"Free—a small word for such a magnificent thing. I don’t know what it feels like, but I want to find out."

Thank you, NetGalley for the chance to read and review this! I'm not going to try and make this a good review, I love this book too much to write a good one! Just read it and be happy that you live in a world with authors like this one!

Of course I had to read this book! I was obsessed with The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue when I got it, and I took forever to read it when I got it just because I didn’t want it to end.

Gallant is different though. The Invisible Life is soft and comforting; Gallant is sharp, the prose crisp.

That doesn’t mean that I love it any less; absolutely not. I want my own copy and I want to read everything V. E. Shwab writes.

“Put the right words into the world,” he says, “never know what you’ll catch.”

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of Gallant by VE Schwab.

As someone who has read 99% of Schwab's books, I can say that this is yet another masterpiece - albeit an odd one.

Gallant is a book that does not have a specific genre in mind. It spans from middle grade to adult with strong themes of life, death, thresholds and familial bonds, spanning those gaps between.

The story follows protagonist Olivia prior as an orphan, trying to stay afloat in a ruthless orphanage. Her only solace is a journal belonging to her mother that has a 'Ghost engraved on the cover. The plot only starts to unfurl after a letter arrives to call Olivia to her family estate - Gallant. An estate and family she was not aware existed.

The book is a strong, emotionally evocative one, although more reminiscent of the Cassidy Blake series than some of Schwab's books aimed at older readers. I would still recommend this for a cozy, albeit unsettling read for readers of any age, I'm looking forward to sharing Olivia's story with other readers!

Firstly, it feels so good to be reading a V E Schwab book again. I knew I would love this book from the first page.

I devoured it within two days, Schwab’s previous book the invisible life of Addie LaRue was a slow burn read for me. Gallant in comparison sucks you in to the pages and won’t let you go. With the same beautifully written and thought out wording, but with shadow and bite to pull you in.

This book gave me chills - I have never had that before. The main character Olivia is so strong and comes from a hard upbringing. She has no voice, this aspect is so well shared with the reader. The frustration and need to fill the world with noise only she has created. The empathy and support you feel for her is strong. Starting in a children’s home and going on to find her potential family. But what is really calling to Olivia?

Life and shadow twisted together in a book that is a mix of the secret garden and crimson peak.

I highly recommend you preorder this amazing book!

A big thank you to NetGalley and Titanbooks for sending me the e-are ahead of the publication date.

There is a lot to enjoy here, particularly the lyrical writing and the atmosphere. However, I found that the writing style, while beautiful, held the reader at a distance from the characters, which for me, made it difficult to care about their plight. Similarly, I found the plot a bit lacklustre. Overall, this is definitely a book all about the mood and the vibes, but it isn't something that I will think about long-term.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

4.5 stars

Headlines:
Intense creep level at times
Ghouls, grief and grand houses
Sad and lilting

There was so much to unravel in Gallant and in fact on finishing, I've not unravelled it all. This was such a clever book, incredibly easy to read and get into, with themes that could be less easy for some and a consistent level of creep and eerieness. I loved the eerieness, the dark atmosphere and how that ratcheted up to a level of heightened tension towards the end. Tenterhooks, people.

The protagonist, Olivia was unable or unwilling to talk, the former, I think and her world was grey with splashes of occasional colour. The opening up of her life to Gallant seemed like opportunity but it was a figurative can of worms, pandora's box, a mess. The people inhabiting Gallant, Edgar and Hannah were warm and positive new influences on Olivia's dull and austere life. Matthew was a different matter, but you just felt the more to his story.

The way the story eeked out, was haunting, unexpected and it had me on the edge of my seat; it was hard to put this book down. The book was brimming with sadness, it felt like a lilting melody and ultimately, that's the feeling I've come away with. I am 95% satisfied with a slice of I wish.

This story was crafted with skill, ingenuity and former (and possibly future) reader's tears. The illustrations and formatting of this book are incredibly special and bring much to the feels you get from reading.

"Run, says her blood.
Stay, says her bones."

Thank you to Titan Books for the stunning review copy.

I really enjoyed Gallant. I'm a huge fan of V E Schwab anyway and the writing in Gallant is just gorgeous. It properly pulled me into the story and the setting and made everything very vivid. I loved the characters, especially Olivia, and the concept of the two houses mirroring each other was wonderful. It's a properly creepy book, full of ghouls and the prospect of death, and my only complaint is that the ending seemed to come a bit too soon for the story. It's definitely a character piece more than a plot driven book, but I don't mind that. I definitely recommend it, if only for the beautiful writing.

