Reviews - Begraaf mijn botten in de nachtelijke grond

10.9k reviews for:

Begraaf mijn botten in de nachtelijke grond

V.E. Schwab

4.24 AVERAGE

ream_1287's review against another edition

3.75

dark tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

hannahb_epub's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

“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.”

book club read.
i need to start this review with... i love vampires. also this was my first v.e schwab book and i'd heard a lot of mixed things about addie la rue. do i think this book was perfect? no. but did i also kinda love the story? yeah.
i listened to the audiobook of this one and i think it definitely enhanced the experience for me. because this book is in multiple POVs, having different voice actors for different parts made the characters feel a lot more real to me.

i love seeing how different directors/authors/artists interpret different bits of vampire lore and make it their own. i really liked how old and traditional the lore was in this book. and i don't mean it was necessarily airtight. i just mean that i really liked how the traditions of old vampirism was passed on and how uppity the older vampires were about carrying certain qualities of it on.

i thought the different ethical problems within the vampire world were brought up and explored really well. for example, eating children, loving humans, turning someone without their consent. although the "rules" were pretty well followed there a couple of plot holes which i feel could have been easily ironed out a little but they didn't really ruin the book for me.

i thought sabine was a really great character and her downward spiral was very well written. theres a lot of talk within the book about predators and prey and when all the women flip to both sides of the equation which i thought was very fun. easily my favourite character was alice. i like that she rejected the idea of vampirism because when the other two were made it was at a time where women were more oppressed so being "planted in the midnight soil" was their only way to be free. so when the two older vampires were running around as widows, (essentially free) i thought it was interesting how alice rejected that idea.

i thought the ending was a little underwhelming unfortunately. it wasn't satisfying or quite in line with character motives throughout the book (can't say too much because spoilers) especially for alice, when the whole time we're being told how gentle she is, her ending didn't feel right. i think there could have been a way everything was resolved so characters all got their comeuppance.

i really enjoyed this book, there are a lot of things i can criticise. specifically a couple of errors in lore (re: being invited in), too many weird americanisms that i don't think quite fit in most timelines, overuse of "just like that", too many sidebar memories that i think really interrupted the flow of alice's story. but sometimes it is nice to just read a standalone gory fantasy book about angry women.

overall, i think the real theme of this book was oppression, both to do with sex and also sexuality. i loved how parallels were drawn between hiding as a vampire and hiding who you are as a person whether degrading yourself for a man's attention or alternatively, having to a hide your relationship from judgemental eyes. also how much of yourself you lose if you spend too long living a life untrue to your own.
female rage always a bit of a win for me, can see this being made into a subpar netflix show in a couple years haahah.
rip alice, i hope you're happy somewhere. good luck, babe.

“some people keep their heart tucked so deep, they hardly know it’s there. but you, you have always worn it like a second skin. open to the world. you feel it all. the love and pain. the joy and hope and sorrow. it will make your life harder, but it will also make it beautiful.”

disguisedposer's review against another edition

4.5

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

eedunn18's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Slow burn but worth it. Loved all the glimpses into history.

jnjanik's review against another edition

4.5

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

nadams87's review against another edition

4.75

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

camille_abelanet's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

6/5. Damn what an incredible book. VE Schwab does it again. I love this genre of her books and books in general!! Such an intriguing story and I love the way she weaves worlds together!! I also really like how her books don’t necessarily have a happy ending, but neither do they end without any hope. It’s nice.