Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Gallant by V.E. Schwab

164 reviews

japanasi's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

the first half was super slow, there’s a bunch of flashbacks, and then the ending was super rushed. the story was intriguing, the setting eerie but not too scary! the drawings and diary entries added a nice extra touch. I liked the writing for the most part, too; but I wish the characters had been fleshed out more. 

still this was a good read and if the ending hadn’t been as abrupt, I’d have given it an even better rating.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Death, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, and Suicide

casmith512's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Body horror

Minor: Suicide

saurahsaurus's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

My favorite horror stories are both sad and spooky. This is an amazing marriage of both. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Blood, and Death of parent

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Confinement, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Gore, and Pregnancy

Minor: Ableism, Alcohol, and Medical content

queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

4 ⭐ CW: self-harm, suicide, descriptions of blood, murder 

Gallant is a YA standalone novel by V.E. Schwab. This was the perfect atmospheric read for spooky season! We get ghouls, a haunted house/haunted garden, and blood magic. This was sort of like if you mashed The Secret Garden with the upsidedown in Stranger Things. 

We follow Olivia Prior, a mute girl who is an orphan at a school for girls that has never felt like home. She also sees ghouls everywhere. As she is about to age out of the school, she receives a letter apparently from her uncle that invites her to come live at his estate called Gallant. Olivia sees this as an opportunity to finally have a family. 

When she gets to Gallant, it becomes quite clear that her uncle was not the one to send that letter, and she is far from welcome. Her cousin, Matthew, demands she leave. Olivia has her mother's journal that is full of mad ramblings and drawings that don't make much sense, but she holds onto it for comfort anyway. The. She realizes there is more to the garden than just a wall. 

Not a ton happens in this book. It's slow paced and doesn't have much action, but the spooky vibes are immaculate. It was fascinating to see the world through Olivia since she can't talk. I'm pretty sure Olivia is ace based on how she talks about kissing someone. Matthew is dyslexic and sickly through the majority of the book. We get good character growth out of him. The other side of the garden wall is creepy af! I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll leave it at that. 

I do wish Schwab had given us more about Hannah and Edgar as well as the being on the other side of the garden wall. I wanted to see more from Olivia when she was over there. I absolutely loved the journal entries and drawings from Grace's journal throughout the book. Over all, this was a good read. Schwab hasn't steered me wrong yet. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Murder

Moderate: Self harm and Blood

mangoseaquest's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Death and Death of parent

apersonfromflorida's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, and Suicide

quirkyaquarian's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Death, and Child death

shannnne_reads_words's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Blood, Abandonment, Child death, and Suicide

penofpossibilities's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5

Yeah I fuck with this. Super predictable though but idm 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Blood, and Ableism

Moderate: Death of parent, Child death, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Suicide and Eating disorder

thevioletfoxbookshop's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Atmospheric, eerie, and lush, Gallant is the perfect spooky read for Fall. 

As we watch the leaves fall and the days get cooler, we know that Fall is a time when the life-bursting summer months will be sucked into a more gray and lifeless world. But for many of us, that's not a bad thing. We appreciate each season and know that all things happen in cycles and balance each other out. Such is the world built in Gallant. 

Olivia Prior has grown up in a dismal orphanage, unable to speak, and feeling very alone in the world. Like the ghouls who haunt the orphanage, Olivia feels both invisible and unwanted. She clings to the one piece of hope she has left - her mother's old journal. But with hope also comes uncertainty...because her mother's journal is full or darkness and madness. It's one warning to Oliva - do not go to Gallant.

Everything casts a shadow and every shadow has a source. One cannot exist without the other. In between our world and the shadow world is a wall. On one side, life - a family, a garden full of roses, and a home. On the other - death, darkness, and decay. While Gallant is certainly a dark read, I think it's about balance. Light and dark, being alone and being loved,  taking the good with the bad.

Did I mention there are illustrations? Deep inky illustrations by Manuel Sumberac bring the mysterious world of Gallant to life and pull you in.

Gallant is a whole vibe and Olivia Prior will definitely be with me for a long time to come. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Abandonment, Child death, Death of parent, Death, and Grief

Minor: Suicide