2.5

Ughhh i really wanted to like this

The premise seemed so intriguing and the story started off strong but waned really quickly for me. I just found that the pacing was really clunky and it never really finds its rhythm. If anything the longer this went on you could start to feel in the writing that schwab was trying to rush things forward to the finish line. + for how long this book is and how many years it tries to cover, the characters just felt so one dimensional. Unfortunately had a unsatisfying end as well. :( Thank you NetGalley for the arc!

V.E. Schwab once again proves her mastery of storytelling with Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil, a mesmerizing, time-hopping tale that kept me on the edge of my seat. Echoing the narrative elegance of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, the novel seamlessly weaves through different time periods, creating a rich, immersive experience.

At its heart, this is a vampire story unlike any other—a fresh and deeply humanized take on the undead. Schwab explores the morality of survival with nuance, forcing both characters and readers to wrestle with the ethics of killing to live. And the toxic lesbian vampire relationship? Absolutely compelling. Dark, obsessive, and beautifully tragic, it’s the kind of dynamic that lingers long after the final page.

Atmospheric, thought-provoking, and refreshingly original, Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is a must-read for anyone craving a vampire novel with depth, heart, and a touch of Schwab’s signature magic.

It is my favorite contemporary vampire novel with a female focus since I fell in love with Anne Rice's works. All the characters are compelling, and their stories are amazing and even relatable. Great writing, well executed, cleverly arranged (chapters from the past are crucial to understanding the ones from the most recent present -2019). We just forget about what is surrounding us and we join Maria, Sabine, Lottie, Alice... all of these stories, wanting to know their next step and their journey. It is predictable in some points, but it just gives us a feeling of fatalism that can't be avoided. It's very satisfying and makes great and valid points on themes like love, time, eternity, freedom, promises, rules, bonds, betrayal, obsession, and being humane.

Thank you publisher and netgalley for this e arc.

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is a delicious story that will leave you hungry for more.

“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.”

Set over 500 years, this tale of three sapphic vampires is a story about hunger, rage and the ways in which women are told to be satiated even when they aren’t. It isn’t just a story about vampires, it’s about three women coming to terms with their identities and accepting who they are. Told in alternating timelines throughout history, we follow Sabine, Charlotte, and Alice and learn how their stories twine together.

I am in awe of V.E. Schwab and her creativity! The way she is able to come up with the most unique stories is incredible and Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is no different. The YEARNING and the mind games between the characters in this story, are unmatched. It almost feels like parts of Addie La Rue and Vicious were planted throughout the story.

Although I enjoyed this story, I didn’t quite get that 5 star feeling. The pacing is a bit slower, similar to Addie LaRue. I loved the first half of the book, but found the second half to drag on until the ending which I found to be a bit predictable. The story is more character driven which pushes the plot in the back. I find sometimes with multiple POVs that I tend to enjoy one character’s POV over the other’s which is what happened with this story; I preferred Sabine’s chapters over Alice’s. Even though this wasn't a 5 star for me, I loved the messy toxic characters and I can’t wait for the book community to taste this story! 4 stars!

Read if you like
- Sapphic sexy vampires
- Alternating timelines & multiple POVs
- Female rage
- A Dowry of Blood by ST Gibson
- character driven stories
- Tension & yearning

Thank you Tor Publishing Group for an arc of Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil <3

I wasn't quite sure what I was getting into based on the short, yet enticing, blurb— turns out it's vampires, baby! It's been awhile since I've read a good vampire book, and this one checked all the boxes!

An immersive page turner reminiscent of Interview with a Vampire. V. E. Schwab has done it again. I will certainly be hand selling this book at my store.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

My first V.E. Schwab book and I am so impressed. The writing of this book was simply spectacular and had me hooked from the first page. I really enjoyed the separate time-period flashbacks / storylines & found them very easy to follow. This book was sensual, suspenseful, and completely unpredictable. Put this on the top of your 2025 anticipated releases lists!!

Speechless.
544 pages wasn’t enough.
Victoria E. Schwab has done it again.
🖤 Toxic Relationships
🖤 Friends to Lovers to Enemies
🖤 Female Rage
🖤 Sapphic love
🖤 Vampires

I like to blind date books and by that I mean either the cover catches my interest OR it’s a book by an author I’m familiar with. I don’t typically look at the book blurb before going. All that to say I requested this book solely based on the fact it was written by Victoria E. Schwab and nothing else.
And WOW, what a ride this book was. If you loved Interview With a Vampire and haunting romances than this book is for you.
By some witchcraft, V.E. Schwab expertly unravels a story over CENTURIES and kept me enthralled the whole time. This book has left me with the same hungry the characters had- I devoured the book, wanting to know how all the characters connected, and even now at the end with that knowledge I am still hungry for more.
V.E. Schwab put so much of herself into this book and it truly shows- and if by some chance you come across this Victoria- THANK YOU! Thank you for sharing so much of yourself with this book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for this ARC. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by
Victoria E. Schwab is set to be release on June 10, 2025.
20/10 recommend!

V.E. Schwab's Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is a masterful exploration of vampirism, identity, and the intertwining fates of three women across five centuries—Santo Domingo de la Calzada (1532), London (1837), and Boston (2019). Their lives, rooted in the same soil, weave a haunting narrative of fierce love, freedom at a steep price, and the eternal struggle between humanity and monstrosity. Schwab’s lyrical and atmospheric prose immerses readers in a world where hunger is ravenous, love is vicious, and destiny is inescapable. With richly developed characters that embody unique aspects of the vampire mythos, the novel unfolds as a slow-burn gothic tale, culminating in a powerful crescendo. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil stands as a fresh and deeply emotional addition to vampire literature, perfect for fans of Schwab’s previous works and those who crave gothic horror with complex character studies. This is an unforgettable, thought-provoking read that started a little slow.

There’s a loneliness to this book — this sense of emptiness that cannot be sated. The more pages I turned, the more I got wrapped up in the story. The three different stories (one didn’t truly start until nearly 60% in) all threaded together in a way I didn’t fully anticipate. I’ll say there are some beautiful parts and some really horrific parts (looking at nearly the whole book let’s be real.) This was a unique take on vampirism and how they aren’t truly immortal, not in the way one would think but, I’ll leave you all to figure that one out.

There was lots of blood and death and grief. There was love that was mostly toxic but, there was one love in particular that truly had my heart (See Venice) and it was moments like that that made this book hurt.

I enjoyed each different POV for different reasons. Maria because she was unapologetic. She took what she wanted and she made it happen. Alice because of wanting to be new, to be brave and also her own grief she carried with her. And Lottie because she was lonely — not at first, but over the decades it becomes more apparent.

This is definitely for one who loved Addie LaRue. Thank you to Tor for the opportunity to read early..

This was a little slow for me to get into it! After about 30% I was struggling to keep going but I did and ended up really enjoying it. Addie LaRue was SOO good, I was really excited to read this one.

I just really enjoy V.E. Schwab’s writing. Whether it’s her YA, Middle Grade or Adult, I love it.
If you’re a fan, you will be thrilled with this book too! Could make an excellent book club pick for sure!

"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 𝓱𝓲𝓭𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓹 𝔀𝓱𝓲𝓽𝓮 𝓽𝓮𝓮𝓽𝓱."

{Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing an advanced reader copy for an honest review}

A Hauntingly Beautiful, Sapphic Reinvention of Vampire Lore

Stars: 4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 1.5/5 🌶️

[author:Victoria E. Schwab|3099544]'s <i>Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil</i> is a umbrous, sapphic reimagining of vampire mythos and folklore, weaving an intricate yet demanding narrative that spans centuries and continents along night-darkened streets, in blood-soaked rooms, and within monsters' embraces. With lush prose and intricate storytelling, Schwab once again delivers what I predict to be a definite bestseller in a grim tale of power, identity, and morality that lingers long after the final page - perhaps Schwab's own take on immortality and its haunting complexion.

This novel follows the lives of three women across different eras — Sabine, Charlotte, and Alice — each bound by the darkness of a vampire's sanguine kiss that links them through time. From 16th-century Spain to Victorian London to modern-day Boston, their stories intertwine in unexpected ways, revealing the price of eternity and just how heavy the weight of the past can be. Each woman's tale is a thread in a complex tapestry that explores their queerness, histories, and shared, haunting connection.

