The atmosphere of this book is phenomenally done. There are so many moments I would like to quote here, but in short this is a dark and truly haunting book with a good plot driving it and a plethora of horrific truths behind it. 

I fell that this is another one from V. E. S. that I will be thinking about for a while. 

Very atmospheric book, and not sure about the ending, but I like the characters and I love the different forms of communication (and barriers to communication) used throughout.

This was beautifully written and I LOVE the concept and characters. Such a cool idea, and I want to wrap Olivia and Matthew in the coziest blankets. The parallel world concept is creepy af and really well done.

The only reason I rated this how I did it that for me is that it just doesn't feel... done. And that may be that I'm just too much of a Happy Ending person to really enjoy this one to its fullest. I don't mind bittersweet, and I don't mind some open endings. But so little felt resolved here, and it just broke my heart. 

Dark and brilliantly atmospheric and like a nightmare wrapped in a dream.

This was one of my most-anticipated releases of 2022 and unsurprisingly, it did not disappoint.

V.E. Schwab does it again, friends. I mean, she opens it with the most beautiful dedication:
"To those who go looking for doors, are brave enough to open the ones they find, and sometimes bold enough to make their own."
And like, I feel as though when you start off that strong, there's no way that the book is about to go downhill.

I'm not a horror fan. I need to preface this review with that because this book falls in the horror genre. I can't handle horror. In fact, I sometimes avoid even reading horror synopses or looking at their covers. That being said, this book did not frighten me, so, if you find yourself worrying about reading it, I say to at least give it a try. It's more... subtly spooky and hauntingly beautiful. So beautiful, in fact, that you'll find quotes peppered throughout this review just because I loved them so much. Like this one:
I am so happy. I am so scared. The two, it turns out, can walk together, hand in hand.

The characters were so intricately written. I felt as though I knew them personally. I also felt as though I had walked the halls of Gallant (both of them...) because of how wonderful the descriptions were. They weren't annoyingly extensive or ostentatious. Instead, they made me feel like I was seeing life through the eyes of Olivia Prior and walking right alongside her through every comforting and frightening moment.
“Everything casts a shadow,” he begins. “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.”

This book isn't happy. It isn't filled with brightness and sunshine, but that's what makes it so grand. Keep your eyes open as you go into it, knowing that you'll be left with questions, you may even shed a tear or two, but you will also walk away with hope.
But the truth is, death is everywhere. Death comes for the roses and the apples, it comes for the mice and the birds. It comes for us all. Why should death stop us from living?
This is probably my favorite quote in the entire book. Slight fatalist mentality with a splash of looking on the bright side.

I truly can't imagine never getting a sequel to this book. I realize it's a stand-alone, I do. But, there's just something about it that makes me crave so much more. I don't know if we'll ever get it - and I will be okay if that's the case - but I just couldn't put it down once I started it and I already want to read it again. I'm getting emotional just thinking about it! If you pick up little else this year, please at least read Gallant. You will not regret it in the slightest! It's quick-paced (I could've read it in an afternoon had I the time to do so) and just plain stunning.

I constantly thought the narrator was actually Neil Gaiman and that is the highest order of compliment I can bestow to a male narrator.

Rep: white asexual(?) mute cis female MC, white side characters.

CWs: Death, death of parent, blood, grief, animal death, abandonment, bullying, ableism, child death, suicide, gore, self harm, suicidal thoughts, violence, kidnapping, murder. Moderate: injury/injury detail, mental illness, body horror. Minor: alcoholism. 

Damn the end of this book was heart wrenching.
I almost wish it was longer to flesh out certain relationships and certain rules of the world. In saying this, it was so fast paced every mystery and cliff hanger was so perfectly placed, as were the different story reveals. I absolutely blazed through this book - caught between savouring it and ripping through to see what happened next - and I just loved all the little twists and turns it took.

Highly recommend for a weekend read if you're looking for something fast paced and easy to read, with an awesome amount of creepy and mystery .