My full review will be posted on my blog on 1st March 2022.

Gallant by VE Schwab is my first dive into this author's work and I hold some mixed feelings about it. This is the story of Olivia Prior who has grown up in Merilance School for girls. All she has of her past is her mother's journal until a letter invites Olivia to come home to Gallant. When Olivia arrives, nobody has a clue why she is there but she isn't about to leave. Olivia knows that Gallant holds secrets and she is determined to uncover them. The manor is crumbling, ghouls roam the halls and a figure rules them all.

The premise for this intrigued me and definitely peaked my interest. This was a great book that I would recommend to others but that's not to say it didn't have it's faults. This was an easily accessible and intriguing story that I got through incredibly quickly. It is well-written with a descriptive depth that left me immersed but the darkness of this was a contributing factor.

The atmosphere that leaned toward a gothic fantasy story was the main positive for this. Olivia and Gallant were mysterious and a major draw but the more I learned about the past, the less interested I became. The characters began to feel forced and less authentic and that took me out of the story eventually to the point where the melancholy started to feel empty.

This was still an enjoyable read but I expected more from an author that most readers tend to praise.

V.E.Schwab cannot write a bad book. This is a story of a girl and a haunted house. I cannot tell you more without spoiling the book. If you like well written, fast paced books. Then try this one.

🌹Book Review🌹
Gallant by V.E Schwab
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐5/5

Do you like Ghost Stories?

Don't you just love it when an author totally exceeds your expectations even when they've been hyped to the max!!!
V.E Schwabs writing in this novel is lyrical. Storytelling at its best.

𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒅𝒐𝒘. 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒘𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒅𝒐𝒘, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒄𝒉. 𝑨 𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒎, 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒅𝒐𝒘 𝒎𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒆.

This is a classic ghost story, I had such admiration for Olivia Prior, this protagonist was so strong and brave and had lead a very difficult life in an orphanage when she receives a letter from an Uncle asking her to come home to Gallant... Cue ghouls and secrets in a delicious Gothic style mansion with a sensational storyline that I glided through in no time. Although spooky this book didn't scare me, I wanted to snuggle up in a blanket, make a hot chocolate and sit by candlelight 🕯️ reading this wonderful tale.

I actually cannot fault this book in any way and when I finished I was tempted to start it over again.

This is at high risk of leaving my with a book hangover!

Thank you so much to @netgalley
@veschwab and @titanbooks for the ARC of this book

#veshwab #gallant
#ghoststory
#ghosts
#greatbook #mustread
#bookrecommendation

I was very excited to see this new standalone novel from VE Schwab was coming, and so very honoured and grateful to the publisher to received an advance copy of Gallant to consider for review.

How can I sum up Gallant? Reaching for comarisons, perhaps it's like if Oliver Twist got sent from his workhouse to Wuthering Heights, but more so? Olivia Prior is sixteen years old and has lived most of that time at Merilance School for Girls - a pinched, cold, grudging institution that brings up its charges to have low expectations, expectations of years of grinding service. For orphan Olivia, the School is doubly limiting: she's non-verbal, and the other girls use this as a reason to freeze her out. But they are at least scared of her, after the way she responded to bullying.

Olivia's companions, therefore, seem mainly to comprise the "ghouls" that she encounters around the school. Possibly revenants from dead pupils and teachers, these seem harmless, mainly haunting particular spots. Schwab is deliberately vague about whether these ghouls are special to Olivia, or whether they might be a wider phenomenon in this world (though it seems that nobody else at the school is unaware of them).

Against this bleak background, it comes as a relief when Olivia learns that the "Gallant" mentioned in the diary that is her only inheritance form her dead mother is, in fact, her ancestral home; that she has living relatives there, has been called for, and is to leave Merilance.

She does, though, reflect that she's been told in that same diary to stay away from Gallant, for her own safety...

In this opening part of the story, Schwab sets up an intriguing situation. Olivia is a fascinating hero, one who's remaining strong. Blissfully, perhaps, she never dreams (what dream might come?) but she certainly hurts - her strength is despite some deep wounds; her isolation, the loss of her parents, not from lack of them. She'll need all that strength and more in the second part of the novel, when she travels to Gallant and isn't exactly welcomed as she hoped.

