2025 & 2026 Reading Challenge discussion

This thread is to discuss Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab.

Pages: 560 pages

Length: 1 month (September)

Participants: Elaine, Valerie, Dominique, Rachael, Janine

Everyone reads at their own pace during a Buddy Read. Because participants can be at different parts of the book at different times, it is extremely important to mark spoilers so that the book is not ruined for someone who is not as far along as others!!!

Mark spoilers by placing {spoiler} before the text and {/spoiler} after the text but use the < and > instead of the { and }.

Here are some questions to help get the conversation started! Feel free to look up discussion questions specific to this book or come up with your own. Just make sure any questions that contain spoilers are under spoiler tags.
Discussion questions are not required but may be a fun way to talk about the book and get to know each other!

Prior to starting:
What prompted you to join this buddy read?
Have you read this author before? What do you think of their other books?

Mid-read:
What character or ideas do you relate to the most and why?
Do you have any favorite quotes or scenes?

After reading:
What was enjoyable or not-so-enjoyable about this book?
Did this book change your perception about anything, either within the book (character development) or in real life?

I'm excited to read this. This was a pre-order for me so I've had the physical copy since it came out in June, but haven't gotten round to it. I've read a lot of V.E. Schwab's books, but my favourites are the Shades of Magic series and the Villains series.

I'll be reading this in the first half of the month because I'm using it for the Chart Toppers achievement of the goodreads summer challenge which ends September 14th.

I'm reading this for the Chart Toppers (and Lightning Round) achievement too!
I've read a few books by VE Schwab and loved them all. I want to read everything she's ever written.

I have started reading and made it to page 129 in my hardback copy (about to start the first perspective labelled (view spoiler)[Sabine (hide spoiler)]). I found it was very easy to sink into the story once I got going and only stopped because I needed to go to sleep! I'm enjoying the multiple POVs and how different they are for now.

Something I only noticed once I got to page 37: (view spoiler)[I didn't clock that the dates on the chapter pages under the names said e.g. (D. 2019) as in D for death date until I saw Lottie's one had all the question marks! I had just read it as the current date, but looking back that's obviously not right. It seems so obvious now. Maria's page says D. 1532, but the first scene is clearly set in 1521. You may have all noticed it immediately, but I didn't! I think it would've affected the way I went into Alice's first chapter if I'd realised it said D. 2019 and our first scene was set in 2019. (hide spoiler)]

I haven't started this yet, but im excited to

I made it to page 230. There are no chapter numbers, other than within perspectives, so it's hard to identify exactly where if you're reading a different edition! I'm just about to start an Alice perspective.

Some spoilered thoughts:
(view spoiler)[Maria/Sabine's perspectives - It's really interesting seeing the transformation from Maria as a good protagonist, almost victim, to Sabine as more of a villain. I like the introduction of Matteo as a character and her learning more about how her powers work as a vampire, even 100+ years since she became one.

I am making the assumption that our storylines are going to interweave at some point and I'm wondering how that's going to happen. They're still a few hundred years apart! Maybe Sabine is Lottie's maker? I'd love to see some more of Lottie. (hide spoiler)]

I'm about to start reading this

I finished, and I really enjoyed it!

Overall thoughts: (view spoiler)[This was definitely a character-focused book. I often prefer books that are more plot-heavy rather than more about the vibes and the character's journey/emotions, but I found this so easy to sink into. I cared about all the characters and wanted to see what happened to them. I found when I had time to read it, I read 100+ pages in a go because it was just so easy to keep turning pages. (hide spoiler)]

Thoughts on the ending: (view spoiler)[I actually didn't see Lottie's death coming! I think i'd split the characters too much into black and white victim and villain categories and had put Lottie as solely a victim, when of course she wasn't blameless! I think it felt right, and I liked the hopeful ending for Alice :) (hide spoiler)]

I’m next in the hold-line at my library so fingers crossed I get a copy sometime this week!

