Okay, so "Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil" is like, V.E. Schwab cracked herself open and wrote a vampire story that's way more than just fangs. It's all about women, power, and the hunger for freedom in a world that wants them quiet.
The writing is super poetic, maybe a little too much at times, but it really nails that gothic vibe – think crumbling mansions and dark secrets. The story jumps between different timelines, showing how these women are trapped in a cycle of love and violence.
It's definitely a character-driven story, more about the feels than a fast-paced plot. Sabine and Lottie's relationship is a hot mess of obsession, and Alice is trying to break free from all the drama.
Honestly, the book is gorgeous but kinda slow. Sometimes it feels like it's performing gothicness instead of really living it. But if you're into haunting stories about women who bite back, you might dig it. Just be prepared for some serious feels and maybe not a ton of plot. It's a requiem for girlhood, dripping with death and desire.

How do I give more than 5 stars?? I am utterly obsessed with this. I am no good with reviews but this really deserves infinite stars and I fear I will be thinking about it forever.

Wow. Just wow. Bury Our Bones was raw and dark and gritty in a way that I feel like Schwab hasn't done since Darker Shades. While it explored similar themes to Addie Larue, Bury Our Bones felt like Addie's character foil: sharp where Addie was soft, hungry where Addie yearned, dark where Addie sought the light. The cyclical ouroboros of outcast women slowly losing the bits of themselves that make them human, over and over again was such a haunting take on the vampire legend, as well as the socialization of women in the patriarchy over time (and how not much has changed by way of women desiring, women hungering and women longing to gorge themselves on the wonders of the world). VE Schwab is a genius and this book is testament to that

Toxic. Lesbian. Vampires. If you love Addie LaRue, A Dowry of Blood, beautiful character work, sensual prose, UGH! Read this. Schwab has been an auto-buy author for me ever since Vicious and Shades of Magic. So this was one of my most highly anticipated releases this year, and it did not disappoint! This story leans more into litfic rather than fantasy- and it was such a good portrayal of feminine rage, love, toxicity, what it means to hunger and indulge.

Thank you to Tor Publishing Group and NetGalley for access to this ARC!

I absolutely ADORED this one. I was enthralled from the very first page. I can't remember the last time I stayed up late to finish a book because I couldn't put it down, but I had to with this one!

I'm embarrassed to admit that this is the first V.E. Schwab book I've read (I know, I know, it's criminal). I've been meaning to for ages and just hadn't gotten around to it yet, mostly because I was waiting to be in the mood for fantasy. But oh my god I'm so glad this one was my first! I'm obsessed with V.E. Schwab's prose, voice, and the way she creates characters and worlds that feel real enough to touch. Needless to say her other books will be moving up my TBR expeditiously!

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is dark, it's lush, it's delicious. It was the toxic lesbian vampire novel we were promised, yes, but it was SO much more than that. I will be thinking about what this book has to say about hunger--for love, for time, for more than life has to offer--for years to come (along with that haunting poem). All three heroines are delightfully complex. I LOVE a morally gray woman, and boy did V.E. Schwab deliver in that realm. I've said it before and I'll say it a million times again--I support women's rights AND women's wrongs--and there are plenty of both in this novel.

I cannot recommend this one highly enough! It's my favorite read of the year thus far. Do yourself a favor and check it out!

“In fairy tales, big things happen in threes.”

this is a hard one to review, because up until the 50% mark, i actually did believe this was going to be a five star read for me. i guess i will get into that more as i write more, but the feeling of disappointment is very strong with this one, but also this is a very high three star rating at the same time.

this is a story about three women across history, and we slowly watch all of them become vampires in very different ways. in 1500s spain, we watch a girl born into terrible circumstances do what she needs to to survive. in 1800s london, we watch a bridgerton-esqu girl want to be able to love freely whomever she wants. and in 2019 boston, we see a girl who is grieving and attempting a fresh start once and for all.

and i think that my biggest disappointment was kind of woven into this premise, because even though we follow three girls and are watching their stories weave together, it feels disjointed. i am not claiming to be an editor, or even a writer, but to me this felt like the author really kind of only wanted to write about maría, and then added these other two storylines to attempt to just connect everything (and all the big wonderful ideas she had) together! and this is where it gets so hard to rate this, because maría’s story was for sure my favorite and the reason i believed i was going to have a five star on my hands!

