Coraline has always been the book I read to my students in the fall. However, next fall, I am absolutely convinced I am going to give this book a try in the classroom. Everything I and my students love about Gothic stories is here, and I think my students would relish in the opportunity to explore such a supremely crafted world. I loved it so much that I finished the book in one sitting, if that says anything at all!

V. S. Schwab's Gallant is an engrossing, dark tale that takes the reader to a journey to the other side. The novel introduces us to Olivia as she tries to fit in and find a family. She soon discovers dark family secrets that make her reexamine how she sees herself.

This was an enjoyable novel that I would recommend to my students.

Thank you for the advanced copy,

The writing is beautiful and magical let's get that straight.
Writing aside let's be honest, I had a lot of unanswered questions at the end of finishing this and my understanding is that this is a standalone so idk if my questions will never be answered or if the final copies will have more info regarding my questions I'm just....unsatisfied.

Ok, I get that the master of the house is supposed to be like the embodiment of death but my question is why is he doing the things? Just for the sake of being death? Or is there a bigger reason that I didn't get or understand.
Also, why this family? Is there a specific reason or just bad luck that they chose the house?
I'd like more backstory on hannah and Edgar and how they got involved.
Probably just more backstory overall. Finally, I'd like more information on the ending, maybe an epilogue so as to explain if the wall ever breaks or if Olivia's children carry on the tasks.

The characters were great, the setting magical, the prose beautiful and the plot while I did have questions, it held through to keep me entertained and gripped.

Thank you as always to the publisher for the advanced copy!

Spooky and eerie, readers will be drawn to Schwab’s newest book. Olivia Prior was abandoned by her mother at a home for girls when she was a very young child. Now in her later teens, she is invited to go to the family home called Gallant. But she’s not welcomed by the only living relative who lives there. Matthew, her cousin, is angry at her arrival and wants her gone.

Is it that he won’t share the family legacy or is there something else going on? When mysterious things start happening, Olivia is drawn to the property’s secrets. There are ghosts and a mysterious wall that beckon.

Schwab is masterful at creating a world with alternate realities. She transports readers with her tale of impending doom. This book will add to her standing as a gifted writer of paranormal entities and passageways between the real and the spirit world.

<i>Gallant</i> is Victoria Schwab's latest young adult book. The story centers on Olivia, a young mute orphan at a school that trains girls to be servants in well-to-do houses. Olivia's misery is the school is shortlived when she receives a letter from a long-lost uncle who invites her to come to the family home called Gallant. However, when Olivia arrives no one is expecting her and the uncle who sent the letter has been dead for years.

This is a delightfully spooky book for young adults. It would be a great intro for preteens who want to venture into horror but aren't quite ready for really scary books. Like Schwab's other books, she really creates an encompassing world for her characters. I read this one over Halloween weekend and it was a real treat.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC of this book.

Another wonderful (but different) ghost story from V.E. Schwab. It was amazing that because Olivia never speaks a word we have a more intimate window into her thoughts, impressions and observations. Olivia's character development was outstanding and we really come to care about her and her feelings of loneliness, desire to belong, and longing to know what happened to her mother.

The story was gripping and at times nail biting. It was full of mystery and secrets that kept me engaged.

My only disappointment is that this is a stand-alone novel, as I wasn't happy at Olivia's fate at the end of the book. I hope the author will consider writing a sequel.

3.5 Stars Rounded Up

Beautiful Cover.

Another beautifully written novel by V. E . Schwab. The story itself reminded me of Coraline meets Secret Garden. While I found Gallant to be enjoyable, I didn't love it and found the ending of the story to be a little pointless. I wanted an expected more from it, especially after The Invisible Life Of Addie Larue.

This is a Schwab book through and through. It's clever, creepy, and bittersweet. I found it so clever that Olivia never said a word, and yet I found myself forgetting that detail entirely.

Such a good read. Spooky and atmospheric. I loved the characters and the family history, and the way everyone came together. Everything about the story was so interesting and the journals/drawings really added to the plot. Very well done.

This has been the first book by this author that I did not enjoy. Generally love everything else by this author.

As I expected, the writing is full of description and color. Schwab makes her settings come to life.. This book reminds me of The Secret Garden, but traveling over the wall is not always a good thing. It is a haunting, well written, rich book. The protagonist grows up in a school for girls. She is invited to come home through a letter, but when she arrives, no one expected her. She knows Gallant, her home, is hiding something. We follow her journey to unlock the secrets. Maybe sometimes locked doors are best left locked.. maybe not.

