V.E. Schwab

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.

This is a story about life—
how it ends, and how it starts.

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil

Did Schwab also read Jane Austen's Bookshelf, or is this and the line on the next page referencing other authors that Jane Austen read a confidence??

Jonnie

Charlotte didn't pay it much mond as she popped the toast point in her mouth, read the final pages of Udolpho, and felt beset by the strange mix of pleasure and grief that came with finishing a book.

Alice shrinks, is swallowed, disappears. No—disappearing would be better, because maybe in the absence of /Alice/ she could become someone else. One of the feral girls, who have been planted and watered in their bodies, who have pruned their looks, or let them grow wild, the same girls who turn their full brows into a wolfish power, their painted lips into a weapon.

"The fact is, whether death takes you all at once, or steals pieces over time, in the end there is no such thing as immortality. Some of us just die slower than the rest."

"The world will try to make you small. It will tell you to be modest, and meek. But the world is wrong. You should get to feel and love and live as boldly as you want."

"It will make your life harder," she said into her daughter's hair. "But it will also make it beautiful."

"Some people keep their heart tucked so deep, they hardly know it's there. But you," she went on, turning back toward Charlotte, "you have always worn it like a second skin." She ran a hand down her daughter's arm. "Open to the world. You feel it all. The love and pain. The joy and hope and sorrow." She pulled Charlotte close, carrying the scent of the garden. Of home.

Cassidy Nolan

Alice will be okay. She’ll find her way through the dark.

She tips her head back as she strolls, forcing air she doesn’t need into her lungs, again, and again, until it feels like breathing.

Until the sound of her steps beats like a drum inside her chest, reminding her she is alive.

Because if she’s learned anything it’s this:

“Wouldn’t it be better if it were a game? If we could play until we lose, and then just start again? New Alice. New Catty. Maybe that’s what death is, and we just don’t know it. A chance to play again.”

“Be alone,” he says, and the thought is enough to break her.

“It’s too hard,” she whispers. “I try, and try, but—“

“For fuck’s sake, Lottie,” snaps Ezra. “Either these girls’ lives matter more than your need for love, or they don’t.”

Tricks you into thinking, as the present slips into the past, that it will stay there.

Because I love you as you are, and I cannot bear to change you.

Because I saw the venom in your eyes tonight.

I felt the violence in your limbs, the way your passion became rage, and I know that it would bloom like rot inside your heart.

Even as she listens to the steady beat of Giada’s human heart behind her fragile ribs and wants it for her own, Charlotte knows she will gladly starve if it means letting Giada walk her home.

“Why are you being so kind?” she asks, even as she begins to sink.

Antonia’s voice follows her down. “We grow together in this garden.”

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.

“Life is messy. People, too. And you can tie yourself in knots, trying to make yourself feel better, or you can face the truth.”

Antonia sighs out a plume of smoke. “No one should play God. Least of all us.”

Charlotte always thought that music, that resonance, came from Sabine alone. But now, she understands. It is the nature of them that brings that quiet harmony.

But in the moment, there is only the urge to mend each one.

That is the thing. Even after all these years, she 

“The world is so dark,” whispers Charlotte. “So full of death. There must be something we can do.”

Sabine brings her fingertips to Charlotte’s chin, and lifts her face.

Some people keep their heart tucked so deep, they hardly know it’s there. But you have always worn it like a second skin. It will make your life harder. But it will also make it beautiful.

She craves that moment in the sun, the borrowed heart, the flush of heat, the power of the blood. But there is another piece—the way she feels when those men are in her arms.

When they are weak, and she is strong. When they are trapped.

And in the morning, Sabine pulls Charlotte down into the sheets and whispers poetry against her skin, likes about midnight soil and soft red petals and sharp white teeth.

just like with Addie LaRue, Schwab is very repetitive in this novel. i love vampires and this gave me what i wanted, but i also hated that part of it took place in 2019. i know this is such a weird thing to dislike, but it just feels like a sin to write a vampire novel with cellphones! no, no. won’t do. but i still had a lot of fun reading this.

nattie!