i love a generational story, and seeing all the puzzle pieces fit together, but everytime it would switch to alice, i would just find myself a little annoyed. and i did like alice a lot more than lottie, which feels bad to type, but maybe that’s because the disconnect of these two timelines already impacted me. but to me this 500+ page book read like 75% maría, 15% lottie, and 10% alice, and i guess i am not saying that’s a bad thing, but it just didn’t blend well to me, it felt forced to me, and kind of like it was making alice the main mc by the end, which i just didn’t like, no matter how many tears i did shed for her. and the abrupt feeling of how the story went just left me closing this book with a three star feeling!

the constant theme of this story is predator vs prey, and we see that constantly reflected back. We get to see a lot of predators going after prey, but we also get to see how sometimes it’s not so easy to distinguish between those two words and archetypes. this is a story about abuse, and how abuse can look so very different, and how cycles of abuse happen. and how those cycles of abuse can change you, forge you, haunt you… forever.

i also adored and respected the way ve schwab really highlighted vampirism in historical literature with queerness, and gender roles, and even just feeling ostracized from society for being different. it is very felt and honored in the text, and i loved it. and just the concept of hungering for so many things, some of which you can easily get, and other things that might be a little harder, and a little harder to hide, too.

again, this is a very high three star, because there really is so much i did love about this. i loved the themes, discussions, and concepts being explored. and i think i am probably going to be in the minority with loving maría’s storyline the most, which in turn is the reason i didn’t love this more, but this was also very loudly pitched as “toxic lesbian vampires” so i am sorry if i wanted to see my girl’s story go in a different direction, other than making it connect to two other stories, okay? lol >.< happy reading, friends!

trigger + content warnings: abuse, anxiety, panic attacks, smoking, drinking, a lot of loss of loved ones in past, murder, death, one sentence mention of death of a baby, child death / murder, one sentence death of an animal (kitten), one sentence mention of animal death in past (rabbit), grief, a lot of talk of conception / pregnancy, marital rape, unwanted touching, plague, blood, self harm to get blood, vomit, fire, sa attempt, mob killing, mass murder, use of a slur for lesbians, homophobia, colorism, manipulation, gaslighting, drugging, talk of suicide, talk of war

*Thank you to Tor and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review*

Y'all know I'm a Schwablin through and through. This was not what I was expecting, but it was still V.E. Schwab. So you KNOW that the writing was impeccable and the setting was immersive. The best way for me to describe this book is sapphic Vampire Diaries, more of a historical fantasy than some of her dark high fantasy books. Really just vibes, great lines of prose, and a bloodsucking good time.

Synopsis: 3 toxic sapphic vampires through history. What more could you want?

Read this for:
- vampires
- female rage
- historical fiction
- character studies
- three perspectives

My thoughts:
I alternated between the audio and the eARC, then finished the last couple of chapters in my physical copy. I am OBSESSED with this book, instantly hooked and fully engaged from the first chapter to the last page. The audio is phenomenal, I highly recommend doing an immersive read because the narrators bring so much depth to the characters, and who doesn’t want Julia Whelan, Katie Leung, and Marisa Calin narrating your audiobook?
The characters are messy as all get out, all full of emotion, and full of secrets.

This is a must read for those who love queer vampires, can’t recommend enough.

4.5 ⭐️

No one tells a story quite like VE Schwab. This book starts off slower but something about the way Schwab writes instantly draws you in. Seeing how these three girls stories unfold is addicting to read. Such morally complicated characters with such unique relationships. I really enjoyed this. My only hiccup is that I felt the ending was a bit rushed. But will be thinking about this book for a while.

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Publishing for the Arc 💗

Wow. I was hooked from the first chapter! I loved the way time & historical events were used to frame the stories of all the women. I really enjoyed the different characters' view points on mortality, souls, good vs evil, and life. Schwab does a good job with this topic & it seems to be a common theme throughout her novels. There was something so haunting about this story. Definitely one of my favorites of the year & my new favorite V.E. Schwab book!

