Schwab's writing is as evocative and well structured as ever, but this just wasn't for me. I feel like the direction this went in was predictable and similar to other stories with this specific concept (not going to spoil it but you'll know what I mean), and the characters ended on pretty much the same note they started. There were bits I did enjoy, especially characters' relationships with each other and the excellent portrayal of female rage. If you like gothic fantasy and slow-burn romance, don't let me stop you reading this.

V.E. Schwab has crafted what I think is her most powerful and emotionally resonant novel yet with Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil. A dark, atmospheric, and incredibly written character study that spans centuries and continents. At its core, this is a story about three very different women, Sabine, Charlotte, and Alice. Their tangled lives unfold across centuries, from 1500s Spain to modern day Boston. The result is not just a vampire story, but a deeply moving exploration of love, rage, grief, and the cost of freedom.

The handling of multiple timelines is so well done, immersing the reader in eras long past and making the centuries feel seamless. The Gothic settings, from Venetian streets to shadowy mansions adding to the characters' vivid inner lives. Each voice is distinct and easy to follow along with: Sabine, the relentless hunter; Charlotte, the romantic caught in the middle; and Alice, the newest vampire who has unwillingly been drawn into their game.

I saw this book marketed as “toxic lesbian vampires” and I was already sold, and though it is definitely that, it is also so much more. It deeply explores the historical experiences of women. It’s not just about blood and immortality, but about how women seeking freedom have been branded as monstrous for daring to want more.

This is not only now my favourite V. E. Schwab book, but also one of my favourite books of all time. If you enjoyed Addie Larue then you will LOVE this!

Thank you so much to Pan Macmillan for the ARC!

I don’t know whether to give it 4.5 or 5 stars, I liked it a lot. The writing was amazing, exactly what I was expecting from V. E. Schwab. I really enjoyed the story and how it progressed throughout the years. It was really interesting to see how all of these three women interlinked their fates. And I was surprised to see how Sabine went from a character I was supporting with all my heart to the villain of the story.
I was really moved by the subjects the author tackled, such as the hardships of queerness and toxic relationships and how hard it is to get out of them and to realise what is happening. Everything was put together really well and I could not let the book down. I was taking my time reading it because I wanted to enjoy each and every word. All in all, it was a great book, definitely something that everyone needs to read.

‘Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil’ is a rich and anger fuelled character study focusing on three very different lesbian vampires. The narratives span from 1500s Spain to 2019 Boston so there is over 500 years of drama for the reader unpack.
The messy relationships between the three main characters tangle together to create a dark and destructive environment - V.E. was not lying when they said the lesbians get TOXIC. I got to know the main characters really well and felt a lot of empathy for them throughout the book. Sabine – the hunter, Charlotte – the lover and Alice – the witty and distressed new vampire. I was completely engrossed in the three women’s independent histories as well as their overlapping relationships.
I would recommend you approach this book when you’re in a literary fiction mood rather than a fantasy mood as despite it being marketed as a fantasy book I feel the literary fiction label better suits this novel. 'Bones' is a rich and meaningful, character driven novel in which the characters just happen to be vampires. There is vampire action involved, don’t get me wrong, but this is not a fast paced, action packed fantasy publication and I think it’s important to know this before reading.
I will continue to bask in the stunning writing and female rage of ‘Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil’ for a long time to come. This books is about to be everywhere and you really don’t want to miss out on this one!

“Did you find someone brave enough to love you?”
“Sabine is not one to dwell. But Charlotte cannot help it. Just as she cannot seem to shed the grief, or guilt, the weight of things.”
“She doesn’t yet know that her own heart has ceased to beat. That what she feels now is nothing but an echo of a stolen pulse, a rhythm borrowed for the time it takes to drink. That as quickly as it ends, she will be raked by thirst again, not only for the taste of blood itself, but for the drum it beats inside her.”
““I am being honest, Charlotte. You cling to the suffering, you make it yours, as if you think you must. As if you think that it will somehow keep you human, but it can’t, because the human part of you is dead.””

V.E. Schwab is an auto-buy author for me, and this book only cemented that. It’s over 500 pages, and I devoured it in just a few sittings - and still somehow wanted more. The second I heard it was inspired by Florence + The Machine, I was in. Rage, toxicity, darkness…and yet it’s all rendered so hauntingly, achingly beautiful. THIS is the vampire book I’ve been waiting for.

Schwab takes the best of Addie LaRue and Vicious and melds them into something bold and unforgettable. The characters are messy, flawed, fully alive. The prose is sharp, emotional, and lyrical without ever feeling overdone. It reads like a blend of gothic fantasy, historical fiction, paranormal, and contemporary - and it works. It really works.

