Gallant

I have never read a book by V.E. Schwab-I’ve had “The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue” sitting on my TBR shelf for quite some time, but thanks to an Audible sale and great reviews, I decided to read THIS book first. Several readers actually stated that this stand-alone novel was actually a great introduction to Schwab’s writing.The book had me at the dedication: “To those who go looking for doors, are brave enough to open the ones they find, and sometimes bold enough to make their own.” I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I could feel the promise of an unforgettable story.Olivia Prior is 14 years old and has lived the majority of her life at the Merilance School for Girls. Her only connection to her past is the green leather-bound journal that belonged to her mother which appears to show a woman falling into madness. One day a letter arrives at the school, inviting Olivia to come home to Gallant-the family home. When Olivia arrives, no one is expecting her, but she is determined to stay, to become a part of a family. Her cousin, Matthew, doesn’t want her there, there are half-formed ghouls lurking around every corner, and secrets that no one is willing to share with her.I don’t want to share anymore, because this story is SO good and there is so much to uncover. The writing is beautiful and detailed. I think Olivia Prior is going to be another favorite character. I’ve never read another protagonist like Olivia and I don’t think I ever will again. Olivia felt REAL, that’s just how incredibly developed she is as a character. V.E. Schwab definitely took her time piecing this story together. The plot is just so fleshed out, the story is so complete. My only (slight) criticism is that I would have loved a little more background on the characters of Hannah and Edgar, but that’s more of a “me” thing and absolutely does not take anything away from this story. It’s a scary book, without being scary-if that makes any sense at all. This has been my favorite spooky season read so far this year, actually one of my favorite books this year-period.The illustrations by Manuel Šumberac are also incredible and I found myself constantly inspecting the images-they tell their own story and they blend in so beautifully. I HIGHLY recommend reading along with the audiboook. The reader, Julian Rhind-Tutt gives an incredible performance and sets a perfect tone and mood to the story.

First of all, this book was excellent. It was beautifully written. The story feels like a classic gothic novel with an orphan, ghosts, a haunted mansion, mysterious journals, plenty of time spent in old libraries and music rooms, a melancholy garden and a creepy garden wall.But all these things are written so beautifully and vividly that I really found myself absorbed into the story, and afraid to look under my bed.The creepy aspect was perfect. Just enough to make for a great gothic story without being TOO scary that you can’t sleep (unless you can’t sleep because you’re staying up reading this!)Second. It absolutely drives me crazy when people complain that an author is “just writing this for the money”. What an absolutely idiotic take. I HOPE authors are writing for money! Making money means they get to keep writing books. And especially when a writer as diverse as V.E. Schwab tries something a little diffident for them. I love to see those things succeed so they can keep trying new things.I hate it when people read one book they love and then complain that every other book isn’t that book. (ever notice how this is mostly done to women and minority authors?)VE Schwab writes a lot of different styles and kinds of books. But their writing is so vivid and beautiful and their story telling is so captivating. That’s what makes them such a fun author to read.Anyway. This book is really good and a perfect October, creepy season, read. It is a younger YA to upper Middle Grade novel so it’s not as complex as some of their other, more adult, books.The physical book is gorgeous with beautiful illustrations that really help the story come to life. I also listened to the audio book, Narrated by Julian Rhind-Tutt, which really well done. I am happy I own both.I definitely recommend this book, especially if you’re in the mood for a gothic book or as an introduction to gothic style literature.

For a young adult novel, this is a scary premise. The writing is beautiful, as are the ink drawings. It's quite the spooky and dangerous adventure for young Olivia, who just wishes for a home and family, but gets a haunted house instead. Everyone is under siege in this book. The parallel houses were a clever ploy. The descriptions evocative. I wish the ending had been different, but I was relieved to leave Gallant.

This would be a great October read. It is spooky but not over the top. The setting is interesting and kind of has a Stranger Things meets Stardust by Neil Gaiman vibe. I don’t think it should have been the Goodreads choice best YA Fantasy over Bloodmarked (which was SPECTACULAR) but this was a very good read and I do recommend it.

