4.5 ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book!! This was so well written and I loved every second of it. I was gripped all the whole way through this one. I loved all of the characters.

This book is BEAUTIFUL. In literally every sense of the word. The story itself, the prose and writing style used, the characters, the queer reprentation, just everything was stunning.

I'm so bad at writing reviews about books I love this much, I babble and become lost for words at the same time, because nothing can describe the feeling of reading a book like this

We have three lead characters, all lesbians, all with their own rich backstories. Each one of them has their own unique voice so well developed I could have easily been able to tell who's chapters I was reading even without the names/dates etc. They were all so different from each other, but truly they all desired one thing, to be free. And that means different things in different times, from back when women were nothing more than pawns to be controlled, to when Alice is searching for where she belongs away from her sister.

I think I expected the three POVs to be more equally balanced the whole way through the book, but the way it was done was perfect. Getting more of Sabine at the start, Charlotte in the middle, and Alice throughout, and showing how their lives and stories were intertwined with each others.

And the writing itself, god I could feel every emotion. Every time their bottomless hunger was described, it was like I could feel it in my own chest, it was so palpable.

Nothing I could say could wxplain why this book means so much to me, so thank you to V.E for putting this out into the world and sharing it with us. And God bless toxic lesbian Vampires

Thank you netgalley and tor for a review copy!

This book has become one of my favourites by V. E. Schwab. It follows three women whose lives are intertwined through many decades. I really enjoyed the writing and found this book so hard to put down once I started reading it. I found the characters super interesting and complicated. I thought the backstories were amazing and really added to the plot. The ending was incredible and one of my favourite aspects was the character development seen throughout but particularly in the last 30%. I have loved all of the V. E. Schwab books I have read but this one is up there with A Darker Shade of Magic (one of my favourite books of all time). I could yap about this book forever but I do not want to include any spoilers so - if you are in the mood for a vampire book with lots of intricate relationships and some of the best writing I have ever read this book is for you - I cannot recommend it enough!!!

V.E. Schwab is an author that you can never tire from, where everything written is pure magic... and Bury Our Bones was NO different!

I went into this with incredibly high expectations and it met EVERY SINGLE ONE. The toxic sapphic vampires, the ode to classic vampire lore whilst also including their own unique attributes, the yearning, the melancholy and the writing!!! There is something about the way that V.E. Schwab writes that is as vivid as it is beautiful and this floored me in all of its small heartbreaks, joys and humanness (somehow, ironically).

The character arcs were written brilliantly and the way that each storyline perfectly interweaved into this chaotic but bewitching bow, was genius. I adored exploring different time periods and places through the lens of human and vampire and only felt myself more and more drawn as the book went on.

I do wish the ending was slightly different however, this is undoubtedly one of the BEST books I've read this year thus far.

Now this is the kind of vampire story I want to read. Absolutely loved it.

It follows three women and their intertwined stories, and I found them all equally captivating. One hungry for a larger life than the one she was born into, another desperately searching for love, and the third feeling overwhelmed by being thrust into a new life and coming to terms with her new situation. All three of them complex, and complicated, and utterly compelling. It is a story about hunger, desire, love, betrayal, grief, rage. And it pulls you in and makes you feel all these emotions right along with the characters. The story spans centuries, and the jumps from one character to another, and from one century to another, always happened at exactly the right time for me. I never felt like I wanted to jump ahead or linger longer - the story moved at exactly the right pace. One of my favorite books of the year so far.

I received a review copy of this book from the publisher, Pan Macmillan, via NetGalley. This review reflects my honest opinion.

I’m a longtime fan of V.E. Schwab, and I’ve rated most of her previous books between 4 and 5 stars. Her writing has always struck a chord with me: lyrical, immersive, emotionally charged. So I was truly excited for Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil, especially with its ambitious premise: three queer women, spread across centuries, connected through violence, transformation, and resistance.

The writing? Beautiful, as expected. Schwab’s prose is atmospheric and elegant, and there are passages in this book that are just stunning. But unfortunately, the story didn’t quite work for me.