Sabine is an entity all her own whose riotous journey in 16th-century Spain and beyond remains core to the novel. Sabine’s fierce and dominating nature, evidenced through each strand of her fiery copper hair (which actually interestingly serves as the catalyst for her journey), evinces her transformation and how her struggle for control above all else shapes the story’s physical and emotional core. Charlotte is a fiercely passionate and empathetic woman navigating the rigid expectations of her time in Victorian London when her path collides with fate in ways she never imagined. Alice, hailing from the dichotomous petrichor and mist-shadowed vales and rowdy pubs of Scotland, finds her stilted story taking her to Boston to begin her studies at Harvard, where she is confronted with a sweet, cloying darkness that blurs every line between myth and reality she knows and can imagine.

Particular highlights of this novel include its <b>innovative narrative structure</b>; Schwab’s dual-timeline approach in three differing POVs keeps the reader enthralled, seamlessly blending past and present to create a richly layered story skillfully balanced across centuries and three women's perspectives. This structure truly enriched the storytelling, offering readers a panoramic view of the characters' lives and the evolving world around them. The <b>thematic depth</b> of this novel is equally compelling. <i>This novel isn’t just about vampires — it’s a finely wrought, glittering web interrogating dualities: love and indifference, obsession and devotion, loyalty and betrayal, power and powerlessness, eternity and immediacy, freedom and control, and the things that tether us to life (and death).</i> We see Schwab further navigate and add layered meaning to the narrative through profoundly conceptual motifs like time, promises, rules, bonds, and the essence of being human. Finally, the shining laureate of this novel has to lie with its <b>LGBTQIA+ representation</b>. With its focus on lesbian vampires and queerness across time periods, <i>Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil</i> delivers a fresh, inclusive take on the dusty genre and rich diversity to the narrative. My queer heart was beating fast for not only the romantic aspects but because Schwab’s agile navigating of different times and worlds with her queer characters was real, gritty, and deep.

While I know that V.E. Schwab's writing style tends towards detail and lyricality (and these are often the very elements that ensnare me in her works), my one complaint for the novel is that drawn out scenes, overly substantial detail, and purple prose abound. This cropped up in Sabine's POV in the early stages of her marriage and vampiric life, but it was particularly salient and inescapable within Alice's POV. I found that Schwab flushed out details much more than was needed, her description of background aspects of Alice's daily life, thinking process, and emotional state becoming purple prose that, at a certain point, truly added nothing to the story itself and instead detracted through its overcompensation. It was infinitely shocking to me that I was compelled to skip over pages and pages of writing because of this. In my humble opinion, tightening up and better focalizing the writing in Alice's POV would serve to not only allow the reader to better connect with her through more clearly seeing through the lens of her eyes but make her story more impactful as a whole because of it.

Concluding this review is much like how I felt concluding this book: like closing the door on a beautiful chapter of inescapable darkness. <i>Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil</i> is a visceral yet lush tale that not only redefines vampire fiction but <i>elevates</i> it. This is Schwab at her finest — dark, lyrical, and utterly compelling. Her eloquent prose and intricate plotting create an immersive experience that one must turn over again and again in their head, searching for cracks in the veneer and sharp white teeth among soft red petals. This novel, like many of her works before, is a testament to her storytelling prowess, offering not only a freshly dark, rottenly saccharine, and sharply seductive take on the vampire mythos, but a deeper confrontation and internalization of the very concept of decay and time itself. We learn that even immortality decays, and that all the best things eventually rot. Prepare to be seduced by the inescapable shadows of Schwab's prose and to encounter a book that you can really sink your teeth into and bleed bone dry.

Note: This review is based on an advanced reader copy provided by the publisher.

V. E. Schwab does it again! Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil was everything I wanted it to be. Ever since Schwab wrote her vampire short story I have been dying for her to write more of them and this was all that I wanted. We follow three different women across 100s of years as they each find their way in their new lives. I really think it’s best to go into this book not knowing much and just going along for the ride. Schwab writes her characters so beautifully and I loved each and everyone we met along the way. Everyone needs to read this book just for the perfection of it

I hope to share so many quotes from this book when it's released, but this novel is V.E. Schwab at her absolute best. This is my favorite read of the year and I don't foresee that changing.

The writing prowess alone is enough to recommend this book to you. Every page ambles delicately through dark city streets, twisted lovers languidly intertwined, revenge, death, and devastation trailing behind.

