Like a lot of people I know, I was highly anticipating Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V. E. Schwab, but what did I think of this behemoth of a book?
Thank you to Pan Macmillan for sending me a proof in exchange for an honest review. This review originally appeared on The Nerd Daily.
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.
Publication Date: 10th June
CW: death, murder, violence, gore, torture, fire, sexual assault, rape, blood, injury, grief
My Thoughts:
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is phenomenal. Schwab absolutely smashes it out of the park in this beautifully written, considered dark fantasy novel about grief, revenge and trying to fill the endless hunger inside.
This has been pitched as a toxic lesbian vampire book and that is very much true. There is a messiness and complexity to the book that adds such depth and texture to the narrative. It is raw and real in its interpersonal dynamics, even with the supernatural element. Schwab has a phenomenal way of writing that brings beauty into the darkness. It is lyrical without being overly flowery and always feels like it has grit under its fingernails. This is probably Schwab’s strongest work yet with that signature brilliance through characterisation that enhances the storytelling further. It is a rich and remarkable story that has a lot to say. In particular this is a book that fixates on the idea of changing your narrative, choosing a fate beyond that which has been prescribed for you. There is a sense of tragedy that permeates the pages from the start – a slight foreboding that you can never fully shake. Schwab also explores the concept of hunger as an aching void within you that may never be fully satiated. This is significant in the intersection with desire – an endless appetite to devour and be devoured. Within vampirism, this has a different spin entirely. There has been a run of great books focusing on female desire and hungers with Schwab’s book neatly slotting into this vibrant subgenre. It is a love story and a tragedy and a chronicle of history through the eyes of three women across the years. However it feels like it transcends these ideas of genre by delivering a powerful story that stands as its own unique experience.
Schwab just has such a beautiful and emotionally entrancing way of writing grief. It is raw and honest and achingly real. It feels like they’ve cleaved their heart in two and offered it up to you through this story. All three characters experience some form of loss in their relationships and ultimately face their own deaths in their transformation. Their lives have been irreconcilably changed and some may revel in that escape, while others may lament what it has cost them. There is a throughline of grief in one particular narrative though that really struck me. It was tangible and authentic in a way that really hit home for me. It felt like someone just got it. That is a rare gift for a reader and one I treasure from Schwab. Another narrative episode mirrors this with a hauntingly romantic story that then delves into a tragic spiral you can almost see coming. It adds a humanity to this story of monstrous creatures of the night. Schwab is a master at that, imbuing the supernatural with emotional depth and complexity. Her stories are so wonderful because they are unfailingly bogged down in the messiness of humanity.
This is enhanced further by the stunning characterisation at play. This has such a great scope and scale to it. We follow three characters across hundreds of years, seeing the way some societies change and evolve. Each of them is complex and three-dimensional as we hear their own stories and get a better sense of what drives them & more importantly what they hunger for. There are some wonderful tricks and turns in store here, so I would recommend going in knowing as little as you can and trusting Schwab to guide you. All I will say is that each of these women is strangely entrancing and relatable in their own ways. They have been shaped by their experiences and this in turn guides their resulting actions. I did have a particular favourite arc but will let you discover that for yourself.
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil was one of the best books I’ve read so far this year. It has rooted itself in my mind and I’m not sure it will ever leave. Schwab rules the roost in this powerhouse of a book.
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