Gallant - what is Gallant? Well, I'll not say too much as I don't want to spoil this book, but I can fairly say that Gallant is the Gothic house of my dreams. Here you'll find a remote house in the mountains (as elsewhere in the story, Schwab is vague about the exact location). While Olivia seems, on her mother's side, to be part of a wealthy family, there's an air of decay or at least abandonment to much of Gallant, as though it was a house built to contain far more than her, her cousin Matthew and aged retainers Hannah and Edgar. And when I say "more" I don't necessarily mean, more family members. The house, as described, had for me a sense of potential, as though it could be more, host more possibilities, more goings-on, than Olivia finds. Imagine a decayed fortress still standing on the borderlands, stocked with weapons and supplies, but overlaid with dust and disuse. There's a sense of entrapment. For all the visits by the butcher's van, see little of any outsiders - the driver who takes Olivia to Gallant just drops her outside and makes off again as quickly as he can. Clearly there are mysteries at Gallant; reasons that Olivia is forbidden from leaving the house in the dark; connections, perhaps, to her mother and what seems to be the tragic life she lived and lost.

In short, it's wonderful gothicy, deathy stuff. A rich conception, a story straddling the borders of fairyland and gothic horror, all about family, love and loss. Also, I think, about the traps we build ourselves into and the shadow side of all those good things we want in our lives.

I especially loved the way that in this book the weird and the mundane combine. The space given lovingly to cooking, sketching or playing piano, even while the darkness - well, no spoilers, let's just say, while the darkness does what darkness always does. Or the way that Olivia's fate and future will be intimately bound with both sides of her family, not just one. There are big mysteries here - and we get some answers to those - but there are also little mysteries in all directions, and Schwab is content to leave many of those to puzzle and intrigue.

Most of all though, what I took from Gallant was the depiction of strength from those who are overlooked, the affirmation that people have a right to shape their own lives, make their own mistakes, and that even seeking to shield others can be a way of diminishing and sidelining them. In short, it’s pure gold.

Olivia Prior has grown up in the Merilance school for girls and all she has of her past is her mother's strange journal. She also seems to be the only one who can see the ghouls. Then a letter arrives from an uncle inviting her to stay at Gallant. But when she gets there no one is expecting her and her cousin Matthew is awful to her. She goes through a ruined wall and discovers another Gallant, a desolate mirror-Gallant that needs her touch. Will she stay or will she fulfill the Prior legacy, protect the world from the Master of the House.

The narrative is lyrical and etched with melancholy. The vibrancy and creativeness of the figurative speech and descriptions are to be admired. I liked the way the author's words brought forth the images of various things in the story, like the ghouls or the house. How there are entries about 'him' before every book part and also in other places there are pages of the journal. The fact that Olivia cannot talk makes others underestimate her, but more endearing to the reader.

This is a slow burner, in the beginning it makes sense as to set the tone and the ambience, spooky with an ominous vibe. Then it seems to drag and emphasize on the journals too much. The truth is the book is uneven and I believe that Olivia should have found the other Gallant sooner. With such a buildup, I needed more.

The story tackles the desire to belong. The power of dreams, the fear of the unknown, of death. The tug-of-war between darkness and light, death and life, the duality of human nature.

A haunting tale with the signature rich and gorgeous writing of Schwab.

This is an brilliant book. I read it pretty much in one sitting (which is always the mark of a great read). I have a few by this author on be tbr pile but this one sounded really intriguing.
This is such a great book on so many levels. the illustrations are thought provoking and the story moves forward at a fast pace yet never losing its interest. To say too much wold spoil the plot. If you are a fan of this author you will be rushing out to read it - if not you should be. A true giant in the genre. grab a copy as soon as it comes out.

4.5 stars...
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an EARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.
"All things fade, and all things flourish."
This review is a complicated one for me, I did really enjoy this book, I would highly recommend it, but it didn't have the same impact on me as some of Schwabs other works. At first I was desperately looking for a reason why, after all this was my most anticipated book of the year, I love schwabs writing, the atmosphere she writes, and the deeper meaning within the pages of her books, and all those things delivered in Gallant. Then I realised, this book isn't for me at this time in my life, perhaps if were to reread it at another time it would have that impact on me. But at the end of the day if I don't that's fine.. Some people will have a cathartic experience with this book like I did with Addie and that in itself makes me love this book.
I also wonder if these "younger" books don't have the depth that I really enjoy. I felt similarly about City of Ghosts, I love the messages and the themes, I love the atmosphere and what the characters stand for, but it just didn't *click* with me.
That being said the craft in this book really is to die for, I highlighted so many great quotes and loved having Olivia's point of view and how she communicated with the world. I felt like I had stepped into a movie set and the simple vibes of this book were immaculate. I have watched an interview where Victoria mentions that she thinks of setting as a character in itself and that really does come across in this book.
Big shout out to the illustrator of the drawings inside this book, those and the journal snippets really added to the story for me.
I urge you to stay away from the synopsis of this book, in particular on GoodReads as I do feel as if it gives t

This was a hauntingly beautiful gothic horror from Schwab. It's the tale of Olivia, brave, stubborn and quite frankly a bit creepy! The other girls from the home she grows up in shun her and not just because she's mute. She's desperate to feel like she belongs when one day a letter arrives from her Uncle calling her home. She arrives and discovers Gallant is the not the home she envisaged. This is a wonderful novel about discovering where your true home and family lies (and maybe a few ghouls along the way)

Shwab has an amazing talent in turning prose into poetry and Gallant is just so delicately put together. The descriptions are so poetic, the narrative plays like a Tim Burton film in your mind. The first part was a bit slow, but I soon found myself absorbed in the narrative and drawn into the eerie world of the two Gallants.

The characters are wonderfully perceived and observed. Even the protagonists caused shivers down my spine. The descriptions of the various settings are lush and rich; placing you right there on the grounds. It's a short, but beautiful novel. I really enjoyed it and feel it would appeal to fans of Gaiman and Gothic novels.

Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley from turning me into a sobbing mess by the end of this book!.

I have to be honest and admit that I’m a total fan of Miss Victoria. There is nothing that she’s written that I don’t own, and I will wax rhapsodic about her at any available opportunity. That being said, even for Miss V., Gallant is a masterwork.
Olivia Prior has grown up in the Merilance School for Girls. A cold, colourless, loveless place. All she knows about who she is comes from her mother’s journal, a thing of sadness and spiralling madness. “he is watching he wants you back but you are gone…” And a final waning goodbye to her daughter – “….you will be safe as long as you stay away from Gallant”. However when a letter arrives from an uncle that she never knew of offering her hope and family, offering to take her home to Gallant, she cannot resist. Home to Gallant where He is waiting for her.
Gallant is less about detail, and more about feelings an. impressions. Olivia is a lonely, isolated girl who is unable to share her thoughts with the people around her because of her inability to speak. And the thoughtless cruelty of those responsible for her not bothering to learn how to communicate in sign language. In many ways Olivia’s narration is that of a naïf. She can only tell us what she sees, and what she knows, and her world is a limited one.
It’s a thing of shadows, and mystery, and melancholy. And brilliantly small. Some books spread across decades, across continents, across entire generations requiring charts and genealogical maps so that you can keep things straight. Other books can blow your mind with the small and exquisite moments. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denysovich, or Mrs Dalloway for example. I mean, I haven’t read Proust, but I know that the guy wrote a masterpiece about a madeleine biscuit. With Gallant, there are only a handful of characters, only the emptiness of Merilance, and the mysteries of Gallant. Only a few days that change the whole world. Only one little family holding a gigantic and terrible burden. With this limited palette, what Schwab paints becomes even more powerful.
I do have to add something about Manuel Sumberac’s beautiful illustrations. Dark and strange and slowly evolving as their meaning becomes revealed. While reading Gallant, I was filled with the desire to create something from it, and about it. I wanted to recreate the feelings, and Sumberac’s art in needlework, I wanted to paint it in thread, I wanted to put it into a poem.
This is one that I will be throwing at every artist friend, to every reader who likes to be haunted. To everyone who is tired of having romance stuffed into every corner of a story. One that I will recommend for those who loved the quiet melancholy, and the strange horrifying beauty of The Invisible Life of Addie Larue.

What a beautiful, moody and atmospheric read. The writing makes you really feel the dreariness and colourless world of the orphanage and even the shadow of Gallant. I constantly had the fire going to keep me warm while visiting Olivia’s world.

I loved loved LOVED how V.E Schwab wrote Olivia’s perspective. There were some really touching quotes throughout the book. It makes you appreciate the words that are said in silence.

