Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil

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“Unmissable... Nobody can write like V. E. Schwab” —Jodi Picoult

#1 New York Times bestseller • #1 USA Today bestseller • #1 National Indie bestseller • #1 IndieNext List, June 2025

A MOST ANTICIPATED Pick from USA Today • New York Times Book Review • US Weekly • ELLE • TIME • Betches • AutoStraddle• Katie Couric Media • Men’s Health • Woman’s World • Reader’s Digest • Goodreads • Paste Magazine • The Nerd Daily • BookRiot • Bookbub • ScreenRant • The Portalist • Publishers Weekly • Kirkus Reviews • Library Journal

The new genre-defying novel about immortality and hunger from V. E. Schwab, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.

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.

"Schwab has impressively woven a compelling character drama and feminist critique into a horror thriller...sumptuous descriptions of place and time, and the slow-burn melodrama between each of the women... a tale told sharply but sweetly enough it goes down as easy as that happy-hour cocktail that, surprisingly, knocks you flat." —New York Times

“Schwab sends you whirling through a dizzying kaleidoscopic adventure through centuries filled with love, loss, art and war—all the while dazzling your senses with hundreds of tiny magical moments along the way.” —Naomi Novik

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Published Jun 10, 2025

688 pages

Average rating: 8.03

60 RATINGS

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Danisha

Jul 21, 2025

5/10 stars

I want to start by saying—I’m not someone who DNFs. That being said, this book made me realize I need to be way more selective moving forward. (Joking… but not.) I saw this floating around different spaces, and I’ve had V.E. Schwab on my radar for years now. After really enjoying ‘This Savage Song’ some time ago. I jumped on this thinking it would be a good place to start again. In hindsight, it probably wasn’t. While I did enjoy the writing and the way Schwab captured certain feelings and moments in time, the story and characters just didn’t connect for me. I found myself more irritated than invested—and oddly, more drawn to the side characters. The main plot felt like it dragged, despite the immersive writing. Still, I pushed on, hoping the ending would redeem the journey (and my time). To its credit, it did enough to gain a solid three stars, though it was touch and go through most of it. In the end, what was promised…wasn’t. What was owed, was. I’m still looking forward to picking up another Schwab read—this one just wasn’t it.

Green Energy

Jul 20, 2025

9/10 stars

This felt slow and dreamy, like someone telling a me a story while I'm drifting of to sleep. Maybe this is why the characters stick with me. V.E Schwab has a way of getting the reader invested, even though it is clear it can't end well. I'm wrapped up in all of the characters, not really rooting for them, but just enjoying their lifetimes, since the clearly get more than one. This reminded me of Lestat and David right after the theif of body snatcher (iykyk). I think I enjoyed it more because of it gave me the vibes of Vampire Chronicles, and that series will always be my first love. I found the ending satisfying, although predictable. I would have given it 5 stars but the ending felt rushed, so 4.75 it is A story of dead that ends in dead.

Dahlface

Jul 01, 2025

6/10 stars

Okay, so I love vampire stories. Ever since my first read of Interview with the Vampire when I was a teenager, I’ve been drawn to vampire stories. I was really excited for this book and it did deliver for the most part. I, however, think that it was maybe too ambitious. I think the strength of this tale is in the chapters about Maria, Sabine, and Charlotte and the whole intrigue of their stories gets muddied by the modern-day chapters with Alice. In particular, all the story-telling around Alice’s real life family and sister Catty pulled me right out of the narrative. Every time the story diverted to it made me mad. All that said, VE Schwab does something here that many - most - vampire novels don’t: she plainly shows these women as monsters. Doesn’t over romanticize the idea of the undead but instead exposes their brutality and deep-seated evil impulses. It’s a good study of evil, a truthful telling of lore that is so often veiled in heady sex and romantic overtures. Perhaps because we are living in a time so filled with real, everyday acts of brutality and evil, it’s too difficult to shroud nowadays.

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