Many other reviews are describing this book as "toxic lesbian vampires", which is an accurate, if somewhat simplified, description of this book. I felt that it showcases the author's excellent writing style and storytelling skills. Character development and plotting were top notch, and the overall story was quite compelling. Similar to The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, the author provides an intimate look at the inner lives of the main characters, their thoughts, feelings, motivations, regrets. And the multiple POVs ultimately coalesce into a satisfying, if not entirely happy, ending. In particular, I think anyone who has experienced an emotionally/psychologically abusive relationship will find that Charlotte's experience resonates. For that, I would include a trigger warning, but otherwise, I highly recommend it!

This is the darkly decadent and twisted sapphic vampire novel we’ve all been waiting for (even if you didn’t know you were). I didn’t expect to adore this as much as I did—the achingly bright first chapters of the book snapped perfectly into a cool midnight thriller that I found myself fascinated by, unable to put down. The women that Schwab populates this novel with are fully-fleshed and brilliantly bloody, in some places the epitome of Good For Her, in others, confusingly easy to sympathize with. Gorgeously queer, violent and tear-jerking by turns, and written in prose that’s guaranteed to make you hungry. Starving, even.

I didn’t want this book to end.

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is nothing short of magical—a sprawling, centuries-long journey that grabs hold of you from the first page and never lets go. I’ve always loved stories that follow characters across the years, but Schwab takes that idea and blows it wide open, leading us across continents, through eras, and into the lives of three women bound by hunger, longing, and the brutal weight of time.

Each of these women is so compelling, so achingly human, that I found myself constantly torn about whose story I was most desperate to follow. But the brilliance of this book is how seamlessly these threads weave together—three lives stitched into one hypnotic, grotesque, beautiful tapestry. The narrative never feels disjointed. Instead, it pulls you deeper, feeding a hunger you didn’t know you had.

Schwab’s writing, as always, is gorgeous. Accessible but lyrical, never too heavy-handed, yet dripping with atmosphere and detail. The prose shifts beautifully between perspectives, capturing each character’s unique voice while maintaining a steady, hypnotic rhythm that makes it impossible to put the book down.

At its heart, this is a love letter to the ‘monsters’—to the women who refuse to be small or silent. Women who burn, who hunger, who rage against the cages built for them. It’s about desire, about obsession, about reclaiming power and carving your own place in the world, no matter how bloody the path.

This book wrecked me in the best possible way. I shed tears. I underlined passages that left me breathless. There are so many lines that hit hard and linger, echoing long after the final page. It’s violent, intoxicating, sexy, relentless—and everything I hoped for and so much more.

Schwab has taken gothic horror and drenched it in female rage, yearning, and defiance. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is not just a story. It’s a howl. A hunger. A reclamation.

I was obsessed. Still am.

This was quite literally one of the perfect vampire books to grace our world. I have a deep fondness for the genre and I can truly say that I absolutely loved this book.

We follow the lives of Maria, Charlotte & Alice spanning across centuries- all tortured in some way.
All these women have been struck by tragedy, but the most unique part of this story for me is how the characters handle and respond to it. V.E Schwab doesn't tell us what happening, she makes us feel what her characters are feeling. Things get messy and tragic and I honest to god could not stop reading- I had to know how it ended. It was so toxic and I don't want to spoil anything but the dynamic and complicated nature of these women was addictive.

Sometimes I struggle with multiple timelines, but this was laid out so well, that there wasn't a point where I wanted to jump back to someone else's storyline. The pacing was perfectly laid out. The writing was beautiful and lyrical but very approachable. Overall it was a great experience.

Addie LaRue is such a great book, but Victoria managed to top it with this one. I had no idea what to expect, but I was not floored by how much I loved it. This is the perfect revival to vampire literature and anyone who is a fan of it, will love this.

four stars!! i knew v.e. schwab would not disappoint. this book was so good and reminded me so much of addie larue. three women who have all different motives all crash paths in a very toxic but addicting way. it was giving vampire diaries katherine pierce and her many lifetimes. although i found myself mainly caring for sabine and lottie, alice i didn't really care for. still,i am absolutely obsessed and this book will stay with me forever.

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is, in a word, lovely. Schwab’s prose is reliably lyrical—delicate when it needs to be, brutal when it hurts the most—and the novel unfolds like a gothic tapestry slowly being embroidered with blood, memory, and myth.

What truly shines here is Schwab’s ability to draw together multiple storylines—hauntingly parallel yet emotionally distinct—and weave them into a finale that feels both dramatic and inevitable. Each thread builds tension in its own quiet way, but by the time the pieces converge, you realize she’s been setting the stage for something much larger all along. It’s storytelling as sleight of hand, and she pulls it off beautifully.

