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A review by bibliomania_express
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab is a story of three women, linked through time. It's about the ways society has suppressed women in different - yet the same - ways for centuries; and its about breaking free of those cages. This is a bloody, violent book about female rage and hunger, about the desire for love, about the hunger to take up space and make a mark, and about the way we all justify the things we do to take that space.
Schwab has described this book as Addie LaRue's darker sister, and I think that's an apt description. The first half of the book rings the same, with a young, spirited girl forced to marry for society and her family against her will. But Maria finds a different escape and becomes Sabine - a new vampire, determined to take what she wants. In the present day, Alice, a Harvard student from Scotland, wakes up dead. Connecting them is Lottie.
Like all of Schwab's books, the vibes are immaculate and there's some really beautiful descriptions and turns of phrase. You also can't help but be fascinated by the stories of these women, rooting for them even as the horror mounts and the internal rot shows. I really loved how little threads of each story were so important to the end.
My only negatives about this book is that it is rather slow and I wish there was more intertwined points of view in the present day. We follow Maria/Sabine until it becomes Lottie's story, and Alice serves more as a frame narrative with a few brief pop-ins. I did like that we got a lot of Alice's backstory and her relationship with her sister.
Schwab has described this book as Addie LaRue's darker sister, and I think that's an apt description. The first half of the book rings the same, with a young, spirited girl forced to marry for society and her family against her will. But Maria finds a different escape and becomes Sabine - a new vampire, determined to take what she wants. In the present day, Alice, a Harvard student from Scotland, wakes up dead. Connecting them is Lottie.
Like all of Schwab's books, the vibes are immaculate and there's some really beautiful descriptions and turns of phrase. You also can't help but be fascinated by the stories of these women, rooting for them even as the horror mounts and the internal rot shows. I really loved how little threads of each story were so important to the end.
My only negatives about this book is that it is rather slow and I wish there was more intertwined points of view in the present day. We follow Maria/Sabine until it becomes Lottie's story, and Alice serves more as a frame narrative with a few brief pop-ins. I did like that we got a lot of Alice's backstory and her relationship with her sister.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Classism
Minor: Car accident, Lesbophobia