Gallant is a quietly haunted and compulsively readable novel that explores death, balance and the power of belonging.

I'm going to be honest, Gallant took me by surprise. It’s a book filled with quiet hauntings and opposing truths. It’s slow and yet I devoured it incredibly quickly. Gallant is a book like smoke running through cupped hands: you can’t really grasp it if you try too hard. There’s a lesson about balance, the value of listening and the power of belonging somewhere in there, both obvious and hidden behind impossible walls.

Gallant is a book that asks you to accept two realities at once. Death is inevitable and Death can be banished. Life ends and life continues. Both its characters and the plot constantly move between those realities. Literally, when Olivia visits the two different versions of Gallant, and more figuratively in the language and visuals of the story. As someone who has been both haunted and comforted by death her entire life and often struggles to hold multiple truths at once, Gallant felt like the perfect book for me.

Schwab’s writing is lyrical and conjures ghouls and shadows with remarkable ease. It felt like the words were smoke, merely drifting around the outline of a story that had always been there. Reflecting back, I admire the way V.E. Schwab manages to tell the same story, that of Olivia’s parents, multiple times throughout the book. And each time the story is told, there is new information to be added, a new perspective. This way of playing with perception and the smokey nature of truth was the perfect in-story mirroring of the themes of the book.

Unexpectedly, Olivia has joined my club of angry fictional girls I love. I didn’t expect her rage, her stubbornness, but it found me anyway. Olivia doesn’t speak. She moves through the world as a quiet but never silent participator. Schwab plants us firmly in Olivia’s perception of the world. We experience her thoughts but to me most notably we experience her physical existence. There is a weight to how she moves through the world, her body a silent scream of “I am here, don’t pretend you don’t see me!”

Something I can’t yet put into words but that stuck with me is Olivia’s and subsequently Gallant’s relationship to sound. It’s not a quiet book, really. But it does feel like stepping outside on a winter morning into a world muffled by the snow. I think what might be happening is that Gallant is a book of details, of small sounds, amplified. Either way, I loved it.

Overall, Gallant is the kind of quietly haunted book that effortlessly nestled itself into the corner of my heart. I didn’t expect it to, but I welcome it in the shadows anyway. It’s a book I can’t quite grasp and maybe that’s the point.

Even if my relationship with V.E.Schwab's books is not the best, i really enjoyed this book. I feel that her standalones are doing the right thing for me, and i'm here for it.

"Gallant" is a simple story. It's about a girl and a house. Or that's what you think it is. Before starting it, i had no idea what this book is about, i only knew that i want to read it. I thought i'll read about a scared girl, and a strange land. But oh, boy, this was better.

Olivia Prior is an orphan girl that can't speak, which really surprised me. In the beginning, i thought she doesn't want to speak, given her situation, but she just can't. But Olivia has more to show than you can imagine. Her situation changes when she's invited out of the blue, by a relative, to a huge manor. And then, the story starts. I don't want to tell more about the manor, because you must read about it and feel the atmosphere of the house, but close your door if you are reading this at night.

I liked Olivia as a character. I love how Schwab is talking about her characters, i just adore her writing on standalone novels. Everytime i read about her heroines, i feel like i know them and they know me. She talks about them like she misses them everyday, even if they are next to her. I love that she writes at the third person, it's so perfect for her stories. Even if Olivia can't speak, she still has her ways to express herself. She's likeable, easy to root for, she's curious and very brave. Even if she's an orphan, you can't pity her, even if you feel like doing so, just because she doesn't pity herself. She has a secret, but i won't tell, because it was a big surprise for me.

<b><i>"She wanted to want it, to feel what the other girls felt. But she didn't. And yet, Olivia is full of want. She wants a bed that does not creak. A room without Anabelles or matrons or ghouls. A window and a grassy view and air that does not taste of soot and a father who does not die and a mother who does not leave and a future beyond the walls of Merilance."</b></i>

After she arrives at the manor, she finds things about her past and her parents. But the manor is strange. You can hear things at night, you have to lock your door before going to sleep, and the only thing that seems to be alive is the wall in the garden. And it calls to her.

