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Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Gallant by V.E. Schwab

56 reviews

poisonenvy's review against another edition

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

3.75

Gallant follows Olivia Prior, a young nonverbal girl who's grown up all her life in an orphanage. Among the abusive Mothers and the bullying children, she's never felt like she's found a place where she belongs. All she has is her mother's journal and the ghouls that only she can she -- the ghosts of people who'd once lived and died there.  

And then, one day, she recieves a letter from her family, calling her back to her family home where she belongs, and where she's wanted. But when she gets there, it's not what she expects. 



This story was very enjoyable. It was an easy read with beautiful prose. I can't say that the story was especially deep -- it sometimes feels more like dressings than a fully realized story -- and the ending was anticlimactic, but I still very much enjoyed myself throughout the entire story.

As an aside, the book itself is beautifully out together too. I had the Illumicrate special edition, which is to be expected for some of the extra flourishes -- the journal pages were designed to look like journal pages and the section dividers were lovely -- but even the regular editions that my friends read had beautiful ink drawings and certain pages were white text on a black background which I thought was an especially nice touch. I'm a big fan of when books put forth just that little bit of extra effort to make their books something special. 
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katvou's review against another edition

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

4.5

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abbyschalupa'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

Felt very flat, while the premise is enticing the writing and plot heavy story with lack of character development made it feel on the young end of YA. I can understand some people thinking it could be shelved as middle grade- I just don’t think the addition of suicide was necessary for the story but besides that the writing felt incredibly simplistic and juvenile. The atmosphere could be fun but a large portion of the book was slow until the end. I was left disappointed after the climax and wanting more of a resolution. Glad to cross it off the tbr, though I won’t be revisiting this one. 
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vagrantheather's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Gorgeous, atmospheric writing that soothed my brain to read. I don't mind lingering in it, but some may find that the plot moves too slowly for their liking. It's a good spooky book for middle grade readers. 

I see lots of people complain that there is not much plot. I don't know that I can agree - the plot is about an orphan finding a home. There isn't a lot of ACTION but that's different.
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keya_caivalur's review

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

5.0

A beautifully written haunting story.
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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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kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

A hauntingly beautiful story of redemption, belonging, and the love of family. This book was very different from Addie Larue, but the storytelling is just as rich and luxurious and the images painted by the author come to life as you read. 
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skylar_cr_wolf's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0



"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 also applies to Gallant. This house is filled with shadows and Olivia might have not known at the beginning what the shadows mean. But she does now. And I think, she will forever know now what hides behind the shadows you sometimes can’t see.

“It realized that it was living in the shadow of the world. And it wanted out."

It — The thing hiding in the shadows, in every whisper if you listen to closely. The secret Gallant tries to hide.
Something I can say for sure is that those secrets kept me intrigued in this story filled with shadows and whispers, about someone who doesn’t have a voice you can hear but you have to keep your eyes close onto them to see them talk. Olivia is an interesting protagonist. I think V. E. Schwab shows very well in Gallant how someone who is mute isn’t necessarily quiet when you pay attention. When you really dare to look closer. (And people rarely look closer.) 
The only solid reason why reading Gallant took me this long is because my daily life kept interrupting me.  

It’s a good read. My only wish was a bit more bonding between the characters. Just a tiny sprinkle more. Otherwise I can’t complain because the story is great in its own way.
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catesaav's review against another edition

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

3.75

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marareading's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense 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? Yes

4.75

Alright, I get it. I finally understand why everyone was falling over themselves to get to this book. It's great. An orphan who sees ghouls, and finds her way to Gallant. An estate with a sorted history. She is mute and the adventure that is coming, so one could prepare her for. 

It is beautiful, Gothic, mysterious, and atmospheric. I devoured this book and will probably do it again. Highly recommend. 
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