Although this is certainly a lesbian vampire novel, it almost feels reductionist to leave it at that. The exploration of the loss of humanity with time is the focal point. A woman wronged, a woman trapped, and a woman broken, reclaims themselves at the expense of those around them. Each woman highlighted in this book has a dark past that slowly unveils herself page by page. I loved how their stories met and how they ended.

Catch me in June and the rest of the year after, creeping around corners of bookstores, telling people to read this book. This is THE vampire book of 2025!

My first V E Schwab book and I can’t definitely tell why her books are so popular, there is a lot of depth that goes into creating a book such as this and it must take a lot of planning and attention to detail to get everything just right.

This book is highlighted as “toxic vampires”, it definitely suits that with a whole lot more to offer. I feel like we are back in the era of vampires?? There seems to be lots of vampire themed books popping up lately, and as somebody who is currently rewatching vampire diaries for the tenth time I am ALWAYS here for anything within the vampire realm.

The plot flows over the span of a 500 year period and highlights three female leads who were born and lived throughout different time periods and how their stories and lives come to interconnect by the end.

There is also reference to Addie Larue and I could definitely see that, there is a lot of thought provoking scenes and some heavier subject matter scattered throughout in a thoughtful almost poetic way.

I will say I did find this book to start out very slow burn, with it being a bigggg book it is a little difficult for those like myself who lean towards a book we can speed through in one sitting, however it is nice to switch things up and slow things down and experience something new and different now and again which is why I do find I enjoy this type of reading material.

Overall I enjoyed it, I liked how things came together in the end, there was a lot of fun moments and also some deeper ones which contrasted nicely. I would recommend giving the book a try!

Thank you to Tor Publishing and V E Schwab for the gifted EARC!

Publish date: June 10th 2025

Thanks for the ARC! I will recommend this book to library patrons looking for dark, emotional reads with LGBTQ representation. The writing is phenomenal, and the characters are complex and compelling. I will be thinking about this book for a long time.

I am at a loss for words but at the same time HAVE SO MANY THINGS TO SAY. At this point, I'd kindly ask V.E. Schwab to please split my therapy bills with me.

I didn't know I needed a vampire book to obsess about until I had Bury Our Bones in my hands! But in all honesty, how can I ever put into words how beautiful, how poetic, how piercing this book is? Because that's what it is, A DELICATE WORK OF ART.

When Schwab said we are in for some toxic lesbian vampires, she meant WE ARE SO IN. Bury Our Bones follows the story of three vampires in the span of decades, then centuries. I have lost count of the times I praised this book as I go from page to page, and strongly believe that if only the book could talk, it would have told me to shut up and stop rereading its lines like a litany already. The writing was just EVERYTHING.

I gasped, I emptied AND refilled my coffee cup, I lost my appetite, I laughed my sanity out then slowly begin to lose it as I go along, and I cried while the other inhabitants of my house sleep deeply and snore. It was a neverending cycle of what is happening and what the f*ck just happened. And even though the pacing was slow at times-this is most definitely a character-driven story, I thought it was brilliant and overall necessary to understand better what the characters were feeling and going through. There was ambition, and then hunger, and then desperation. Just like there is life, almost-death, and death.

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is surely on my 2025 Favorites list. I don't think there is forgetting this book, or any of the characters that live and die in it. There is simply no way.

Thank you TOR for the earc. So precious.

Moody and tense, this atmospheric sapphic story traversing time periods offered up one of my favorite female vampire protagonists yet. Let these hungry women be your problematic faves.

Thanks to Tor Books for the gifted ARC!

VE Schwab is a forever favorite of mine, so naturally, I will read everything she writes, even if vampires aren't always my favorite.

BURY OUR BONES is the story of three vampires spanning 500 years and how their lives and deaths are connected. Touted as "toxic lesbian vampires", I think that's pretty much the main vibe throughout the whole story and really all you need to know going in. Similar to ADDIE LARUE, we span times and places, but in darker and more sinister games of cat-and-mouse. This was also a slower-paced story just like Addie, creeping up to a fantastic and surprising crescendo in the end. Lovers-to-enemies isn't a trope you see often, but it has already been perfected by V.E. Schwab. If you're a vampire or queer fiction lover, you will adore this book!