Johanna van Veen, you are a creepy weird genius and I love you! After reading My Darling Dreadful thing I knew I had to read this one. I wasn't sure how it was going to live up to her first novel, but wow, so fantastic!! Taking place in the 1870's making it even more gothic and creepy and dreadful. I loved it so much. Thank you for the opportunity to find another new favorite author!

This review is based on an arc, not the final copy of the book.

I requested for the beautiful cover and high reviews and stayed for the gothic horror. My first gothic horror novel and I quite liked it.
Just like Sarah, was obsessed with the bog body..I was obsessed with finishing this story...and I did so in one sitting.

Quite a bit of gore, descriptive grotesque elements and dread. I felt cold and uncomfortable in the best way possible featuring cannibalism and rotting corpses.

The story begins with Sarah, Lucy's twin sister, who is slowly falling into a mental and physical decline after a centuries-old corpse is discovered on her husband's estate. The doctor's diagnosis of "temporary insanity" due to a fever of the brain seems to offer a rational explanation. Lucy believes that there is something far more sinister at play. Lucy's love for her sister pushes her to take desperate measures to protect Sarah from being confined to a lunatic asylum. The author's depiction of Sarah's transformation is particularly chilling. The ambiguity of Sarah's sanity blurs the lines between the supernatural and psychological. As Lucy grapples with the possibility that her sister may become something monstrous, she must also confront the secrets she has been keeping, asking who the monster is.

The historical context of the 19th century, with its limited understanding of mental illness and the harsh realities of treatment, adds a layer of tension. Women were labeled hysterical and removed from society, which in many cases was not due to illness but to families or husbands silencing women. The story forces readers to confront unsettling questions about the nature of sanity, the existence of evil, and one's ability to face overwhelming fear.

The pacing was inconsistent and drug at several places. It was also repetitive. Overall, the plot was unique, and the writing was atmospheric and eerie. Its chilling depiction of a descent into madness was thrilling.

I received an ARC ebook for my honest review. Thank you, NetGalley and Poison Pen Press.

Really a remarkable historical fiction haunted story, very deep in detail and possessing. Enjoyed it!

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

I enjoyed this! I thought it was a fun twist on a usual tale, especially since I just finished reading Dracula. The relationship between the sisters was my favorite portion, of course the men mucked it up! All in all, a well paced story

Content Warnings: Gore (Eye Gouging, Cutting with blades), Cannibalism, Vampirism, Obsessive & Unhealthy Relationships, Misogyny, Child Abuse (off screen), Death of Child, Corpses, Medical Institutionalization (Mental Illness), Sexual Abuse (off screen), Existentialism/Body Horror (Parasite)
Note: The ARC (and I assume final book) has a dedicated section with great details on content warnings. The above content warnings are my personal ones, not the ones from the book.

van Veen delivers another gripping, Gothic tale, this time starring twin sisters in a tale that blends shades of Dracula, Victorian era natural sciences, and questioning of self. The book largely follows Lucy in a third person limited view, with occasional inclusions of journal entries and letters from her sister, Sarah. Lucy and Sarah are both great characters, fully fleshed out with strengths, weaknesses, and secrets. I also dug the vibe of Sarah's household with all its interpersonal tensions.

For me, this book was slightly less successful than My Darling Dreadful Thing for two reasons. First, I found the elements related to the parasite overly explained and presented too early. There was little time to wonder if Sarah was gone or not or space to imagine anything about the parasite infecting her. Both fit the specific tone and focus of this book, but just didn't hit the sweet, spooky spot of horror I prefer. Second, I found the structure a little weird. The first third of the book, great; second third, kicking off with the parasite reveal, okay; last third leading to the conclusion a little rushed, with an ending I didn't really find satisfying.

Despite the above, I would still recommend this work to anyone looking for a solid horror story, and I'll be on the lookout for the next van Veen book. The strengths definitely outweighed any weaknesses I found in the book.

Talk about supporting women's rights, and more importantly, their wrongs! This novel was a delightfully creepy mixture of What Moves the Dead, Carmilla, and something very uniquely Johanna van Veen that I just can't seem to get enough of.

When main character Lucy receives a distressing letter regarding the severe mental decline of her twin sister, Sarah, she immediately goes to her aide. Once Lucy sees how bad her sister's condition has gotten, and how differently Sarah is acting, Lucy scrambles to unravel what actually ails her. Is it temporary insanity like Sarah's husband, Michael, and childhood friend and current Doctor, Arthur, say? Or is it something more sinister?