Maria - Maria was such a complex character. I found her character to be the most compelling to read. From the beginning, she was ambitious and willing to do what was needed to get what she wanted. There is no doubt, because she was a woman, she was sentenced to a life that was not hers to control, but Maria was not a woman to be walked over. Within the confines of being a woman in the 1500s, Maria was able to place herself in better circumstances. But even though she had a ruthless streak, at her core, she was still a girl who just wanted to control her own destiny.

Alice - I identified the most with Alice. I, too, was once a young woman who hoped to reinvent herself at college & thought that my social anxiety & introverted personality was a flaw that needed to be corrected. I also connected with Alice when it came to her complicated feelings with her family & feeling stuck in the middle. I truly felt for Alice. She was always trying to mediate between her sister & her step-mother, resulting in Alice pushing & ignoring her own feelings in order to keep the peace. Then, when she finally does something for herself, leaves home for Boston & attempts to cast away her old self, her life is upended. Her rage felt justified in my eyes.

Sabine- Oh, Sabine. A viper. There were times when she was the prey getting revenge on her predator, and others when she was the predator herself. She lived many lives & played many roles. I could never really decide if who she became was due to circumstance & the others around her, or if there was something rotten deep down the whole time.

Charlotte - Again, such a complex, intricate character! Her story was heartbreaking, especially Joss & “what could have been.” She was almost naive & pliable. Such a contrast to the strong, unbending personality of Sabine. She seemed to feel powerless in her life.

Overall, there was so much I loved in Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil, but the characters stood out the most to me. 5/5 stars.

I adored the lyrical writing style and darkness that permeated the entire book. The multiple POV's were interesting and I appreciated the complexity of each character. However, this was slow, long, and drawn out and I kept finding myself wondering if the character's plot lines would ever finally come together and connect. The ending did finally pull all of the character's together a bit in an interesting way, and while it wasn't the ending I anticipated, it was satisfying.

Thank you to Tor Publishing and NetGalley for the advance copy!

I can’t deny that the writing was beautiful, but with such a long story, I did feel like I wanted a little more action? For a vampire book, it was way more character based than I expected. I also felt like the ending was a bit anti climactic. 🙈 I know I’m the odd one out bc most people are loving this one!!!

Im not sure about star rating yet, but somewhere around 3.5 probably?

🩸vampires
🫣Horror elements, but not scary
❤️romance
🏳️‍🌈sapphic
🗓️spans centuries
💭multiple POV
⏳multiple timelines
🥀Interesting new take on vampirism
⛓️‍💥Themes of freedom for women
👤character driven

Thank you, NetGalley and Tor Publidhing Group, for this ARC.

Wow, where to begin. I have yet to read a book by V.E. Schwab that I didn’t like, and Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is no exception. In fact, it might be my favorite yet—easily one of the best books I’ve read this year.

Schwab takes us on a journey through the intertwined lives of three women across the centuries. Maria, in 1532 Spain, knows she’s meant for more and marries to escape her small town. Then she seeks to escape her marriage—and after that, it’s people who need to escape her. Charlotte, in 1827 London, wants to love freely, and when she’s offered a chance to do so, she accepts, no matter the cost. And then there’s Alice, in 2019 Boston, a college student running from her past when her future is suddenly taken from her.

Maria’s story takes up most of the book, but the years of her life build layer upon layer into a powerful foundation that leads to Alice. It’s romance, it’s horror, it’s Gothic, it’s queer... it’s incredible.

What are you waiting for? Go read it now—and ask yourself: if you had many lives to live, how would you choose to live them?

This was very well-written and was good for what it is, but it turns out that I just don't really like vampires very much (unless they are monsters being hunted, as in Dracula and Penny Dreadful). The characters were interesting but I just got a little bored with the vampire parts of it. I think readers who like vampire stories will love this, as it's beautifully written and delightfully queer.