<b><i>"She has never been afraid of the dark, but tonight, she relights the lamp."</b></i>

All in all, i liked "Gallant". Maybe the only thing that felt a little rushed was the ending, but it's still a 4 stars book. It"s a gothic, creepy little book, with a brave protagonist who chooses to fight for her new family and for her new home. It's about secrets and death and strange things creeping in your bed. If you like ghosts, paranormal things and a quiet atmosphere, i'm sure this book is for you.

<b><i>"She turns and look at the house that isn't Gallant. And sees him, looking back."</b></i>

Olivia Prior has spent all of her sixteen years at Merilance School for Girls in Newcastle until she receives a letter from the uncle she never knew she had. It invites her to his estate, a place called Gallant. However, when she arrives, she learns that the letter can't have come from her uncle- he's been dead for more than a year.

Olivia is allowed to remain as long as she follows two rules: don't go out after dusk and stay away from the stretch of wall that lines the estate's western edge. But Olivia can feel the pull of the world beyond the wall through her blood.

The key description I can give this book is that it always reminded me of something else (for example, Jane Eyre, Rebecca, Coraline). It takes all the best bits from so many excellent novels and binds them together, rather like a homage to these beloved stories. So, of course, this is lovely- it's all the good bits put into one place- yet I'm left with the feeling that the reason these plot points, character arcs, gothic elements etcetera work so well is because they are given focus and time to breathe in their original stories. They've all been done before.

It's a quiet story that never tries to be anything else. As such, it does at points feel flat whilst still being an enjoyable read. I recognise that I was more intrigued with the first third of the book, as this section especially leant more into the historical setting with just hints of the fantastical, creating the unsettling tone. The latter half embodies the gothic fantasy, in a way that is compelling but doesn't give you that creepy feeling.

Overall, it's an easy-to-read historical fantasy that maintains a gentle tone even with some gruesome subject matter mentioned.

A quick enjoyable read about a child who was deserted as a baby at an orphanage with little information on her history except a book that she assumes belonged to her mother.
She cannot speak and is shunned by her school friends or rather school enemies, however she has a talent for seeing ghouls. One day a letter arrives at the school purportedly from her uncle who implores her to come “home” to Gallant.
Once there she discovers her family history and learns how their fate is inextricably linked with the shadow world.
Although not as involved or accomplished as The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, Gallant is still a great read. Maybe more YA than adult fiction which is in no way a negative.

My first foray into this author's work and I'm looking forward to discovering more. Vividly written with a creepy, atmospheric descriptive style that was completely absorbing. This was a fabulous take on whole concept of the ghost realm and I loved the way that she took traditional fantasy elements yet managed to create something fresh.