Olivia has nothing from her family except an old journal telling her never to return to Gallant. But when a mysterious letter comes from an uncle she doesn’t know, inviting her home, she goes, and there she finds out why she was warned to stay away.

I might bring this up to 5 stars later once I think on it, but V.E. Schwab is such a creative writer. I’m truly impressed with the unusual worlds she’s able to create. I love the dark tones to her writing, even when she is ostensibly writing for a YA or younger audience. She’s in the same class as Neil Gaiman for me. This book is very good YA fantasy, with a strong central heroine, and a really great premise. Highly recommend.

I was so entranced by Olivia's story and the unfurling of her story.When she discoveries the reality of her mother's journal, I was blown away.Life, death, prisons, freedom....and loss.This is such a lovely story and I'm glad I picked this up.

Garth Nix’s Old Kingdom feels very close to this story. The wall, the Dead, the sound going muffled…This is a good story, too.

BOOK 8: GALLANT 👻🚪Olivia Prior has grown up in Merilance School for girls. All she has of her past is her mother’s journal - which seems to unravel into madness. Suddenly, a letter arrives, welcoming her home - to Gallant, but when she arrives no one is expecting her. She isn’t about to leave the first place that actually feels like home, and it doesn’t matter if her cousin Matthew is hostile and ghouls haunt the hallways. Olivia knows the house is hiding secrets, and when she crosses a ruined wall at the right moment, she finds herself in a completely different place, where a mysterious figure rules over all. She has always wanted to belong somewhere, but will she take her place as a Prior, protecting the world against the mysterious figure? Or will she take her place beside him?I went into this expecting to be blown away the same way several other VE Schwab books have. The book ended up being very good, but I was quite underwhelmed. I did love Olivia as a main character, it was refreshing to read about someone with a completely different life experience to my own; she communicates non-verbally, and this is something that we do not see a lot of in books. The book itself was very well-written, and it was very creepy; Gallant is definitely not somewhere I would want to live!I tend not to enjoy YA books very often anymore, as I find them a bit too simplistic. I think that this is the case here because there’s nothing I specifically disliked about this one. Maybe if I had read this as a teenager I would have enjoyed it a lot more. I’m also stuck in isolation at the moment so maybe reading a book that’s quite dark wasn’t a great idea when I can’t get outside.

Olivia is an orphan - she thinks. She's been dumped at Merilance School for Girls without much memory of a time before, and her present isn't bright either. She lacks three things: a father, a mother, and a voice. She has her mother's journal - which, despite the writer's clear descent into madness, she knows off by heart - and that's it. She can't even communicate effectively with the others at Merilance because, although she was taught sign language, the only person who knew sign language has left, with no one interested in learning. Lonely, alone, angry, grieving, sometimes vengeful - this is Olivia Prior.Unexpectedly, she receives a letter from her Uncle inviting her to the family home. It's more than she could have dreamed of! But when she arrives, she finds her uncle has been dead for a year and her only relative is her cousin Matthew, who makes it abundantly clear she is unwanted. The servants, Edgar and Hannah, are welcoming (Edgar even knows sign language!) but the family estate 'Gallant' isn't the place of dreams. More like nightmares... Olivia has seen ghouls all her life, but why are there so many at Gallant? And why does her mother's journal warn her to stay away?I was really excited for this book - I love V.E.Schwab - and the premise sounded amazing: creepy, other worlds, and a non verbal character! I'm also claiming Olivia as asexual because of a part from the first section:...she wanted the flower more than his attention... She wanted to want it, to feel what the other girls felt.But she didn't. And yet Olivia is full of want...So yay for more asexual rep!But... I just didn't feel this book. Is it me? I knew what atmosphere she was trying to create but I couldn't really get into it. I read two sections in one go and then just put it aside for a few days because, quite honestly, I forgot about it! I wasn't engaged. Olivia didn't seem as old as sixteen, and I would have classed this as MG rather than YA except (view spoiler).Disappointing - but don't take my word for it, I've read lots of good reviews. Maybe I'll try it again at some point...

