Book review: Gallant by V.E. Schwab 5/5⭐
Happy UK publication day to this amazing book by the talented V.E. Schwab!

All I can say is she has done it again! Pulled me in and blew me away with her beautiful writing style that gets even better with every novel. The methaphors, the setting, the athmosphere everything breathes Schwab and sings to my soul.🖤

Gallant is signature Schwab where death, darkness and lonelyness are lurking.
We follow our main character Olivia at an all girls boarding school. Where the teachers and students are horrible  and her favorite spot is an old shed with a ghoul in the corner. The setting is incredibly sad as Olivia is mute, an orphan, sees ghouls, never knew family, and only has her mother's diary that talks about how she went crazy running from death.
One day the school receives a letter from her family and she is sent away to be with them on their family estate Gallant. Only the uncle that wrote the letter is dead, and her cousin does not want her there.
Olivia is keen on staying and figuring out the family secret as everyone is acting very strangely. She discovers hidden doors, a weird artifact and a garden wall with a metal door that leads to nowhere... or does it?

This book was everything I wanted in a Schwab novel and more. The house gave me Coraline vibes, which I love. Olivia was such a strong character despite her disability. And the narrative of Death was just chefs kiss.

This is the first book I've read by V.E. Schwab, but I've heard so much about her other books that I couldn't wait to read it. It didn't disappoint! Full of spooky goings-on, ghouls, a dark other-world beyond the wall, and beautifully written, I couldn't put it down.

Olivia is such a forlorn girl, who tears at your heartstrings for both the hardships she has to face and for the courage with which she faces them. Armed only with the confused ramblings in her mother's journal, she is desperate to find out what happened to her family at Gallant house.

Together with the wonderful illustrations, this is a book that older children, and adults, will love. Dark and sad, it is a story of courage, and hope, and strength, with characters that will remain with you for a long time. Highly recommend.

A well-crafted and atmospheric YA gothic horror with stunningly lyrical prose. This weird, niche, little book is sure to inspire a devoted following of readers.

I love Schwabs writing style. What more could you want from this book! I loved olivias character, the no romance element was also refreshing! It reads entirely different to anything else she has written but is a strong book!

I made a pretty big mistake when I started reading Gallant, I assumed that I'd be able to read a chapter or two in bed before falling asleep and that that would be it; but when it came to it I just kept reading and kept reading until I was halfway through, it was two in the morning, and I'd dropped the book on my face because I was so tired. I should have known that this would happen, as I can't remember a time I've read any of Victoria Schwab's work and it hasn't demanded to be read in a single sitting. Gallant is one of those books that you're going to have a lot of problems putting down.

Gallant tells the story of Olivia, a young girl who has spent her life growing up in the Merilance School for girls, a place where orphans and poor girls can train up to become maids, cooks, and housekeepers. Olivia has been there as long as she can remember, and the only thing she has that can tell her of her life before Merilance is a battered old journal that belonged to her mother, a book filled with strange writing and beautiful but strange illustrations.

Olivia can't speak, and has spent much of her time in Merilance alone and isolated from the other girls. They see her inability to talk as something strange about her, that sets her apart from the others. Little do they know, Olivia does have a secret about her that sets her apart as different. Olivia can see ghosts, odd shades of half formed people that she refers to as Ghouls. Despite their disturbing appearance, these creatures have never caused Olivia harm, and she's since learned to live with them.

When a letter arrives at Merilance one day, from her long lost uncle, Olivia finds herself having to say goodbye to the only home that she has ever known. Now she's being shipped off to go and live with her family in their remote estate, Gallant, a place that Olivia has seen written about in her mothers journal in warnings. Upon arriving at Gallant Olivia is shocked to learn that her uncle has been dead for a year, and that her last living relative is her cousin, Matthew, who wants nothing to do with her. As Olivia settles into her new home she starts to uncover strange truths about Gallant, her family, and the dark things that are lurking just out of sight.

At its heart Gallant is a story about a girl trying to find a home, a young woman who has grown up alone and isolated, dreaming of a family that she can call her own, finally getting the chance to have that. Whilst this on its own would be a harrowing enough experience, it's the dark secrets that Olivia finds waiting for her at Gallant that really push her to her limits.

Olivia is a strong character, someone who's grown up the target of mockery and abuse thanks to her inability to talk. She's had to grow tough just to survive, and this makes her surprisingly adept at handling all of the strange, terrible things that she encounters over the course of this story. She finds a cousin who wants nothing to do with her, who demands that she be sent away from Gallant as soon as possible. This is the family that she's been dreaming of for years, the connection to her long lost mother; but instead of allowing this reaction to break her, to have it crush her hopes and dreams, she refuses to give in. Olivia has an inner strength that allows her to keep on going, to refuse to be cast aside by Matthew and pursue the thing she wants.

Unfirtunately, it's partly down to this refusal to give in that leads to some of the issues in the book, along with the fact that Matthew refuses to fill Olivia in on everything she needs to know. So, Olivia doesn't know how dangerous certain things in Gallant are, and ends up getting into heaps of danger. I'm sure that there will be some people who look at this and say that it's a trope of the dark and spooky YA genre, that if only Matthew had talked to Olivia things could have been avoided; but as someone who loves these kinds of tropes, who really enjoys these stories, I think it works brilliantly here. Schwab isn't just relying on the idea of the characters getting pissed at each other, of refusing to communicate out of anger and spite in order to push the plot forward. Instead, Olivia's inability to communicate with Matthew on a practical level plays a part of this. Olivia can't speak, Matthew can't read, and whilst she can use sign language he doesn't understand it. This means that Olivia can't just ask him questions, but has to find creative ways of getting across the idea of what she's saying.

One of the ways in which Olivia manages to communicate is by drawing. Art is something that's an important part of Gallant. Olivia's mothers diary is filled with strange illustrations that she's spent years looking at, trying to decipher. These images end up playing an important part in the story, and once we learn the truth about them we're able to start picking meaning out from their abstract qualities. These images aren't just simply described in the book though, we get to see them. Thanks to the amazing work of Manuel Sumberac these images have been lovingly brought to life, and readers get to see them in all their glory throughout the book.

These artworks are absolutely gorgeous, and look like a wonderful mixture of ink painting that reminds me of Rorschach tests, where you're left to pick out shapes and assign them your own meaning. And this is something that you'll be able to do as you read the book, and the first chance you get to do so you'll probably come to some conclusions about the art that will later get challenged the second time they come around, when we have more context and things suddenly seem to mean something a lot different. I was lucky enough to receive one of the ARC's for the book, which came with art cards featuring the images; and they're a work of art. Sumberac has gone above and beyond with these pictures, and they make a big difference to the story actually being there.

I absolutely adored Gallant as I read it. It was a book I read very quickly because the story kept making me read on, telling myself 'just one more chapter' over and over again. Schwab has proven time and time again that she's a writer who can turn her hand to both adult and children's fiction to deliver amazing work; and this is no exception to that. I think long time fans of her work are going to love Gallant, and those coming to her afresh will find a deeply engrossing and wonderfully creepy read.

5 stars!

Every single time, V E Schwab writes extravagantly lush books that haunt your soul forever. This one is no different.

The writing style is exceptional and sure to keep you gripped to the page the whole way through.

Olivia Prior has no voice, no mother, and no father. What she does have is a very grey existence at the Merilance School for Girls.

That is until a letter from an uncle she didn’t know existed arrives, asking Olivia to come back home to her family, to Gallant. This is Olivia’s opportunity to have the life she always wanted, away from Merilance and with a family that loves her.

However, when Olivia arrives at Gallant she discovers her uncle is dead and the house nearly empty, except for a grumpy cousin and the servants.

Olivia then had to learn to navigate this new life with a cousin that wants her gone and a house that holds more secrets and more dangers than she could have ever imagined.

I didn’t expect Gallant to be such a dark novel, yet it works. There’s something about it that feels hauntingly homey and that hit me hard.

I highly recommend going into this book without knowing much about it, with an open mind and an open heart.

Thank you for sending me a copy to read.

