First Impressions: Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil

Next week, V. E. Schwab will release her highly anticipated new novel, Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil. Divided between three timelines—1520s and 1530s in Spain; 1827 in London; 2019 in Boston—it follows three young women craving something more in life. But there’s a price to pay when seeking freedom and answers.

Though I’ve wanted to read V. E. Schwab for a few years, Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is my first foray into her work. The preview I read is only the first 12 chapters, but already the story has sunk its claws into me.

I particularly enjoyed the chapters following María in Spain. She’s ruthless and manipulative, all in the name of securing a better life for herself. But the viscount she marries leaves her with his cruel parents in León, and María once again craves escape. Will she find it in the mysterious widow who keeps reappearing in her life?

Then there is the portion set in 2019, following a Scottish teenager, Alice, and her desire to reinvent herself at college in Boston. She’s awkward and just wants to fit in, but after a rather surreal one-night-stand, she’s feeling more peculiar than ever. Alice’s sections felt more stream-of-consciousness and harder to get into, but still interesting. Lottie ties in with Alice’s parts, at least at the beginning. The preview I read didn’t include Charlotte’s portions from 1827, though.

And can we talk about the ominous warnings of when each character will die? And Lottie’s list of names? I have so many questions.

The audiobook preview gives a good sense for the different narrators of each of the three main characters. I’m a little unsure about the one who narrates María’s portions; her Spanish accent during dialogue seems off. But otherwise the audiobook sounds like a wonderful way to read the full novel.

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil promises to be an elaborate, intriguing, and surprising novel, and I’m excited to see how the three stories will eventually interconnect. While I’m most interested in María’s parts, all three characters are engaging. I look forward to reading the full book soon!

Special thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

Official Summary

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.
#1 IndieNext List, June 2025

A MOST ANTICIPATED Pick from USA Today • New York Times Book Review • US Weekly • ELLE • TIME • Betches • Katie Couric Media • Men’s Health • Woman’s World • Reader’s Digest • Goodreads • Paste Magazine • The Nerd Daily • BookRiot • Bookbub • ScreenRant • The Portalist • Publishers Weekly • Kirkus Reviews • Library Journal

Get the Book

You can buy Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil here – it’s available as hardcover, ebook, and audiobook.

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V. E. Schwab
Audience	Adult
Genre	Fantasy
Setting	Spain; England; Massachusetts
Original Publication Date	June 10, 2025