Unfortunately I did have to dnf this book, which makes me sad because the plot sounded so intriguing.
I absolutely love the writing and descriptions, and some of the scenes were so captivating, like the autopsy of the bog woman and Sarah's eye. However, I did find that the story moved far too slowly for my liking, and I thought there was too much exposition without actually telling us anything.
I definitely think the story has potential to be a hit, though. I wanted to find out what happened, I just wanted it to happen faster.

I could not put this book down. It was full of intrigue and mystery that led me to keep reading. The mystery of Sarah’s illness was easy to figure out, but I had no idea what would happen next or how each character would act. Some scenes I had my mouth wide open as I couldn’t believe what I was reading (in a good way).

I liked the fresh take on vampirism and how it blurred the lines between the supernatural and the mundane. The gore was in abundance but it wasn’t entirely unpalatable, just what you expect from a gothic horror novel. Trigger warning for eyeball gore, however.

The ending was a tad rushed but I don’t mind, I still really enjoyed the read!

Blood on her Tongue is well and truly a horror. It's gothic and the prose is wonderfully descriptive, making some of this book's scenes gloriously gory, and dark. I couldn't look away until I had to look at some of the scenes and the madness that the characters had to face.

Don't read unless you have the stomach for it.

Gosh, where do I ever begin with reviewing this book? It’s gruesome, gothic and gorgeous.

In a similar vein to What Moves The Dead by T Kingfisher, it follows a main character who is summoned to an eerie estate to tend to a sick loved one. That's not where the similarities end, but I won't get into that here!

But, that's not to say the book is unoriginal, it spins a fresh new deep, dark tale with heaps of blood-stained beauty.

I absolutely adored the setting, to the point where Zwartwater seemed like a character itself, dark, brooding and unknown.

I would have loved for more development of both Lucy and Sarah to better understand their motivations and actions, but what can I say? I'm a character-driven girl through and through.

Overall, I really enjoyed this gothic gorefest with my whole heart.

This was a wild, wild ride. I actually felt my breath catch at several moments during reading.

Each page dragged you in further than the one before. I loved the mix of newspaper cuttings, letters, diary entries and the like to draw you further into this world. It was a thrilling tale of toxic co-dependency and the blurring of lines where one sister ended and another began.

This was a fresh take on the vampire story, I especially liked the way in which it wasn't clear if this was supernatural or just madness, a madness that runs in the family.

All of the characters were well written. I hated Michael, but that was his point.

Triggers mentioned include body gore and horror, which I am fine with, but it was also eyeball horror, which I personally find a little heart to stomach. No pun intended.

~thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in return for an honest review~

I have a sister, and I have always said that I believe she is the one person in the world whom I would do absolutely anything for. Anything. We are not particularly affectionate, much less expressive of it, but it is an unspoken vow of mine that I would quite easily die before I let any harm come to her.

As such, I have a fondness for sibling dynamics in fiction, especially between sisters. This book absolutely delivered all I yearned for on that front. I found myself relating to these two sisters, both for various reasons, but Lucy’s fierce devotion and protection for Sarah resonated with me so strongly that I could not put this down once I started.

The writing style is wonderful, and flowed nicely. I found it very easy to read, whilst still retaining an elegance to elevate it.

I will say, there are sapphic elements to this story but it is not at all the focus. I went into this thinking the protagonist was sapphic, but it’s actually not a main factor to the story. It is still very much there, though, and I really liked it! The focus on sisterhood over romance was refreshing when it comes to this genre, and especially anything vampire related.

I only knocked a star off because the ending felt a tad rushed, and I think another 50 or so pages would have fixed that, but overall I am still happy with the experience, and I absolutely recommend this to gothic horror fans!

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for granting me an ARC of this lovely story! I will be reading more from this author in the future, without doubt!