VE Schwab books are always a bit hit and miss with me, but I enjoyed this one. I read it in two days, unable to put it down and desperate to know what happens next. VE Schwab's writing was as beautiful as ever, she is has such a lyrical style of writing. I really liked Olivia as a character. She was determined to not let her speech impediment define her and made sure everyone knew that.

The plot was okay. I wasn't wowed by it, but I wasn't annoyed by it. It took it's time getting to the central mystery and the villain was adequately scary. Between this and her previous book, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, it has convinced me to return to some of her earlier works and give her a second chance as a writer. I would now consider myself a fan of her work and look forward to whatever she publishes next. Full review to come on my blog around UK publication date of March 8th.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for gifting me with a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

It's no secret that I love V and everything they have ever written, and I was so excited when I saw that I had been approved for Gallant!!

Gallant is filled with creepy and unsettling spaces, and doors that lead to dangerous parallels of our own world. Paired with the unique voice that V manages to transcribe, this book is a perfect autumn read.

Olivia Prior is easily one of my favourite characters, her resilience, rage, and stubbornness all make for such a believable character, that maybe the reader could find parts of themselves in Olivia.

This could maybe be considered a new classic in YA Horror; creepy, suspenseful and fresh: 5 stars <3

A very smart little book. I enjoyed being creeped out, amazed how engrossing it was. VE Schwab is truly a talented author.

Brilliant new read from an amazing author.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me access an advance copy of this book in exchange for my feedback.

Firstly, I would like to thank Netgalley and Titan Books for an earc of this title.

I am a pretty hardcore VE Schwab stan. So far I've read everything that she has written and I can almost guarantee you that I will read everything she puts out in the future.

Following her well-received previous adult book The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue, this book takes a little turn as it targets a YA audience.

However, the reasons I personally loved Addie La Rue are transcended further in this book. Simply put - VE Schwab's writing. She has a unique ability to write so poignantly and poetically while still being accessible to all readers. Her stories give off the feeling of being a familiar fairytale while also being completely unique.

And this book is no different.

I was particularly attracted to the concept of this book as it was pitched as gothic and inspired by the Secret Garden. The Secret Garden was a childhood favourite of mine and I couldn't wait to see how the stories might merge. From the moment you start the book you immediately see the connection from our young orphaned protagonist to the imposing manor house and the secrets kept within.

While it takes a much darker turn than its predecessor, you begin to see elements of VE Schwab's other books bleed into the story as you cannot help but draw parallels to both antagonists from this book and Addie La Rue.

And while overall, I did love and enjoy the atmospheric nature of the book, its Secret Garden inspiration, the gorgeous writing style and the dark and mysterious storyline - I did find this book didn't reach the same level of personal perfection as Addie La Rue.

Namely, the story felt very surface level and lacked truth depth and complexities. While you were privy to the character's backstory and motivations it only felt this was only offered to our main character. There were several supporting roles within the story that lacked any true definition. Similarly, our antagonistic force was never truly explained. Why were they there, why did they want what they wanted, how did they come to be? Without these answers, I personally, felt the story felt half baked.

I want to argue that this is only because the book is targeted at a younger audience and from my understanding shorter than Addie La Rue - but that being said - I still think this book is beautifully written and a must-read for all VE Schwab fans. It is perfect for anyone who enjoys modern retellings of fairytales, stories that feel nostalgic and anyone who always want atmosphere and entry level horror or thirller.

First let me say, I am a huge fan of VE Schwab. I have read all of her books and each time, I wonder, "Can she top her last story?" and EVERY SINGLE TIME, Victoria does not let me down!

Gallant is another story that will sit proudly on my bookshelf and will be constantly recommended to anyone who asks me.