Although I remember liking books by V. E. Schwab when I was a teenager the last couple of books I’ve picked up by her left me feeling rather underwhelmed. My reading tastes have definitely changed over the years but I hoped that I would always be able to appreciate her storytelling. I was sold on Gallant when I saw that it was being compared to Neil Gaiman and Guillermo del Toro and boy oh boy was I disappointed to discover that it was just a very tame take on the Gothic genre. I was hoping for something Dark a la Coraline or in the vein of Pan’s Labyrinth but what we have here is a very cheesy and vanilla attempt at crafting a Gothic tale. The story stars the classic Schwab female protagonist, ie, Not Like Other Girls (Schwab's books always leave me with the impression that they barely pass the Bechdel test). Olivia Prior is an orphan who has grown up in Merilance School for girls where she is mistreated by everyone for being mute. She also has a bit of a temper because she isn’t afraid of getting back at the mean girls and of ignoring her school’s rules. What a #girlboss. Anyway, Olivia’s only source of solace comes from her mother’s diary which details her descent into ‘madness’. Sections from her diary are interspersed throughout the narrative and these were truly over the top in their sensationalistic language and imagery. Olivia receives a letter from an uncle who says he wants her to come home to their family home of Gallant. When she arrives she discovers that her only living relative, her cousin Matthew, doesn’t want her there. Oh, I forgot, Olivia also sees ghouls. This aspect is sometimes forgotten and for the majority of the story appears only to crank up the Gothic mood. Nothing happens. Olivia’s inner monologue is as interesting as watching paint dry would be. She has no distinct personality even if the author tries to make her into this bold heroine who will not let people like those mean girls or her cold cousin tell her where she belongs. There are two other side characters who also live at Gallant and take care of Matthew and the property. Despite the small cast (you would think that more time was paid to developing these characters), the author doesn’t succeed in making these characters into compelling and or three-dimensional characters. Olivia is so vanilla as to be entirely forgettable. Her defining characteristic is that she’s an orphan and that she is mute. Personally, I don’t think it's great that these things are made to be her ‘personality’ and Schwab incurs the risk of portraying mutism as a sign of ‘specialness’ (she can see ghouls, she’s not like other girls etc…). This kind of thing feels dated tbh. Olivia spends her time at Gallant being rather nosy about the past and Matthew and those two older characters are clearly keeping something away from her. Olivia re-reads her mother’s journal in an attempt to uncover the truth behind her ‘madness’ and the secretive behaviour of the last inhabitants of Gallant.

I foolishly thought that this was going to be a parallel/portal fantasy but this doesn’t come into play until the 60% mark or so. Which…by then my interest had already waned and died. The ‘villain’ has barely any page time and because of that I did not really feel creeped out by them. I did not feel the stakes and found myself skim-reading the last couple of pages just so I could be done with it all.
The tone was very Middle Grade which could have worked if the author had gone for a more ambiguous overall tone (like Gaiman does in Coraline) but I found her portrayal of her heroine and the villain simplistic indeed. The blurb makes it sound as if Olivia is taken by them but that was not the case at all. Even a Disney villain has more nuance than this one.
We have a poorly established setting (vaguely historical period in…england? i think? they name a few english counties/towns but if it was it was not convincing at all, the characters express themselves in a very un-English manner) and Gallant itself lacked oomph. There were too many descriptions that relied on very predictable imagery and the language too drove me up the walls. Whisper here, whisper there. Metaphors involving smoke, secrets, whispers, and shadows abound. There was no subtlety or variation whatsoever. The house(s) did not feel ominous or atmospheric.
While I can get behind books that are very aesthetic focused (such books by Holly Black and Seanan McGuire) they have to have the prose to back that up. But here disappointingly enough given Schwab's usually stylish storytelling, the writing was flat. Because of this, the atmosphere felt flat too and the Gothic mood never truly convinced me.
I also have a bias against books where the main female characters have no meaningful relationship with other girls her age. And in fact, they are shown to be jealous, petty, and mean towards her even if she’d done ‘nothing wrong’. Like, can we put a stop to this girls-hating-girls trend in YA? Thank you.
A dull heroine, a slow-moving and predictable storyline, poorly developed secondary characters and setting…Gallant proved itself to be a milquetoast affair. I was hoping for a more mature tone and a more complex world-building and Gallant offered quite the opposite. A cheesy take on Gothic and the kind of flowery writing that is kind-of-pretty only if you post random quotes with no context on tumblr.
This was a forgettable and lacklustre read but just because it didn't work for me doesn't mean that you shouldn't give it a try.

Olivia Prior has lived at the Merilance School for Girls for as long as she can remember. She was left there as a child and all she has from her mother is a journal containing entries which get more and more erratic as time goes on. Out of the blue she receives a letter from her Uncle asking her to come to his estate; he has been looking for her for a long time and would like to finally welcome her home. But when she gets there she finds out her Uncle is dead and the house, Gallant, is holding terrible secrets.

Olivia is an easy protagonist to root for; she’s independent and doesn’t always follow the rules. She’s also mute and I really liked how this felt natural to the story and not just a plot device as she is still able to express herself in different ways. The glimpses we got of other characters were good, but I wish we had got to know Matthew a bit more. His struggle was really captivating and it would have been nice to see a bit more of that and him.

The book moves along at quite a pace, sprinkled along the way with eerie encounters with ghouls and the dead which are moderately creepy. V E Schwab is an excellent writer and is able to fully immerse you in the labyrinthine halls of the Gallant estate although the scare factor for me was actually quite low. This book is aimed primarily at YA readers and it definitely felt that way, never quite living up to my expectations.

It also contained my least favourite trope in the world…the fact that everything could be explained if the characters just talked to each other. If they had just sat Olivia down and said this is what’s going on so maybe listen to what we say and stop trying to investigate on your own. The ending seemed very abrupt and I was sure it must be the first book in a series but apparently not. It felt like there was still a lot still left to be explored.

Overall this was a perfectly fine ghost story but sadly for me there was just something missing which meant I never became fully engaged.

Thanks to netgalley and Titan Books for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

´She stared into the flames, the letter gone, taking her dreams of Gallant with it. She looks to her suitcase, then to the door. Where is she supposed to go?’

Olivia Prior grows up without a voice, raised in an orphanage and clinging to the remnants of her mothers journal that seem to be the ramblings of a madwoman. A letter arrives for her from her Uncle Arthur, inviting her to Gallant, the family home. Only once she gets there she discovers Arthur has been dead a year. Olivia has so many questions but no voice to make herself heard, it’s up to her to work out what secrets are being hidden at Gallant.
I loved this story, the absence of Olivia’s voice cuts down a lot of the dialogue and makes you look outside of the characters for answers. It is fairly slow paced, the whole story takes place over a matter of days. Schwab’s writing style is so descriptive and builds such a vivid picture of the world and atmosphere that it doesn’t really matter that the plot is slower as there’s still so much to gain from the book. This felt like a really well fleshed out short story, it was a straightforward enough plot but there was such time and dedication spent building up the world that I wanted to read more even when the plot was wrapped up. I thoroughly enjoyed this one and I think if I read it again I’d gain even more from the story!

I was more than excited when I got approved for an arc of Gallant because for one, the synopsis just sounds SO eerie and intriguing and secondly, V.E. Schwab is just one of those authors that can't do wrong. I love every single book of hers I've had the pleasure of reading.

Gallant is, once again, proof of her gorgeous prose which I will never get enough of. It's just a joy to read. The atmosphere is creepy, uncomfortable at times, with gothic vibes. Now, the plot is admittedly not the most exciting one. While the idea behind it is (nothing new but) interesting and well done, the execution of it is rather simplistic. The synopsis really tells you all there is to know about the story, and it's all not as deep as I expected it to be. I wasn't as emotionally involved as I'm used to with her books, although I absolutely adore the protagonist, Olivia. I think my major, and very subjective, gripe with Gallant is that I tend to enjoy books that really flesh out their characters, and while Olivia is complex, all the other characters involved are rather... bland. There is no real depth to them because we don't spend much time with them at all, which takes away from some of the more emotionally charged scenes of the book, especially the ending.

All in all, this is still a solid, beautifully written novel, with its biggest strength being the eerie atmosphere it creates. I'm not blown away by it, but I had a good time with it and I do love my gal Olivia just really really very much, so... 3,5 stars, rounded up.

V.E. Schwab is an instant-buy author for me. I love her writing and her ability to weave stories and create deep characters.

For me, Gallant was another hit. It's a fairly slow-paced novel, but that works in its favour. We follow Olivia as she explores her past and determines her future, and, of course, there are ghouls and demons along the way. The main thing that struck me about this book was how deep it was, and how there are so many metaphors and hidden meanings that can be interpreted, but it's also just a really great story if you disregard all of that. Olivia was a character that I instantly fell in love with, and I felt so much pride watching her grow and discover herself.

With V.E. Schwab, it's hardly necessary to say, but the writing truly was beautiful. The book was full of gorgeous quotes that will stick me, and her way of writing just instantly sucks you in. Even though the pace was quite slow, I found myself not caring because her words were so descriptive and stunning.

My only wish is that the conclusion had lasted a little longer. The last few pages happened far too quickly for my liking, and I would have enjoyed if the climax had been drawn out a bit more. That being said, this is still a five star read.

Gallant captured my heart over the five days I read it, and I know it will stick with me for a long time to come. Schwab has a way of creating worlds and characters that leave a lasting mark, and Gallant and the Priors are no different. I strongly recommend this book. It's a great read anytime, but if your TBR is as long as the average bookworm's, I think it's the perfect book for the autumn!

I'd like to thank NetGalley and Titan Books for my digital ARC of Gallant. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

"and you my darling are going to let me out"

// tw: ableism / animal death / bullying / death / death (of parent) / grief / suicide //

— a crumbling manor, ghouls lurking in hallways, a girl beckoned by the shadows behind locked doors, and a mysterious figure ruling it all.

pitched as the secret garden meets crimson peak, gallant tells the story of Olivia Prior, a mute orphan who was invited to her mother's family estate (gallant) but upon arrival discovered that no one was expecting her. unwilling to leave the first place that felt like home, Olivia brushes off the impeding departure and begins to try and unearth the many secrets the house is hiding until she finds a ruined wall.

in a place that is gallant but not, Olivia begins to see what has unraveled generations of her family, and where her father may have come from. after all, everything she has of her past is her mother's journal— which seems to descend into insanity.

I was absolutely terrified to read this book, my cat can and will confirm it. V.E. Schwab's books have always been a hit or miss for me, from her middle grade trilogy about a human and ghost being besties to their (extremely) popular standalone about a girl no one remembers. however, I took a deep breath and started reading the book.

first of all, I must say the illustrations are magnificent (illustrations by Manuel Sumberac). I will take zero criticism of the artwork please and thank you.

the synopsis reminds me of the hating game trailer; the entire plot is handed out on a silver platter. there wasn't a plot twist I couldn't figure out, there wasn't anything as dark as the blurb promised but maybe that's because this book is catered towards a middle grade audience. in a way, this book is really good if you want to get into fantasy but don't know where to start: the story is simple, the magic systems and world building aren't super complicated (kinda like sorcery of thorns by Margaret Rogerson).

I have to admit, the pacing didn't feel right to me nor did the lesser complexity (and depth) which is usually present in her adult novels. however, the second act really brought up the rating for me and as always, the beautiful writing did wonders to my aching soul. since it's release day in the United States, I figured I should be able to get away with including two of my favourite quotes without context:

"in my dreams, I am always losing you. in my wake, you are already lost"

"I am so tired I don't know what to do / I am awake and I am somewhere else / I am sorry I wanted to be free / I want to go home"

[4/5]

thank you titan books and the author for the ARC!

“Home is a choice. Those four words sit alone on a page in her mother's book, surrounded by so much white space they feel like a riddle…”

Olivia Prior has spent most of her life in Merilance, a school for girls. In this grey world she grew up surrounded by mean girls who made fun of her and matrons that didn’t want to understand her… and the haunting ghouls that live in the premises of the school and that only she can see.

Her only tether to the family she never met is an old diary, written by her long lost mother, a mysterious thing that brings more questions than answers. Everything change one day, when she receives a letter from an uncle she didn’t knew she had, inviting her to Gallant, the family estate.

When she arrives to the old house, she will discover the truth about the parents she never knew, the stories about her family, and the mystery that hides behind a lone wall near the garden.

I think it’s not a secret by now that V.E. Schwab is one of my all time favourite authors! Her books have always been a big inspiration for me, their words the kind of magic that I want to bring with my own stories…

So when Titan Books sent me the e-arc of Gallant… Well, I was over the moon! Truly, definitely grateful to be able to read it so soon! (And if I stopped all my other reads just to focus on Gallant… Well… No one should be surprised about that).

‘Gallant’ feels like a fairytale… An old, dark, twisted, and sometimes spooky story, like the ones the Grimm Brothers collected. This is a story about finding your home, not just the place, but also the people that you belong with… the home that you choose for yourself… It’s a story about grief and the past, and how those two things can leave their mark on us, and change us… A tale about legacies and how they can be a weight over our shoulders sometimes.

This is a story that grows slowly, like the flowers of the Gallant estate, it needs its time to set all the pieces in the board game, slowly and carefully, but that’s the kind of pace this story needs.

The characters are one of the highlights of this story, and one of the things that make it so special, specially Olivia and her cousin Matthew.

Olivia Prior can’t speak, she has never been able to, and yet her voice is crystal clear. She communicates with others through different methods (like signs or writing messages). Despite her time in Merilance, Olivia poured her heart into her mother’s journal, and the drawings she did. There’s a spark in her, a curiosity to discover all the secrets, the stories of those who came before her… The things that have brought her to that point…
·
Matthew Prior, Olivia’s cousin, is the heir of the familiar state, and all its mysteries. Through bits and pieces, we get to know more about this distant figure, a broken heart boy anchored in a past that doesn’t exist anymore, and the duties imposed by his name, he’s trying to protect the last remnants of a cursed legacy that sits heavy on his shoulders…
·
Maybe these two clash when they first met… But seeing them come together really pulled on all my heartstrings.
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Schwab’s writing shines in this book. Her words feel powerful, like a magic of their own. The way they write brings a special atmosphere, the kind that put you closer to these characters and the mysteries that surround them, and that makes it harder to forget them.
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‘Gallant’ was one of my most anticipated books of 2022 and it didn’t disappoint me. It’s one of those stories that uses ghosts to speak of other things less fantasy-ish and more real and fleshed out…
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This was a book that hit close to home for me… A book that speaks volumes to that soft heart of mine (and that left me in tears through the last few chapters).
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‘Gallant’ feels universal, the kind of story that can bring together younger readers, teenagers, and adults alike. If you love Schwab’s previous work, or stories about ghosts, or spooky and twisted fairytales… You should totally read ‘Gallant' !!
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Thanks to @netgalley, Titan Books, and V.E. Schwab for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review! ‘Gallant’ is out now in the U.S. and it will be out in UK March 8th.


Content Warnings: Death of a parent, grief, animal death, bullying, suicide, ableist ideas (challenged), violence.

When Olivia receives a letter inviting her to uncle's estate, Gallant, she thinks she might finally have found the home and family she's always longed for. But a strange magic dwells in Gallant, all is not what it seems... and why did her mother warn her never to come here?

As usual, Schwab's writing style is gorgeous and immersive, it's pretty much impossible not to get drawn in to the worlds she creates. This book for me difffered in a few ways from their other books that I've read but most noticeably was the scope of this book. This story felt distinctly intimate, personal, almost introspective as opposed to her previous broad, sweeping magical worlds. The narrative here is almost entirely confined to the estate at Gallant and its few remaining residents. I thoroughly enjoyed the emphasis this put on the character studies. We get to see how each character's life is reflected in their relatioship to Gallant and the others in the house. It was so interesting and beautifully done.
I also thoroughly enjoyed their exploration of Olivia's relationship to sound in the world around her- how she experiences it differently to those who can speak, the weight she puts on it, and how being at Gallant affected all that, it was fascinating.

This book was stunningly atmospheric with achingly human characters at its core, a brilliant 'haunted' house tale.

Thank you NetGalley and Titan Books for my advanced review copy of this title, recieved in exchange for an honest review.

Gallant was one of my most anticipated book releases of 2022 and I was incredibly excited when I got an eARC of it.

The book started out good. I loved the writing, it was extremely atmospheric and immersive. Schwab really did a great job here.

Olivia was an interesting character to read about. She is portrayed to be unlikable within the society she lives in, but if you look at her from a modern perspective she’s a rather normal kid.
She is mute, or at least she can’t speak. I wasn’t sure wether it’s because of a medical condition or some other reason, and it wasn’t resolved within the book. She has to find ways to communicate with others and she longs to be heard. It was easy for me to root for her.

