Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is my first V. E. Schwab book, and I was looking forward to it because the premise had so much promise.
The story spans several hundred years and is told from the perspectives of three women. The first is Maria, who later takes the name Sabine. Maria’s story begins in 1521 when she is just a young girl, dreaming of freedom and adventure. Next is Charlotte who longs for love, and whose story begins when she meets Sabine in 1827. And finally there is Alice who is attempting to reinvent herself, and whose story takes place in 2019.
I am generally a fast reader, and it took me several weeks to get through this book. I found it very slow, and to be honest, kind of boring, not what I expected from a book touted to be about toxic lesbian vampires, and female rage and revenge. I feel like many sections of the story could have been reworked, or in some cases cut entirely, to significantly shorten the novel and make the story less repetitive. Maria’s story especially felt very surface level at times, probably because of the number of years her story had to cover.
The writing itself was beautiful, and atmospheric, and I really enjoyed that aspect of the book.
What I didn’t love was the ending, it was so anticlimactic. I was really disappointed after forcing myself through the agonizingly slow middle of the book.
I’m glad I read Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil, and if you don’t mind the very slow pacing, I do recommend it, but it’s not s book I will pick up to reread.