Sixteen-year-old Olivia Prior is missing three things: a mother, a father, and a voice. Her mother vanished all at once, and her father by degrees, and her voice was a thing she never had to start with. 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, her father’s older brother, summoning her to his estate, a place called Gallant. But when she arrives, she discovers that the letter she received was several years old. Her uncle is dead. The estate is empty, save for the servants. 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 that runs along the estate’s western edge. Beyond it is another realm, ancient and magical, which calls to Olivia through her blood…

Olivia is voiceless and she's a girl that sees dead things wherever she goes. Ghouls. Half-formed, faceless. When a letter summons her home to Gallant, she finds friendship and love with the caretakers of the house - Hannah and Edgar, who she is able to communicate with through sign language. And then there's her cousin, Matthew, rake thin and skeletal, seemingly haunted by something Olivia doesn't understand. Soon, she comes to know of the mystery of the door in the garden wall and what danger lies beyond. Something that calls to her, that speaks to her in her dreams. Death and the Master of the House Beyond.

I loved this story. I don't want to say too much more, as I don't want to give spoilers, but I shed a tear at the end, in those final pages, when Olivia last sees Arthur Prior's ghoul come to claim something.

I simply cannot wait to see what spills from VE Schwab's keyboard next!

I was so disappointed in this book. I really enjoy this authors books normally and was looking forward to this coming out. But it felt like a half offering. The story was incomplete, the characters felt shallow and half formed and there was no resolution.

𝘽𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙍𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬 🌙

3.75/5⭐

Olivia Prior is missing three things. A mother. A father. And a voice.
She grew up at a formidable school for girls but now her time there is up as a letter arrives from an uncle she's never met, inviting her to come and live at the family estate, Gallant. When she arrives, she finds that her uncle is dead and the letter was sent several years ago. With a less than warm welcome, Olivia is permitted to stay so long as she stays away from the wall that runs the estate. Beyond is another realm, ancient and magical, calling to her through her blood.

Described as ‘Secret Garden meets Stardust’, I was instantly intrigued in this one. While the writing was beautiful- there's something special about being able to give a “voice” and expression to a protagonist on the page who can't speak, especially when it's told in the third person- it fell a bit flat for me!

It took me a while to get the gist of the story and then there were parts that were really in depth and some rushed bits. I was interested by the idea of this second “Gallant” over the wall that was a mirror of the real world but not quite, but we didn't get as much from that as I would've liked. Same with the characters, I wanted to know more about them but they were pretty one dimensional.

However, I really enjoyed the magical elements, the idea of Olivia finally finding a place to call home and the bond she develops with the Prior home and her cousin, Matthew. I thought the moments with him teaching her to play the piano were super sweet. Especially at the end of the book!

If you enjoy stories about ghosts and gothic mansions, spine tingling paranormal experiences and creepiness, this might be up your street!

V. E Schwab never fails to amaze me with her beautiful prose and wonderfully lyrical writing.

Gallant almost read like a fairytale and I love that! (however friends beware its much darker at times than I expected!)

The story is so beautifully written that it sucks you in from the very first page, the pacing is a little slow but somehow it works just perfect for this story and its characters.

Reading about Olivia was an absolute delight! This was such an atmospheric read! Way darker than I thought it would be, but a great read nonetheless 🥀

Please check content warnings on this one before reading! 💖

“Some people are repelled by darkness. Others are drawn to it, to the static crackle of power in a place. To the hum of magic, or the presence of the dead . They can see these forces staining the world like ink in water.”

The best word I can use to describe Gallant is wow.

My first book by Schwab was Vicious which was a masterpiece, then I read The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue which I didn't like, and I wondered where this book would fall on the scale. As if it wasn't clear by my rating, Gallant is closer to Vicious in brilliance, and a stunning work in its own right.

I was immediately captivated by the author's writing style, which never fails, and the ease with which she draws you into a completely new world, while making you care about the characters.

Olivia is a girl who can't speak, stuck in a school full of gray, until a letter disrupts her daily routine and she's summoned to a mansion called Gallant, which finally brings some colour into her life.

But Gallant is not just a house, it's more than one, and has secrets of its own. Secrets, that Olivia is determined unearthe, no matter what it takes.

Again, WOW. The less you know about this, the better, so that you can discover things as Olivia does.

I love Olivia. She's unique, but not in a tropey way, and I really felt for her. She goes from a scared little mouse to a very brave girl over the course of the book.

And of course I love Hannah, Edgar and Matthew too, even Death.