This story kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time I was reading. The gathering of clues about what was truly ailing Sarah interspersed with stomach churning body gore, truly eye widening surprises and enthralling letters/articles were done beautifully. Van Veen had me sucked in as soon as I read that there was a bog body, and on top of that, a bog body staked down with a brick in their mouth. As an Anthropology major who was obsessed with burial rites, especially when it came to different culture's methods of preventing their dead from coming back, this was an incredibly exciting detail to read. Also, following Sarah's attempt at discovering more about the bog body (amongst other things) by researching ticks and (my beloved) cordyceps fungus had me giggling with excitement. I cannot overstate how much I love fungal horror books, so this element alone was probably enough to sell me on the whole book. I was not expecting so much graphic description of gore, specifically body horror, but it was just enough to make me as uncomfortable as I like being while reading a horror novel.

Now, for Lucy and Sarah's relationship. What a weird one. Compelling until the very end, but so weird and complex. Despite all their secrets, betrayals, and personality changes, they were still fiercely (read: aggressively) loyal to each other. I found their softer moments together quite surprising and very much welcomed. Van Veen took what could have been a pretty cookie cutter story, and instead took a much-needed new path to explore what if they actually weren't good people and they didn't do good things? I appreciate the contemplation regarding what it means to be good vs evil, and if you can even label something as evil if what it's doing is only trying to survive. These women do not do good things, and I love that.

After reading My Darling Dreadful Thing, I will read anything van Veen puts out. I'm so glad this lived up to my expectations and I genuinely can't wait until van Veen's next work!

Read the content warnings, there's a LOT of body gore, references to SA and childhood abuse, and definitely a lot of abuse of power imbalance/manipulation. Also, slight spoiler, but the dog does not die, so thank you van Veen for that :)

Thank you NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press, and Johanna van Veen for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Blood on Her Tongue is a fascinating and morbid period piece. The curious case of the bog body turns into a thrilling and unique dilemma, where the bonds between family are challenged. Loyalties are questioned and I was left captivated until the last page.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an advanced copy for reviewing. All opinions are my own.

This story follows Lucy as she journeys to her sisters estate to tend to her while she’s ill. Lucy & Sarah have a weird twin dynamic, as Sarah is more daring and dominant, (propriety be damned), and Lucy submissively follows all of her whims. I liked reading the letters between them while it filled in the gaps of the story. Van Veen’s take on revenants/vampires was interesting and different from anything I’ve read in a while. I liked the story well enough, but I feel like it dragged on a bit too much for such a quickly wrapped up, open ending.

Quick synopsis: 1887 Netherlands, a twin girl becomes infatuated with a corpse found in the bog and something within the bog corpse overtakes her and it has an insatiable hunger for human blood. Her other twin is ready and willing to do whatever it takes to help her sister.
Review: A dark, gothic, supernatural, horror with some sapphic longing? There’s literally nothing else I desire from a book! This book was so original and deliciously done I could not put it down! A very fun and atmospheric read with just the right amount of gore and anticipation throughout. I also love how this wasn’t a book about romantic relationships, but rather a complex and codependent relationship between siblings and how far one is willing to go to protect their sibling.. would they go as far as murder? I love any sort of vampiric, demonic possession books and this one will be another all timer for me from the mastermind that is Johanna Van Veen! Another thing that I love about Johanna’s books is that you never really know if it is truly supernatural or pure madness of the characters. Highly recommend to all! (:
Thanks @netgalley and @poisonpenpress for allowing me the ARC in exchange for my hostage review!
Blood on her tongue available March 2025!

4.5☆

Taking half a star off for what happened to Arthur. I'm only joking; it's not a full five stars because it didn't hit the same way 'My Darling Dreadful Thing' hit.

The number of times I've said, 'No, she wouldn't,' to myself is insane. I absolutely love Johanna Van Veen's way of writing and the fact that she isn't afraid to write about the themes discussed in this book.

Her work makes my heart burn and my brain need time to process. I've never had an author become an auto-buy this fast!

