3.5 ⭐️

Anything Schwab writes, I will read. She is an auto-buy author for me and when I saw this was being released, I jumped at the chance to read it.

I raced through the first 75% of this. I loved the story of Sabine/Mari. The different identities she took on and the different lives she led. The beginnings of her life as a vampire and how she coped. Then how she met Charlotte (Lottie) and how their lives became entangled.

We get snippets of Alice and her sister, Catty as well. These parts of the book felt disjointed and whilst they were interesting to read at the time, I felt myself rushing through them to get to what I felt was the main part of the book.

Then all of a sudden, Sabine is dead and so is Lottie and you have no idea what is happening with Alice. The ending felt a bit rushed and it definitely could have been tighter. I also think the involvement of Alice felt unnecessary as points. The whole point of her story arc it felt was to kill Sabine. Which happened so quickly you’re left wondering what else could happen.

Like I said, I did enjoy this one. I definitely could have just focused on Lottie and Sabine though.

It was a slow start, very lyrical, magical. This is my first book by this author, and its clear that they have confidence in their writing. The story is scattered across various time periods, following three young women as they explore themselves, their power and push against the desires of men. It was a feral female scream against men who think they own women and a delicious exploration of what could happen to a man who tries to take too much.

The plot doesn't really start until over halfway through the book, when we finally start to see timelines come together. I did struggle at times with the first half. It was very 'vibes' and amazing little snapshots - the time in Venice was a personal highlight - but I didn't really understand why we were on this journey or even the point of the modern girl until we properly meet the third girl and things snap together in a very satisfying manner.

It was a bit disappointing that we lose Sabine's pov before the end of the book. When it becomes more about how others perceive her and her actions, when she becomes a force in someone else's story, we are denied her views on what is happening. I would have loved to have known what was going through her head in some of those scenes, how she justified and explained things.

Then it all comes together in a bit of a breathless conclusion, which sits oddly against the languid pace of the rest of the book, but an ending that makes sense and could have really been the only way this story ends. And starts. Over and over again. Bury my bones.

A tragedy of epic, gothic proportions.

V.E Schwab wrote her own review on Good Reads for 'Bury our Bones in the Midnight Soil', giving it 5 stars due to how much she had had to mine her own experience to write it.

Set at different time points, this novel is described as being about 'hunger'. Beginning with Maria in the 15th Century, this is initially a hunger to live an independent life, not be a chattel, and to love who she wants to love regardless of gender. However, about 1/5 of the way through the book, this becomes about vampiric hunger. Jumping between time points in the 15th, 18th and 20th centuries, Schwab focuses on different women who have become vampires.

I have to admit to being disappointed when the focus of the novel changed, and whilst I persevered until I'd read 1/3 of the book, I ultimately stopped reading because this felt too much like a standard 'vampire novel', rather than anything more complex. It may be case that I'm wrong and that later in the novel things because more original, but as the book is a very long one, I decided I couldn't dedicate the time.

For me this is a difficult book to review. If based on writing style, I'd rate it highly as the first 1/5 of the novel really drew me in. However, the plot and originality of the novel has reduced the rating for me. I'm perhaps just the wrong audience.

“There is a kind of ache only immortality can sharpen. A hunger only centuries can stretch.”

Firstly I cannot believe I am one of the first people on earth to read this book?! Thank you SO much book break!!

This book sank its teeth into me from page one and it never let go. Dark, lyrical, devastatingly beautiful, it is not just a vampire novel. It’s a tapestry of grief, rage, longing, and power, stitched together with blood-soaked threads of femininity and desire. A story about what it means to be a woman, to be consumed, to consume, to burn, to endure.

Told across timelines and lifetimes, we follow three women whose lives have been twisted by time, choice, and the cruelties of the world. Their stories echo each other, raw, jagged, and strikingly human despite the monstrous edges. There’s so much pain in their pages, but also resilience. A stubborn flicker of hope that refuses to go out.

The prose? Hypnotic. It slinks across the page, sometimes soft and aching, sometimes sharp as fangs. Every chapter felt like a poem with claws.

It reminded me of the first time I read Addie LaRue, that sense of something sacred and savage blooming beneath the words. But this one? It’s wilder. Angrier. Sharper. It’s Schwab untethered and unapologetic. And I adored every unholy second.

At its heart, this is a story about freedom, about the cost of it, and the hunger it leaves behind. It’s about women who refuse to shrink themselves. Who devour the world on their own terms. It’s about monsters and lovers and everything in between.

This will stay with me. Haunt me. And yes, I’m already desperate for a sequel. Please. I am not above begging.

Thank you again from the depths of my feral heart to Book Break for the early copy. I will be shouting about this one for a long long time.