Now on to the things I didn’t love.
The book was slow. Very slow. At first I enjoyed the slow build-up, but at some point I just waited for something interesting to happen and got bored.

The side side characters were like blank canvases in comparison to Olivia. They didn’t feel fully fleshed out and barely had any distinct personalities.

Gallant is marketed as a YA or an adult novel, but it felt very much like a middle grade book. I was under the assumption that it would be more mature and therefore diappointed.

Then there was the ending that felt too rushed. For me personally, Gallant didn’t feel like a complete story. Something was missing. I feel like it would’ve worked better had Olivia’s character been aged up and the book changed into a series or at least gotten a sequel.

I’m not sure wether it was intentional, but the whole book was sad and bleak and the ending didn’t make it much better. Olivia still didn’t seem happy to me in the epilogue.

As a side note, there was a technical issue with my eARC that I hope got fixed by now. The book contains journal pages and they were barely legible on both my kindle and the kindle app on my phone. The font was extremely pixelated.


So overall Gallant is a solid middle grade novel. It's not a bad book, but underwhelming compared to some of Schwab's other books.

𝙚𝘼𝙍𝘾 𝙍𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬: 𝙂𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙗𝙮 𝙑. 𝙀. 𝙎𝙘𝙝𝙬𝙖𝙗

“𝘖𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘢 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦.”

𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘀𝗶𝘀:
Olivia Prior has grown up at Merilance – a school for girls. She has grown up an orphan, with the only connection to her family being her mother’s old journal. Olivia can’t speak, she doesn’t have any friends, and she sees things that others can’t. She believes herself to be truly alone in the world, until one day a letter arrives for her at Merilance promising a home and family at a house called Gallant. However, when she arrives, things are not as she expected. The house is full of ghouls, and the people living there hold secrets she’s desperate to uncover.

𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄:
I went into this with relatively high expectations based off the only other V. E. Schwab book I’d read before – Addie LaRue. I knew this would be completely different, but it blew me away all the same. I read the last half in one sitting. This is a gothic ghost story done perfectly. Olivia’s sharp intelligence is one of my favourite things about this book; she constantly seems to be waiting for others to catch up with her and I can 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 the frustration seeping through her, that she isn’t able to easily express her thoughts to others (who can’t sign).

Schwab’s descriptions of the ghouls had me feeling totally creeped out, in the way you want to be when reading this sort of story. There were illustrations throughout the book which were beautifully done, and were clearly the drawings found in her mother’s journal.

“𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘭, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘥 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵 𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘴, 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘺.”

I imagined the world of Gallant being part of our world – not a fantasy world – although it is left open to interpretation. It also doesn’t state when exactly the book is set (as far as I could tell), though I guessed it was probably set in the 1950s/60s. Another thing left for the reader to decide is Olivia’s age; I imagined her being around 16-years-old. This ambiguity, particularly of Olivia’s age and therefore what the target audience of this book is, is mentioned in the acknowledgments at the end where Schwab says about the book that ‘it was clear it wouldn’t sit easily on any shelf’, and I’d say that’s true. It appeals, I think, to a broad audience, and it does that very well.

Whenever a book by this author comes on my radar I know it is going to be good, and Gallant is no exception to this rule as she creates a spooky, gothic and chilly story that captivates you until the very last page of the book.

This book is creepy and haunting from the start of the book, with a character that certainly fits in with the vibe, Olivia is a character that though she doesn't speak totally comes alive on the page as she is given a whole new life and home. I think that though there is such a small cast, the love and care shown by her new family and the humanity of her cousin Matthew shines on these pages and makes for incredible reading as we figure them out in this book (though I feel more could be here).

The plot builds slowly but oh so surely, as we get a glimpse of what Olivia can do and who she is. The scenes in the 'other' Gallant are dark and really build the suspense as we move into the final chapters of this book and leave you with baited breath as we see the finale explode on the page. I feel like I need more from this world and I hope that this is the start of something because I just feel it needs more to it and I want to see Olivia grow as a character.

