Rating: 2.5/5, okay
Publication Date: 25/03/2025
Thank you, Johanna Van Veen and Poisoned Pen Books, for the digital copy via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest opinion.

"I am longing to be with you, and by the sea, where we can talk together freely and build our castles in the air." Bram Stoker, Dracula.

Dracula’s famous quote from one of the most renowned works of gothic horror sets the tone for this fast-paced horror novel. Blood on Her Tongue by Dutch author Johanna Van Veen is marketed as historical horror, which had me extremely excited—I am a great fan of anything vampiric. However, this is NOT HISTORICAL HORROR fiction, which could be misleading to some readers – it tricked me. There’s little evidence of historical research, and the setting lacks the immersive detail that makes historical fiction convincing. That said, expect a mystery/romance/horror (horrantasy? I hope this will not be a thing).

Set in the Netherlands in 1887, the story follows Lucy from the moment she receives a very strange letter from her twin sister, Sarah, to the darkest corners of this marsh-soaked village. The letter is cacophonic and messy in both its formatting and content, adding an extra layer to the plot and a sense of urgency and madness. I found it interesting how Van Veen opens the first chapter—wink wink, nod nod to Bram Stoker. In the letter, Sarah describes disturbing things, including something about a woman's body found in an unnatural state in a bog nearby. Lucy immediately sets off to meet her twin, only to find herself worse than she imagined.

"She had barely finished the thought when fear grabbed her by the throat with enough force to cut off her breath. She dropped the handkerchief to her lap and buried her face in her hands to keep from crying."

Johanna Van Veen’s prose is good, and there are clear references and inspirations taken from Dracula—even in the name ‘Lucy,’ which confused me at times. At times, I found the writing similar to New Adult but not quite it, and not as 'gothic' and flourished and macabre as I expected and wanted. The novel is filled with numerous supporting characters, some interesting, others not so much, with every scene building up the mystery. However, I found some ideas overused and unoriginal, and Sarah felt like a weak imitation of Stoker’s Renfield. While parts of the book contain letters, it is not fully epistolary. At the beginning of the book, Veen makes the reader aware of the many trigger warnings this book includes, such as body horror, gore, mental health struggles, sexual abuse, misogyny, and toxic relationships—so it's not for the squeamish.

Lucy is an okay protagonist, but I found it hard to connect with her relationship with Sarah. I just didn’t buy what they were selling. While the premise is compelling, the execution left me wanting more. The book reads more like a romantic mystery with horror elements rather than the gothic historical horror fiction it is advertised to be. The writing itself is strong, but the language often feels too modern for the period, stuttering the reading flow.

I was expecting something more atmospheric and eerie, but instead, the book feels like it’s aimed at a new adult audience rather than readers who grew up on Dracula, The Monk, and RPGs. The gothic elements are present in theory but don’t quite land in execution. There are moments where Van Veen’s prose shines, but they’re often overshadowed by an inconsistent tone and modern-feeling dialogues and prose, which pulled me out of the narrative. Most of these criticisms stem from my high expectations when it comes to vampires and gothic fiction, and other readers might enjoy it way more than I did. That said, the mystery is engaging enough and the premise compelling. The romance, while central to the plot, at times overshadows the horror elements, making the book feel like it belongs more in the realm of dark romance than horror.

In conclusion, if you go in expecting atmospheric horror, you may be disappointed. However, if you approach it as a romantic mystery with eerie undertones, there’s enjoyment to be found. Blood on Her Tongue is an entertaining read, but it left me wishing for something darker, richer, and more immersive.

Blood on her tongue is a gothic historical horror set in 1887. This novel started really strong and I really enjoyed the atmospheric lead up to Sarah’s mental illness through the discovery of the ‘bog body’
If I was to judge this book by its cover I would have guessed it was a romantasy, and not a book I would have chosen to read, however the synopsis really appealed to me and I was not disappointed.
I look forward to reading more from this author

I really enjoyed this, though the ending let it down slightly, I thought. The characters were well written for the most part, flawed and human (well, some of them!). I enjoyed the setting very much, and the unusual type of "supernatural creature"

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.