Books Like Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil
If you finished Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil and want more vampires, morally gray, forbidden love, start here. Each pick shares at least two tropes with it, and we've rated every one for spice and darkness so you know what you're getting into.
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The picks
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1. A Dowry of Blood
Shares: vampires, morally gray
Constanta, Dracula's first bride, writes to him about how she came to want him dead. Short, gothic and lush. It's really a book about getting out of an abusive relationship.
- Vampires
- Why Choose
- Possessive Hero
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Physical or emotional abuse, Murder, Gore
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2. Interview with the Vampire
Shares: vampires, morally gray
Louis tells a reporter how Lestat made him a vampire in 1791 New Orleans, and how they turned a dying five-year-old into a daughter. Lush, mournful and very homoerotic for 1976. Louis whines a lot, and Claudia is the real horror.
- Vampires
- Morally Gray
- Found Family
Content warnings
Murder, Harm to children, Gore, Death of a loved one
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3. Certain Dark Things
Shares: vampires, forbidden love, morally gray
Atl is a vampire on the run from a rival clan in Mexico City, where vampires are banned and the narcos are worse. Domingo, a sweet street kid who collects trash, offers to help. A noir with fangs, short and mean.
- Vampires
- Forbidden Love
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Gore, Murder, Drug or alcohol abuse, Graphic violence
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4. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
Shares: vampires, morally gray, forbidden love
Tana wakes up after a party surrounded by bodies, with her infected ex tied up and a chained vampire in the next room. She drives them to Coldtown, a walled city where vampires livestream their parties. Black's sharpest standalone.
- Vampires
- Morally Gray
- Forbidden Love
Content warnings
Gore, Murder, Graphic violence, Death of a loved one
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5. She Who Became the Sun
Shares: morally gray, forbidden love
A peasant girl takes her dead brother's name and his destiny during a famine, and decides she'll become the first Ming emperor. Her rival is a eunuch general with a revenge plan of his own. Queer, ambitious and ruthless about what wanting something costs.
- Morally Gray
- Revenge
- Forbidden Love
- Court Intrigue
Content warnings
War, Graphic violence, Torture, Death of a loved one, Harm to children
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6. The Wretched Divine
Shares: forbidden love, morally gray
Grace's adult debut: a knight bonded to an angel has to team up with a demon to find a cure. Way darker than Belladonna and a bit overstuffed, but the emotional core is the most complicated thing she's written.
- Demons
- Forbidden Love
- Enemies to Lovers
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Death of a loved one
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7. The Serpent and the Wings of Night
Shares: vampires, morally gray
A human girl raised by the vampire king enters a deadly tournament where the prize is a goddess's favor. Hunger Games energy, gorgeous writing and a rival who's very hard not to like.
- Vampires
- Deadly Trials
- Enemies to Lovers
- Gods and Mythology
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Gore, Physical or emotional abuse, Death of a loved one
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8. The Traitor Baru Cormorant
Shares: morally gray, forbidden love
Baru wants to destroy the empire that conquered her island, so she joins it as an accountant. Yes, accountant. Colonialism, ledgers and a rebellion she can't afford to care about. The ending is cold enough that some readers never forgave it.
- Court Intrigue
- Revenge
- Morally Gray
- Forbidden Love
Content warnings
Genocide, Torture, War, Gore, Death of a loved one
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9. Empire of the Vampire
Shares: vampires, morally gray
The sun hasn't risen in 27 years and vampires rule. Gabriel de León, the last silversaint, tells his life story to a vampire historian the night before his execution. Huge, swaggering and very gory. Kristoff's style is a lot, in the best way if it works for you.
- Vampires
- Grimdark
- Revenge
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Gore, Graphic violence, Torture, Death of a loved one, Harm to children
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10. One Dark Window
Shares: morally gray, forbidden love
There's a monster living in Elspeth's head, and it talks. Gothic, foggy, strange in the best way. Feels like a dark fairy tale someone forgot to tame.
- Curses
- Morally Gray
- Forbidden Love
- Slow Burn
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Death of a loved one, Murder
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11. Tithe
Shares: forbidden love, morally gray
Kaye is a sixteen-year-old living out of her mom's band van in New Jersey, and the faeries who used to visit her as a kid have plans for her. Grungier and more 2002 than The Cruel Prince, but you can see where Jude came from.
- Fae
- Court Intrigue
- Forbidden Love
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Drug or alcohol abuse, Murder, Physical or emotional abuse
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12. Wicked Saints
Shares: forbidden love, morally gray
A girl who talks to gods, a blood mage prince and a war that never ends. Moody and extremely Slavic. The romance is with someone who's very clearly a villain.
- Gods and Mythology
- Villain Gets the Girl
- Forbidden Love
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Self-harm, Gore, War, Torture
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13. The Stolen Heir
Shares: morally gray, forbidden love
Suren, the runaway child queen of the Court of Teeth, has been living feral in the New England woods when Prince Oak turns up asking for help on a quest. Set after The Folk of the Air, sadder than Jude's books, and Oak is far more slippery than he looks.
- Fae
- Court Intrigue
- Morally Gray
- Forbidden Love
Content warnings
Physical or emotional abuse, Graphic violence, Murder
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14. These Violent Delights
Shares: forbidden love, morally gray
Romeo and Juliet in 1926 Shanghai. Juliette is heir to the Scarlet Gang, Roma is heir to the rival White Flowers, and a contagion is making people tear their own throats out. Atmospheric and gory, with a monster in the Huangpu River.
- Enemies to Lovers
- Forbidden Love
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Gore, Graphic violence, Murder, Suicide or suicidal thoughts
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