phedre 's review for:

Gallant by V.E. Schwab

3.0

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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So I enjoyed this book until the end.  Mainly that Matthew died.  And that it didn't need to happen.  There was no reason Olivia had to go beyond the wall.  Death wasn't getting out.  There was no danger.  There was no one to save.  If there had been, then I could see Matthew dying as a sacrifice and I would have been "ok" with it.  But this whole thing could have been avoided and everyone would be alive.  If only they told her what was going on, what was behind the wall and what was at stake, everyone would be alive.  The FMC being mute, and the three people in the house deliberately not looking at her so they didn't need to talk to her, was awful.  I don't think any of them were great people.

The plus is that I really enjoyed the story overall.  It was gothic, eerie, there were ghouls.  I loved the diary piece and how that added to the story.  I listened to this while reading the book, and the narration was done really well.  There were illustrations in the book, so I suggest a tandem read.