A haunting, satisfying read that lingers long after the last page.

No because this book had me in a chokehold I wasn't sure I wanted to get out of.

V.E. Schwab does it again with another amazing book, that was so effortlessly perfect. This book had magic, vampires, romance, and just a story that had me hooked right from the get go.

This was so lyrical & beautiful. I couldn't put it down. For anyone who's read anything by V.E. Scwab before, you are going to want to run to grab this book as well!

Thank you NetGalley for an eARC!

Only getting around to writing this review now but wow. This book was truly a work of art, and it has been hard to find the correct words to dictate these feelings.

We have three women, whose tales we follow through time and through alternating chapters, and they are all connected by midnight soil, a craving that can never be sustained, and a love that transcends time.

The imagery and the scenery and the prose and the passage of time and the settings and the metaphors and the queer representation is so beautiful. An easy 5 star read, and one that will solidify Schwab as a writer of our generation.

I love V.E. Schwab, and I'm glad I read this book, but wow - it was very intense. I thought the intertwined stories of three women and three different timelines - Maria in 16th century Spain, Charlotte (Lottie) in 19th century England, and Alice in 21st century Boston. I saw a lot of people describing this as being about toxic lesbian vampires and that feels pretty accurate to me. I found the characters to be well-developed, complex, and generally compelling, and the alternating timelines really kept me reading - I wanted to know how it was all going to come together. Alice was, to me, the only truly likable main character, though the sense I got from the way the other character arcs were moving was "give her a century and see what she's like then." My two biggest issues here were: 1) the length and the pacing - this really dragged for me at certain points, and I think it could have been shortened (apparently it clocks in at 560 pages) and 2) the fact that consent (or the lack of it) was so important in the story but I didn't feel like it was really addressed. Not my favorite of Schwab's books, but I can absolutely see why lots of people are loving it. Content warning for like, soooooo much violence.

There’s a lot I could say about Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil—and probably even more I shouldn’t say, because this is one of those books you really need to go into with as little context as possible. But what I can tell you is this: it’s my favorite standalone V.E. Schwab novel, hands down.

If Addie LaRue was a soft, flickering candle of longing and memory, Bones is a bonfire—rage-fueled, blood-soaked, and absolutely glorious. Schwab has been teasing this for years as her “toxic lesbian vampire novel,” and somehow it’s exactly that, and yet so much more. It’s brutal and romantic, sharp and sorrowful, a story that sinks its teeth into themes of hunger—emotional, physical, existential—and never lets go.

The story spans centuries, weaving together the lives of Maria (1532 Spain), Charlotte (1827 London), and Alice (2019 Boston). Three women across three eras, bound by blood and power and a whole lot of complicated, vicious love. I loved how Schwab let each character be unapologetically flawed—each one my favorite at different points, and each one so deeply human, even in their monstrosity. It’s that rare feat where the characters feel nothing like you, yet they hit somewhere deeply relatable.

And can we talk about the writing? Schwab’s prose is always evocative, but Bones is on another level. Lush, lyrical, haunting—it wraps around you and drags you through time without ever feeling disjointed. The violence? Gorgeous. The grief? Devastating. The yearning? Off the charts. It’s Vicious meets Addie LaRue, but more dangerous, more unhinged, and more achingly beautiful.

This isn’t just a vampire story. It’s a story about what it means to want—freedom, love, vengeance, escape—and what you’re willing to become to get it. It honors the mythos of vampires while simultaneously reinventing it. And it’s so queer, so full of rage and tenderness, it hurts in the best way.

If you’re a fan of Schwab, of dark historical fantasy, of sapphic romance, of morally gray women who bite (literally and figuratively)—you need this book. It’s the kind of story you finish and immediately want to reread just to live in its pages a little longer.

"Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil" has been a MUCH anticipated title for me. 3 young women, all from different times and places- all growing roots in the Midnight Soil.

The story structure absolutely blew me away in its ability to extract the reader's empathy, longing, anger, and own moral indifferences. A vampiric mystery spanning across centuries and continents, three women all in search of freedom, satisfaction, and home: their roots run deep, wild, and entwined.

For the modern day "Carmilla" lovers. It is sexy, frightening, thrilling, and I was literally RACING home just to keep reading. SCHWAB HAS DONE IT AGAIN!

I loved this so much please read it thank youuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!! <3

In 1529, Maria's wild nature is her pious mother's despair. She lands an advantageous marriage through sheer force of will, but the freedom she desires is not so easily won. In 2019, Alice thought she could cast off her small town upbringing by going to college on the other side of the ocean, but keeps falling back into timidity. One magical night at a party knocks her world off its axis. Their stories meander through time, each young woman experiencing love, heartbreak, and hunger. These epic, toxic, sapphic vampire love stories are slow-burning but deeply moving. Thanks, Netgalley.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is one of my favorite reads and so I was very excited to read this new novel from Schwab.