4.5/5 stars! I absolutely loved this book. VE Schwab writes characters so well I was sucked in from the first page. I really enjoyed the multiple POVs and getting to know each woman throughout their life/the book’s life. I think Alice was my favourite overall though, she was strong and had so much depth! The time periods were very interesting to read through as well, so much happened within a few centuries!! I felt the ending was a bit quick for my liking, but overall I adored this book, and would happily pick it up again tomorrow and start again!

This book emotionally ruined me.
VE SCHWAB IS A MASTERMIND IN STORY TELLING. She weaves us complicated and flawed characters that you both love and somewhat dislike all at once. It’s messy and it’s so beautifully human.

The different timelines and stories kept me engaged and hooked. I was gobbling up every word and then being shocked and heartbroken (CRIES) with the changes in direction.

Thank you so much for letting me read this masterpiece and dare I say, my new favourite V BOOK!!!

What an absolutely incredible book! Without a doubt one of my favourite reads of the year. It has the classic Schwab feel but is elevated to a whole new level. The writing, if you’ll excuse the pun, is to die for.

There wasn’t a single character in this book, side or main, that didn’t make me f e e l . Each POV was a journey unto itself, despite being entangled and inextricable from the others, and I can’t form coherent thoughts about any of them. It’s a testament to Schwab’s writing to have such complicated feeling about each character. I thought I knew a hundred times who my favourite was before having that sentiment turned on its head over and over again.

Easily my favourite of V’s books, the female rage was *exquisite*. I am desperate for more this world and I know that this will be a book I will read again and again.

18hrs read time

I am grateful to Netgalley and Tor for the gifted e-arc in return for an honest review

A slightly different take on the vampire genre, a sweeping epic spanning centuries. We start with Maria/Sabine in the 16th century, a young girl, in the world of men, determined to get the finer things in life. Then, in the 19th century, we have Charlotte/Lottie, a sheltered but adventurous teen, sent to London to learn the ways of attracting men. Finally, we have Alice in the 21st century who wakes up one morning a vampire; she will stop at nothing to track down the person who has killed her...for revenge. All three's destinies are intertwined, they just don't know it yet.

Likes
⭐ The structure of the story ebbs and flows effortlessly, capturing you, sucking you in and keeping you there eager for more
⭐ The relationship between the central characters and the supporting cast are all excellent, their isn't a single character that is out of place.
⭐ The way Schwab uses old vampire folklore but adds her own take on them

Dislikes
❗ Alice's backstory was a little weak and felt like an afterthought.
❗ I felt like some of the secondary characters deserved a bit more page time.

I do like Schwab's more adult focussed books, BOBITMS is an enthralling epic destined to be the read of the season.

Okay now that I've given myself a few days to digest everything I finally feel ready to review this incredible book.

Thank you so much to @bookbreakuk for letting me be a part of this readalong I absolutely loved it and getting to chat to lots of like minded people was a real highlight, not to mention getting to chat to V.E. Schwab and ask questions about Bury Our Bones 😭

Honestly, it felt like grief sinking in when I turned the final page, I adored all three of the protagonists in this story and could have read a book on each individual one.

The female rage was the main draw for me, and the 'Toxic, lesbian vampires' tagline couldn't be more appropriate. The story was dark in that comforting way that appeals to some deep part of a woman's soul that wants to scream and rage at the injustice of the world.

Lyrical in the way that you expect from Schwab's stories, the most incredibly dark and horrifying thing could happen and it is still put down so beautifully on the page.

The characters are so well lived in, I truly loved every single person that we meet in this book whether it was Sabine, Alice, Lottie or one of the side characters they meet along the way. Even the ones that only had a few pages in the story somehow managed to linger in my mind and that is no easy thing to accomplish.

I don't want to say very much more because I think this is a story that has to be read and appreciated without knowing much context but, truly this has become one of my all time favourite reads. I didn't think I would ever love a V.E.Schwab book more than I love Addie Larue but Bury Our Bones has definitely taken the top spot and I fully expect it to become a comfort read (does that make me as dark and twisty as Sabine? I guess so)

This is the first book I've read in a long time that has made me want to pause before jumping straight into another book as soon as I finished it, and I cannot wait to put it into the hands of as many feral humans as I can find in my bookshop when it publishes 🖤

4.5⭐️

V.E.Schwab is one of my all time favorite authors and every book while different still seeps into your soul!

This book is being described as toxic lesbian vampires, which it is but its also about feminine rage, love, loss, finding yourself and all against this eerie gothic background!

I absolutely loved the timeline starting in the 1500's all the way to 2019. I also needed to keep turning the page to see how these 3 women were all connected.