It took me more than 50% of the book to feel fully invested. The pacing felt uneven, the first half was repetitive and slow, while the second half felt rushed and somewhat predictable. I also struggled to connect with the characters. Although they were well developed on paper, I found them emotionally distant and at times frustratingly similar in voice. Their arcs were detailed, but I didn’t find their journeys particularly engaging , which made the payoff feel less impactful.

There are powerful themes here: rage, repression, the cost of power, and how patriarchy shapes identity, but they didn’t land as strongly as I hoped. A bold concept, beautifully written, but ultimately underwhelming in execution.

That said, I’d still recommend this to established Schwab readers, especially those who enjoy gothic themes and slower, character-driven narratives. But for newcomers, I’d suggest starting with Addie LaRue or Vicious instead.

This is a book about three women, Maria (aka Sabine), Charlotte and Alice. This book follows them through time and place, telling us their stories, their human lives, how they were turned into vampires and how their lives entwine. It’s a story of female power and independence, but also female rage and revenge.

It’s hard to describe what this book is about because there is no singular event that sets this book in motion, that stands apart from the rest. I guess I would probably say that Alice waking up a vampire with no clue what happened probably starts off the chain reaction that leads to the explosive ending where all three lives collide, but it’s not just her story. It’s all of theirs. Like most VE Schwab books, it’s quiet and beautifully narrated, and it will take you on an incredible journey if you let it.

I’m finding it so hard to articulate my feelings around this one in order to review it but it was thoroughly enjoyable.

Maria’s plot line was my favourite of the three. All of them are incredibly strong, powerful women whose stories who went after what they wanted from the world

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A dark, luscious tale of vampires, toxic relationships and desire spanning 600 years and three different POVs. What a book! Schwab really has a way with sumptuous prose, descriptions that firmly plant you in the story with all the senses - the taste of chocolate, the smell of flowers in bloom, the colour of a lover's hair - and compelling, multifaceted characters. We begin with Maria in 1500s Spain, desperate for a different life. Then we're flung forward to Alice, a Harvard freshman who meets a mysterious girl. In the middle, there's Charlotte, forced to find a husband in Regency London because she loved someone she couldn't be with. All three are deeply connected through time, held together by fate, blood and longing.

Ugh, I'm SO sad!! This had a lot of potential but unfortunately I feel like this completely lacked weight/substance?!

Yes, there's a lot of pretty words and there's no doubt V E Schwab can come up with such interesting stories to tell but the execution fell so short.

The pacing is VERY slow at first, then ends up becoming quite choppy and rushed at the end. Maria/Sabine had the only interesting chapters in my opinion. She was the only character that actually had some depth/nuance to her and even though her story was slow, I felt myself intrigued and invested with her the entire time. Alice's chapters on the other hand were SO repetitive, I felt so frustrated by constantly going back into a memory with her sister! It was nice to dip into the regency era during Charlotte's chapters but I wish we got to meet her a little earlier in the book!!

This also felt quite YA to me (nothing wrong with YA at all, but this is meant to be adult) and even though I love an unlikable character, almost everyone here was either dull/surface level or very juvenile.

I felt like I only finished this because I just wanted to get to the end, and not because I felt any emotion/connection to the characters and the story.

I'm glad I'm in the minority on this one and I hope many more people enjoy this!!!

An emotional rollercoaster filled with the fantastically written stories of 3 women. I’m not normally one for historical fiction but I found this one to be pleasant. V E Schwab is an amazing author and I know people will love this one

Greed and humanity, connection and loneliness, all described in lyrical prose.

Using multiple POVs, this story looks at the challenges all three female vampires face, particularly the women born in a different century, but all are relevant and rage-inducing. You don’t stick with a character and feel the same way you felt at the beginning - each character’s arc changes in unexpected, but ultimately inevitable, ways.
In becoming immortal, each character is freed from their own personal form of captivity, only to discover that they have exchanged one sort of captivity for another when they enslaved by their hunger and desires. If you live forever and your survival depends on the lives of others - how can you expect to remain unchanged?

Due to the sweeping history and the focus on characters rather than plot, the structure feels unusual, so don’t expect a clear beginning, middle and end - although I did find the ending satisfying.

4.5 stars!

I was so excited to read this book as I love VE Schwab books!

