Bury Our Bones (and my interest) in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab
Author: V.E. Schwab
Publication Date: June 10, 2025
Genres: Fiction
Representation: Lesbian/Bisexual
As someone who has yet to encounter the works of V.E. Schwab, I’d have told you there’s no better way to make an introduction than with a paranormal historical fantasy about lesbian vampires… but the fact that she made something boring of what should have been exciting makes me honestly wonder what all the fuss is about.
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is a character-driven saga that examines themes of power and femininity through a lens of vampire mythology, but the problem is that’s all it is. All character and themes, and no plot. It’s an uneven, disjointed novel that suffers from pacing that drags and narrative POVs that are just long enough to incite curiosity but too short to create connections. To make matters worse, there’s no real depth to the characters and none of the development needed to move a story forward.
This. Just. Dragged.
There’s no sense of urgency, no momentum to the story. I prefer a book that has me turning pages, wondering what’s next, how something is going to be resolved, when someone is getting what’s coming to them, or when romance will bloom. Here, the only question I found myself asking was whether it was ever going to go somewhere. Admittedly, I started skimming after the 200 page mark, but I still feel confident saying this felt like 450 pages of exposition, 100 or so of rising action (most of which happens off the page), and then 10 pages of resolution.
I. Just. Didn’t. Care.
Stylistically, I think I get what Schwab was going after here. I suspect she was after the feel of a Gothic melodrama, one where style matters more than substance, but my issue is that the story gets lost in the prose. I can appreciate that prose on a technical level, but I found it made for a very slow read when the story itself was already poorly paced. Maybe this is Schwab’s style, and maybe her fans know what they’re in for – I do seem to be in the minority – but as a newbie, this feels like a missed opportunity on so many fronts. I’d really hoped for more.
Rating: 
1/2
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
