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Reviews tagging 'Death'

Gallant by V.E. Schwab

317 reviews

panic_at_the_bookshelf's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

5.0

I am not sure where to start with this review. From the very first page my interest was caught. There was something in or about this story that I haven't seen before. Somehow the ending was both expected and unexpected. I don't even know how to explain. V.E. Scwab has stunned me with world where life and death seem to fight against one another while also walking hand in hand. 

I also want to emphasise how beautiful the drawings in this book are. Just like Olivia I found myself looking at them many times trying to figure their meaning or simply enjoying the mystery it held.

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bauerrose's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious 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

2.5


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readwithsophsx's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated

4.0


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a_alves00's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0


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yrlaevelyn's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

2.5


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shadowspinner's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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letha_anderson's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.0

 It was a good story, and it was told well. I would have enjoyed it more if the characters had been more complex.  Some additional notes.  The time period is very vague.  The main character arrives at the fancy mansion in a car, but whenever it gets dark, they navigate the darkness by candlelight.  Why is there no electricity or at least lanterns?  Additionally, the author likes to use obscure words repeatedly.  She used the words gutter, gutters, and guttering as it relates to candles, the word copse three times, and she uses the word pauldron five times.  To use an obscure word once, as the author does with the word limns would have been fine, but using the same obscure word more than once is distracting. 

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hannaws's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

 When people see tears, they stop listening to your hands or your words or anything else you have to say. And it doesn't matter if the tears are angry or sad, frightened or frustrated. All they see is a girl crying.

My review side of my brains are so rusty that I have no idea what I'm supposed to do here now. I have not written a review since last April or something. This might be all over the place but if you're reading this for some reason, bear with me!

In all honesty, I grabbed Gallant from our library just because of the cover. I had no idea what I was getting into, I was just drawn to the beautiful cover. I've read some of her books before, so I had a vague idea of what it was going to be like.

I'd like to say that Gallant is a book about found family. Olivia is in an orphanage, kind of, when she receives a letter from a family member, asking her to come home. How she has been looked for and hoped to come back. But at the same time, her mother has written into her journal something that she should take into consideration.
Family is not always easy and neither is the road for Olivia either. She is in for a crazy ride which she did not expect to be facing once going back home. Or is it home?

I do like the characters in this book. It is especially nice to read a fantasy book with a brave main character whom is disabled. You don't get many books with characters with disabilities, you know. And especially the fact that she cannot speak. Yet she still has to make her way in a world where very few are able to understand her signing.
Yet, I still was hoping for a little bit more from the characters. For me all the character building seemed a bit shallow. I'd say this is a book that is more plot driven.
There is still some character growth happening throughout the story. Especially Matthew. He really grows into something completely different. Though sadly his development is a little short lived.

The story in itself is okay. A family with powers to see ghosts, ghouls, whatever you want to call them. And with a task to keep something out of this world in it's place. I would have liked some more information about all of this. You know, where, who, why, what? I've got a lot of questions about everything but very little answers.
But it is a medium paced book with some twists and turns that are somewhat foreseeable since the beginning. Gallant definitely has it's moments when you just can't put the book down. You got to read forward to see how it ends. But it does also has the moments when I was just wanting to put the book down and leave it there.

All in all I am glad I did end up finishing the book. It is a nice quick read for someone who graves for a little bit of fantasy but doesn't want to read a book with 700 pages. 

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archer_w27's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

i'm honestly not sure what i was expecting from this book, as i have never read v.e. schwab's work, but it was really good. the writing was really nice and easy to read. When going into this book i would be careful, spirits and death is the whole plot of the book. if you are someone that gets easily paranoid i would suggest reading this during the day or when you are around people. it's not scary, but as someone who gets easily paranoid, the mentions of ghosts and death himself spooked me a little. i would definitely recommend!

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scrubsandbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Schwab's atmosphere and settings in books are always to die for, that is all.

Representation: MC is mute

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