5⭐️

woooooow. bury our bones in the midnight soil captured me from page one and has not released me from its grasp since.

i’ve realized recently im not the biggest fan of reading a synopsis before the book, or of having them in reviews sooo..i’ll leave you with what i knew going into this… the story of bury our bones in the midnight soil follows three powerful women, who happen to be vampires, and lesbians!

following these women’s beautifully tragic stories and how they intertwined was emotional but completely encapsulating. this novel was already pretty lengthy but honestly, i could have read on forever about my girlies with how v.e. schwab poetically graced these pages.

the drama and toxicity was top notch. i was never bored, albeit the slower pacing at the start. i truly felt so invested and attached to the main characters, and had to know where we were going next.

my girls didn’t always do the right thing, but the topics touched on and displayed throughout the story were done so well and sometimes you just have to support women’s right AND women’s wrongs.

thank you to Netgalley for providing me with the advanced e-copy in return for my honest review!

4.25/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ but rounding up to 5 stars because
I LOVE V.E. SCHWAB’s WRITING.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is my favorite book of all time and nothing will ever compare in my eyes (unfairly so).
This book was a wild ride - it’s a story that follows 3 women in 3 different time periods whose stories eventually intertwine - it’s a toxic lesbian vampire romance laced with beautiful prose. I didn’t love the ending but I did enjoy the journey of reading this story.

Charlotte was my favorite character & the one I resonated with the most. I love the way V.E. Schwab writes her characters - all are flawed but also so beautifully dynamic and deeply human/real. I’ll continue to read anything she writes. If you want a sapphic vampire diaries kinda book, this is it. 🥀🩸

oh where to start.

this book is truly breathtaking (see what i did there). this is a marvelous piece of sapphic literature that has so many metaphors, incredible foreshadowing, and a story that will haunt me forever. I saw myself in all 3 of our main characters, each of the characters are so fleshed out it would be easy to tell who’s point of view you’re in without the headers at the beginning of the point of views. the main theme of this book is one that feels like it’s impossible to talk about without spoiling the major character changes and stories within this book. It was truly a roller coaster of a book. i’m so glad that i read this slowly and soaked in all this book had to offer because the quotes, the metaphors, the way Schwab can foreshadow, it has me in awe of her writing and the story. the soil and the way the characters talk about the midnight soil, it’s almost like it’s another character of the book. haunting and alluring from beginning to end, this will definitely go down as one of my favorites.

thank you Tor for the advanced copy of this book. all opinions are my own.

I love my toxic lesbian vampires!

Great for fans of Addie.

Schwab has this incredible ability to explore the human condition through non-human entities. I love her idea of magic being just outside of our normal perception. It makes the mundane magical.

This book was fabulous. I had loved The Invisible Life of Addie Larue so I knew I had to read this and I was not disappointed! I was totally pulled in by the concept and description and immediately fell in love with the characters. We already bought multiple copies for the store I work at!

Bury Our Bones is the type of book that I inhaled slowly, wanting to savour every moment to make sure I didn’t miss a thing - and boy am I glad that I did. At it’s core, Bury Our Bones is a book three different women and how their stories collide, about their Hunger, Want, Rage, and the Freedom to Love and Live life freely. I can’t compare it to anything I’ve read before. This book is extremely character focused in the best possible way, if you asked me to describe the plot I would put it simply; three seperate women spanning decades and times all have an interconnecting story. This is that story. Oh, and they happen to be Toxic Lesbian Vampires and are all in completely different stages of their Vampirism.

I haven’t read a lot of other books by Victoria Schwab, but each time I do I’m struck down with how profoundly her writing effects me - I don’t think I’ve ever read more a more beautiful and haunting prose. I’m also starting to believe I’ll never read a book by Schwab and not be left feeling raw and vulnerable, but in the best possible way. This, along with the storytelling timelines spanning centuries through time, had me in an absolute chokehold. The level of detail we get into Vampires and Lore was the perfect touch, I’ve read quite a few Vampire books and absolutely adore how Schwab adds her own touch to this.

I was drawn to each of our characters like a moth to flame, their development, trauma, hunger and destruction was gripping - Sabine, Lottie and Alice were all morally grey and flawed in their own unique ways. How their lives unfold and merge makes for a truly gripping story. The shifts in the POVs, small details and how simply intentional everything was written truly stuck out to me.