TOXIC. LESBIAN.VAMPIRES! Following three women through centuries and across countries, this is a character study on an epic scale. We first meet Maria, then Alice and Lottie - each of our main characters is introduced with their year of death, and you find out what happened in their lives before and after becoming vampires. Standard lore is adhered to but the title of the book is referenced very poetically to explain the origins of vampirism. This is such an unexpected delight of a book - it's dark and sad and frequently violent but the writing drags you right along with our protagonists, as section by section you are given more and more information regarding their histories. I loved it.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me a chance to read one of my most anticipated reads of 2025.

I don’t even know where to begin with this book. It wasn’t what I expected it to be, but I really enjoyed the story and I got hooked, I got mesmerized by the characters, especially by Sabine. What a story it was! I kept reading and reading because I wanted to know how the stories of the different women connect to each other and I was not disappointed.

Why did I not give it 5 stars? I wish I could tell you what was missing for me, but I cannot put my finger on it. There was just something that didn’t make me say YESSS THIS BOOK IS SO GOOD. It was a beautiful story and it’s obvious that Victoria has put so much work and so much of herself into this book and I know that people are going to absolutely love this lesbian vampire story, but not me. I liked it a lot, but I didn’t *love* it and I feel so sorry for that, because I truly wanted to love it. Sometimes it just doesn’t happen.

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is gruesome, angry and alive. You can feel how much heart and soul V.E. Schwab poured into this novel.
It is reminiscent of Addie La Rue in a lot of ways. It gave me that same breathless anxious feeling while reading it, like you’re lonely and nothing is ever quite enough. Even the ending left me unsatisfied. however I think that was the intention and Schwab has crafted a story where that’s the only kind of ending that fits.

The three different POVs are unevenly split and we spent much of the first half with a woman that is deeply unlikeable, the middle with an unreliable narrator and the ending with a character I was a bit ambivalent about. I especially found myself wishing for more nuance to the main villain..
Much of this story is also quite repetitive, which again I think is intentional but I could see how readers might lose interest.

This book is first and foremost a love letter to female rage and loving women and with that the author definitely achieved what she set out to do.

If you loved Addie and toxic lesbian vampires and murder (seriously, so much murder) sound like you, you will love this. Otherwise maybe skip this one. I am sure this will be a very marmite book.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!

Absolutely phenomenal. I was so invested in these three interconnected stories, they hooked me in from the very beginning. Schwab’s writing is so considered and lyrically beautiful, while the plotting is pacy and twisty. There are moments of joy, tension, intrigue, and well-measured poignancy. Gorgeous, diverse settings across history and around the globe. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil was an unforgettable read, I’m going to be thinking about Sabine, Lottie and Alice for a long time. This will definitely prompt me to read more of Schwab’s backlist this year.

This is a sapphic story of vampires and how their history intertwines, starting in the 1500s and spanning across until 2019. I really enjoyed this story and seeing how the three women take to vampirism. Ultimately this is a story about monsters. Monsters and how they change as they slowly become more monstrous. Each character has their own story and motivations that works well. Of the three I would argue that Alice is the weakest character but that may be a consequence of her being set in the modern day compared to the other two so we spend literally centuries with some of the other characters.

I'll be thinking on this story for a long time.

"She is a flame in the dark, and the night is full of moths."

This book, this book. You're not ready.
It's bloody, it's ruthless, it's so so alive. These women are atrocious, gorgeous and angry, oh so angry.
Victoria writes like no other, and it's clear this was such another personal work for her.
It took the best parts of Vicious and Addie LaRue and intertwined it together. these phenomenal women and their journey.
The only thing that stops me from giving it a full 5 stars is the ending, while i devoured the entire book and appreciated the patience and slow narration, the ending felt quite abrupt and too easy as a resolution.
But overall it was such a fantastic read. I will think about this book for a long time for sure.
I am gonna need more MORE sapphic toxic vampires in my life or else.

Brutal, blood-drenched, beautiful, and breathlessly alive. This is going to be my best read of the year for sure.

We follow three women as their tale spans centuries and countries, each tale interlinking in ways you don’t expect. Thankfully there’s no ennui ridden vampires lamenting their immortality, no sir, 2025 is the year of Hungry Female Rage Vampires and I am Here. For. It.

This book feels like a natural progression of VE Schwab’s incredible talent, it is insistent and immediate and so, so rich. I can’t wait to read it again.

If The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo and Dowry of Blood by ST Gibson had a baby guided by VE Schwab’s dark, magical hands, this is what you would get.
Sapphic vampires, dual timelines, women ruling the night.

<b>“Bury my bones in the midnight soil, plant them shallow but water them deep, and in my place will grow a feral rose, soft red petals hiding sharp white teeth.”
</b>
Here we have feral, hungry girls.
1521, Maria wants more from her small village. She sets her eyes on a Viscount passing through and is soon betrothed. Maria knows when to be the predator, and when to play the part of prey. However, the life as a noble is boring and more restrictive than suits Maria’s hunger for more.

2019, Alice is dedicated to becoming someone new moving from Scotland to Boston to attend university. She has a cluttered head and anxious heart, running from a past, waiting for her future.

The third timeline only comes into play after the 55% mark in London 1827. Debutante balls and secret debauchery and another wish for freedom.

<b>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.
</b>
The writing was delicious. The characters were angsty, angry, and sometimes atrocious. The yearning was blood red. The *scenes* were sensual and sexy but not overly detailed.

The ending was too easy, convenient, and sudden for me and thus anti-climatic, however it was still satisfying knowing this had to be condensed for a standalone.

Glow-in-the-dark proof gifted by Book break PanMacmillan.