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A review by jamballdonut
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab
5.0
This was my first V.E. Schwab book and I can definitely understand the hype about their work. I'm used to fast-paced thrillers or fantasy, so it was nice to try something different with a very slow-paced magical realism/fantasy book. The writing flowed beautifully, the characters were well fleshed out and three-dimensional, and I enjoyed the entire book.
I can understand people's criticisms about it going on too long, or parts not feeling massively necessary. A large chunk of the centre of the book is solely just world- and character-building, but I think it just added depth to the story.
In saying that, after spending so much of the book learning about Sabine's history, the ending felt extremely rushed. After spending over 500 pages with each character, the ending was wrapped up in what? Less than 20 pages? I was getting towards the end and thinking it was going to end on a cliff-hanger, setting us up for a next novel, but then boom. Finished.
In saying all of that,I didn't like Alice. I loved her in the beginning. I understood her anxieties and her simmering rage at feeling silenced/like she couldn't express herself. I loved watching her growth and working out her emotions, but I did not enjoy how it ended. I didn't enjoy her mercilessly killing Charlotte and seemingly feeling nothing. It felt as though all of her growth was ripped away, but I can also see why she would've acted that way, so.. I'm conflicted.
Sabine was a beautifulvillain, and I loved watching her descent into madness. The scene with Giada genuinely made me gasp and almost brought tears to my eyes. Penny was then the cherry on top and made my heart genuinely ache for Charlotte.
Oh, also Catty?I'm sure it's just the writing and not me being an absolute genius, but it was obvious from the beginning that she was dead. Which in the beginning I was sad about, but as her character developed, I felt less sad about, which then made me feel terrible as a person haha
I can understand people's criticisms about it going on too long, or parts not feeling massively necessary. A large chunk of the centre of the book is solely just world- and character-building, but I think it just added depth to the story.
In saying that, after spending so much of the book learning about Sabine's history, the ending felt extremely rushed. After spending over 500 pages with each character, the ending was wrapped up in what? Less than 20 pages? I was getting towards the end and thinking it was going to end on a cliff-hanger, setting us up for a next novel, but then boom. Finished.
In saying all of that,
Sabine was a beautiful
Oh, also Catty?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Murder, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Animal death, Body shaming, Alcohol, War
Minor: Bullying, Car accident