The structure is ambitious, with three POVs and a non-linear timeline, and the story itself is exquisitely layered. If I had one complaint, it’s that the pacing drags a bit in the first half - possibly because of all the timeline shifts. But the final third absolutely delivers. It made me cry. It made me furious.

This is a read that will stick with you long after the final page.

3.5 Stars.

I don’t really want to do a plot synopsis here cause I think how little you get from the synopsis of the book is probably good. Basically, I went into this book expecting messy queer vampires throughout different centuries and you should too.

Now, it’s been a while since i’ve read a v e schwab book but i really enjoyed her earlier work and so i was excited by this pitch. i got into a reading slump shortly after i started this book (not because of this book, just life), but still, it took me probably two months to get through the first 50% of this book. That’s my main criticism. This is without a doubt an atmosphere above plot fantasy, but it took me a long time to begin to care about the story because it felt like there was none. Don’t get me wrong, I think the themes that are touched upon by association, specifically freedom as a woman, queerness and humanity, are interesting. But it just took to long to get to a point where I actually cared. Around the 50% mark, everything changed for me. This is when our third main character gets introduced and yes, this remains a primarily atmospheric and not plot driven book, as a reader you start to connect the dots, character developments starts to happen and the relationship dynamics that emerge are worth keeping on. The more you read, the better it gets. The last 40% of this book I read in a day and it ended up being the kind of book where I don’t eat because i don’t want to stop reading to cook. Granted, I think the plot resolution was slightly predictable but it didn’t matter cause the second half of this book got me to care about the characters. So, yes, I think if you don’t need a plot driven book you might enjoy this. If you’re a queer woman who is into atmospheric books then you’ll most definitely love this. For most people, i’d say the book is definitely worth a shot because the latter half is very good, but i’d read it when you are in a great reading space so you reduce your likelihood of struggling through the first half.

(on a last note, i think what really threw me off too was the different time scales of the different povs in the first half?)

Thank you so much to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book.

Schwab did it again
This is another brilliant novel with beautiful prose
The settings span decades
The characters are devine
And the story I devoured
Pick it up, you're in for a treat.

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil has that classic V.E. Schwab atmosphere—moody, lyrical, and filled with deeply introspective characters. The idea of three women connected across different centuries (and different versions of obsession, love, and immortality) is really intriguing, and the settings—from colonial Santo Domingo to modern-day Boston—are beautifully drawn.

That said, the story didn’t fully click for me. The pacing felt slow at times, and while I loved the themes it explored, it dragged in places and lost momentum. Some plot points didn’t land as strongly as I hoped, and a few character arcs felt rushed toward the end.

If you liked The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and don’t mind a slower, more reflective read, you’ll probably enjoy this one. I appreciated the ambition and the writing, but overall it left me a bit mixed.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Arc.

V.E. Schwab’s Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is a haunting, genre-defying masterpiece that weaves together centuries of longing, love, and vengeance into a single, mesmerizing narrative. A breath-taking, spine-chilling triumph. Schwab’s signature lyrical style shines, balancing poetic beauty with razor-sharp tension. Thematically, the book explores power, agency, and the ways women are forced to navigate—or shatter—the cages built for them. There’s a hypnotic darkness to the storytelling, with undercurrents of horror that never feel gratuitous, only inevitable. The novel unfolds across three timelines, each with a fiercely compelling heroine: Maria, Charlotte and Alice. Blending historical fiction, gothic horror, and dark fantasy, Schwab crafts a tale as lush as it is brutal—a story about the hunger for freedom, the cost of immortality, and the rage that lingers when both are denied. A great read for anyone looking for a well written morally ambiguous cast of characters.

I have pretty much read all of V E Schwab’s books and I have never been disappointed by the prose and writing that truly delivers such depth of emotion, whilst weaving the complexities of humanity and other into enduring and captivating stories, so of course I had to get my hands on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil.
Told from multiple perspectives Maria/Sabine, Alice and Charlotte this is a story that crosses centuries, gravitating towards an emotional and captivating conclusion. If you read and loved Addie Larue, then Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is the reincarnation with bite!
Whilst the plot develops slowly at the start, the pace picks up as the story progresses, and as a reader I was pulled into the messy complexity of human emotions and finality compounded against an eternity of ever dwindling emotion and empathy.
I can’t say that this is my favourite of Schwab’s writing but, I can say that I’m sure it will go down well as it brings to life sapphic vampires, multiple timelines, and flawed female protagonists demanding what they want irrespective of the consequences.
Thank you so much Pan MacMillan, Tor and Netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

One of the easiest 5 stars I've given. Knew in chapter 1 it was going to be a 5 star read.