This was a 5/5 for me! It took me a while to read, but that’s only because I read so much slower in the digital space. This book was just everything I long for in a gothic novel: excellent creepy setting, a little bit of blood and gore, the victorian setting. I enjoyed that Johanna used bog bodies again, but gave it a slightly different spin from her last novel. The vampire inspiration was very originally executed as well. I enjoyed this book a lot more than ‘my Darling Dreadful Thing’ because the relationships felt real to me. I adored the deep connection between twin and that romance wasn’t the main subject of the story. I really felt for Lucy and enjoyed seeing her slowly lose grip of.. everything really. In ‘my Darling Dreadful Thing’ one of the questions for readers was: is it madness or reality? And in this novel, ‘Blood on her Tongue’, you can ask yourself this question again. But, honestly, it was better executed than last time, it’s.. well in Dutch we say ‘het ligt er minder dik bovenop’ which translates to that it’s less obvious. Johanna please keep writing these lovely gothic novels!

This book was a wild ride. The writing was engaging and well-paced, but I just felt like I was waiting for a big reveal or twist. It was certainly dark and complicated with its dives into various relationships.
And there were moments I had to literally shudder from a scene…so it was definitely compelling! I just feel that the resolution was essentially “ok, this is the end now” and it didn’t stir any new feelings of wrapping it up for me.

I struggled with this one. The writing was mostly fine but I felt confused with some parts. While it was a different, interesting take on a vampire story, I felt that it fell flat. I just wasn't into it.

I'm a bit stuck with this book, because I *think* it accomplished what it was trying to do, but that accomplishment is also what makes it very frustrating to read.

Lucy, our heroine, is - no beating around the bush - obsessed with her twin sister. She dashes to her side whenever she needs help, sleeps with her husband to try and feel closer to her, and eventually destroys her entire life for the sake of protecting her. There are two ways to view this: one, the book is about the horror of a deeply co-dependent relationship, in which case, mission accomplished! And yet, it feels like there's something missing. Maybe it's just that we see nothing of Sarah before she vampirism takes over, and so it's hard to understand just what Lucy is so obsessed with. It makes Lucy seem weaker as a character, because her defining trait and core motivation for everything she does is protecting Sarah - but we, the reader, can't see what's so special about Sarah that makes Lucy so devoted, and it gives the impression that she's so lacking in personality, she'd latch on to anyone who exerted the slightest force of will over her. There's also a secondary character, Katje, who is in love with Sarah and characterized by being very frail and weak and dependent on her - so is the takeaway here that Sarah surrounds herself with women who don't have the strength of will to defy her? That would be interesting, if the book really committed to it, but it doesn't.

The other way of seeing it is that this is a triumphant love story, and . . . no, that doesn't work at all. As I've said, Lucy is so lacking in spine and Sarah in personality (we see a lot of Sarah post-vampiring, but the book also tells us repeatedly that she is now two people in one body, so that's not really Sarah, is it?) that there's no real reason to root for the two of them. It's especially contradictory because one of the main throughlines is Lucy and Sarah's absolute terror at being sent to an asylum, as their aunt was - but the facts as available to the antagonist characters (Sarah's husband Michael and their family friend Arthur) make it clear that this is the best possible option, because Sarah eats people! There's another throughline, that of male abuse and patriarchy, but it doesn't mesh when the abuse in question is "thinking the woman who's going around stabbing herself in the eye and biting peoples' fingers off should probably not be running around free." What we're left with is two lead characters, one of whom is a pushover and the other one of whom is a cipher, and so we can't really invest in their fates, because there's just not enough "there" there.

(As an aside - I know Grady Hendrix's "The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires" is divisive, but to me, it succeeds where this one fails, because we see the antagonists of that book wielding power over the women in their lives in situations where our heroines are desperately trying to make them see sense. Whereas, in this, every decision Lucy makes regarding her sister is so nonsensical, we end up rooting for the men in her life to separate them because it clearly needs to happen! The book needed to either commit to the Lucy-Sarah relationship being a horror story, or show Lucy as a character with the mental/emotional resources to steer her own life, and it did neither.)

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. When *My Darling Dreadful Thing* was released, I was thrilled, and this story surpassed even my high expectations. It offers a unique twist on the traditional vampire tale, much like *A Dowry of Blood*, presenting a mournful recounting of a vampire's love story. However, rather than focusing on romantic love, it explores the profound, enduring bond between siblings and does not shy away from the complexities and messiness that can arise in family relationships. One of my favorite literary genres features what I call "unhinged women," and I appreciated how the ending embraced this theme wholeheartedly.

A little odd, but not so odd that I did not enjoy the book. I thought it was an interesting take on vampire lore.