Over the course of the past decade, V.E. Schwab released multiple books aimed towards readers in a variety of age ranges. The middle-grade and young adult books were published under the name Victoria Schwab, whereas the adult fantasy novels were published under V.E. Schwab. From the release of Gallant in 2022, all books are published under V.E. Schwab. The newest addition to this rich bibliography is Bury Our Bones in the midnight Soil. As is usually the case for Schwab’s books, this one attracted a lot of hype. Is this historical fantasy novel about lesbian vampires able to meet the expectations that comes which such buzz?

About the book

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab
Published by Tor Books on June 10, 2025
Pages: 535
ISBN: 9781035064649
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Historical fiction
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

This is a story about hunger.
1532. Santo Domingo de la Calzada.
A young girl grows up wild and wily – her beauty is only outmatched by her dreams of escape. But María knows she can only ever be a prize, or a pawn, in
the games played by men. When an alluring stranger offers an alternate path, María makes a desperate choice. She vows to have no regrets.

This is a story about love.
1827. London.
A young woman lives an idyllic but cloistered life on her family’s estate, until a moment of forbidden intimacy sees her shipped off to London. Charlotte’s
tender heart and seemingly impossible wishes are swept away by an invitation from a beautiful widow – but the price of freedom is higher than she could
have imagined.

This is a story about rage.
2019. Boston.
College was supposed to be her chance to be someone new. That’s why Alice moved halfway across the world, leaving her old life behind. But after an out-of-character
one-night stand leaves her questioning her past, her present, and her future, Alice throws herself into the hunt for answers… and revenge.

My review

I got my first introduction to this author’s books when reading A Darker Shade of Magic back in 2018. I was still quite an inexperienced reader as I just picked the habit of reading back up after years. So, I was behind on literally everything. Many people seemed to love these books, which is a trigger for me to try them out myself. Yes, I loved it and read most of the other books as well. Upon gaining more experience however, I noticed myself being more and more unable to resonate with the characters and plots of every single one. They take a while to build up, whereas the writing is phenomenal from the start. I still hope to find that spark where everything just clicks, and I therefore keep trying. After reading The Invisible Life of Addie Larue I swore I wouldn’t pick up another of Schwab’s books. But then Gallant got published and the cycle repeated. Curious me decided to take the plunge and read it. Whereas this is not bad – like none of this authors’ books – it failed to intrigue me. Fast forward to 2025 and here we are once again, hoping that this would be different. I therefore went into this adventure without too many expectations.

The versatility of this author is undeniable. Schwab has proven herself able of creating new worlds as well as creating alternate versions of existing ones. Furthermore, another talent is to interweave fantasy into the real world, like with the entire “Cassidy Blake” series, aforementioned The Invisible Life of Addie larue and yet again with this new novel that is set in multiple countries. We travel from Spain, to the US, to London and all of Europe somewhere in between. These European destinations have mostly been briefly mentioned, except for Italy and (I believe) Austria. There is so much travelling involved that I couldn’t keep up and remember at some point. These places play a key role in the lives of our main characters and how they are connected.

We follow multiple characters, all female. First we get introduced to Maria in 16th century Spain. We have no clue why she has been placed into the story all those years before the other important figures appear. However, we will learn this soon enough and it all makes sense. We slowly transition into Charlotte’s story set in 19th century London, where she is about to debut in London’s high society. This transition takes up a good portion of the book as we get to know Charlotte close to the halfway mark. In the meantime, we skip ahead to present day Boston where Alice is just starting college at Harvard. This skipping back and forth could be confusing, but Schwab indicates them clearly which makes them easy for the reader to understand.

Unfortunately, it was yet again hard for me to connect to the characters. Some are interesting, but overall, they fall quite flat. I was intrigued by Alice’ backstory though. This remains a mystery for a good portion of the book and really shows her desire to escape her country and move to Boston. These flashbacks are merely there to get to know her better, because I really wonder why else. The other backstories make much more sense and are key elements for how the story further unfolds. It’s just such a pity that none of the characters stands out and stick with me. They are written very well, so is the entire plot, but they just fail to pique my interest. As you might have guessed already, this applies to the plot itself as the backstories of the characters kept me going. I didn’t root for the storyline in the present day, it didn’t do much for me. The ending feels illogically rushed after such a long and solid build up. Schwab’s lyrical and poetic writing style is yet again flawless. This succeeded to stand out for me once again and made me want to continue reading this book.

All in all, Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soul by V.E. Schwab is not too bad. I already saw more mixed reviews and I can add mine to the ranks of these. Schwab’s writing stands out for me yet again, whereas I have a hard time to connect to both characters and plot. Their background stories intrigued the most, as well as the tremendous amount of ravelling they do and the way this author weaves fantasy into the real existing world. Schwab’s versatility is without a doubt undeniable. Unfortunately, the ending feels illogical rushed after a long, strong, solid build up. Therefore, this book being a stand alone is such a bummer, it would have worked better as a duology or even trilogy. The element of lesbian vampires is interesting, especially given the time the major part of this book is set in. However, suspense is lacking, which can make it feel dull. If you are a lover of all things vampire and their revival in fiction, then this novel might suit you perfectly fine.