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.”

Olivia Prior has never been a quiet girl. She has always made a point of making noise, everywhere she goes, in part to remind people that just because she cannot speak, does not mean that she is silent, and in part because she simply likes the weight of sound, likes the way it takes up space.”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.

There was no plot whatsoever (until like over halfway), but in general I don't even care 99% if there isn't one as long as I'm invested in the characters. Which wasn't the case at all here. A girl. A boy. A shadow with eyes. A door that won’t open. A place and its copy. Hidden rooms and hidden secrets. A shard of bone. And death itself. She has lived her entire lonely life as an orphan at a strict school for girls, the only one who can see ghouls under the beds and in dark corners. She hasn't made any friends, as the other girls imbue her permanent silence with distrust and distaste. Gallant, by V.E. Schwab is my seventh book by this author. I didn't really have high expectations when I went it to it, as the premise didn't grip me as much, but I had not anticipated to dislike this book so much. I had hoped it would at least be a 3 star read, but the book left me completely uninterested and unbothered. I did not enjoy it at all.

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The only thing Olivia is interested in is that she can see the dead who linger after life, half-formed ghouls of vague description. But not even her ability to see the long gone is enough to provide meaning. That comes in the form of a letter from a long-lost uncle, inviting Olivia to come to their family home known as Gallant. It is here that the novel shifts into gear, as Olivia is whisked away to an old, sprawling estate with a surly, older cousin, a legacy she barely understands, and a suspicious stone wall hiding an iron gate, the other side of which cannot be seen. You can watch me talk about all the books I read in February as I set up my reading journal here: https://youtu.be/NY7bgSmoggM This book was SO good and I truly am in love with V. E. Schwab’s writing. They write like a painter creates Impressionism - eloquently and filled with striking, beautiful details. It’s impossible to not be blown away.

Also, BIG shout out to Manuel Šumberac, the illustrator, because the illustrations were absolutely BEAUTIFUL. Seriously, I think this may be the prettiest book I own and that’s completely fine with me. Olivia Prior can see ghosts, shadows of the long-dead: a bony hand here, a half-formed face there. She carries her mother’s last written words with her: stay away from Gallant, her family’s manor. But when she’s given a chance to escape the bleak gray walls of her boarding school, she takes it. However, Gallant is hiding something even darker than the ghouls she sees around her, and Olivia is determined to solve this mystery. This novel progressed swiftly enough to retain my attention, albeit a bit slow. It was conveyed in a suspenseful manner, and the delicate tension wouldn't deter you from continuing as that's what made Gallant so captivating. The plot was straightforward, but it can be seen that Schwab took a long span and diligence to develop the world. 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.

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Free-a small word for such a magnificent thing. I don't know what it feels like, but I want to find out.”

Gallant is dark, tragic, and heartbreaking, but also warm and moving. The basic desire to belong and be loved is so fundamental to human nature. That is all Olivia wants.

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Gallant doesn't have a rich plot, but it does have well-developed characters. Oliva Prior, a non-verbal teen is trapped and abandoned in an orphanage after the death of her mother. She has no one, or that is what she has been told. When she receives a peculiar letter from a long lost relative telling her to come to live with them, Olivia is perplexed but also relieved. Finally, she gets to have a family, someone who will love her. 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. There's nothing wrong with characters like that! I love reading about them! But if they are the only characters that appear in Schwab's work, its a bit disheartening, especially because the 'traditionally feminine' characters are always painted in a bad light, either as the 'bullies' or the 'annoying girls obsessed with make-up and dresses'. The Plague has left a population divided between Elites and Ordinaries—those who have powers and those who don’t; now, an Ordinary teen fights for her life. Trigger/Content Warnings: death, death of a parent, child death, suicide, ableism, blood, abandonment, bullying, animal death