Went in without reading the description just off of my love for Addie LaRue and I was not let down. I didn't even know it was vampires... Also, at one point, it felt like the story came out of the simple but excellent idea, "What if Bridgerton had vampires?" But that was only one story among many.

I loved every second but the ending fell kind of flat?? Would have been 5 stars if she stuck the landing, but Schwab's books, if the two I've read can be considered a pattern, are more about the journey than the destination. They're both epic sagas that contain stories upon stories upon stories, and I find her writing delicious. 

Went in without reading the description just off of my love for Addie LaRue and I was not let down. I didn't even know it was vampires... Also, at one point, it felt like the story came out of the simple but excellent idea, "What if Bridgerton had vampires?" But that was only one story among many.

I loved every second but the ending fell kind of flat?? Would have been 5 stars if she stuck the landing, but Schwab's books, if the two I've read can be considered a pattern, are more about the journey than the destination. They're both epic sagas that contain stories upon stories upon stories, and I find her writing delicious. 

i'm really glad when i didn't listen to someone's review about this book being boring. well, it is, kinda boring in the beginning, but it make sense untuk worldbuilding dan familiarize with the characters. 

i love how this book doesn't overpower the vampires (or roses, that's what sabine prefers). indeed, they're not easy to kill (because you have to aim for the heart in order to do so), but they'll die. they'll wither. slowly. and that's what i love the most. 

(because most of the vampire's stories i know, they just... immortal... how boring)

i feel sad & mad for alice... for her life to be taken without her consent. i really wished she could become human again after she killed her maker, but she was tricked by lottie. it gives me satisfaction for everyone who done alice wrong, pay their prices.

i'm really glad when i didn't listen to someone's review about this book being boring. well, it is, kinda boring in the beginning, but it make sense untuk worldbuilding dan familiarize with the characters. 

i love how this book doesn't overpower the vampires (or roses, that's what sabine prefers). indeed, they're not easy to kill (because you have to aim for the heart in order to do so), but they'll die. they'll wither. slowly. and that's what i love the most. 

(because most of the vampire's stories i know, they just... immortal... how boring)

i feel sad & mad for alice... for her life to be taken without her consent. i really wished she could become human again after she killed her maker, but she was tricked by lottie. it gives me satisfaction for everyone who done alice wrong, pay their prices.

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

Alice, a shy Scottish country girl, finds herself at Harvard—quiet, gay, and out of place. One night, she makes a bold decision to attend a party, hoping to shed her shyness, even if just for an evening. But that single choice sets her on a path that will change her life forever. From that night on, Alice is reborn—a feral rose rising from midnight soil, like so many others before her.

I’m a big fan of the Shades of Magic series—maybe because it’s set in London, or maybe because I love a strong female lead. Unfortunately, almost every other V.E. Schwab book I’ve picked up has let me down. Maybe it was my expectation has been set too high.

I didn’t love it, but overall, I enjoyed the read. The pacing felt unnecessarily slow, and the chapters about Alice and Catty’s childhood dragged on. It honestly felt like filler, as if Schwab couldn’t figure out what else to write for Alice. I was close to giving this book 3 stars… until the final plot twist, which genuinely surprised me and slightly redeemed the experience.

Bury my bones in the midnight soil, plant them shallow and water them deep, and in my place will grow a feral rose, soft red petals hiding sharp white teeth.

Bilge Ince

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

Alice, a shy Scottish country girl, finds herself at Harvard—quiet, gay, and out of place. One night, she makes a bold decision to attend a party, hoping to shed her shyness, even if just for an evening. But that single choice sets her on a path that will change her life forever. From that night on, Alice is reborn—a feral rose rising from midnight soil, like so many others before her.

I’m a big fan of the Shades of Magic series—maybe because it’s set in London, or maybe because I love a strong female lead. Unfortunately, almost every other V.E. Schwab book I’ve picked up has let me down. Maybe it was my expectation has been set too high.

