A review by ferdireads
Gallant by V.E. Schwab

5.0

this was my first time reading a V.E. Schwabb book and i enjoyed every single second of it. throughout reading it, i felt like i was watching a mix between the laika movies "coraline" and "paranorman", like a perfect mix of both. (the plot did take a while to unfold, though. it started off slowly, until it finally picked up pace during the third part of the book).

olivia was such an interesting character, and i think schwabb did a great job writing/portraying a mute character, especially one such as olivia. despite not being able to speak, she isn't silent, always trying to be as loud as possible and putting noise out into the world. she's stubborn and knows how to hold her ground, not taking "no" for an answer.

seeing her clash with her cousin, matthew, was kind of funny, and it was heartwarming seeing how the two eventually warm up to each other to the point of considering each other family despite everything that's happened before.

i really wish this book would've had a better ending, though. i was so upset by the last chapter, and the epilogue was just adding salt to the wound. i still loved it, but i didn't love crying by the end of the book