Olivia Prior is alone. Her mother died, seemingly to escape the horrifying disturbances of her mind and her father followed not long after out of grief. Olivia was sent to Merilance, a home for children and left there to fade away. She is physically alone as the other children avoid her as she is mute and behaves oddly. Olivia will not seek company because she can see ghosts who are her companions.As Olivia approaches the end of her time at Merilance, she receives a letter from an uncle, whom she never even knew existed, telling her he had been searching for her. Her uncle also said he wants her to come to live with him in the family home called Gallant. Olivia is beyond happy by this news and the possibility of a family and determinedly heads to Gallant. After she arrives at the house, Olivia learns her uncle is dead. Her cousin Matthew, a stern boy, wants her to leave but reluctantly allows her to stay. He gives her two rules: never leave the house after dusk and remain on the right side of the crumbling wall at the end of the garden surrounding Gallant.The longer Olivia stays in the mysterious house, the more she realises that its holds secrets which connect to her and her dead mother. As Olivia reads her mother's journal, she starts a journey into the past that will bring a sinister presence into her life that will lead to dangerous consequences for her, her cousin and those trying to protect them from what lies behind the walls of Gallant.🌟🌟🌟🌟 This was an eerily atmospheric and beautifully created story. The stunning artwork that accompanied the story helped portray the visuals and ideas of the plot and made you feel immersed within Gallant. Olivia and Matthew were complex and intriguing characters that were easy to connect to, and I worried for them throughout the book. The story did not quite come together as I had hoped, and the darker aspects did not fully hit the mark for me. Overall, another imaginative and unique story from VE Schwab that unfolds slowly as the Gallant decays.

Gallant by VE Schwab is another slice of an author at their peak. From the A Gathering of Magic series on, VE has become an essential author for me.She had great success in the pandemic with The Invisible Life of Addy LaRue, a standalone (for now anyway) novel spanning hundreds of years.She can seemingly turn her pen to any genre. Gallant belongs in the Gothic classic genre, with Secret Garden vibes and that darkness you'd expect with a Gothic story.Olivia is a non-verbal teenager, brought up with little knowledge of her parents, save a journal from her mother, much of it incomprehensible. She is shunned by her peers in the orphanage, but has her own rich inner life. When she is summoned to go to the family home at Gallant, she hopes to find out more about her family. From there the story takes on the character of the house of Gallant and whatever is on the other side of an ancient wall in the garden.The main selling point of Gallant is the beautiful prose. VE Schwab already excels at writing characters that feel alive, and here the descriptions of the house and the minutiae of an old building feel both alive and ancient.Another masterclass in writing from one of the star authors of our time.Check out any other VE Schwab work - there's something for everyone, from superheroes to multi-dimensional to time-spanning to ghost stories.

This is my first time reading one of this author's books and I think I chose very well when I decided to buy a copy of Gallant. This was a fabulous gothic-style mystery that did have similarities to another wonderful book, The Secret Garden, but Schwab does go darker.The story is of an orphan, abandoned and unwanted. Olivia doesn't speak, this means she doesn't have friends but what she does do is watch. When she is coming to the end of her time at the Merilance School for Girls a strange message arrives saying that Olivia does indeed have family and they have been searching for her.When she arrives at her home she discovers a place that has very few people there. It seems that the family and quite possibly the house is cursed. There is a wonderful eerie presence throughout this story and the author increases this as it goes on.Rather than having the warm welcome she expected, she is received with some shock and surprise. Why on earth would anyone want to come to this house. Why would they want to stay?I love the mystery in this story and it just oozes that eerie-ness and wonderful gothic thriller/ horror feel. There are many strange things that happen in this story, yes it is a fantasy but one that I adored, but then I do also like fantasy.This story may be about Olivia, but it is also about the family and what originally brought them there, and why they remain. It provides some interesting and unexpected twists.Fabulous reading, wonderful characters, and a great storyline. I really enjoyed this and I look forward to reading more. I would definitely recommend this one.