I didn’t love it, but overall, I enjoyed the read. The pacing felt unnecessarily slow, and the chapters about Alice and Catty’s childhood dragged on. It honestly felt like filler, as if Schwab couldn’t figure out what else to write for Alice. I was close to giving this book 3 stars… until the final plot twist, which genuinely surprised me and slightly redeemed the experience.

Bury my bones in the midnight soil, plant them shallow and water them deep, and in my place will grow a feral rose, soft red petals hiding sharp white teeth.

My first V.E Schwab book, along it also being my first dip into a vampire focused story. Probably not the best combination however, I did enjoy the writing and the storytelling aspect. Maybe im just not into vampire lore but this book was honestly boring for 40% of the book and I almost DNF’d it because I thought it was just going to be about these women just feeding and dealing with becoming vampires, at this rate I didn’t see an actual plot to the book itself. Once we got into connections of Sabine to everyone else, things seemed to pick up and actually the only reason my rating is this high up.

I liked the deeper meaning of these women gaining control over things that otherwise would hurt them or limit their way of living. The ending, to me, seemed so…quick? Just seemed too easy with power dynamics…

Overall, I think this book is good for people who haven’t read about vampires or aren’t too into vampire lore as it did feel like an informational dump. 

lily

My first V.E Schwab book, along it also being my first dip into a vampire focused story. Probably not the best combination however, I did enjoy the writing and the storytelling aspect. Maybe im just not into vampire lore but this book was honestly boring for 40% of the book and I almost DNF’d it because I thought it was just going to be about these women just feeding and dealing with becoming vampires, at this rate I didn’t see an actual plot to the book itself. Once we got into connections of Sabine to everyone else, things seemed to pick up and actually the only reason my rating is this high up.

I liked the deeper meaning of these women gaining control over things that otherwise would hurt them or limit their way of living. The ending, to me, seemed so…quick? Just seemed too easy with power dynamics…

Overall, I think this book is good for people who haven’t read about vampires or aren’t too into vampire lore as it did feel like an informational dump. 

i wanted to like this more so bad. ended up with a signed copy from my preorder but i'm thinking of selling it bc lmao????

cee 

first half was amazing. sabine had the best chapters 

ellie

I LOVE V.E. Schwab just as much as the next person. The Invisible Life of Addie Larue changed my love for reading forever. So when this book came out, I was giddy with excitement. I pre-ordered a copy, purchased a special edition… I was READY. It is hard to take a book that was so formative in your reading journey and NOT compare it to the next book that an author creates. I truly do believe that one day I will love this book way more. I WANT to love this book more. Don’t get me wrong, it was still a fantastic read. Her words pour out of her in such a beautiful and poetic way that it is hard not to love her work. But these three characters- Sabine, Charlotte, and Alice- all seemingly fall flat for me. I loved Charlotte the most but even that was a kind of love that was hesitantly given. The last 40% of the book was where I was most invested but until then, I was left wondering where this all was going to end up. I will still pick up any and every book that V.E. Schwab writes but it certainly will not surpass the love I have for some of her other books. 

Kaitlyn R

I have fallen in love with Schwab’s wiring thigs year, as it’s the year I have finally given some of her books ago after them being sat on my TBR for several years and it feels amazing to have discovered a new Author as I expand my reading tastes! After asking friends for which Anticipated read to read first this one won and its clear to see why that is the case!

Maria: A new Bride is struggling with an overbearing husband and a role she does not want to play, when she meets an alluring stranger who will give her a life changing opportunity.

Charlotte: Living in 1827 London is happy but cloistered life, but when a moment of forbidden intimacy leads to her banishment, a beautiful widow presents an invitation she cannot refuse.

Alice: Living in 2019 Boston, a one-night stand following a college party will leave Alice with more questions than answers. “This is the story about life— how it ends, and how it starts.”

This book griped me from the first page and didn’t let me go until the very end. Filled with many elements I love, From the atmospheric settings, the characters who are fascinating and I didn’t think that I would be wiring this about a book that is about vampires.

