Reviews

Gallant by V.E. Schwab

lindsayberish's review against another edition

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

5.0

yas_sezer's review against another edition

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3.0

3/5

this story is unlike anything i read before. at the start i actually really liked the boarding school setting and i think i want to read more books in that setting.

when she got to gallant, i don’t really know what i was expecting. hannah, edgar, and matthew were decent characters, but whether it’s from the perspective of the book, the length, or just the story, i didn’t connect with any of them. they just felt like names in a book. i didn’t feel the burning warmth of found family at all.

the concept was really good, even though i felt like it was lacking something. i don’t know what exactly but it just fell a little flat.

FOR ME TO REMEMBER: beyond the wall is the shadow version of gallant and the wall is the part where shadow and the real world intersect. death beyond the wall wants to come through to suck the life out of everything pretty much, and he gives parts of himself to create the death-like forms and shadows. olivia’s dad was one of the shadows death created and her mum had destroyed the tooth that death gave, which obviously triggered death. death feels as though olivia belongs to him, and she believes she belongs to gallant with the priors.

the history of gallant already being there and the priors just being drawn to it and suddenly being sucked into this world felt a bit bleh to me. i wish there was more.

regardless it was a decent read, interesting concept with a lot of potential. found it interesting that olivia couldn’t speak the whole time, but i suppose it makes sense since her dad is shadow. i liked the little bits of the shadow world trying to creep into the real world with the weeds and stuff, but again it just kinda fell flat.

the_sara_g's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

apple0loving0shinigami's review against another edition

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4.0

Enchanting, and full of promise — that was my first impression when I finished the first part of Gallant.

Then things started to be repetitive. I understand that this book is meant for younger audiences, but the amount of times the author had to over explain things that she once explained was astonishing.
Oftentimes I felt like I was rereading the same things over and over again.

The story was full of potential, an air mystery loomed over from the very beginning. But as things started to unravel, I was a bit underwhelmed. Gallant is by no means a "new" story. Rather, I enjoyed reading V.E.'s take on this kind of a plot.

This may have easily been one of Neil Gaiman's novels, If you ask me. Everything that makes Neil's writing special is neatly packed between V.E.'s pages. I've only read three of V.E.'s book and Gallant is my fourth one, and I find each and every one to be different. I like how diverse she is in terms of topics/themes/plots.

Speaking of diversity, Gallant has a MC who doesn't speak and can only use sign language to communicate with others. So yay for inclusivity! I haven't read any other book with such an interesting protagonist who was also differently-abled.

Yes, when it comes to fleshing out characters, Gallant has very well flashed out protagonist and some of the side characters aren't bad either. They are not, however, well-explored, but they are fine, nonetheless.

With that being said, I can conclude that If Gallant ever becomes an animated movie, I'll be scared as heck to watch it. Coraline scared me when I was young and it still freaks me out, but Gallant would be so much creepier.

Rating: 3.75/5 ⭐

kellycoburn37's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? No

5.0

noxedout's review against another edition

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dark mysterious

4.5

lyssaczernek's review against another edition

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3.0

Galant had a slow start and spent a little too much time setting up the story. Things really picked up around 60% and my attention was grabbed. However, because things started to get interesting so late into the story, I felt like the ending was rushed. I wasn’t as satisfied as I usually am by Schwab’s writing. I wanted more drama, more chaos, just more overall. Still a solid read, just not amazing like her other books!

evarey's review against another edition

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2.0

I found it boring and I was not interested in reading the book. I finished it because it was relatively short, but there was nothing that made me curious about the plot or the characters or the end of the book, so, yeah.

finglishknits's review against another edition

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4.0

Will I ever read a V.E. Schwab book I do not like? Don’t think so. Loved everything about this.

aenora's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75