This tale of lesbian vampires across time is as beautifully told as Addie La Rue. It is dark and haunting and lyrical and I just loved it.

I went in not really knowing anything about it, and it was a wonderful surprise. Schwab’s writing is delicious as always. It needed sustained reading as when I put it down for a little while i did struggle a little to pick up the thread again, but that didn’t impact my enjoyment.

Highly recommend this gorgeous book!

In Bury Our Bones In The Midnight Soil, we follow the story of three women dealing with societal expectations, rage and their own desires. The structure is almost episodic, telling stories of different eras and showing how these women adjust to their new realities as they follow the path that will eventually lead to one another.

I love V. E. Schwab’s writing style and am a huge fan of most of her previous work, but vampires were never super compelling to me. I’ve always found that it is difficult to write a vampire story that feels unique. Also, the episodic nature of the story meant that some passages of the book were really enjoyable while others not as much, but the writing is as beautiful as it is in Addie LaRue.

Fans of vampires and slow paced, character focused books will certainly enjoy this one!

BURY OUR BONES IN THE MIDNIGHT SOIL is a story of loss and power with vampires who have to decide how they're going to handle an eternity alone.

Of all Schwab's books, this feels most similar to THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LA RUE. It's a more lyrical tale of loneliness and power and the desire for connection, as well as how a long life could turn someone into something dark. This loneliness manifests in a pretty small cast. Though the story plays out over several centuries, jumping between cities across Europe and the US, only the three women stay in the story for any length of time. Everyone comes and goes (and often dies badly.)

I was a bit surprised that it took about 2/3 of the book for the last perspective - Charlotte - to come into play (she has a very short chapter at the start and then nothing). She then has probably the longest single POV section of the book, following her story through to being made a vampire in one go, rather than being split up like Maria/Sabine's or Alice's. Charlotte's perspective then replaces Sabine's, telling their side of the tale.

It's an interesting set up but it works because it means you are only seeing one side of the story at once. You don't get Charlotte's until after Sabine's has played out and can understand why she does what she does to Charlotte. And then you just see Alice and Charlotte having to contend with the consequences, because they're able to change, to react.

Because of the three timelines, it's a book best read in as few sittings as possible, I think, so you leave the world as little as possible. I appreciated that each POV was clearly signposted with their current time and location after a jump (though Alice does have a lot of flashbacks) as that made it easier to situate where you were in relation to one another.

Toxic lesbian vampires, say no more! Thank you Pan MacMillan for this eARC

“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 love a good vampire book and Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil did not disappoint! This book is dark, addicting and full of toxic relationships, it gave me interview with a vampire vibes in the best way, the kind of controlling mind games and destructive relationships only people who have been together and alive for centuries can possibly have.

The timeline follows three women throughout different time periods and settings, navigating the world as women and the issues and challenges that come along with that despite what age you are in. The story intertwines beautifully creating a tapestry of lives and history.
I love that this book takes you from the pious Spanish countryside to Venice in its masquerade heyday, London in its Bridgerton era all the way to Boston.

One of my favourite passages I highlighted:

“Why does Charlotte stay? That is like asking—why stay inside a house on fire? Easy to say when you are standing on the street, a safe distance from the flames. Harder when you are still inside, convinced you can douse the blaze before it spreads, or rushing room to room, trying to save what you love before it burns.”

This is my first VE Schwab and I will definitely be reading more of her work this year!

Schwab knows how to write emotional, traumatic, unforgettable characters.

I was obsessed with Addie La’Rue and this was another book I enjoyed.

At first I was unsure of what was going on. There are different POV throughout and that was difficult to switch between at first.

The characters were memorable and dark, there was a lot of suspense around each of them and how their lives took a dark turn. The emotional depth of the characters helped to build the story onto a deeper level.

Unfortunately, I had really high hopes for this but I didn’t enjoy the characters. I find it hard to get on board with them and I think set myself too high of an expectation because of how much I loved Addie!

A searing, poetic reckoning of female rage, this story burns with quiet fury and hard-won growth. Through lyrical prose and a slow-building tension , it draws readers into a world where the supernatural and psychological intertwine.
What struck me most were the female protagonists—their differences, their evolution, and the stark contrast between male and female experiences. It powerfully explores how women are taught by society to repair, endure, and carry pain—often in silence. But what happens when women choose to be honest about their anger?
Perfect for fans of atmospheric dark fantasy with heart.

I have been so looking forward to this release - and I'm so thrilled it lived up to my very high expectations. I loved every moment of this and I couldn't recommend it enough.

V.E. Schwab has done it again. I haven’t wanted to put this book down ever since I started reading it. It captured me and didn’t let go until I finished. The vibe of it definitely felt similar to The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, just darker and queer which is just a superior combination in my opinion.

I loved the character driven plot. Getting to know them bit by bit while traveling through the years and around the world. The way V.E. Schwab tells the story is just so beautiful and captivating. As someone who struggles visualising things, she makes it so so easy.

Reading this is such an experience and I honestly have no clue how to explain it with words. Would definitely recommend to anyone who likes these vibes.

After Addie, I didn't think I'd ever like anything VE Schwab wrote anywear near as much... but I was wrong! This story is anchored by 3 incredibly interesting and differing POVs weaved together over hundreds of years, and I truly couldn't get enough.

3.5 stars ✨

“The world will try to make you small. It will tell you to be modest, and meek. But the world is wrong. You should get to feel and love and live as boldly as you want.”

The more I reflect on this book, the more I love it. On the surface, it’s an easy read—the story of three women, born centuries apart, whose lives become entangled. But look a little deeper, and it’s a haunting slow burn, eerily unraveling toward an inevitable and bloody end.

”You will learn, it is better to bend than to break.”
“Why should I be the one that bends?”

This is not a pretty romance. It’s ugly, toxic, and destructive, leaving a trail of bodies in its wake. The narrative focusses on the emotional states of the characters - how cracks are smoothed over and ignored until they become gaping fissures beyond repair. It touches on the expectations placed on women and the roles we’re taught to play, whether we want to or not. It explores themes of feminine rage, history repeating itself, and the question of fate: are we the makers of our own doom, or simply bound to repeat what’s come before?

“It won’t change what happened. It won’t change what I am. What she did. You’re right, there’s no going back. But it might help you go forward.”

This already feels like it will be one of my favourite reads of the year and will sit with me for a long time after finishing it. Thank you NetGalley and Tor Publishing for the arc.

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!!!