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A couple crucial bits of characterization are left out until the moment they're needed, then sprung on readers as a twist/reveal. (That's not a reveal, it's just bad writing!) Plot reveals take way too long to resolve, and the whole thing feels far longer than it needs to be; realistically, the plot could have been delivered in two hundred pages, and it would have been a better novel for it.
The writing style is lovely, but Schwab relies on the same two or three techniques throughout the book to conjure this air of loveliness, and it gets tiresome, while also further dragging down the pace of the plot. Also, if I have to hear the phrase "cupped her face" one more time I will claw my eyes out - surely, as a professional writer with years of experience, Schwab could have come up with a second phrase? Or perhaps chosen other ways that characters could be physical with each other? The book also includes one of my biggest prose pet peeves - tossing a handful of non-English words into monolingual conversations meant to be in a language other than English (e.g., "Mi señora, I thought you were a ghost."). Multilingualism can work really well in fiction if done carefully and critically, but these lazy little bits always give me the impression that the author wishes to be congratulated for spending a week on Duolingo.
The book is also low-key weird about race. There are several Black minor characters, but they flit about the edges of the story and are never foregrounded. One in particular is the only character to speak in dialect (Southern American-sounding colloquialisms), and they feel like a caricature as a result. It is hinted that a more central character might be mixed race, but this is never resolved (the book leaves open the possibility that they could just have brown hair, brown eyes, and a tan), and that is a strange choice in 2025, yes? The race component of the book left me feeling awkward and uncomfortable, and not the productive kind of uncomfortable.
Most damningly, though, Bury Our Bones is simply unoriginal. It feels like a pastiche of media I've read or watched before (it appears to be especially inspired by Interview with the Vampire, but there are also bits of Promising Young Woman and - weird choice from a vibes perspective - Bridgerton, among others). Nothing in it feels fresh, exciting, or new, and the result is ultimately quite forgettable. While all vampire stories at this stage will be referential, the good ones always give readers something new; Bury Our Bones doesn't. There is so much good vampire media out there in 2025, but this book isn't among them.
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Abortion, War
Graphic: Death, Murder
Moderate: Sexual violence, Grief
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder
Graphic: Death, Blood
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Murder
Minor: Suicide, Grief
Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug use, Racism, Suicide, Car accident, Pregnancy, Alcohol, War
Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Stalking
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Murder
Minor: Suicide, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War
Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Murder
Moderate: Gore, Grief
Minor: Suicide
Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking
Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny, Lesbophobia
Minor: Cursing, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood
Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Stalking
Minor: Homophobia, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicide