Bury Our Bones In The Midnight Soil

This is a story about hunger.
1532. Santo Domingo de la Calzada.
A young girl grows up wild and wily—her beauty is only outmatched by her dreams of escape. But María knows she can only ever be a prize, or a pawn, in the games played by men. When an alluring stranger offers an alternate path, María makes a desperate choice. She vows to have no regrets.

This is a story about love.
1827. London.
A young woman lives an idyllic but cloistered life on her family’s estate, until a moment of forbidden intimacy sees her shipped off to London. Charlotte’s tender heart and seemingly impossible wishes are swept away by an invitation from a beautiful widow—but the price of freedom is higher than she could have imagined.

This is a story about rage.
2019. Boston.
College was supposed to be her chance to be someone new. That’s why Alice moved halfway across the world, leaving her old life behind. But after an out-of-character one-night stand leaves her questioning her past, her present, and her future, Alice throws herself into the hunt for answers . . . and revenge.

This is a story about life—
how it ends, and how it starts.

Any book by VE Schwab jumps to the top of my most-anticipated books list, as she is one of my favourite authors! So I was eager to get my hands on this, and a chunky book about vampires spanning centuries felt like a great end of summer / early fall read.

I have to admit, it took me some time to really get into this book. I think it was challenging for me to get invested in three different characters’ stories, which didn’t seem connected at first. This also felt very character-driven and I think I was in a state at the time where I was reading for more plot-driven stories.

That said, the characters drew me in over time, and so did the beautiful writing. As I’ve come to expect from V.E. Schwab, the writing was lush and evocative, and I was very interested to learn how the three stories would intertwine.

V.E. Schwab always writes great endings but given the page count getting there, it felt rushed when I got there. I wish there had been a more drawn out finale.

While this was not my favourite V.E. Schwab, I still really liked it and highly recommend it. If you are looking for an atmospheric vampire story, this would definitely be a great pick!