Enthralling from start to finish, it was hard to out the book down, and I cannot recommend a better way to read this than staying up until 3am every night, in the quiet darkness, reading about the lives and unlives of three women rotting and tangled, twisted together and making each other bleed with their thorns. I adored Sabine, and grew to like Alice over the book, and ah, so much to say about Charlotte—that I won’t to avoid spoilery things. This is a slow burn book—not in the romantic sense, but in the sense you walk down a winding path and through every turn you know something will happen, but you can’t quite see what it is—until you’re right at the end and you know, you know what’s coming, and it’s so incredibly satisfying to be vindicated. I heavily recommend this book, I received this arc but trust me, the hardcover is already sitting on my shelf, and what an amazing addition it is. Truly, I will be telling everyone I can to read this for a proper, dark and seductive read.

Thank you TOR Publishing Group, V.E Schwab and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my review.

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is one of the most unique vampire stories I have ever read. The writing is eerie and atmospheric, but also deeply emotional and full of grief. The story spans hundreds of years and the lives of three different women and how they become entangled in each others story. You can really feel the weight of time as these women live through multiple lives and watch countless others pass them by. The slow erosion of identity, connection and meaning is written so beautifully and painfully and adds a unique take on immortality. The writing is absolutely stunning and reimagines the vampire mythos without leaning into the usual oversexualized tropes.

“Bury my bones in the midnight soil, plant them shallow but water them deep, and in my place will grow a feral rose, soft red petals hiding sharp white teeth.”

I feel like I lived through 400 years and countless lives along with these characters and this story is going to stick with me for a very long time. Beautifully haunting - must read.

Absolutely stunning, following 3 generations of vampires (new and old) from Sabine nee Maria, Charlotte aka Lottie, and Alice, one wants freedom, one wants love, one wants revenge and in the soil their seeds are intertwined till they bloom and flow. I was so enamored by the worldbuilding and the intertwining stories as well as the changes to lore.

Thank you to TOR Books and V.E. Schwab for this #gifted copy of Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil.

V.E. Schwab has an unmatched ability to craft stories that are both lyrically dark and emotionally devastating. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is a sweeping, savage, and stunning vampire tale that pulled me in and never let go.

🩸 What did I love the most?
Now this is how you write a vampire novel. We’re talking:
🧛‍♀️ Gruesome origin stories
🩸 Vivid, brutal turning scenes
🥀 Emotional, bloody feeding moments
🪞 Deep reflections on mortality, queerness, and rage

It’s horror, yes, but it’s also coming-of-age, feminist, and achingly queer. Schwab weaves themes of identity, desire, and transformation into something both tender and terrifying.

🩸 What to expect:
👭 Sapphic vampires
🧠 Psychological horror
⏳ Fluctuating timelines + multiple POVs
💀 Feminine rage
🌕 Gothic horror meets dark fantasy

⏳ How was the pace?
Despite the 500+ page count, I never felt the urge to skim or put it down. Schwab balances introspective character work with visceral action and emotional tension. I genuinely wanted to call in sick to finish this.

🩸 Do I recommend it?
Absolutely. One of my favorite things? A beloved character slowly becoming irredeemable, while a quiet side figure unexpectedly stole the entire story. Schwab’s morally complex characters are unforgettable, and this might just be one of her best.

🩸 Perfect for fans of:
📚 Leigh Bardugo (The Familiar)
📚 T. Kingfisher (What Feasts at Night)
📚 Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Certain Dark Things)

🩸 Mood: 🕯️ Gothic | 🖤 Morally gray | 🌒 Haunting | 💋 Sensual horror

🩸 Read if you like:
🧛‍♀️ Queer vampire fiction
🎭 Dark, character-driven fantasy
🌲 Gothic horror with blood and bite
📚 Literary horror that lingers
🔥 Slow burn tension + identity shifts

Santo Domingo de la Calzada, 1532. A woman trapped in a challenging marriage craves the freedom a different life can offer. She's used many names, but Sabine is the one that fits her best. In a world that has taken so much from her, she decides to take back. In 2019 Boston, as a college freshman Alice is trying to make a new life for herself, which is going well until the day she wakes up dead. Her only link seems to be to the mysterious Charlotte who she hooked up with after a party. Alice wants answers, Charlotte wants peace, and Sabine still wants revenge 500 years later. What is eternity without someone to love and possess?