There's also this special way that certain characters use to communicate with each other that's based on something creative which is so endearing. And the subtle love story in the background is beautiful.

In short, I love everything about this and so will you. So READ THIS BOOK, IT'S AMAZING, I PROMISE.

*Huge thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review*

For me, Gallant was a surprise. I’m not sure what I expected, maybe a book about a girl who fights, loves, and lives. And yes, Gallant has all of these, but not in the way I thought.
First of all, I love how dark this book is. Yes, we all know that V.E.Schwab loves to play with shadows, powers found in the dark, and alternative universes, but there is Light fighting the Dark, is a girl who doesn’t fit in the stereotype and some boy with supernatural powers. In Gallant, the dark is not beautiful, but horrible. And there is no hero. You can’t see what is waiting for you in the dark… unless you are a Prior. A family who are blessed and cursed at the same time.

In Gallant, your friendly phantoms are represented by ghouls, unmaterial things that are trapped in this world. The ghouls are monstruos, their bodies incompleted, rooted, and unseen by everyone, except a girl. By who will believe her even she could speak.

A really cute detail is the communication between Olivia’s parents. After I read The invisible life of Addie LaRue, I thought that the imagines for that book are beautiful and how the author used them was perfect. But the pictures in Gallant? And their signification? A masterpiece! I spent a lot of time trying to understand and see the story behind them, but I don’t really get how Olivia saw them just as something ugly before knowing the meaning.

I like how the fight between our world and the world of the death is illustrated, how these two places coexits and overlap sometimes. The history of Priors, how they fights, how they lost and the madness that comes after them, something like you can’t know the Death without him knowing you.

3.5 of 5 stars
https://lynns-books.com/2022/03/03/gallant-by-ve-schwab/
My Five Word TL:DR Review : A Difficult Book to Review

Let me explain myself a little more clearly. On the one hand this is a beautifully rendered story, it’s surprisingly easy to read and it definitely took me down the path of nostalgia. On the other hand I can’t help thinking that the plot itself was a little lacking in substance somehow. Actually, that’s probably a little misleading, it’s more that there’s a simplicity to this which makes me ponder as to whether this is aimed at a slightly younger audience, in which case, I wouldn’t really be the target reader. Just to be contrary though, sometimes it’s good to read something that makes you feel wistful and this book certainly achieved that and then some.

So, I’m not going to say too much about the story itself. Our MC is a young girl called Olivia who has spent almost her entire life at the Merilance School for Girls. Orphaned from a young age Olivia remembers little about her parents, her only reminder is a journal that she keeps that belonged to her mother. Now sixteen her time at the School is almost complete and is in fact brought to a swift conclusion when the school receives a letter from a previously unknown family member asking Olivia to return to the family estate, Gallant. Gallant is an unusual place. A hugh house with many rooms, most of them closed with furniture ghosts shrouded in dusty sheets and a garden that takes much upkeep to keep death and rot at bay, not to mention a strange wall that must not be crossed for fear of what lies beyond. Oh, and the odd ghoul, floating about beneath the stairs or sat at the edge of a bed (although these are only visible to Olivia).

Okay, then. My thoughts. This has lots of elements that I loved. It takes me back to a perhaps more enchanted period of reading where secret gardens lay beyond high walls and young orphan girls dreamt that they were really princesses and would one day be found by their real family (having been taken away by a villainous type). On top of this it has a decidedly fairytale feel to it, which I love although that style doesn’t come without some issues (more below).

The writing is absolutely gorgeous and emotive. The whole story is drenched with a certain melancholy element that remains consistent throughout and definitely feeds the gothic vibe. Schwab is without doubt an author who has the whole sensory writing ability nailed on. She really knows how to appeal to the senses and this is made even more poignant by the fact that there is actually quite little dialogue throughout the book. Olivia doesn’t speak. She uses sign language whenever possible or comes up with more inventive ways to make her feelings known. You can feel her frustration when she wants people to stop ignoring her.