Overall, this book feels like such a quick read. It was one of those books that felt less like reading and more like experiencing. Something was always happening and the mystery was well-written. I love that if you go back to the start, you will see the clues that weren’t noticeable the first time. It’s a book you can read over and over again.

I also loved her mother’s story and I wish there was a whole other book based on her and Olivia’s father.

The story is so unique and so real. You need to read it.

Goosebumps. That’s one thing I got from this book. Utter goosebumps! Books never give me goosebumps. But wow. The ominous feel, exemplary writing and the undertone of mystery and suspense was thrilling. Right from the start, from the first page, this book was five stars.

This book follows Olivia Prior, a girl with no voice. An orphan who started out her young life in Merilance, a school for lost and forgotten things, grey as the area she lives in. She receives a letter from an uncle, calling her back home, only to find that he’d been dead for a year. So who sent the letter?

On her arrival to Gallant, you immediately get a feel for the sinister. Of things moving in the dark. Of spectres and ghouls and things you can’t quite see at the corner of your eye. Except this wasn’t a horror book. It wasn’t conventionally scary but so clever in how it was written and how things were introduced. With the ghouls that Olivia can see. With her piecing together bits of her mother’s story and her writings in her journal. Of the darkness beyond the wall where she should never go…

Honestly so so good and I was amazed at how quickly I tore through the pages of this book. It’s so immersive and I barely even realised how fast the chapters flew by and I was half way through before I knew it. I wanted and needed to know more.

I’d never read anything by this author before but after this, you bet I’ll be going to find some of her other books!! I can understand now why she’s such a popular author, and if this one is anything to go by, they have to be must reads too.

I wish I could give 10 stars to this book. Seriously read it! It’s one of those books that I want to read again for the first time, it was that good!

Gallant by VE Schwab
I give this book 5 fantasy stars

16 year old Olivia Prior is missing three things: a mother, a father, and a voice.. She grew up at Merilance School for Girls. Now, nearing the end of her time there, Olivia receives a letter from an uncle she's never met,summoning her to a place called Gallant. But when she arrives, she discovers her uncle is dead.Olivia is permitted to remain, but must follow two rules: don't go out after dusk, and always stay on the right side of a wall

I started this book in the morning and had finished it by bedtime….. TOTALLY unputdownable.
Utterly brilliant, the author weaves a haunting imaginative tale of darkness. And seamlessly blends together the vivid world building with beautifully crafted imagery and a compelling narrative that centres around Olivia who drew me in.
A family found,secrets and a deadly oath.
What I didn’t like……..ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!!
A special mention for the cover illustration its absolutely perfect and the black and white artwork within the book..
With thanks to Netgalley,VE Schwab and Titan Books for my chance to read and review this book

I feel like all I really need to say is "V.E. Schwab has done it again!" Quite honestly I try so hard to savour every word in Schwab's books; her writing is so beautiful, but when it's paired with a story that keeps you turning the page it's quite a challenge. Gallant is another triumph from Schwab - it's creepy, it's heartrending, it's everything you'd expect and more. Loved it and I cannot wait to reread!

As an absolute Schwab fangirl I was super excited for this book and managed to finish it in a day.
It's a haunting and hypnotizing read with the classic charm, style and reoccuring themes I enjoy in all of V.E. Schwab's works.

Gallant tells the rather short and straightforward tale of a mute girl from an orphanage with the chilling ability to see ghouls. When she finds out about her heritage, she is sent to live in a peculiar gothic manor that bears a dark secret beyond the garden wall.

It has the vibe of a crossover between classic victorian horror and children's story. The comparisons to a combination of Crimson Peak and The Secret Garden are very fitting. I was also reminded of Coraline and similar Neil Gaiman novels.

Like in all her books what stands out the most to me is her incredibly beautiful, effortlessly elegant prose.
There is such a soft and melancholic mood conveyed throughout the entire book that deeply entranced me in the pages. It left a heady, dizzying impression like a fever dream.

If I had to compare it to her other books I'd say it's closest to The Near Witch than any of the others. It's a slow story that is completely carried by the heavy atmosphere.
Not as strong as some of her longer and more complex works in my opinion, but I still thoroughly enjoyed reading it and was very invested in the story.

Thanks so much to Netgalley and Titan Books for providing me with an advance copy in exchange for a honest review. This was one of my most anticipated books this year and I was so happy to get the chance to reading it before its release.