Bury our bones follows a series of interconnected characters and we slowly learn of their lives across time.
This book is beautifully written and will make you feel a range of emotions.

I believe a lot of people will love this book, the only reason I did not give it 5 stars is personal taste as historical fiction is not something I typically choose to read and at times the pace was slow within these characters chapters.

Thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for this eArc in return for an honest review.

The story of three young women across the centuries, their lives and afterlives, full of toxicity, obsession and blood. Readers are going to be obsessed with this one – it’s wrought with emotion, atmospheric and beautifully written. A compelling, character-driven novel that will leave you hungry for more.

BURY OUR BONES IN THE MIDNIGHT SOIL - VE SCHWAB

I finished this book last night and, holy sh*t, it is INCREDIBLE. I was nervous to read this one because A) I was scared it wouldn't live up to the hype and B) vampires aren't my favourite fantasy beasties, simply because it's been done so much already.

This book, however, offers an utterly unique and refreshing take on vampires. This is a historical fantasy, taking readers across Europe and Boston through the ages, following three women whose journeys and lives will inevitably converge. These journeys are vivid, sensory and addictive, with all the characters occupying shades-of-grey territory - they're good, bad and everything in between.

But the novel is equally about these characters' emotional states. Flipping between past and present, the reader has a full understanding of who the characters are, and why they do the things they do. Throw in feminine rage, toxic relationships and sapphic romance, and this book is the most well-rounded and unsettling tales I've read this year.

For those who love a darker historical fantasy that doesn't shy away from complex characters, you can't miss this one. Thanks to VE Schwab, the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this eARC.

Release date: 10 June 2025

Review score: 5/5

TWs: blood, injury detail, d*ath, toxic relationships, s*xual content, assault

(4.5/5⭐️)📚 Thank you NetGalley and Tor for the eArc of ‘Bury our Bones in the Midnight Soil’. I knew I loved V.E.Schwab’s writing from my first read of hers ‘Vicious’. Though this reads differently, her writing imprint is the same. She has a beautiful way of story telling, that really engulfs you. I appreciate a Multi POV book, especially ones where the POVs entwine and aid the development of eachothers’ stories. Maria’s story is one of ‘captivity’. However, as she embodies her new persona as Sabine (her creator’s name..the one she kills instantly from greed when turned…This really foreshadows the type of person she’ll become…) and flourishes in her new found life, ‘captivity’ starts holding a whole new meaning. What I discovered through Charlotte’s POV, is a life of freedom is no different to a life of imprisonment. Though they are free of their mortal responsibilities and societal rules, they are held bound to their hunger and desires. And eventually, just as mortals do, they will die - not in the organic, beautiful way that we age and perish, but in a soulless, empty way, where you become a prisoner to the hunt and rot from within. How interesting to see Maria, so full of life and similar to Charlotte, let herself go down this dark path over time. Whereas Charlotte held her mortality, and kept the guilt to ground her. That doesn’t last long when she tips the scales and decides that her loneliness is worse to live with than the potential risk she brings of having the company of another. She was right to fear becoming Sabine, but I think in a way she was already becoming her as she fuelled her greed of company over her guilt of endangering others. Alice surprised me. I was questioning if there was a plot hole regarding Alice killing Sabine to gain her mortality but Charlotte deceived her, selfishly, to be freed. I do think that this is a curse, and in some way Alice will also lose herself and rot, but for now her choices have been selfless. I do mourn the life she has lost and absolutely felt heartbroken at times during her POVs. Though I wish to know what Alice does with her new found freedom, I am satisfied with the ending. All stories must come to an end, and all characters got their ending, regardless if they were happy endings or not. I implore anyone who is a fan of V.E.Schwab or who loves vampires, toxicity and female empowerment, to read this book.

I was absolutely honoured not just to get a physical ARC of this book but to also have a Q&A with @veschwab thanks to @bookbreakuk and @panmacmillan

Let me tell you - you do not want to miss this. This ticked eveey box I have for a book and some I didn't even know I had.