The other thing I really enjoyed is the way this put me in mind of so many books that I’ve loved over the years. It made me feel a connection with the author which isn’t something that happens often – as though we have a shared love of similar works of fiction and as though Schwab was almost giving a nod to many different books by trying to recreate the feelings that they once inspired.

I also couldn’t help wondering if you could read more into this story. It has a definite feeling of finding oneself and discovering a new family. I couldn’t help wondering if the fact that Olivia doesn’t speak is somehow a metaphor for the way young people are sometimes overlooked or their opinions are not given any merit. That could just be a pure flight of fantasy on my part though – looking for meanings in things when they’re not there and quite often finding them whether they were intended or not.

In terms of criticisms. I mentioned above that this has a fairytale feel – which is something I do love – however this is probably why the plot feels a little slim it also means that the characters are a bit flat. Not that I disliked Olivia, just more I didn’t really feel like I got to know her as well as I would have liked. There’s also an element of feeling rushed at the end, I don’t feel like everything was tied up in quite the way I’d hoped. I think if I’m going to be totally honest though, and fair to the author, I think I would have loved (and perhaps was anticipating or desperately hoping) this tale to have a darker, perhaps more sinister and adult feel to it and that’s all on me because the book description doesn’t make such promises. It’s more a case of me leading myself down the garden path with this one.

As it is, this is a story that I enjoyed. It might not have been quite what I was expecting but it was an easy read and a tale beautifully told. Be aware that this has errs on the younger side of YA (in my opinion) but that doesn’t make it any less a beautifully told tale that could work well for everyone.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

This is my first V.E. Schwab book, and it totally showed me why people are so obsessed with her writing. It's beautifully atmospheric, haunting and detailed in this novel and really set the creepy theme intended for the story. I'd 100% read more of her work.

The illustrations were gorgeous, and I was really hooked into the plot at the beginning.

Unfortunately, the story itself didn't totally work for me. I was really invested at the start, but the ending felt slightly rushed which left me with unanswered questions. I also felt the characters lacked the depth needed to hold my interest. They felt a little hollow, which was a shame.

The idea is amazing, I only wish it had been more developed all round.

Gallant-Review
Author: @veschwab
Genre: Horror/Fantasy
Page Count:448 pages
Publication Date:8th of March 2022 UK (10/3/22
V.E SCHWAB is iconic yet another amazing book!
Thank you to @netgalley / @titianbooks for providing me with this e ARC before publication
Blurb;
Sixteen-year-old Olivia Prior is missing three things: a mother, a father, and a voice. Her mother vanished all at once, and her father by degrees, and her voice was a thing she never had to start with. 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, her father's older brother, summoning her to his estate, a place called Gallant.
But when she arrives, she discovers that the letter she received was several years old. Her uncle is dead. The estate is empty, save for the servants. 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 that runs along the estate's western edge. Beyond it is another realm, ancient and magical, which calls to Olivia through her blood……….
Review;
When I requested this arc I didn’t think I’d get approved, i was honestly in shock when I did
This book was so addictive and easy to get into I loved the eeriness of the book and the dark atmosphere. Towards the end of the book I just could not put the book down it was so good and the tension like amazing. Oliva, the protagonist was unable to talk, I think it was so cool to experience a book from a charter who has mutism also the sign language rep was just ah so amazing. Gallant was a life changing opportunity for Oliva but it was also a bit of a mess when she arrive however her determination to belong was so inspirational. Olivia life was dull but when they were introduced to Edgar and Hannah their life had colour in it for the first time in forever. Hearing Matthew’s story was just so haunting and sad but beautiful in a way. Finally, I loved the involvement of gorgeous drawings within the book and it was so cool how they fitted to the story.
“Run, says her blood. Stay, says her bones”

Rating;
4 stars
• TRIGGER/CONTENT WARNING
Ableism & ableist language
• Parental abandonment
• Child abuse & neglect
• Mutism
• Nightmares
• Alcoholism, implied
• Blood depiction
• Death of a brother by knife violence recounted
• Death of a mother & father mentioned
• Death of a cousin, on-page
• Murder
• Knife & sword violence
• Strangulation
• Bullying
• Graphic animal death (crow, cat)