As we journey through time with each of our three main characters, some in the very distant past and some in the near present, we walk in each of their shoes as one by one, they each struggle with their desires for more, only to be felled by the curse of life everlasting.

It’s V.E. Schwab at her most raw, her most autobiographical and maybe her most damning.

Ian Brakspear

I have fallen in love with Schwab’s wiring thigs year, as it’s the year I have finally given some of her books ago after them being sat on my TBR for several years and it feels amazing to have discovered a new Author as I expand my reading tastes! After asking friends for which Anticipated read to read first this one won and its clear to see why that is the case!

 

Maria: A new Bride is struggling with an overbearing husband and a role she does not want to play, when she meets an alluring stranger who will give her a life changing opportunity.

Charlotte: Living in 1827 London is happy but cloistered life, but when a moment of forbidden intimacy leads to her banishment, a beautiful widow presents an invitation she cannot refuse.

Alice: Living in 2019 Boston, a one-night stand following a college party will leave Alice with more questions than answers. “This is the story about life— how it ends, and how it starts.”

 

This book griped me from the first page and didn’t let me go until the very end. Filled with many elements I love, From the atmospheric settings, the characters who are fascinating and I didn’t think that I would be wiring this about a book that is about vampires.

 

As we journey through time with each of our three main characters, some in the very distant past and some in the near present, we walk in each of their shoes as one by one, they each struggle with their desires for more, only to be felled by the curse of life everlasting.

 

It’s V.E. Schwab at her most raw, her most autobiographical and maybe her most damning.

Was on the edge of my seat the whole time. Loved to see the development and relationships of all the characters. I loved the depiction of the different characters coming to terms with being a vampire and their individual feelings and reactions to it. Wildly messy lesbian/wlw vibes but liked their attitude and indifference towards men! 

Thea Sophie

this book is amazing for the first like 3/4; everything about maría in the first parts and sabine and her life through like 1800 was so interesting to me and made for such a compelling character. I loved seeing her progression, and I love that she’s ruthless and unapologetic. my favorite part of the whole book was seeing her and matteo, I thought that whole part with him in Venice was so well done; the character work was amazing, like you get such a sense just from that about what motivates sabine and why her actions later in the book make sense. 

I liked Alice fine. I thought her flashbacks were interesting but mildly predictable, and I thought her parts could be expanded, like I wish we maybe got more of her post-shift alone or with Ezra (or Sabine!!) and less of her parts focused on charlotte and catty. 

in my opinion, charlotte was by far the weakest-written and least-compelling of the three. I liked her buildup as a human but then post-turning she got boring to me. 

overall, this was a great book. i thoroughly enjoyed sabine and alice, and i thought charlotte’s parts mostly stood up. the half a point takeaway is for the ending; i have to be honest, i thought it was a cop out and too abrupt, and i don’t think it fit the story. 

the whole book aims at being a gothic romance, and i thought there was too much individual backstory and not enough focus on the relationships between characters to be truly a romance. I would’ve liked to see more interactions between them, and also any interaction with all three at once. in terms of gothic, i think the toxicity of the relationship and the inherent nature of vampires was supposed to cover it, but i wish there had been more like give me more fucked up, more dark—that’s what it was marketed as and I don’t necessarily think it delivered. however, as a historical fiction novel it excelled! I view this as being in the same vein as the familiar by Leigh Bardugo, and I think if you enjoyed that, you’d enjoy this. I don’t mean to be too critical of this book because I enjoyed the heck out of it!! I just hate to see sliiiiightly wasted potential. but wow this is a powerhouse of a novel and I think a great great book!

fris🐝

this book is amazing for the first like 3/4; everything about maría in the first parts and sabine and her life through like 1800 was so interesting to me and made for such a compelling character. I loved seeing her progression, and I love that she’s ruthless and unapologetic. my favorite part of the whole book was seeing her and matteo, I thought that whole part with him in Venice was so well done; the character work was amazing, like you get such a sense just from that about what motivates sabine and why her actions later in the book make sense. 