You'll see a lot of comps to Dowry of Blood for this, but with a modern setting for a portion of the book, it also evokes Lucy Undying for me, with the feel of Addie LaRue's walk across centuries and filled with more feminine rage. Vampire lore is about power and sexuality at its core, and VE Schwab uses those familiar themes to drive this sapphic tale. It's hard to write a longer review without revealing spoilers, and in a book like this that unwinds the deeper you read, the joy is in savoring the slowly unfolding and crossing storylines.

I featured Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil in my June 2025 new releases video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6q31xhbo1tE, and though I have not read it yet, I am so excited to and expect 5 stars! I will update here when I post a follow up review or vlog.

I finished this book last week and I am still reeling—it might just be my favorite book of the year. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is most of all a story of hunger and sapphic yearning. Following three women across centuries, V.E. Schwab spins a vampiric tale that explores the lines between love and hate, of life and death, of beginnings and endings. It is hard to pin down exactly what this book is—drawing on magical realism, horror, and romance, it keeps you captivated until the very end. This book is also just very queer in a way that goes far beyond the romantic relationships, something we always need more of. Moreover, I really felt this book. The anger, the passion, the desire, all of it jumps off of the page and buries itself into your chest. I will be raving about this book forever, so of course everyone should read it. More specifically, if you loved Schwab’s other work The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue, I think will devour this one.

This was my first book by this author and while I did love the writing and the depth of the characters… honestly the story fell flat for me.
I found myself wanting to pick up my phone and doom scroll… and it was a chore for me to finish it.

I do however think that others who are fans of her writing will absolutely devour this book!!!

— This story had a haunting gothic vibe to it that made the read eerie and I found myself wishing for rain to add the perfect ambience!
Our story follows 3 different women throughout history who are dealing with the same issues just at different times and then we add on Vampirism!
• Maria ( Sabine ) is from 16th Century Spain, is forced into a loveless marriage, and harboring feelings for her female maid! She meets a widow who later turns her into a vampire.
• Charolette is from 19th century England, she is shipped off to London after being caught with her female friend in a scandalous manner 👀, meets and falls inlove with Sabine and chooses to be turned into a Vampire to be with her.
• Alice is from 2019 Boston, meets a cute girl at a party, takes girl home, wakes up a Vampire! Now she is on the hunt to find her attacker and try to cure her herself.

It’s a story that gives the reader a glimpse into the world of a woman living in a man’s world while also choosing to love another woman!
I loved getting to take a glimpse at that world and I feel like it gave me a different insight and viewpoint to take with me!

Yes, yes, just yes! This is a must read, Schwab is a master storyteller. This book takes you on an unforgettable journey.

* i received this review copy through netgalley*

This captured all of the magic of Addie Larue with a vampiric, sapphic twist, and I couldn't have enjoyed it more. The drama, the way the characters grew over the centuries we spent with them, it was all just perfection.

It way maybe a touch longer than it needed to be, as the middle section did drag a bit, but then it picked back up at the end and I was instantly obsessed again.

Moody, immersive and enchanting are three best ways to describe this novel. It was the perfect pride month read. I loved following all the characters and even wanted more from them than I got. I would die to go back to this world.

Brooooooo. Victoria is god. It’s everything I wanted it to be and more. Maybe I’ll be more articulate in the future but good god this is genuinely perfect.

This was SO GOOD!!! I enjoy Schwab's books, but when she said let me give you morally grey lesbian vampires, she delivered and left no crumbs. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is an iconic vampire saga that I would LOVE to see adapted for TV.

Following multiple women across time from 1500's Spain to 2019 Boston, it brilliantly interweaves their narratives across time. It uses a lot of classic vampire lore and uses it to talk about social strictures placed on women, homophobia, obsession, and abusive relationships. I also thought the ending was perfect. I don't want to spoil the book but it absolutely lived up to my expectations. There were a few places where it was a bit slower than it needed to be, but honestly I wasn't that bothered. I definitely recommend it! I received a copy of this book for review, all opinions are my own.

