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.

Before I read The Invisible Life of Addie Larue, I could never answer the “what is your absolute favourite book?” question. Since reading Addie and finding my favourite book of all time, reading anything else by V.E. Schwab has become both exciting and terrifying in equal parts.

However, I loved Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil. It has to be said that Addie remains my favourite, but Bury Our Bones was very enjoyable in a very different way. I love that about Schwab’s writing – every book is a completely unique journey, but also feels like sliding into a warm bath as you fall back into her writing.

In that way, Bury Our Bones was no different. I loved the way you are immediately sucked into this story. It is the kind of book I would describe as meandering but is not necessarily slow. The writing is poetic, beautiful and emotional. Schwab, as usual, holds no punches. The atmosphere was dark, gothic and sizzling with tension. Despite the fact I usually dislike historical, Schwab once again pulled me into a story spanning centuries and continents.

I went into this knowing it was a multi-POV sapphic vampire story, and I’m glad I knew no more than that. This is the kind of story that drip-feeds you, and as you are given more information, you begin to crave more. It just gets better and better as you read on, and becomes even more compelling than the chapter before. This is the kind of book you don’t want to be apart from, that you will find yourself thinking of even when you’re not reading it, and you’re gutted to find out you accidentally left at home when you wanted to continue reading.

Despite the fact that this book is mostly day-to-day, and is definitely more character focused than plot focused, I was pulled in and didn’t want to let go. I found this deeply compelling despite the fact this is less punchy than some of Schwab’s other books.

I had absolutely no idea how this was going to end, I always love that about a book – so many books can become predictable and follow a pattern if you’ve read more than one book by the same author, but that’s definitely not the case with V.E. Schwab!

Thank you so much to the publisher (and a friend from work!) for my pre-publication copy ❤

★★★★★
5 out of 5 stars

-Beth

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