I've never read anything quite like this book, but it's Victoria Schwab, so of course I've not.

Excellent reading!

(Thanks to Netgalley/Orbit for the ARC for honest review).

I have no idea how to describe this book, it's the type of book that evades all genre categories and instead seems to stand as a book of its own. As per most of V.E Schwab books, the imagery is what stands out most in this book. I has the most beautiful descriptions of both Merilance. the school for orphans and also Gallant, the grand estate she is summond to live at. I felt like I was really at these places, able to perfectly invision what V.E Schwab was thinking when she wrote the book. It is perfectly eery and spooky, with not a lot of answers to your questions until right at the end which just adds to the spooky vibe. I think the writing is what stands out in this book as opposed to the plot but I still adored it none the less. I thought the ending was perfectly suited to the book and not at all a let down after such build up. I can't wait to re-read this knowing what I know to see if there's any foreshadowing!

Olivia is a 16 year old orphan who cannot speak and lives in a girls home. One day she gets a letter from her uncle inviting her to come and live with him in his home, Gallant. When Olivia gets to Gallant she meets a cousin she didn't know she has and a house full of ghosts and gouls.
I read this expecting a YA book but it's definitely on the younger age of that spectrum apart from perhaps the ending. The majority of the book felt like a lot of nothing was happening, it isn't really until quite later in the book that anything exciting happens.
I found the ending of this surprisingly emotional considering I had no strong feelings towards the characters during reading.
I found this quite a quick read and definitely think it would be better suited to a younger age.

I adored this book. It’s a hard one to describe but I loved it all the same.

The writing is beautiful, as I have come to expect from Schwab, and really helps to build the spooky and mysterious atmosphere. It’s a quiet book that builds at a pace that just hooks you in.

This book wasn’t really what I expected at all – mostly in a good way. I like Schwab’s work as an author, she’s a good writer and knows how to spin a good yarn but I’ve not always taken to her books. I can’t really put my finger on why, but there was always something stopping me from ‘like’ turning into ‘love’. I’m not sure if I’m quite there yet, but this is probably my favourite of her books so far.

The main character of this book is Olivia, a mute 14 year old who is catapulted out of her miserable life in an orphanage school to her hitherto unknown ancestral family home ‘Gallant’. SUCH a cool name for a house, really puts all those ‘Willow Cottage’ and ‘Rivendell’ house names to shame. There are lots of mysteries to uncover, but essentially there’s an ‘as above, so below’ kind of idea going on with Gallant. It’s a really fun and intriguing concept for a story and it hooked my interest from the outset.

It’s the kind of book where the fun really lies in letting the story carry you away so I’m not going to discuss the narrative in great detail here. I felt that the story as a whole skewed a bit younger than I expected, this didn’t personally detract from my enjoyment, but if you prefer a more mature story you may not enjoy this so much.

The world building was clever and imaginative and the central plot device of the mirror houses and the ghouls was unlike anything I’ve read before. There were some slow parts, but Scwab writes very readable stories and I devoured it happily over the course of an afternoon. I like how it had the vibe of one of those old fashioned stories where things don’t always work out for the characters and there was an air of downbeat melancholy, particularly towards the conclusion of the story, which might not appeal to everyone although I appreciated it. I also really liked how at no point was Olivia ‘saved’ from her disability and her muteness was portrayed sensitively throughout.

Despite really enjoying this book, I just felt it was missing something for me. I think this lay in the supporting characters who remained rather opaque throughout. Olivia was well fleshed out but the others just felt a little inscrutable. I would have liked to have had more insight into Olivia’s parents too, especially since the experience of loss is one of the key themes of the story. The ending also felt very rushed and a bit weak. I was approaching 90%+ and wondering if it really was a standalone because I couldn’t imagine how it would all he wrapped up so quickly.

In conclusion, a very enjoyable read and a nicely encapsulated standalone. I’ve pre-ordered what feels like a million different editions of this book so I’m glad I liked it!