Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V. E. Schwab book cover
Gothic vampire fantasy (adult)

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil

by V. E. Schwab

A grieving Scottish student at Harvard wakes up changed after one night with a girl named Lottie, and is drawn into a story of vampires that runs from sixteenth century Spain to the present.

★★★★☆ 4 / 5

A lush, sad, beautifully written vampire novel with a slow middle, best for readers who love gothic fiction. Four out of five. Adult content.

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: review, ending explained, book club guide and books like it

Every guide comes as a video and a full written article. Pick the one you need: the review is spoiler-free, the ending explained is not.

What is Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil about?

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil (2025) is V. E. Schwab’s vampire novel, braiding a student in modern Boston with the women who came before her, from sixteenth century Spain to Victorian London. It runs to about one hundred and seventy thousand words.

Below you’ll find a spoiler-free review, the ending explained with full spoilers, book club questions and six books to read next. It is an adult book with explicit scenes, violence and themes of death and grief.

Alice is a young Scottish student, just starting at university in Boston in twenty nineteen. At a party, she meets a girl named Lottie, and one night changes the direction of her whole life.

The book braids together several stories. A young woman named María in sixteenth century Spain, a girl named Charlotte in nineteenth century London, and Alice in the present. Their lives are tied together by a creature called Sabine.

It was published in twenty twenty five, and it is about one hundred and seventy thousand words, with chapters labelled by each woman's name and the year she died.

Read it if
  • You love gothic fiction and vampires
  • You like lyrical, atmospheric prose
  • You enjoyed The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
Skip it if
  • You want a fast plot
  • Explicit scenes and violence are not for you
  • Themes of death and grief are too heavy right now

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil review scorecard

Writing
4.5
Structure
4
Characters
4
Pacing
3
Ending
4
Average3.9 / 5

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: questions people ask

What is Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil about?

Alice is a young Scottish student, just starting at university in Boston in twenty nineteen. At a party, she meets a girl named Lottie, and one night changes the direction of her whole life.

Is Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil worth reading?

A lush, sad, beautifully written vampire novel with a slow middle, best for readers who love gothic fiction. Four out of five. Adult content. Read it if: you love gothic fiction and vampires; you like lyrical, atmospheric prose; you enjoyed the invisible life of addie larue. Skip it if: you want a fast plot; explicit scenes and violence are not for you; themes of death and grief are too heavy right now. Review: Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil →

How does Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil end?

Our ending explained covers the final chapters in full, with spoilers. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil ending explained: Sabine, Lottie's lie, the grave soil poison and Alice's last scene. Full spoilers. Ending explained: Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil →

What books are like Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil?

Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu, Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice, The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova, Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist, Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. Books like it: Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil →

Is Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil a standalone?

Yes. It is a standalone novel by V. E. Schwab, published in 2025.

Is Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil an adult book?

Yes. It contains explicit sexual content, violence and themes of death and grief, and is written for adult readers.

What happens at the end of Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil?

Alice kills Sabine, learns that Lottie knew it would not give her life back, then poisons Lottie with grave dirt from her sister's plot and stabs her. The full explanation, with spoilers, is on the ending page.

What genre is Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil?

Gothic vampire fantasy for adults, with a dark romance at its center. The story runs from sixteenth century Spain to Boston in 2019.

Books mentioned in these videos

Carmilla
Sheridan Le Fanu
Carmilla book · Carmilla audiobook
The Historian
Elizabeth Kostova
The Historian book · The Historian audiobook
Let the Right One In
John Ajvide Lindqvist
Let the Right One In book · Let the Right One In audiobook
Mexican Gothic
Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Mexican Gothic book · Mexican Gothic audiobook

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