REVIEW: Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V E Schwab

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.

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.

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.

"There are other names for us, of course,' continues Hector, 'Night Walker. Blood Drinker. Abomination. Vampire. But those are words crafted by mortal tounges. They are imperfect, incomplete. they lack the poetry, the brutality, the grace. No, we are roses."

A decadent, seductive, lavish tale filled with feminine magic, queer romance (bring a fan, it’s hot) and rebellion. I adore a vampire story; but usually you have the same few stories retold over and over - languishing and dramatically draped over a chaise lounge, falling in love with a human, etcetera, but Ms Schwab managed to hold onto that gothic delight while making something utterly fabulous and unique. 

Maria lives in Spain, 1521, telling us tales of warm sun, fresh cherries, and mysterious pilgrims hoping to wash away their sins. A life before betrothal when she was just a child that feels more at home with nature and dirt before becoming a woman who dared to ask about her own pleasure, to seek adventure and dare to question men. 

Then there's Alice in 2019 Boston, she watched the world happen but always feels like a voyeur, an observer until she meets a beautiful girl who disappears into the night. I wished we’d spent a bit more time with her in the first half, she felt a little forgotten but I was so rapt by the stories I didn’t mind so much. 

All of our characters were undeniable - complicated, human, inhuman - they  change and morph into something unrecognisable- at times cruel - as they try to survive. 

Their lives move forward in stunning snapshots, leaving us wondering what threads could join them across time, weaving between countries and centuries. Third person narrative flows nicely, letting us settle but never too long that we get stuck in one perspective and lose the big picture. Alluring, hypnotic, so vividly described but always moving with a fabulous pace. It’s one scene of fear, anger, rage and debauchery after one another, but even through moments where the plot isn’t moving there’s something about the characters being uncovered

In the moment, I was a little deflated with the finale, feeling like everything was just over quickly within a line, and while I wanted it to feel like more, the rest of the story more than made up for it. 

A dangerous love story of eternal, deep romance — some heartbreakingly beautiful, some fleeting and lustful, and some poisonously dangerous; the many kinds of love, obsession and fear that can create and destroy lives. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

• Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is available from June 10th with Pan Macmillan/Tor
• I was gifted a reviewers copy of this title in return for an honest review.