Thank you so much Pan Macmillan for approving this ARC.

One of my favourite reads of the year. The prose is wonderful, with quotes so good I wish I could tattoo them on my heart. Deliciously dark, with the characters being wonderfully interwoven with each other.

I have reviewed Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil for book recommendation and sales site LoveReading.co.uk

I have chosen this title as a Liz Pick of the Month and you can read the full review via the link.

Thank you to NetGalley and PanMacmillan for the arc.
Honestly, I would happily give this more than 5 stars if I could.
This is the first book I’ve read by VE Schwab and I will be hurrying to a bookshop to buy more of her works as this was such an enjoyable read (if you can class brutal, bloodthirsty, toxic relationships as enjoyable…).
The intertwining stories of three women over several centuries and countries, Schwab crafts a twisty narrative fuelled by Sapphic, vampiric, female rage. Their stories are gripping from the start and the characters of the three women are expertly drawn and developed. Atmospherically gothic and also an absolute page-turner. I loved this.

A character study with twists worth of a thespian tragedy. VE Schwab has done it again.
It is magical how her writing can differ so much between books but Bones takes us back to the beloved inward looking worlds that we found in Addie, while being completely and utterly different. Slow and lyrical, this book is just perfect.

This book is so wildly, outrageously toxic it should come with a safety label. ‘Consume if you want to get the hots for toxic lesbian vampires’ I mean I’d drink it every day of the week.

BOBITMS spans across decades and follows the lives of 3 women, our ‘feral roses’. Told through their 3 separate POVs, it perfectly encapsulates the essence and beauty of womanhood and also the lamentable nature of growing up as a woman in certain eras. You instantly find yourself cheering for our first fmc, Maria, we come across. Her feral, head strong mind and heart makes for an excellent introduction to the feral women in this story.

The writing is phenomenal. Unmatched In their prose, Schwab delivers yet another unforgettable and unforgiving storyline. The female rage and feral-ness cannot be beaten. The depth of the characters and the way their stories intertwine with one another. The emotive language. The originality of the story alone.

It is undeniable that BoB’s carries a lot of personal weight and emotion, I see myself in each of the characters individually and I truly believe this was one that was written from the heart!

Schwab has successfully resurrected Vampire fiction and I am NOT mad.

Ve schwab is a master at storytelling being able to interweave 3 different characters stories from 3 different eras of time for them to all converge together and have this sort of domino butterfly effect in each other is incredible! Sabines transition from human to vampire in a bid for freedom, but ultimately becoming the one taking others freedom as the book progresses. I loved following her character through the centuries, and how slowly you see her soul rot from corruption through the longer she lives. We also follow in tandem Alice in the modern day, who deals with being turned into a vampire in her own way in comparison to Sabine, and are hinted at an introduction to our third and final female protagonist, Lottie, a sort of mystery that haunts the shadows of the narrative until her story interweaves with our other two characters ! I really honestly loved following the different povs and how lyrically poetic the phrasing and explanation of vampiric terms/ descriptions were
“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”
One of my only complaints was the ending, after the buildup over the last 20 percent I was expecting something greater with the penultimate few chapters, and I feel like it was somewhat anticlimactic in my opinion ! But other than that I throughly enjoyed the entire book ! And i definitely will be reading more from Ve schwab in the future !!
Thank you to Pan Macmillian and Net galley for this early e-arc copy ! This will definitely be the vampire read of the summer !

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is beautifully eerie in that classic V.E. Schwab way. The writing is absolutely gorgeous — poetic, haunting, and full of that soft, aching kind of magic she does so well.

I did have some issues with the pacing; this is a very character driven story and as much as I enjoyed this, the plot doesn't really kick in until we are about 2/3 of the way through the book so at times it felt a bit slow going. Once the plot kicked in, it felt a bit rushed and I didn't love the ending,

If you love V E Schwab's writing, you will probably enjoy this book - nobody writes characters quite how she does

SAPPHIC??? VAMPIRES??? This was everything I needed and more. V.E Schwab hit it out of the park yet again. Auto buy author for sure

I couldn’t believe my luck when I was accepted for this ARC. I have read so many VE Schwab books, and they have all been sublime. Within a few pages I knew that this would be no different. What a completely beautiful piece of work.

So many interweaving stories fail because links are made so obvious, but these were subtle at first. The way the experience of the characters was depicted felt so real - each moment of joy or suffering almost tangible. I don’t know how the author does it - each story is so unique, so touching.

Request it now and read it immediately:

Toxic lesbian vampires?? I'm in! This was my first Schwab book, and my god, what an introduction. A lavish, magnetic novel with poetic prose and charming, complex characters, Bury Our Bones is a story to sink your teeth into.