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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
"Old houses, full of sounds you don't quite hear, and things you don't quite see."
Rating:3.5/5
This is the first V. E. Schwab book I've read and i do have to say, i am a fan of her writing. Its quite lyrical and overall pretty to read, filled with imagery and vividness. The setting and overall atmosphere of this was also very intriguing and just vibes. I am a sucker for a big ancient house haunted by ghosts, ghouls etc.
However, whilst i definitely enjoyed it, i found the plot to be somewhat predictable and simple and i think it could have benefitted from being a little bit longer as i thought it wrapped up a bit too quickly after all the buildup.
Rating:3.5/5
This is the first V. E. Schwab book I've read and i do have to say, i am a fan of her writing. Its quite lyrical and overall pretty to read, filled with imagery and vividness. The setting and overall atmosphere of this was also very intriguing and just vibes. I am a sucker for a big ancient house haunted by ghosts, ghouls etc.
However, whilst i definitely enjoyed it, i found the plot to be somewhat predictable and simple and i think it could have benefitted from being a little bit longer as i thought it wrapped up a bit too quickly after all the buildup.
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
okay, i had NO idea this was supposed to be a horror book LOL, was v confused when MC started seeing ghosts everywhere and how creepy it felt but yes realised it after a while.
i'll start with the parts i like about the book! i liked that she weaved the illustrations into the story itself (even though i could not make sense of them at all), cuz sometimes the little illustrations can be quite pointless in books. ok it honestly wasn't anything new and it was quite disappointing. i always love her writing and it definitely kept me engaged thru out but the plot just wasn't doing it for me. i do like that the mc can't speak and we can really feel her frustrations and helplessness with her disability, rly makes one appreciate the things we take for granted (and the part where she realises that all someone had to do to shut her out was to turn away, HEARTBREAK). i also like her tenacity and her motivation to have a family and to be wanted, was relatable and understandable.
ok the parts that i didn't like: first it honestly just isn't anything new. this lowkey haunted house with benevolent supernatural forces (but also kinda like fantasy) that haunts its occupants and mysterious family members who won't say shit about the history. very been there done that. the only thing vaguely new would be the idea of using shadows as a fissure into the human world (sth like that) but even then this idea wasn't really fleshed out either (it was like in one paragraph or sth)
another thing has to be the pacing of the book. NOTHING happens for a good 80% of the book where we just have olivia suffering thru merilance and then suffering AGAIN in gallant cuz nobody wants to be a decent human being (it was honestly rly frustrating, like so many things could have been avoided if someone was just NICE to her). esp that overused mysterious "i can't say anything for ur own good" and "u need to leave" WITHOUT ANY EXPLANATIONS, like come on who the heck would listen to u without a good reason. it was annoying and just unnecessary. granted that the gallant family kinda come round to her eventually but it just feels like this part cld have been done better. so ya 80% of the book was literally olivia exploring and finding shit out on her own (like reading the heck out of her mum's journal) because NOBODY WANTED TO ANSWER HER DAMN QUESTIONS. like if matthew had done that, 80% would be condensed into 5% (but then i guess where's the fun in that right...)
also, ms thang fell like 5 fking times thru out the book WHY WTF. WHY WAS THAT NECESSARY??? LIKE WHY IS SHE SO CLUMSY, one moment the book is like oh she is lithe, agile, quick on her feet and silent as the night, then the next minute she catches her fking toe on the carpet and goes down face first like????? we can't have that much duality man. and like honestly 3/5 times when she fell, it literally doesn't add anything to the story cuz she gets up anyway (or a ghoul helps her).
another thing is this mr death sir himself, IDK THERE WAS JUST SOOOOOOO MUCH MISSING ABT THIS PART OF GALLANT. like why is he here, what is his purpose, why is it only the priors, how did he even come here and like what does he even do all day?? idk it all just felt v iffy and half-assed ): definitely not like her usual work.
this book had so much potential and the only thing that saved it from 2 stars is her writing that i always enjoy a lot.
i'll start with the parts i like about the book! i liked that she weaved the illustrations into the story itself (even though i could not make sense of them at all), cuz sometimes the little illustrations can be quite pointless in books. ok it honestly wasn't anything new and it was quite disappointing. i always love her writing and it definitely kept me engaged thru out but the plot just wasn't doing it for me. i do like that the mc can't speak and we can really feel her frustrations and helplessness with her disability, rly makes one appreciate the things we take for granted (and the part where she realises that all someone had to do to shut her out was to turn away, HEARTBREAK). i also like her tenacity and her motivation to have a family and to be wanted, was relatable and understandable.
ok the parts that i didn't like: first it honestly just isn't anything new. this lowkey haunted house with benevolent supernatural forces (but also kinda like fantasy) that haunts its occupants and mysterious family members who won't say shit about the history. very been there done that. the only thing vaguely new would be the idea of using shadows as a fissure into the human world (sth like that) but even then this idea wasn't really fleshed out either (it was like in one paragraph or sth)
another thing has to be the pacing of the book. NOTHING happens for a good 80% of the book where we just have olivia suffering thru merilance and then suffering AGAIN in gallant cuz nobody wants to be a decent human being (it was honestly rly frustrating, like so many things could have been avoided if someone was just NICE to her). esp that overused mysterious "i can't say anything for ur own good" and "u need to leave" WITHOUT ANY EXPLANATIONS, like come on who the heck would listen to u without a good reason. it was annoying and just unnecessary. granted that the gallant family kinda come round to her eventually but it just feels like this part cld have been done better. so ya 80% of the book was literally olivia exploring and finding shit out on her own (like reading the heck out of her mum's journal) because NOBODY WANTED TO ANSWER HER DAMN QUESTIONS. like if matthew had done that, 80% would be condensed into 5% (but then i guess where's the fun in that right...)
also, ms thang fell like 5 fking times thru out the book WHY WTF. WHY WAS THAT NECESSARY??? LIKE WHY IS SHE SO CLUMSY, one moment the book is like oh she is lithe, agile, quick on her feet and silent as the night, then the next minute she catches her fking toe on the carpet and goes down face first like????? we can't have that much duality man. and like honestly 3/5 times when she fell, it literally doesn't add anything to the story cuz she gets up anyway (or a ghoul helps her).
another thing is this mr death sir himself, IDK THERE WAS JUST SOOOOOOO MUCH MISSING ABT THIS PART OF GALLANT. like why is he here, what is his purpose, why is it only the priors, how did he even come here and like what does he even do all day?? idk it all just felt v iffy and half-assed ): definitely not like her usual work.
this book had so much potential and the only thing that saved it from 2 stars is her writing that i always enjoy a lot.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced