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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
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:
Yes
3.5 stars rounded up. When I heard this was a retelling of The Secret Garden I was sold. Seeing as how that is my all time favorite books I had high expectations. I would say overall it was met but fell a bit flat. The beginning was very strong and I was very interested to see what would happen. However the rest of the book was not nearly as strong. We follow orphan Olivia who has an unhappy life at the orphanage. She has learned how to survive among the viciousness of others by becoming one of the most horrid girls there. One day she is sent to Live with her uncle at his vast estate called Gallent. However once she arrives it becomes evident that no one knows why she is there and her uncle could not have written the letter requesting her arrival. Olivia must come to terms with who she is and also discover the mysterious nature of the estate that she is at.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I love VE Schwab, but this one is a dud. It was slow paced and too much back story building. Too gloomy and fell flat for me. Don't let this stop you from reading any of her other books, they are all great.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
This was absolutely lovely. It was beautifully written and I found myself rooting for Olivia from the very beginning. I absolutely wasn’t expecting the ink blots in the journal to be entries from her father. The idea of a mirror reality, of Death, and of the ash world was wonderful. Not all stories are happy endings and I was pleased that I didn’t necessarily find one.
V. E. Schwab’s writing continues to leave me in awe! An absorbing story, Gallant will haunt my memories for years to come. “The Story Girl” by L.M. Montgomery had to be Schwab’s foreshadowing, because Victoria is a masterful story weaver. While she claims that each story is mean to be different and impact different readers, all of her works share a commonality: I think each book I read if my new favorite until I read the next one!
dark
mysterious
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