"From V. E. Schwab, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue: a new genre-defying novel about immortality and hunger. Santo Domingo de la Calzada, 1532. London, 1827. Boston, 2019. Three young women, their bodies planted in the same soil, their stories tangling like roots. One grows high, and one grows deep, and one grows wild. And all of them grow teeth"-- - (Baker & Taylor)

From the #1 New York Times best-selling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue comes a new genre-defying novel about immortality and hunger. - (Baker & Taylor)

ALL first edition copies will be signed by the author! Signed copies available while supplies last.

“Unmissable... Nobody can write like V. E. Schwab” —Jodi Picoult

#1 New York Times bestseller • #1 USA Today bestseller • #1 National Indie bestseller • #1 IndieNext List, June 2025

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The new genre-defying novel about immortality and hunger from V. E. Schwab, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.

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.

"Schwab has impressively woven a compelling character drama and feminist critique into a horror thriller...sumptuous descriptions of place and time, and the slow-burn melodrama between each of the women... a tale told sharply but sweetly enough it goes down as easy as that happy-hour cocktail that, surprisingly, knocks you flat." —New York Times

“Schwab sends you whirling through a dizzying kaleidoscopic adventure through centuries filled with love, loss, art and war—all the while dazzling your senses with hundreds of tiny magical moments along the way.” —Naomi Novik

Booklist Reviews

This is an entrancing tale of three lesbian vampires spanning five centuries, including how their lives and deaths intersect and their different approaches to their vampiric afterlives. Maria, who died in 1532, craved more and found a Spanish viscount to marry, landing herself in a miserable marriage and desperately avoiding pregnancy. When her husband forbids her to associate with the local herbalist, Maria flees to the apothecary, accidentally slays her creator as she is turned into a vampire, then gleefully slaughters her husband and his family. A decade later, now known as Sabine, she meets other vampires willing to teach her. But when they become sloppy in their slaughter, Sabine barely escapes as the other two are killed. Her story alternates with that of modern-day Alice, who brought Lottie home from a college party and woke up as a vampire. When Alice tracks Lottie down, Lottie tells her her history, and how Sabine, almost a century after their parting, still stalks her and the women she feeds from. The vampires' intertwined stories explore the centuries between them, ultimately reaching an unexpected yet satisfying conclusion. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Schwab's fantasies are always a big draw, and this enticing tale of lesbian vampires that crosses centuries will be irresistible to her many readers. Copyright 2025 Booklist Reviews.

Library Journal Reviews

Three women's stories tangle together across centuries and continents in this lesbian vampire tale from bestselling Schwab (The Fragile Threads of Power). With a 500K-copy first printing. Prepub Alert. Copyright 2025 Library Journal

Library Journal Reviews

In 1521 Santo Domingo, Maria notes the arrival of a widow to her town. A decade later, after Maria marries, the same widow gives Maria the opportunity to escape the confines of her marriage, which has turned abusive; the escape is to be effectuated in a way Maria could never have imagined. In 1827 London, Charlotte meets a young widow who entices her to choose a life of freedom from expectations. In 2019 Boston, Alice meets a young woman for a passionate evening and wakes up to discover that her life has been changed irrevocably. Three young women with stories of grief and loss, of freedom and madness, of death and blood, become entwined with each other through the centuries. The only way they can escape each other is to face each other. Using alternating points of view, offering rich worldbuilding, and leaning into themes of obsession and humanity, Schwab (The Fragile Threads of Power) creates a memorable vampire story. VERDICT Schwab's haunting prose and character-driven plot will keep readers up until the very last page.—Kristi Chadwick

Publishers Weekly Reviews

Bestseller Schwab (The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue) unfolds an epic and emotionally resonant tale about three lesbian vampires connected through the centuries. In 16th-century Spain, wild Maria avoids pregnancy and eventually escapes her lonely marriage with the help of a mysterious herbalist widow, but poorly rewards the woman's offer of the gift of eternal life by killing her and taking on her name, Sabine. After centuries of wandering, only rarely finding others of her own kind, Sabine hunts and then turns Charlotte in 19th-century London—but Charlotte flees when their loving connection sours under mercurial Sabine's jealousy. In 21st-century Boston, Scottish Harvard student Alice seeks novelty and reminisces about her sister, but after a postparty hookup with Lottie leaves her as a vampire, she is determined to find Lottie again and get some answers. Schwab crafts intricate backstories for her leads, beautifully balancing the humanity and monstrosity of all three women while chronicling their transformations over time. The result is a haunting and worthwhile story about cruelty, grace, love, and what it means to live forever. (June)