PLEASE read this if you like:
❤️ Lesbian. Vampires.
🩷 multiple narrators
🧡 historical AND contemporary fantasy
💛 reframing of classical conventions
💚 yearning!!!
💙 emotionally and thoughtfully constructed characters
🩵 feral women
💜 stunning, lyrical prose
🤎 a tense, fast-paced but exceptionally deep plot
🖤 self-discovery and growth
🩶 depictions of selfishness and selflessness
🤍 the duality and duplicity of nature explored

Unreal, please preorder.
🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸 5 feral blood drops out of 5

I buried my book in the midnight soil for this one and I have no regrets. No ARCs were harmed in the making of this photo.

Bury The Bones in the Midnight Soul by VE Schwab
I give this book 5 stars.

Santo Domingo de la Calzad
London
Boston
Three young women, their bodies planted in the same soil, their stories tangling like roots.
One grows high, and one grows deep, and one grows wild.
And all of them grow teeth.

The more a book resonates with me the harder I find it to articulate what I felt about the story between the covers. This one reminded me of Addie LaRue which left a lasting impression and is an all time favourite.
Fantastic and Incredible. I could not put this one down for the life of me!
An epic haunting tale of three beguiling women woven over a five hundred year time span. Told in a haunting lyrical prose by a masterful storyteller.
I loved all three of these narratives equally which is very rare.
Sabine (hunger 1532
Charlotte (heart) 1837
Alice (head) 2019
A captivating plot line filled with all consuming love, hunger, rage, sorrow and toxicity.
Mortality and morality combined makes a book to savour!
Bury my bones in the midnight soil
Plant them shallow and water them deep
And in my place will grow a feral rose
Soft red petals growing sharp white teeth.
(every time this was quoted my heart sang)
With thanks to Netgalley, VE Schwab and Pan MacMillan Tor for my chance to read and review this book.

' 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'
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab is the story of three young women whose fates are linked across the centuries, and it just might be her best book to date. I expected a well crafted story and beautiful writing, I was not expecting to have my heart broken by the stories of these women, each of whom faced challenges that are still relevant despite the passage of time.
The book opens in Spain in the 1500s where we are introduced to Maria, then later takes us to London society in the 1800s where we meet Charlotte before bringing us right up to almost present day where we learn the story of Alice, and see how the links of the chains that link these young women were forged and how their interconnected stories will finally be resolved. Each of these characters develop as their stories unfold and I found my feelings about them changing as I read, which made the story more dynamic and certainly helped to keep my attention. I adore a book with complex characters like these and when it is combined with vivid descriptions and beautiful prose it is a real delight. This is a book with a lot of rage and none of it feels misplaced or over done , instead it highlights the humanity of these so called monsters, these vampires who live long enough to learn that 'death is rot and ruin. Death is bones and dirt.' and that in the end death might be their only hope of retaining the last of their humanity.
This is a phenomenal book from an phenomenal author, and I am already feeling the urge to revisit it, it is a story that lingers.
I read an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the author, all opinions are my own.

Three women. Three dark cravings. One raw, genre-breaking tale where the monsters are not always the ones with pointy teeth.

If you read the blurb and other reviews, you might feel that “toxic lesbian vampires” sounds like a fun new version of Twilight with a twist. But if you’ve read the author’s other famed novel, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, you’ll know that is not the direction this one takes.

This could be a classic vampire novel, were it not for the world of 2019 as the situation for one of the stories. It’s so lyrically written, you can’t help but be sucked in. I definitely spent a couple of nights dreaming about the world through the eyes of those buried in the midnight soil after putting the book down.

I think you’d be hard pressed not to absolutely devour this book. You feel everything alongside each of the women - their pain, anger, hunger and longing. I loved passing through a variety of timelines and gorgeous places that were made so real - the world is stretched wide and every single place is written so well. Even side characters were fully fleshed out.

The only real criticism I’ve seen of the book is that it doesn’t have a plot, however I beg to differ. While it doesn’t have the traditional beginning, middle and end acts, it tells a story that lasts centuries. You feel as though you’ve been dropped in the middle of a tale that has lasted millennia and will continue well beyond us - an endless cycle of women and female rage and hunger.

This is already a hotly anticipated book for 2025 and I think is one that will be talked about. I can’t wait for others to read it and to see what they think!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publishers for a review copy of this book.