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

This was my first V.E. Schwab book & I was looking forward to its release as it seemed right up my alley so I was really glad to be given the opportunity to review it as an ARC!

I love sapphic vampires and dark stories like this one so I really enjoyed this! I felt like the character building was done really well and each character had their own individual story. I went from feeling quite bad for Sabine to honestly disliking her, and the ending was quite unpredictable for me also.

The only thing I would say that was a drawback for me is the jumping back and forth between the different characters and time stamps at the start of the book as it felt quite all over the place; it did settle more further on in the book and it felt more fluid, but at first I kept getting confused about who’s POV we were being told.

Nonetheless I found this book pretty enjoyable and I’ll definitely be picking up more of the author’s work!

Thank you Pan Macmillan/Tor & NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was one of my most anticipated reads for the entire year and I am so glad to say it did not disappoint. I went into it knowing very little other than that it was written by the brilliant V.E Schwab and that it was about sapphic vampires. I loved it from start to finish. Each POV and timeline was intricately woven into a beautiful story. This combined with an engaging atmosphere has turned this into one of V.E Schwab’s best yet!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an E-ARC of this book.

Obsessed.

I had to keep putting the book down—not because I wasn’t into it, but because I was way too into it. I just wanted to stay in that world a little longer.

A book about lesbian vampires? Of course I knew it would be amazing (I'm a vampire fan through and through). But what I didn’t expect was how it also is a story about women in history—about how freedom, for women, has often come at the cost of becoming something society calls monstrous (like a vampire, lol).

Sure, the pacing is on the slower side, but honestly, I loved how much room the characters had to breathe and grieve and just exist.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

Bury our bones

This book genuinely took me by surprise. I thoroughly enjoyed previous books Schwab has written & I applied for the ARC for this without reading the summary so I actually didn’t know what I was getting myself into.

The book started slow, I wasn’t too sure where it was going and I had to remind myself this is quite normal. As usual, Schwab wove the story together really well and by the end I was so happy I stuck with it. The supernatural elements were done very well and the characters were all captivating.

This book followed 3 characters and the way they all intertwined was very exciting. I love how the story built up and I loved when I felt intrigued and invested. This was a story with sapphic elements but it wasn’t the core of the story. For any fans of VE Schwab you’ll enjoy this one!

“A road with no end.”
“You should get to feel and love as boldly as you want”
“She is free”
“Time doesn’t heal. It just wears you down”

How does one even begin to describe the story that is Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil! This was such a worthwhile experience, reading the intertwining lives of three multifaceted women! I think I’ll be in awe of this book for a long time.

Witnessing Maria’s journey, rooting for her and then against her made for such a compelling arc! It shows that no matter how free you are, you still want more and more. Watching her rot when all she wanted was freedom was genuinely so upsetting. A rose in its prime just withering from darkness. Perhaps I’m naive and I should’ve seen it coming. Charlotte was a casualty. She was looking for a life of freedom, she wanted to love who she loved, she was ruled by her heart, and I believe Maria would’ve loved her, but Sabine was far too gone. I enjoyed her arc; it was almost a mirror of Maria’s, the yearning of something more, freedom. Though Sabine thought she was setting her free, she chained her to life in the dark. Unfortunately, Alice got caught in the middle of their game, and though she was late, she was victorious. From the start to the end, she was a character I was rooting for! Again, she wanted something new; though she was not shackled by the customs and pressures of the previous societal norms, she was weighed down by death. And in the end, it was death that truly freed her! She was the standout character; the V.E. weaved in her grief, and the story of Catty was so raw and emotional, it made every chapter feel as if we were getting a sneak peek into her soul! Just amazing.

I loved the use of time; it kept me entertained and just added to the overall storytelling.

I do believe the ending felt a bit rushed. A 400-year-old vampire defeated in a matter of minutes, Sabine deserved a death as loud as she lived, and instead, her flame was quietly, simply snubbed out, very underwhelming for such an amazing character. Charlotte, however, got exactly what she was asking for. After being afraid to live a life along, dragging innocent souls into this game, she lied to Alice, so I can’t complain about her end. Alice’s ending, though upsetting, opened her up to more possibilities. She ended the cycle, she ended the game, and now was given a second chance at life. She’ll be able to live for her mum, catty and herself. The one positive to come out of this is that Alice is free, and though she may fall victim to Sabine’s fate (the ending eluding to her hunger), she is alive!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 🩸

This was my first V. E. Schwab novel and I loved it! I can’t wait to dive into more of Victoria’s books!

