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thepaperbackplace's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-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? It's complicated
4.0
ja_tha's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
katyab's review against another edition
3.0
Eerie, diverting, compelling, and atmospheric. And I always appreciate a book a little bit more when it gets me out of a slump (particularly a post-disappointing-book kind of slump)...
Gallant certainly had a Guillermo del Toro feeling about it: a non-specific period setting, gothic vibes, unsettling shadows, cinematic descriptions, and a supernatural mystery. It does feel more YA than the other Schwab books I've read, which is a good thing for reaching a wider readership, although it does deal with some very dark themes and imagery. It's an unusual and difficult-to-categorise book, which I like, because it draws focus to the story and the characters. The tropes are still there, but they don't define it.
I really liked how we're put into Olivia's mind: her frustration at her lack of voice, both physically and socially, her desire for getting more out of life, and finding the truth. She's a capable and compelling protagonist, and her voice in the narrative was very strong and easy to slip into.
Gallant, as a setting, was very classically haunting: old mansion, deep and dark corridors, empty spaces on the walls, locked doors, thorny gardens, wrought-iron gates. I thought of Jane Eyre alone at night in Thornfield hall...
The ghouls are unsettling at first, and while we do acclimatise to them through Olivia's eyes, there are some quite enjoyably scary moments. The way they're described is strange and eerie, but something in my little writer-brain found it beautiful: an eye here, a limb there, a strip of clothing... just fragments of a lost life, really capturing that corner-of-your-eye feeling.
The characters themselves were good, in a way that they were "enough" for the story to do what it needed to. They were complex in a simple way; the villain was simply and self-indulgently evil, which I found a little boring, but an antagonist was needed. I found some plotlines a little tacked-on, and there was a sense that the story wasn't always sure of its direction, but it felt more organic than clumsy to me. I'm not sure I found the resolution wholly satisfying, and I was left with questions about worldbuilding, and a few "but why?" moments. There's also a relatively small gripe I have with Schwab's writing style in that it seems obsessively self-aware, in that every chapter starts with a Memorable Opening Line. There are more of these Memorable Lines throughout the book. They might ground people in the next scene, or engage them in the moment, but for me, I found those lines drew attention to themselves and distracted me, as if they were trying to make themselves so obviously quotable.
It was a good read – I don't know why, but I want to describe it as a "chocolate-box" kind of book; it's got all the familiar flavours, it's enjoyable and addictive, and it's uncomplicated. So it was excellent for getting my knackered brain out of a reading rut!
Gallant certainly had a Guillermo del Toro feeling about it: a non-specific period setting, gothic vibes, unsettling shadows, cinematic descriptions, and a supernatural mystery. It does feel more YA than the other Schwab books I've read, which is a good thing for reaching a wider readership, although it does deal with some very dark themes and imagery. It's an unusual and difficult-to-categorise book, which I like, because it draws focus to the story and the characters. The tropes are still there, but they don't define it.
I really liked how we're put into Olivia's mind: her frustration at her lack of voice, both physically and socially, her desire for getting more out of life, and finding the truth. She's a capable and compelling protagonist, and her voice in the narrative was very strong and easy to slip into.
Gallant, as a setting, was very classically haunting: old mansion, deep and dark corridors, empty spaces on the walls, locked doors, thorny gardens, wrought-iron gates. I thought of Jane Eyre alone at night in Thornfield hall...
The ghouls are unsettling at first, and while we do acclimatise to them through Olivia's eyes, there are some quite enjoyably scary moments. The way they're described is strange and eerie, but something in my little writer-brain found it beautiful: an eye here, a limb there, a strip of clothing... just fragments of a lost life, really capturing that corner-of-your-eye feeling.
The characters themselves were good, in a way that they were "enough" for the story to do what it needed to. They were complex in a simple way; the villain was simply and self-indulgently evil, which I found a little boring, but an antagonist was needed. I found some plotlines a little tacked-on, and there was a sense that the story wasn't always sure of its direction, but it felt more organic than clumsy to me. I'm not sure I found the resolution wholly satisfying, and I was left with questions about worldbuilding, and a few "but why?" moments. There's also a relatively small gripe I have with Schwab's writing style in that it seems obsessively self-aware, in that every chapter starts with a Memorable Opening Line. There are more of these Memorable Lines throughout the book. They might ground people in the next scene, or engage them in the moment, but for me, I found those lines drew attention to themselves and distracted me, as if they were trying to make themselves so obviously quotable.
It was a good read – I don't know why, but I want to describe it as a "chocolate-box" kind of book; it's got all the familiar flavours, it's enjoyable and addictive, and it's uncomplicated. So it was excellent for getting my knackered brain out of a reading rut!
_aimsreads_'s review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
okevamae's review against another edition
3.0
Olivia lives at Merilance, a girls’ school that is more of a bleak asylum/orphanage than an institution of learning. She never speaks, and she sees ghouls around every corner that no one else seems to see. Her only link to her past is a journal written by her mother, the ramblings of a madwoman who passed away years before. But then Olivia receives an invitation from a long lost relative, inviting her to come and live at a mysterious estate known as Gallant – a place that her mother’s journal has warned her to stay away from.
This is a spooky, gorgeously written YA novel with vibes like The Secret Garden, only way creepier. Something about it failed to hold my attention, though - my mind kept wandering while reading.
The book includes several gorgeous illustrations, which are important to the story, but which are unfortunately not entirely visible when viewed in Adobe Digital Editions, which was how I read the book. This is not the first time this has happened - NetGalley really needs to find a better way of formatting books that are a mix of text and images.
Representation: disabled (mute) character
I received an advance copy of this ebook from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This is a spooky, gorgeously written YA novel with vibes like The Secret Garden, only way creepier. Something about it failed to hold my attention, though - my mind kept wandering while reading.
The book includes several gorgeous illustrations, which are important to the story, but which are unfortunately not entirely visible when viewed in Adobe Digital Editions, which was how I read the book. This is not the first time this has happened - NetGalley really needs to find a better way of formatting books that are a mix of text and images.
Representation: disabled (mute) character
I received an advance copy of this ebook from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
natalieyanka's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
4.5