My entire review could really be shortened to one word. WOW. This book was everything that I didn't know that I wanted or needed. It's amazing to me how this seamlessly transitions from three separate stories to one. The world building is what I have come to expect from Schwab, nothing but the best. It's so atmospheric and transporting. The story and plot is dark and violent and full of all the female rage one could ever want. The characters though are what really made this book for me. Sabine is a force to be reckoned with. The things that she goes through throughout her time it's understandable that she walks through the world with a disregard for any life but her own. I found her part of the story really compelling and can't imagine having to navigate changing with no one to guide or teach me. Lottie I liked a lot, I liked her back story and thought that it painted a good path to understanding why she was the way she was. Especially after the years that she spent with Sabine. It was easy to see why she wanted to change and not follow in the footsteps of her maker. I will say that I was sad at the way that her story ended but also it had a sort of poetic justice to it. Alice for me was more how I would see myself reacting to the situation. She was all nerves and denial until she wasn't and then she got stuff done. I don't think that I could choose a favorite character only for the fact that it was easy to identify and see myself in all three of them. This is a book that will forever be in my heart and I cannot wait to read it again.

It’s hard to put words together to make a proper review for this book. It’s raw and full of feminine rage. Rightfully so. It’s about life and death. What it means to live even after you died. The villain of the story you can’t help but root for. I will be thinking about this book for a long time. I will need to sit and simmer and ponder some more.

“You are my heartbeat. My feral rose. I laid you down in the midnight soil. I watered you until you bloomed. It is my job to tend our plot, and prune any weeds that try to grow.”

What a beautiful read! Her prose is just beautiful. The way she pulls you into a story and has you hanging on to each word like a lifeline. Definitely a book I'll be rereading.

Oh my! I’ve read a few of V. E. Schwab’s books, but Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is by far my favorite.

"Bury my bones in the midnight soil, plant the shallow and water the deep, and in my place will grow a feral rose, soft red petals hiding sharp white teeth."

Who knew that this would bring back memories of how much I used to love vampire books. I thought the vampire genre was over, but Victoria brought it back with a bang. At least for me!

This book tells the tale of three women in three different eras, Maria in Santo Domingo de la Calzada in 1532, Charlotte in London in 1827, and Alice in Boston in 2019. This is a sapphic romance with some common vampire lore and some completely new to me lore. It had the feel of Interview with a Vampire, which I loved so much and read several times, rather than the shiny YA vampires of Twilight.

And that end…!! I’m still in shock! I immediately ordered a trophy copy of this book for my library.

*Thanks so much to partner Tor Books and to NetGalley for the gifted eARC!*

Thank you to the publisher for providing an eARC of this.

This was such an unexpectedly fun read. Truthfully, I forgot the premise of the book when initially asking, but was such a fan of the author, that when this was read, I knew to immediately go into it. Seeing how all the stories eventually intertwine was just as fun.

As someone with a background in marketing and publicity, I personally was surprised this release was not tied to a September/October release, but there' also no wrong time to explore creatures who lurk in the night.

V.E. Schwab has a great way of exploring this genre and the descriptions you can visualize. I was not a huge fan of the flashbacks with the sister and don't think it added to the story, and it kind of threw me off that the flashbacks weren't italicized in the version I received, but overall would still recommend this book.

This book is also being reviewed on ACOFAE Podcast, which the episode will be out on 6/16. This review will be updated with a link to that episode.

4.5 ⭐️

Yes, VE Schwab’s books are long, but man are they good!

Surface level synopsis: 3 toxic sapphic vampires

I loved these three characters and the ways in which their stories came together. I ended up reading via the audiobook, which was absolutely the way to go— it really brought them to life (insert vampire pun here).

I didn’t think I could love a V..E. Schwab book more than. I loved Addie LaRue, but Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is perfection. Maybe it seems like a strange thing to say about a book revolving around the lives of three female vampires, but it’s so complex and multilayered. There’s love and obsession, trust and betrayal, patience and rage, and I loved every single sentence of it. Even though it’s a chunky book, checking in at 544 pages, the sheer beauty of it makes it fly by. I was sad when it ended, but it was the perfect conclusion.