'Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil' by V.E. Schwab

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil

Author: V.E. Schwab

Rating: A-

Vibe: Gothic lesbian vampires across centuries, with prose that bleeds poetry

V.E. Schwab wrote a vampire book that cares more about longing than blood. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is a 400+ page slow burn that spans centuries, following three women whose lives intertwine across time: Maria in 1532 Spain, Charlotte in 1827 London, and Alice in 2019 Boston. If you loved The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, this feels like its darker, hungrier sister—same gorgeous multi-timeline storytelling, but with more murder.

This is vampire fiction that cares more about the women than the fangs. Maria's story hit me hardest because Schwab doesn't separate her queerness from her rage from her desire for independence—they're all tangled together, and when she's turned, everything gets amplified to supernatural levels. Alice became my favorite timeline, probably because her contemporary confusion and anger felt the most familiar, but all three women are complex and make questionable decisions for completely understandable reasons.

The prose here is genuinely stunning—Schwab makes every sentence feel deliberate without being precious about it. The dialogue sounds like people talking, not "vampire book dialogue," and the character work is phenomenal.

Now, about that pacing. This book is 400+ pages and it earns every single one. Schwab takes her time—with character development, with atmosphere, with letting you sink into each time period. Some people will find this frustrating, and I get it. This isn't a book that's going to grab you by the throat on page one. It's going to seduce you slowly, and you have to be willing to let it.

This works perfectly as spooky season reading, though it's more "psychological dread about societal constraints" than "jump scares in a haunted house." It's about the horror of being trapped and the terrifying freedom that comes with breaking out. Perfect for October, but honestly perfect for any time you want to lose yourself in something gorgeous and strange.

If you need your books to move fast and hit plot beats like clockwork, skip this. But if you want to sink your teeth into beautiful language and watch complex women make fascinating mistakes across centuries, absolutely pick this up. It's Schwab trusting that her readers are smart enough to appreciate slow-burn perfection.

Grab your copy of 'Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil'