Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab // Book Review – Simone and Her Books
“Bury my bones in the midnight soil,
Plan them shallow, water them deep,
And in my place will grow a feral rose,
Soft red petals hiding sharp white teeth.”
Why is it the books I loved the most, I have little to say about them?
Ok, well, this book turned out to be one of my favorite reads of the year so far! Wow! I had a hard time putting this book down and when I did, I tried my best to find the time to pick it up again. VE Schwab’s work has only improved over the years and this proves and they are finally in their writing prime!
The story follows three women, Maria/Sabine, Charlotte, and Alice, across decades of time and how their lives are intertwined through obsessions, attraction, revenge, and rage. The timeline jumps between Alice in the present day and Sabine and Charlotte’s story in the distant past. But what Schwab excels at with their storytelling is how they take their time to tell it.
At first, I didn’t understand why I had to care about Maria/Sabine’s whole backstory, but as I kept reading I started to understand the genius. The history of these characters needed to be told because it shaped the vampires they eventually became and that’s an important detail in the progression and ending of the book. So I would read carefully, read slowly (or try to), because all that backstory provides the personalities for each of these characters, which is so distinct from each other.
But I think what I loved the most about this book were the questions of morality and immortality. Vampires are known for two things: drinking blood and living forever and VE Schwab covers both at length throughout the story. The thirst for sustenance is so present in each of these characters, a priority to every other desire they keep. And then the degradation of these vampires over time, losing their sense of humanity only to become the monsters that they ultimately are. It’s truly brilliant writing!
Overall, this is truly a masterpiece from Schwab that I will definitely go back to reading in the future. It’s well-paced, well-written, and has such a good combination of literary themes that still carry some plot-moving components as well. Bravo!
