Review: Gallant by V. E. Schwab

I have wanted to read this book for ages now, and finally managed to do so. And oh, it was worth it. This book was stunning. Writing was great and the story was incredible. Giving this one four stars, as I had a few very small issues with it. But I also loved this book and I'm glad that I read it.

This is a story about a girl named Olivia. I think she was around fourteen years old. It is never said. But it seemed like that was the age. I loved that this book was between middle grade and young adult, in a way. As I so adored this main girl. She was special and I loved getting to know her.

Olivia is an orphan and had been at this school or home for orphan girls since she was a baby. We get to know a little about this place. And I did not like it. Some of the girls had been cruel to her. And almost everyone ignored her. I did not approve. Because Olivia was adorable. The girls were sort of afraid of her. As she could not speak. I so loved that part of her. It also made her even more interesting to read about, as she found other ways of communicating. Though the girls at her school did not want to help her with that, which was a little heartbreaking. Olivia just wants a family, a place to belong. A home. All she knows about her parents are from a journal she has from her mom. Loved getting to know the inside of it.

This story really begins when Olivia gets a letter from an uncle she did not know she had, telling her to come home to Gallant, to her family. She gets to leave right away. But it's not as she thought, her uncle has been dead for a year. And her cousin did not send her the letter. Neither did the two people taking care of the house. And oh, I really liked this story. I liked getting to know this place. I liked learning more about it all. I liked how Gallant had two places, one in our world. Another behind the gate, more darker.

Mostly I just adored reading about Olivia. I liked her getting to know her real home, learning more about her dead mother and her family. But the things I did not love about this book, why it is a four star, is that it felt too little. It was short and easy to read. Maybe too short. I felt like there should have been much more. There should have been more people. Maybe a romance, ha. But more family at least. And that ending. Hmph. Was a bit bittersweet, because nothing truly ended. It was too abrupt. I wanted and needed more.

I shall not say much more about this story. There were ghosts, of a sort. Ghouls. I so enjoyed reading about them and getting to know more about them. But, again, should have been a longer book with even more details about everything. But I did like it so much. I loved the story about Olivia's parents. But I kept wondering about why she could not speak, and if it was because of her dad. And I kept waiting for it to be fixed. But then it ended. I still feel like that was missing, like there needs to be a sequel. Maybe one day.

But anyway. Gallant was an excellent book. It was exciting and amazing. I so loved reading about Olivia. She was adorable. There was not really much going on in this story, as we are mostly just inside Olivia's head. It is about Gallant. Almost all of it takes place in this house. But I also liked that, that it wasn't a too complicated book. But still wanted a little more. But even so. This book was stunning and I'm happy that I finally read it. I think you should read this book too. Oh. And there are gorgeous illustrations in it as well.

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