This book follows the lives of 3 different women spanning over many years, until their stories eventually come together as one. I loved the way this was done. I was so engaged in each story and couldn’t wait to see how it all came together.

Some scenes in this book had me sitting up and gasping!

The ending felt like it all happened very fast, I would have liked that to play out a bit longer but overall I really enjoyed this.

I need more vampire books in my life🩸

Thank you to pan macmillan and Netgalley for the E-Arc

This has been my most anticipated read for this year and I have absolutely been enthralled by it!

Having been described by V. E. Schwab as toxic lesbian vampires and inspired by Florence + The Machine, I knew this book has been exactly what I have been searching for. I adored the characters and I really enjoyed following their journey. I especially enjoyed following Sabine and I also loved seeing Alice's character development as we follow her struggle with her own identity and relationships.

This has been a phenomenal read for me and I'm so excited for more people to enjoy this book as much as I have.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. - Freya, arc & monthly book box pick reviewer (athenafreyag on Instagram)

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is the first book I read by this author, and yes, I do know that it sounds weird lmao. But give me sapphic vampires, and I will read it ASAP! Multiple timelines and povs isn't usually my thing, so I was a tad worried, but I didn't mind it in this book at all. It did feel jarring, though, as in the order of the povs and change of povs was jarring.

Our first pov, Maria, is a woman who is hungry for more, who does not settle for what society dictates, and I loved her for it.

Our second pov, Alice, is an anxious young woman who wants a fresh start, who wants to become a different kind of person, but anxiety and emotional baggage are a b!tch....

The third pov, Charlotte, is another woman who wants freedom.

I like flawed main characters, I like women who push for what they want no matter what. We have been told what to do, who to be, and how to act for so long, so I always yearn for female characters who shatter the norms and expectations, and these characters did that. However, I didn't feel invested in any of them, and I didn't root for any of them. Perhaps, it's me, but I just didn't particularly care for any character and any motive. I loved S.T. Gibson's sapphic vampire books, for reference, but I just didn't get into this book. It felt like the plot and pacing were dragging,and the characters couldn't pull me in to counter-balance the slow pacing. It could be that this book just wasn't for me, so I'd give a 3.5 star rating.

What an incredible read.

The tagline of ''Toxic Lesbian Vampires’ could not have been more accurate and the book has you looked from the first page.

Dual timeline, diverse characters and chaotic plotlines make for one of the best releases of 2025.,

V.E Schwab at her best.. An amazing sapphic vampire tale that spans centuries and continents. The characters are amazing, I absolutely loved this!

One day the lesbians will be happy but not in this book! I loved the shifts in perspective as each character becomes more evil in their own different ways, and the build up to Alice’s move to the US. It never could be anything other than a tragedy but it is a beautiful one.

5/5 stars! Ahh! This book was heart-breakingly beautiful. This is for fan's of V.E.'s Addie work, not here Shades fantasy work. This is dark and heavy but also surprising. Sapphic love but add vampires!?!? Say less! The ending was realistic, even if it was hard to read.

Without a doubt, my favourite book of 2025.
This was my most anticipated read for this year, so the stakes were incredibly high. Schwab did not disappoint. The Invisible Life Of Addie LaRue is still one of my favourite books and you can really see the authors voice and style in this.
The marketing for this has been bang on; Toxic Lesbian Vampries… and in abundance! This follows three women, in their transition into vampires. I think everyone will agree Sabine is one of the most fascinating characters to follow. She is so unapologetically fierce and powerful; if you love a villains origin story, this will be a must-read.
Despite being quite a chunky book, I loved every second of reading it. The alternate characters and settings kept the pace moving and Schwab does an excellent job of keeping the reader invested.
The market is heavily saturated with vampire fiction at the moment, yet Schwab has managed to do something new. I loved the idea of immortality not quite being true, and that they are slowly rotting from within. It was such an interesting take.
I’ve heard whispers that this is set in the same world as Addie, and how I would love more from this world.
10/10. Outstanding.