I'm up to the first set of chapters about Sabine, about 130 pages in. It was slow burn but (view spoiler)[the fantasy/paranormal elements have just kicked in. I can't help thinking that Sabine I would have still been alive if she'd taken time to explain to Sabine II (Maria) what was going to happen. (hide spoiler)]
Janine (view spoiler)[I did figure out what the d. and years meant. I also thought it was interesting that Lottie's was just question marks. Did anyone else spot something else in the table of contents? That there is a Lottie section and Charlotte sections later on - that's going to be the same person 👀 (hide spoiler)]

Fun stat according to the find in book features on my kindle: (view spoiler)[the word vampire appears sooner than it does in Dracula (28% ish here and 40% in Dracula) but it only appears four times in the whole book (vs 14 in Dracula) (hide spoiler)]

Rachael, I love that stat. Thanks for sharing!

I didn't spot what you mentioned (view spoiler)[in the table of contents but when I'd added it to my goodreads I saw the blurb and spotted it's split into three sections, one of which is for 'Charlotte' and I figured that was Lottie when she appeared and that she'd be a returning character. So same outcome, different way of seeing it! (hide spoiler)]

Up to 130 pages - (view spoiler)[I also agree Sabine I should've just explained things to Maria rather than just jumping into it without explanation. Seems a poor choice! (hide spoiler)]

I'm up to the 72% mark. I will be starting a Charlotte section next (think it's the second Charlotte section). (view spoiler)[I liked getting more of Sabine's story especially as the centuries passed. It was good to see how Hector and Renata then Matteo dealt with their lives differently and how they shape Sabine. I'm glad Alice is beginning to get answers, nice twist about her maker. (hide spoiler)]

Finished. (view spoiler)[I enjoyed it and didn't see a couple of things coming. Does anyone else want a side story about the White Thorn Coffee House and the characters that frequent that place? (hide spoiler)]

Starting this tomorrow. All the positive comments so far are adding to my expectations! I read The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and loved it so hopefully I’ll enjoy this one too.

Rachael wrote: "Finished. [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[Yes! I love that idea. We only got a fleeting glimpse at some of those characters but it sounded really interesting. I'd love to know the history of it and how it evolved over the years. (hide spoiler)]

Hope you enjoy it Valerie!

Janine wrote: "I have started reading and made it to page 129 in my hardback copy (about to start the first perspective labelled [spoilers removed]). I found it was very easy to sink into the story once I got goi..."
Hi Janine, you’re not alone! It took me even longer to realise (view spoiler)[ that those are dates of deaths (hide spoiler)] and it certainly changes my perspective.
Now at the section Sabine page 130 and enjoying it so far although I’m more engaged with the historical storyline of Maria (view spoiler)[ Sabine 2 (hide spoiler)] than the modern one so far.

At the first Charlotte section page 307. Looks like the two storylines are starting to come together. (view spoiler)[ I still feel more drawn to the Sabine one but Alice is starting to be more interesting and there are several mysteries around her which intrigue me - although not as much as what Charlotte just said about Sabine being responsible for turning Alice into a vampire! (hide spoiler)]. Plenty of mysteries now emerging to keep me hooked.

I'm glad I wasn't the only one Valerie!

Finished. A very clever and satisfying ending to (view spoiler)[ an ingenious and enthralling twist on the classic vampire story. A powerful exploration whose most compelling character is also its most narcissistically evil and where moral dilemmas haunt every page (hide spoiler)]. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and am looking forward to reading A Darker Shade of Magic in December.

Enjoyed it very much.

(view spoiler)[ You knew that all three women were going to be linked in some way but not the way I expected. Sabine was becoming more and more possessive towards Lottie and women paid the price.
Love the fact that Alice realized she was a pawn in a game and got her revenge. Didn't expect her to kill Lottie but thinking back, Lottie did use her to destroy Sabine and twisted her words when she said she would be alive to Alice if she killed Sabine.

Was a story about how becoming a vampire will make you either lose your soul of parts of it. I think Maria/Sabine's soul died the day she got married, Lottie started to have compassion and guilt until Sabine years of destruction took it away and Alice's years of anger anger and thoughts of revenge is transforming her (hide spoiler)]