It didn't disappoint, but didn't inspire the same feelings that Addie did.

"The fact is, whether death takes you all at once, or steals pieces over time, in the end there is no such thing as immortality. Some of us just die slow than the rest." This book was a beautiful exploration of immortality and love.

I love how immortality is, at different turns in this novel, an escape, a gift and a curse. It's something that can be useful and incredible, but also something that will eventually steal your humanity.

I also appreciated the discussion of love and how, again, it can start as something beautiful and lovely, but over time can corrode into something ugly and awful and possessive.

These characters were so unique and interesting, each had their own voice and I appreciated being able to get to know each of them through the flashbacks.

Overall, this was a really enjoyable read and a unique story. Schwab is really good about that.

Schwab created these characters, dropped them into time, and wrote 500 pages of every visceral, tender, romantic, aching point they intertwined. The messy supernatural sapphics we deserve.

Spanning centuries with seamlessly woven timelines this explored queerness, being a sister, and being a woman with a backdrop of vampirism, which worked extremely well as the main core of the story was hunger, (metaphorically and literally 👀) as well as grief, power, rage and love, the experiences of our three main characters are told with sincerity and authenticity,  influenced by Rice but with that distinct Schwab flare this has become one of my favourite books, I really hope we get a second book..maybe..no spoilers but I want more! (I'm greedy!) on the surface level this works as a fun vampire novel, with some unique lore, but simmering underneath is a poignant message of finding, embracing and accepting yourself

Sadly, I didn't finish this book. The different plotlines were not meshing well for me--short bits of a modern story, loooong sections from the past with Maria (and her HAIR, which is apparently its own character), not a whole lot of things to pull them together. And while I didn't necessarily hate the characters, there was whole lot of exposition before even getting to anything vampiric. I stopped at the point where something violent, gory, and disturbing happened and I knew that it was veering off the rails for me, becoming the kind of book I'm not interested in reading.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This started off so strong and I will never not be a fan of VE Schwab’s writing style. We follow three different women struggling with their place in the world only to find themselves lured out of it. I loved the first 20% but then found myself waiting for Maria’s story to end, and Lottie’s story to begin. I often have this problem with multi POV books, where one POV is the obvious favorite and for me, that was Alice. Maria’s story went on for far too long and then by the time we got to Lottie, it felt like I was just reading Maria’s story over again but with a slightly different font, The real standout was Alice. I understand why we needed Maria and Lottie’s POV but I would have cut up to a hundred pages out of their stories to give us more time with Alice. By the end I had to hold myself back from skimming which really saddened me! This would definitely work for fans of ST Gibson’s A Dowry of Blood mixed with Addie La Rue, but unfortunately I did not enjoy those two books! Thanks for the opportunity!

I devoured every chapter Schwab fed me. I was sucked in the moment I started to the moment I tragically finished. Every character took me in their hands through the dark streets and endless nights. It was magical and gothic, beautiful and dangerous. I loved every minute. I knew I was reading a new classic novel.

“Bury my bones in the midnight
soil.
Plant them shallow and water
them deep.
And in my place will grow a feral
rose.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil was everything! After The Invisible Life of Addie Larue I knew I had to read V.E. Schwab’s latest and it did not disappoint!
Achingly atmospheric, hauntingly lyrical and full of magic only V.E. Schwab can pull off. This one is a must read for all V.E. Schwab fans!

The only reason I didn’t give a full 5 star rating is because the beginning is SLOW. Like I kept checking how far I was into it slow. But once it picks up? I couldn’t put it down! But literally my only issue. I really enjoyed this one!

If you love quiet horror, morally gray characters and a lovers to enemies book then this one belongs on your shelf.

Thank you Tor and NetGalley for an advance readers copy in exchange for my honest review!
Release date: 06/10/2025!

The premise of this book is fascinating and and the exploration of what immortality is like and how it decays from within I LOVE. At times I was a little wary and confused how things were going to connect since i had a hunch our three girl's stories had to intertwine somehow. Whilst the pacing was a little slow for MY personal taste, I was always intrigued and absolutely blown away by the romance?! Reading about lesbian/gay vampires fall in love again and again does it ever get boring? NOPE. I've come to the conclusion, that its because each character was truly SO DIFFERENT from one another. Their voice, their fundamental beliefs, their view and approach to all things vampire or mortal was so unique. Because these characters were so well rounded and flawed, I was consistently excited to meet the next one (never feeling overwhelmed).

If I had to summarize the areas in which this book thrives I would say:
Atmospheric, Slice of Life, Character study