I liked Alice fine. I thought her flashbacks were interesting but mildly predictable, and I thought her parts could be expanded, like I wish we maybe got more of her post-shift alone or with Ezra (or Sabine!!) and less of her parts focused on charlotte and catty. 

in my opinion, charlotte was by far the weakest-written and least-compelling of the three. I liked her buildup as a human but then post-turning she got boring to me. 

overall, this was a great book. i thoroughly enjoyed sabine and alice, and i thought charlotte’s parts mostly stood up. the half a point takeaway is for the ending; i have to be honest, i thought it was a cop out and too abrupt, and i don’t think it fit the story. 

the whole book aims at being a gothic romance, and i thought there was too much individual backstory and not enough focus on the relationships between characters to be truly a romance. I would’ve liked to see more interactions between them, and also any interaction with all three at once. in terms of gothic, i think the toxicity of the relationship and the inherent nature of vampires was supposed to cover it, but i wish there had been more like give me more fucked up, more dark—that’s what it was marketed as and I don’t necessarily think it delivered. however, as a historical fiction novel it excelled! I view this as being in the same vein as the familiar by Leigh Bardugo, and I think if you enjoyed that, you’d enjoy this. I don’t mean to be too critical of this book because I enjoyed the heck out of it!! I just hate to see sliiiiightly wasted potential. but wow this is a powerhouse of a novel and I think a great great book!

Pacing was a bit odd but tbh I devoured this book in 2 days, highly recommend as always

𝑂𝑑𝑖𝑙𝑒

How can a book so long have absolutely nothing to say. A 300 page book with nothing to say is an offense, but a 500 page book is just egregiously bad. This book is all style and no substance. Beautiful prose isn’t everything, and the prose wasn’t always beautiful. Some lines felt so corny and the repetitiveness was grating. I feel like the ideas were great, and some of the lore was really interesting, but the execution fell flat for me.

This is a character driven book, and that’s fine, but if you’re going to rely on your characters to make your book interesting, then maybe make the characters interesting?? The characterization of the three main characters we follow is so bland, and it makes the whole book so tedious to read because literally nothing else is happening to distract you. Sabine was interesting, and then she has this sudden shift out of nowhere. You lose sight of the person you were following because the transition was so quick and half-baked. Charlotte is incredibly bland and one note. I didn’t care about her story at all. The whole time I kept thinking that it didn’t make sense for Sabine to be as enamored with her as she was, because she’s like the personification of unseasoned boiled chicken. She only became a little bit interesting at the end of the book, and by then I didn’t care. Alice- why was she even there? The constant flashbacks in her POV were so annoying to read because I didn’t care, I wasn’t connected with her character at all.

Plot? What plot? I don’t mind a book not having a plot, as long as the characters and the writing can carry the story, but that didn’t happen here. Nothing happens til you’re already more than half way through with the book. Even when things did happen, it was rushed and didn’t make much sense. The first half of the book is filled with nothing. The ending was seriously underwhelming.

There were solid ideas here, and a lot of really good lines. However, overall, just a huge let down. It wasn’t a horrible book by any means, but I just couldn’t enjoy it, hence the low rating.

bel 

How can a book so long have absolutely nothing to say. A 300 page book with nothing to say is an offense, but a 500 page book is just egregiously bad. This book is all style and no substance. Beautiful prose isn’t everything, and the prose wasn’t always beautiful. Some lines felt so corny and the repetitiveness was grating. I feel like the ideas were great, and some of the lore was really interesting, but the execution fell flat for me.

This is a character driven book, and that’s fine, but if you’re going to rely on your characters to make your book interesting, then maybe make the characters interesting?? The characterization of the three main characters we follow is so bland, and it makes the whole book so tedious to read because literally nothing else is happening to distract you. Sabine was interesting, and then she has this sudden shift out of nowhere. You lose sight of the person you were following because the transition was so quick and half-baked. Charlotte is incredibly bland and one note. I didn’t care about her story at all. The whole time I kept thinking that it didn’t make sense for Sabine to be as enamored with her as she was, because she’s like the personification of unseasoned boiled chicken. She only became a little bit interesting at the end of the book, and by then I didn’t care. Alice- why was she even there? The constant flashbacks in her POV were so annoying to read because I didn’t care, I wasn’t connected with her character at all.

