Book Review :: Gallant by VE Schwab

Gallant by V.E. Schwab
ISBN: 8416517665
Published by Titan
on 2022-03-01
Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Young Adult
Pages: 320
Goodreads

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.

Olivia Prior has grown up in Merilance School for girls, and all she has of her past is her mother’s journal—which seems to unravel into madness. Then, a letter invites Olivia to come home—to Gallant. Yet when Olivia arrives, no one is expecting her. But Olivia is not about to leave the first place that feels like home, it doesn’t matter if her cousin Matthew is hostile or if she sees half-formed ghouls haunting the hallways.

Olivia knows that Gallant is hiding secrets, and she is determined to uncover them. When she crosses a ruined wall at just the right moment, Olivia finds herself in a place that is Gallant—but not. The manor is crumbling, the ghouls are solid, and a mysterious figure rules overall. Now Olivia sees what has unravelled generations of her family, and where her father may have come from.

Olivia has always wanted to belong somewhere, but will she take her place as a Prior, protecting our world against the Master of the House? Or will she take her place beside him?

Last updated on 13 February 2023

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What is Gallant about?

Gallant by VE Schwab is a haunting tale of Olivia Prior, a young girl who cannot speak, trapped in an orphanage she hates, with few possessions and even fewer friends. One day, Olivia gets a letter from someone who claims to be an uncle. As she leaves Merilance School for Girls, Olivia sets off on a new adventure to the home family house … the one place that her mother warned her never to go.

“When people see tears, they stop listening to your hands or your words or anything else you have to say. And it doesn’t matter if the tears are angry or sad, frightened or frustrated. All they see is a girl crying.”

My thoughts on Gallant

Gallant was a stunning read. A gothic tale of mystery and family history, of darkness and light, of feeling lost, of feeling heartbreak. It’s a story of secrets so dark they’re hard to imagine. A story of foreboding masters of the house, of ghouls stalking the halls, of a green notebook telling her to stay away from it all.

“A place this wild, the outside is always trying to get in.”

Olivia can’t speak, so uses sign language when she can, and sometimes jots things down on paper if the people she’s communicating with don’t understand Sign. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book where the main character uses Sign Language, but Schwab does a beautiful job at portraying Olivia and her frustrations as well as her quiet determination.

I don’t actually want to say much more about Gallant. Between my thoughts here and the synopsis above, I think that’s all you need. It’s a simple tale, but with complex family matters, with a darkness that only Schwab can write. And it is beautiful.

What I will say is this: read it in one sitting. If you can. I read it in a couple of sittings, but I think it would really draw you in if you read it in one sitting.

While I do love her adult/older books more (A Darker Shade of Magic is one of my faves), Gallant was a joy to read and I am forever in awe of VE Schwab’s writing, world creation and storytelling. I’ll read whatever she writes.

Have you read Gallant yet? What did you think?