V.E. Schwab is a masterful storyteller. I love this teaser and cannot wait to put this into students' hands. Wonderful YA fantasy set up, also, beautiful illustrations.

A very spooky and atmospheric, almost gothic tragedy, with very spooky and atmospheric accompanying illustrations. I only wish it was a little less tragic!

This latest offering from V. E. Schwab does not disappoint. Dark, shadowy, and Gothic, the book weaves a web of intrigue that keeps the reader turning the page. Olivia Prior is a heroine to root for, her character strong and relatable. The book discusses the concepts of family, belonging, and the complex circle of life and death. It's slow burn suspense that makes the reader want to venture just a little further into the dark.

Gallant was like a love letter to Shirley Jackson. It reminded me somewhat of We Have Always Lived in the Castle, but with more sound and color. Schwab’s books are always so descriptive; you never have any trouble seeing the story unfold in your mind. And I’ve always loved her dedication to building strong female characters.

I wanted to love this book. There may be an argument to be made that I am not the target audience for this novel, and so maybe it was always going to fall short because of that, but there are so many YA and middle grade novels that I do truly love so it may be the story itself.
Schwab's writing is, as always, a delight to read. Her turn of phrase makes even the darkest things feel alluring and knows how to spin melancholy things into something rich and almost tantalizing. But the plot feels underdeveloped leaving a lot of questions and an ending that kind of makes you wonder what was the point of the whole thing.
SPOILERS:




Who built the houses the Priors and Death each live in? Is there an entire reverse world besides the alternate house, like the upside down? Why is the seam between shadow and light only an issue at this particular juncture of land? If Death lives behind this gate in the countryside, then what is death in the greater world? Not to get too technical about aspects of a fairytale, but how did an undead being impregnate a woman? I shouldn't be hung up on shadow sperm but I am! And I might have been able to set all of that aside if it didn't feel like it was a story about the futility of fighting death which feels grim for a book at the young end of the YA spectrum- because this does read more like middle grade than YA.

Gallant is one of Schwab's best works yet. Her writing is immersive as always and she painted a vivid picture of Gallant and its secrets. The premise immediately draws the reader in and kept me intrigued as the story went on and I found out more about Olivia's family and her past. I loved Olivia Prior as the main character and I think Schwab did a great job of exploring her non-verbal communication skills. I really enjoyed the mixed media elements of this book and I thought the art was a great addition to the story. I also loved how open to interpretation the art was and that each time the images repeated throughout the story I would notice something new. This book has a very spooky vibe and it is something I would recommend to my students around Fall.

Victoria Schwab has done it again with a haunting tale of ghouls, death, and at times most terrifying of all, family. When Olivia is rescued from an orphanage by her long-lost, mansion-dwelling family, not all is quite what it seems. The house, she comes to find, is haunted in more ways than one, but she will do anything to preserve the first home she could ever remember. Olivia's strength in the face of terror goes to show how intrinsic to human nature it is to wish to be loved and to have a cause worth fighting for. It's a terrific read for anyone who wants something frightening without being kept up at night or someone who wants to read about a strange land where family is more important than anything else: including life itself.

A book about life, death, family and what makes a house a home and I was hooked from page 1. There are two Gallants, neither of which Olivia knows anything about until a mysterious letter arrives at the orphanage where she has lived her who life. Olivia is never speaks the whole book but her voice, her determination and her will speak loudly enough that even Death hears her. Equal parts ghost story, fantasy and heartwarming tale, Victoria Schwab has done it again with her engrossing settings and fantastic characters. Read this book and spend time in her world!

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of Gallant.

"You will be safe as long as you stay away from Gallant."

One line, one warning, in her mother's journal, which means, of course, Olivia Prior, outcast orphan, heads to Gallant at her first opportunity, Who can blame her? Left on the steps of Merilance as a toddler, she has one thing from her past- her mother's journal, full of mysterious words and drawings. When a letter arrives from an unknown uncle, beckoning her home, she has no choice but to go.

Gallant. In which we meet her cousin Matthew, tormented by dreams, Hannah and Edgar, caretakers of the home, and we slowly learn the history of the Priors and Gallant, the curse that binds them.

I love when authors create a place that is a character in itself, and Gallant certainly is that. Full of ghosts and oddities, locked up at dark, the spooky atmosphere that Schwab creates is wonderful.

I absolutely love Victoria Schwab and will happily devour any of her fabulous creations, and while I enjoyed Gallant, I felt like the last fourth of the book was maybe slightly rushed? I wanted more . . . something. I felt the ending was 100% perfect, I just wish we'd gotten a bit more in the moments before that.