Plot? What plot? I don’t mind a book not having a plot, as long as the characters and the writing can carry the story, but that didn’t happen here. Nothing happens til you’re already more than half way through with the book. Even when things did happen, it was rushed and didn’t make much sense. The first half of the book is filled with nothing. The ending was seriously underwhelming.

There were solid ideas here, and a lot of really good lines. However, overall, just a huge let down. It wasn’t a horrible book by any means, but I just couldn’t enjoy it, hence the low rating.

this book takes you on a journey of life and death, or more so undeath. with its beautiful narration and complex character explorations, i found it captivating in ways that explore a human (or vampire) life. the human condition that is so uniquely ingrained in us all. 

following three different vampires on their journey through their second, third, fourth lives, and how it all comes together at the end was masterfully done. 

i do feel that the ending was a bit rushed, could have been refined slightly better but found i was skipping over words to devour it even quicker. 

what i loved most about this book was the gentle love shown between women but the fierceness shown too. 

venus

this book takes you on a journey of life and death, or more so undeath. with its beautiful narration and complex character explorations, i found it captivating in ways that explore a human (or vampire) life. the human condition that is so uniquely ingrained in us all. 

following three different vampires on their journey through their second, third, fourth lives, and how it all comes together at the end was masterfully done. 

i do feel that the ending was a bit rushed, could have been refined slightly better but found i was skipping over words to devour it even quicker. 

what i loved most about this book was the gentle love shown between women but the fierceness shown too. 

i really wanted to LOVE this since it was my first v.e. schwab book but unfortunately it was just meh. the premise seemed intriguing and the beginning of the story was interesting but it just got soo boring after that. after 60% it started to get a bit interesting again but maybe it was just too late for me and I didn’t find the ending satisfying at all. 

millie

3.75 ⭐️

i really wanted to LOVE this since it was my first v.e. schwab book but unfortunately it was just meh. the premise seemed intriguing and the beginning of the story was interesting but it just got soo boring after that. after 60% it started to get a bit interesting again but maybe it was just too late for me and I didn’t find the ending satisfying at all. 

abi a

I love books that take you on a journey over years of someone’s live, Bury Our Bones takes that to a whole new level as we travel centuries in this novel. Taking us through multiple time periods and following three main characters, this book is constantly being pushed in different directions and pulling at your heart strings in different ways. 

I found myself jumping between who I was most desperate to follow and learn more about, but the way these stories all knitted together was so clever and compelling. 

The writing style, as always with Schwab, is nothing short of gorgeous and hypnotising. Schwab perfectly balances beautiful writing with accessible writing, their novels aren’t intimidating or too flowery, yet the atmosphere is always captured so perfectly and so well detailed, and the characters so fleshed out and real. 

This book and these characters will stay with me for a while, I feel I went on quite the journey with them. I loved it! Thank you to the publishers for sending me an early copy. 

Beth Bartholomew

I love books that take you on a journey over years of someone’s live, Bury Our Bones takes that to a whole new level as we travel centuries in this novel. Taking us through multiple time periods and following three main characters, this book is constantly being pushed in different directions and pulling at your heart strings in different ways. 

I found myself jumping between who I was most desperate to follow and learn more about, but the way these stories all knitted together was so clever and compelling. 

The writing style, as always with Schwab, is nothing short of gorgeous and hypnotising. Schwab perfectly balances beautiful writing with accessible writing, their novels aren’t intimidating or too flowery, yet the atmosphere is always captured so perfectly and so well detailed, and the characters so fleshed out and real. 

This book and these characters will stay with me for a while, I feel I went on quite the journey with them. I loved it! Thank you to the publishers for sending me an early copy. 

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil

Reviews

Highlights