Title: “Blood on her Tongue” by Johanna van Veen

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Summary: When Lucy receives a letter, saying her twin sister, Sarah, is unwell, she rushes to her side. Sarah is bed ridden and seems to be going through an episode, which could see her being committed to an asylum. Fearful for her sister's sanity, Lucy decides to try and understand what's caused her sister's illness and how to help her.

Thoughts: This is an ARC from Netgalley and I'm leaving this review voluntarily.

I enjoyed this book a lot. Very gothic, and reminded me a little of “Crimson Peak”. With the atmosphere and the story, I was hooked.

I wanted to know what was going on, and what actually happened with Sarah. The story revolves mostly around Lucy, with diary entries, letters and newspaper articles now and then.

It's not what I was expecting but I still couldn't put it down. The twists were great, and the build up of some scenes was tense. I flinched at one point during a scene; it's well described.

The plot can be heavy but thankfully the author has put in some content warnings in the author's note, which I always appreciate. I think for me, the ending was kind of abrupt, but I would happily read this again.

Good luck to the author, and thank you again to NetGalley for the ARC. I believe this title comes out: 25th March 2025.

WOW.

Blood On Her Tongue is a very gothic, macabre horror set in 1887. Our main character Lucy's twin sister Sarah, becomes violently unwell not long after becoming obsessed with a mostly decomposed body, unearthed on her and her husbands estate.

This book is written beautifully, so skillfully so that I gagged reading one scene and winced at others. It is rife with bloody horror.
It is also diverse, each character interesting and fully fledged, with their own flaws and personalities and motivations.

There could definitely be great book club discussions about the allegory to mental health, the treatment of women, and how life is for different members of society (I particularly enjoyed interactions between Miss Lucy and Magda) but all in all, you can still sit and gorge yourself on this as a mad horror story.

I loved this so much. Digusting, moving, eerie work that I think might be my new favourite. I will absolutely be checking out more of this authors other work.

Thank you for allowing me to read this arc!

Oh gosh this was great! Awfully, deliciously dark, from start to finish. If you want complex sister relationships and you want them twisted, this gorgeous book is for you. Oh the power of a sharp fountain pen eh?

Horrific! But so much fun to read. I really took my time with this, and I have to admit, I struggled with the first 20% or so. But after a certain thing happens (I won’t reveal what, you’ll want to go into this blind) I was hooked. Sarah and Lucy were two sides of the same coin, although Sarah was the only one diagnosed as being truly mad, Lucy was just as unhinged. Their sister bonding was what kept me reading, they took sisterhood to a whole new, bloody level.

The writing was easy to digest (pun intended) and gory, with some beautiful bits of writing and some incredible action and high stakes scenes. There was a really nice balance of horror, description and character development to keep me interested. I also enjoyed the commentary on mental health, women and hysteria. A fun, bloody and eerie story!

Lucy's twin sister Sarah is unwell.

This is a severe understatement.

Blood on Her Tongue is exactly what is advertised: gothic, eerie, and built on sisterhood. It also has some pluses that weren't advertised: namely, a bog.

This is very much a horror story, with some very bloody imagery and a lot of building, atmospheric dread in its writing. I love stories with a familial bond as the driving force, and this certainly features that, all wrapped up in codependency and lots and lots of blood.

Johanna van Veen has very quickly established herself as one of my favourite horror authors, and I cannot wait to see what kind of gothic, supernatural, supportive of women's wrongs, and bog-adjacent horror she comes up with next.

Thank you to the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press, and to NetGalley for the ARC.

Possible spoilers

Theres that strong sibling bond, and there's taking things too far.
This one takes it too far, but honestly glad it did.
It gives us the vampire story we are all after, but throws in the strongest bond there is, twins.
There's plenty of gore, and a wince inducing moment or two , and some great surprises along the way. I very much enjoyed both Sarah (all versions) and Lucy as characters.
Their fear of the asylum though, seemed over the top, in comparison to everything else happening in the story.
Overall, I was very entertained by this read.