For those that wished for a darker, bloodier version of Addie Larue, this is the book. the way @veschwab starts a book in the 1500s and ends it in 2019 so fluidly is honestly just incredible. Sometimes spanning hundreds of years in a book can feel a bit disjointed or all over the place. But not Schwab. She makes you feel like you're in a dream watching the lives of the characters float by seamlessly.

This book is full of lust, want, freedom and heartbreak.
Out in the U.K 10th June, I urge everyone who loves the idea of a sapphic vampire epic romance to grab it, it's very addictive 🩸

Thank you @netgalley @panmacmillan @torbooksuk for this e-arc.

4.25 ⭐️
this was one of my most anticipated releases of 2025 and i’m so happy i got sent an arc. i really enjoyed this book, gimme more lesbian vampires.
v.e.schwab has a way with words and she knows how to write my thoughts on paper istg. what the women in this book feel and their struggles are something i also struggle with. the need to being seen, wanting to be loved, thinking there’s more to this life, not wanting to settle, wanting to live many lives to the point of being desperate to become something more. i feel lost, but being able to see how Alice or Lottie overcome these fears gives me hope that things can be better.

sabine is a total bitch. from the beginning i knew she was too selfish, too vain, too powerful. she was going to better the villain of the story and even though there were some parts in which i was rooting for her, she made me so mad.
alice had to go through so much with her family drama and her sister being a bit complicated, but she grows throughout the 2 (?) nights after she discoveres what happened to her. i only wanted to give her a hug because i also want to be seen and not to be so introvert and awkard.
lottie, my baby, she doesnt deserve the toxicity she has to endure. she only wanted to be loved, to have someone by her side and everybody keeps betraying her.

this book is slow paced, you get to know the characters in depth and it reminded me to addie la rue. maybe a bit too much and thats why it’s not a 5 stars read. i felt like the motivations for this characters a bit too similar to addie and having read these books back to back felt a bit repetitive. but this book was surely a ride and i will probably re read it in the future

This is a story of three women, from three different places in time.
One who runs towards her fate, hungry to embrace it.
One, less willing, but with no other way to escape the smothering confines of her time.
One unwitting, who never has a choice.
VE Schwab opens a doorway for each of these girls, inviting them to dance across the ages as their lives bloom and intertwine. They will claim gothic mansions, the streets of Venice and the London season as their playground, sparkling and shining until the gilding starts to fade and crumble.
This story and its characters had me gripped from the moment I started reading. Sabine, Lottie and Alice will compel you to follow them all the way to the very end. I loved it.
If you think you’ve had enough of vampire stories, think again.
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil releases on 10 June.
With thanks to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan Tor for the chance to read an advanced copy.

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is a haunting triumph—an exquisitely written tapestry of women’s hunger, hope, and fury across centuries. V.E. Schwab has once again proven herself a literary alchemist, transforming pain and longing into something transcendent.

From the windswept plains of 16th-century Santo Domingo to the candlelit drawing rooms of Victorian London to the sharp-edged streets of modern-day Boston, this novel spans time but remains rooted in the eternal truths of what it means to be a woman aching for freedom. María, Charlotte, and Alice are as vividly alive as any characters Schwab has written—each one raw, complex, and heartbreakingly real.

This isn’t just a story—it’s three ghost stories tangled into one body, pulsing with defiance and desire. Schwab’s prose is lyrical and searing, imbued with a gothic atmosphere that lingers long after the final page. The way she weaves historical fiction, speculative elements, and biting commentary on gender and power is nothing short of genius.

By the end, I was breathless. Moved. Changed.

If you’ve ever been told you were too much, wanted too much, or loved too deeply—this book will find you. And it will not let you go.

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil has been on my must read list since I attended an event with V.E.Schwab and she informed the audience that she was working on a book with toxic lesbian vampires. In this book she provides a new take on the vampire novel spanning three timelines and three women as they each grapple with vampirism, relationships and loss.

One of my favourite aspects of Schwab's writing is the way she can weave multifaceted characters who are morally ambiguous yet somehow you still root for them. Each of her novels is different and yet the still manage to draw me in and make me think about the stories and characters long after I finish reading.

sᴛᴏʀɪᴇs ᴍᴀᴛᴛᴇʀs, ᴀʟɪᴄᴇ
ᴡʜᴇɴ ʏᴏᴜ ʟɪᴠᴇ ʟᴏɴɢ ᴇɴᴏᴜɢʜ, ᴛʜᴇʏ’ʀᴇ ᴀʟʟ ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴠᴇ

Toxic Lesbian Vampires is the perfect way to describe this book which after weeks of finishing I still can’t stop thinking about

I didn’t think I would love this this much but @veschwab managed to write a book not following the standards and did such an incredible jobs.

3 women. 3 different timelines. Where you manage to see how they are supposed to fit in society and what are the canon and standards. And especially what they are supposed to be doing and how the concept of “lesbian” so non canon for those ages is seen.

