follow and finds an escape. Finally, in 2019 Boston, Scottish student Alice’s life is upended after a hookup, leaving her haunted by hunger and rage as she hunts for answers.

Three women, separated by centuries, are bound together by an invisible thread that weaves through time.

V. E. Schwab’s brings her unique narrative style
What I love (and sometimes struggle with!) in Schwab’s books is how she forces you to slow down. I’m always anxious to know how things end, but just like with Addie, she made me sit with the characters, understand them, and feel the weight of time passing. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil has pacing issues at times, but the ending was worth it—memorable and impactful.

I enjoyed this but I found it to be very long and a bit slow to get through. I enjoyed the historical POVs the most and felt that the modern day one was a bit lacking. I also found it hard to root for any of these characters because they are all so awful!! But maybe that’s the point. Very reminiscent of Addie LaRue, BEAUTIFUL writing

This behemoth of a book was totally worth the read and I think a lot of readers should sink their teeth into this one as we gear up for spooky season. The way our character points of view entangle between each other was marvelously done and I can now strongly confirm that I am a fan of this author between her latest novel and her previous, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue!

Pitched as “toxic, lesbian vampires”, Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is a historical fantasy following three different women in three different time periods and their metamorphosis into vampires. I am familiar with V.E. Schwab’s works; I’ve loved Vicious, enjoyed the Monsters of Verity duology, and was disappointed by Addie LaRue. Of Schwab’s backlist, Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is the most similar to Addie LaRue in not just the premise of immortals living through history but in how unstructured the plot is. Both of these books could’ve been improved had there been more dedication to plot structure. The plot lines in Bury Our Bones were meandering with inconsistent pacing. Sabine has the strongest storyline of the three heroines on a count of being the most morally corrupt. I would’ve appreciated seeing more of her perspective leading up to the ending. Alice felt out of place in terms of stylistic choices and the emphasis on her experience with grief. Her flashbacks felt like a completely different story with little ties to the vampiric storyline. Charlotte had the least development out of the three women, therefore her perspective is the weakest. There were some beautiful lines but Schwab has a tendency to rely on metaphors and repetition in order to come up with beautiful prose. I was hoping to be pleasantly surprised by Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil since the premise is so enticing. In the end, I am disappointed but not surprised. This may be the last book I read from V.E. Schwab.

I downloaded and read this book for work. (I'm a publicity assistant at LEO PR.) It's why I won't be reviewing.

Toxic lesbian vampires? Say less. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil was everything I could have ever wanted and then some. Once again, V. E. Schwab takes us on a journey through time following the stories of three young women as they live, and die, and find life after death. This book was dark and beautiful and I loved how real the characters felt to the point where I was both rooting for and against them as they grew and developed. This novel is for fans of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, novels with a blend of historic and contemporary settings, and of course toxic lesbian vampires.

This was the first book I've read by this author and I loved it! Going to be recommending to everyone.

Bury our Bones in the Midnight Soil is a dark, addictive, sapphic fever dream. It's a once a love and a rage story that sucks you in and doesn't let you go until the very end. The prose is lyrical and gorgeous, intoxicating and haunting. And did I mention lesbian vampires? Be ready to be ruined.

DNF @ 36% (just shy of 200 pages). Sad to say that this one is not for me. As a huge former Buffy fan, this feels like Buffy fan fiction, except with no plot. It’s just so repetitive, I couldn’t click in. It took me 9 days to read 200 pages. I checked in with a friend and validated that it’s not going to suddenly shift into plot or become anything different. Calling it!

This is one of my new favorite books! Interview with the Vampire, but with lesbians. It is just such a beautifully dark book. For fans of Schwab's other books, Leigh Bardugo's Ninth House series, and Anne Rice.

The girls, gays and theys are going to be very happy with this one when it hits shelves.

VE Schwab does it again with a gorgeous and gothic homage to Anne Rice's vampires. A sapphic vampire book that exists almost solely on vibes, there is a fascinating character study in the margins.

What an excellent premise. Another book that had such promise but didn’t really nail the execution. I wanted to love this but I didn’t. I was hoping for something similar to Addie LaRue but this was not.

Vampires across generations? Lesbian vampires? This sounds amazing and for the most part, the writing itself was. It did sometimes feel over the top and Schwab would get a bit heavy handed with descriptions. But the beautiful writing can’t make up for the slow moving plot that sometimes felt repetitive, and the lack of attachment I had with any character.

I was so intrigued in the beginning but I kept waiting for something to grab me and it never did. Maria was interesting for a time but then her character felt stale. She’s alive for so long and doesn’t seem to evolve much. Charlotte was okay and Alice just bored me. The story itself felt like it dragged on. You can write a book spanning generations and not have it feel like we’re living through every year, but this book was tedious.

Beautiful writing, awesome premise, but poor execution. The characters needed development, there needed to be more added to the plot (or just a plot??) and shorten the book. Sigh, so sad I didn’t love this.