Gallant by V. E. Schwab

Reviewed by Sam!

What I drank prior: i ddn’t intend for this to happen but somehow i drank a bottle and a half of wine. I’m gonna use this time to try and describe the premise of this book

Goodreads Overview:

Everything casts a shadow. Even the world we live in. And as with every shadow, there is a place where it must touch. A seam, where the shadow meets its source.

Olivia Prior has grown up in Merilance School for girls, and all she has of her past is her mother’s journal—which seems to unravel into madness. Then, a letter invites Olivia to come home—to Gallant. Yet when Olivia arrives, no one is expecting her. But Olivia is not about to leave the first place that feels like home, it doesn’t matter if her cousin Matthew is hostile or if she sees half-formed ghouls haunting the hallways.

Olivia knows that Gallant is hiding secrets, and she is determined to uncover them. When she crosses a ruined wall at just the right moment, Olivia finds herself in a place that is Gallant—but not. The manor is crumbling, the ghouls are solid, and a mysterious figure rules over all. Now Olivia sees what has unraveled generations of her family, and where her father may have come from.

Olivia has always wanted to belong somewhere, but will she take her place as a Prior, protecting our world against the Master of the House? Or will she take her place beside him?

Drunk Overview: ok so there’s this chick (that i can’t remember her name) who was an orphan who found out she had a family.. also this babe is mute. When she gets to the family she finds out that it’s not so great that she’s a part of it. She can see the dead and they’re calling to her through the scary door in the garden. Babe just wants to figure out what’s up while her cousin is against her

Spoiler-free Thoughts: this book… idk this book was just… fine. Like i don’t think I’m going to go into my normal because i really don’t have much to say about this.

• So the main character in this book is an orphan who’s just… found by a crazy uncle. She can see the undead, and no one else can, which is fine. She’s also mute. So there’s not. Much dialogue in this. Again, fine, but there’s not much communication between her and the other characters and for her to be the main POV that makes this difficult.
• Now I’m sure this is normally difficult for folk who are mute, but to me it seems like there should have been at least one person she could talk to. Even nonverbally.
• Anywho, she goes to her uncle’s place only to find him dead and that her cousin is there and he hates her? For like no reason. Like he just… sucks. And doesn’t get any better ever.
• The premise of “protectors” of this estate that binds two worlds together would be super interesting if it wasn’t a. Not well described, or b. Boring AS HELL.
• Just… it doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. I guess the author wanted it to ~mean something~ but it wasn’t even close to clear.
• VE Schwab’s books are going down hill for me. It’s upsetting because I really liked the first book I read of hers, but nothing since then.
• I guess if you like dark books just for the sake of darkness this book could be for you? It wasn’t for me.

What to pair it with: terrible, crock pot mulled wone that’s far too tart to be good.

Rating: 1/5

Until next time, we remain forever drunkenly yours,
Sam