Let’s be honest the relationship we see in the book is kinda toxic. For different reason but even so @veschwab she makes sure you understand where Sabine is coming from and why she is that way.
Seeing her interact with different characters as well and how close up she is and how jealous she become is one of the key factor for the book.

We get to see Alice a girl from 2019(so our age) being so open about who she is in comparison to Sabine (1532) and Charlotte (1827) and that is the key factor of how everything ends the way it does.

Sabine was not born this way she was made this way and she had to become this person. Especially after living so long and having to watch people you love leave you. So she kinda find peace in Charlotte… their relationship is very unique. You can see that some traits are toxic but you feel for Sabine in a way and understand her reasons😅

Thank you @bookbreakuk @torbooksuk @veschwab for the arc of the book

A tricky one for me.

On the one hand I love the way V E Schwab writes. It’s addictive and thoroughly enjoyable.

On the other hand I think I personally find stories that play out over so many hundreds of years hard to connect with. I enjoyed the complexities of the characters and watching them change, but something always misses for me in the longer spans of time. (I think I had the same issue with Dowry of Blood which does have a similar vibe).

This one starts quite slow, I feel like by half way it had picked up, and by the nature of the plot I felt like the weighting of each character was off. Some parts fell short but others were captivating.

A mixed bag for me.

There is something about the way that V.E. Schwab writes that absolutely captivates me every time. Each story, though there are always elements of fantasy and magic to a greater or lesser extent, are always so deeply rooted in human experience.

All the marketing I have seen for this book so far has described it as a book about toxic lesbian vampires. This is all true. However, it is also so much more than that. This book really dives into an exploration of what it really means to be alive and to really feel like you are living.

The three main women are all so wonderfully created. They are so well written that it was almost hard to remember that they are not actually real. There is such depth to each of them that was beautiful to read.

I also loved the way that the timeline and the narrative was pieced together throughout the book. It really helped to draw the book together and kept the book and the narrative moving well.

I thought this book was incredible, and I will be telling everyone that they have to read it.

Beautifully devastating. This is my first read by V. E. Schwab and it lived up to the hype. This book is about multiple lives, three young girls who are all feeling the weight of the world around them. They have expectations shoved upon them from family and just want to be able to be themselves. Only being free is not as easy as they would hope. We follow three girls throughout their lives all starting at different points but all eventually intercrossing, "Who you were isn't who you have to be." This book shows us what each girl goes through in their life, the expectations forced upon them, the entrapment of their own lives and the taste of freedom but freedom doesn't last forever. We see two of the girls meet and grow and love and live together only what happens when each other is not enough, when you've been alive for so long you begin to lose yourself we see how they manage and what comes next. We see how they think, why they do certain things and we see how they go on as the world changes around them. This was a surprising easy read for me, I was concerned with the timelines it would be hard but I didn't want to put it down and just devoured this.

⭐⭐⭐✨
Rep: Multiple Lesbian MCs

🩸Vampires
🥀Toxic sapphic relationships
⏱️Multiple Timelines
👿Unlikeable Characters

"And how is a miracle different from a spell? Who is to say the saint was not a witch?"

'The girl sleeps like she is dead'

'Maria quickly comes to understand - the feast has not been thrown in her honor, but in his. A tour of victory. A celebration of his conquest.'

'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.'

What I Liked
1) I loved Maria's perspective at the beginning and how her storyline subverts your expectations of what you expect to happen. I think it provides a really strong start to the story. I was rooting for her so bad to break free from the sexist society she was trapped in.

2) I just loved the messy chaos of all the timelines coming together and you realising wtf is going on. I thought the ending was really strong and the perfect way to wrap up a story like this. I think toxic and abusive sapphic relationships need to be represented in books like this as well as the positive rep.

3) I do love following someone that is absolutely diabolical in a book. There were so many points where I just couldn't stand the characters which is not a problem for me but if you have to like characters to read a book definitely don't pick this up. I absolutely loved seeing a morally corrupt woman as it is always only the men that are allowed to be complicated. We see characters in here who unintentionally become accomplices to evil because they are too cowardly to stop it and I think this books explores the complexities around that well.

4) There's a bit of a mystery in the present day timeline that you are slowly fed more of the answers until the end and I absolutely loved it.

What I Disliked
1) The middle was incredibly slow and I think it got quite repetitive. I love slow sapphic horror (e.g. House of Hunger) I can enjoy a slow-burn but this just felt like it needed more editing in the middle as I was so disappointed after such a strong start to the story.

2) I thought the whole explanation of what Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil means was just stupid lol.

Thank you to Netgalley, Pan Macmillan and V.E. Schwab for this eARC in exchange for an honest review