Gallant

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Hannah, who is it?” he calls, and Olivia looks past the woman, hoping to see her uncle. But when the door opens wider, she knows at a glance that it’s not him. This man’s skin is several shades darker than her own, his face too thin, his bearing winnowed with age. Everything seems so arbitrary and disconnected. There are rules about the Priors, rules about the wall (which is a strangely short wall, by the way—I’m still not sure what the purpose of a door is if you can just walk around the wall)... I don’t know why it has to be this way. I don’t know how the Prior ancestors fought what’s beyond the wall. It seems cheap never to give explicit reasons for why things are the way they are. Olivia especially is a wonderful protagonist in her journey into the shadow that the world itself casts, going to a place where no one else but Death himself could live. Among a strong cast of supporting characters, Olivia shines. Schwab takes her time as the tale begins, sketching in the depths of Olivia, her myriad struggles as a mute young woman in a home that takes no steps to communicate with her or wants to hear from her, the losses and fears she has, all contrasted with the sudden elation of not only finding out she has a home, but that the answers she’s been looking for her whole life might be there waiting for her. Schwab builds Olivia and her new world of Gallant stone by stone, making every room and hearth feel warm and lived in, inviting the reader in with Olivia. She absolutely has a voice. But I did want to look at the way in which having a voice that other people don’t necessarily hear or know how to engage with creates an extremely lonely environment, a sense of isolation. I think that you already feel that a bit as a teenager, especially the kind of teenager that I was. V.E. Schwab Even the ghouls didn’t have much of a purpose. They just… drifted around and occasionally acted protective of Olivia. I kept waiting for a twist that would tie everything together, but there was nothing. What you see in the synopsis is it. Gallant doesn’t feel complete. My original opinions of each character never changed because nothing happened that would make them change. It was so unsatisfying.

I will say though that it was very interesting to have a main character who couldnt speak! This is my first book seeing that and it was pretty interesting. I also saw some similarities between this book and Coraline so maybe some may love that a lot. For a girl living in a quiet world, conversing with ghoul-like creatures through nods and gestures is a blessing and a curse. Olivia is drawn to the power of secrets and magic. What is real, what isn't? When she meets her cousin Mathew, she begins to learn more about the mystery, the hidden garden, and the wall beyond the path. She holds on to a journal written by her mother, trying to piece together the story of her family and her mother's past. But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name. Olivia heads toward the house, takes up her suitcase, and climbs the four stone steps that lead from the drive to the front doors, solid wood marked by a single iron circle, cold beneath her fingers. Would I say read Gallant? Absolutely if you’re a Schwab fan, but I probably won’t have to tell my fellow Schwablins that. If you like old gothic mansions, ghosts & the paranormal and a quieter, creeping kind of magic, then you may enjoy this as well. But I’m still on the hunt for that incredible fantasy novel of 2022, and though I had hoped this would be that book—I’m going to have to keep looking.

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I genuinely do not see the point of this book and I've never said this about any book before but really do not see it here.

My favorite part was the unique villain, whose power is rather terrifying and centers around the manipulation of shadow and his own bones. Speaking of, there will be a lot of body horror/blood descriptors in this book, so proceed with caution if you're squeamish. The mc is one of my favorite brands of characters: weird little girls with a slightly menacing aura. She's also mute, and I love that the effect this has on her life is explored respectfully (bonus points for the inclusion of sign language in the story). Given that up till this day, it took me ages to finish The Invisible Life of Addie Larue for how boring and repetitive it is, it’s a surprise that I find myself enjoying this one!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.