this was really good!! 
super interesting and had me hooked from the very beginning. it got me to read during the summer which is a huge accomplishment. 
v. e. schwab as usually knocks it out of the park with the characterization, writing and world building. 
having a non-speaking protagonist i think was done perfectly in this book, it was just frustrating enough to absolutely relate to olivia’s frustration at being ignored and misunderstood but not so much that it felt like a random thing just added to complicate the plot (especially when she isn’t really coded as autistic). it felt like an actual part of the character rather than a flaw or a complication, and i loved that she didn’t get “fixed” at the end. 
read all in one day (a double win for the summer reading slump)
also reminded me a lot of the spirit bares its teeth especially at the beginning

Thought this book was creative and interesting. I was really hooked by the author's style of writing.

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. 

 Thank you to Titan Books and Netgalley for the review copy in exchange for an honest review. This does not change my opinion in anyway. 

Over the years I've become a bit hesitant with Schwabs work. I tend to love her ideas but do not always enjoy the characters and the execution. So I was hesitant going into this book.

Gallant is a bit of a different work as it felt like a short story. It started as a typical story of an orphan in an orphanage who is different from the others and gets bullied. But Olivia can see ghosts and is mute. The diary she has of her mother is the third thing that caught my actual interest. It creates a bit of a mystery of what is going on. Why can she see ghosts and why is her mother's diary so jambled.

We move into a more interesting setting when a letter comes her way and she is send to her family. A big mansion and a garden. The idea of this legacy of her family and what they have to sacrifice for that really grabbed me. They are the kind of stories that I like to hear about.

The addition of the plants, the door, the secrets and the otherworld. It created something that I wanted to dive into. Deeper and deeper. There were the little things too. How Olivia felt when someone knew sign language and she could finally speak with someone. How heart breaking it was to see her nephew try to send her away. Those little bits I loved.

I feel like I would have liked to have gotten a bit more time with these characters in the mansion. Like her nephew. There was so much more to him than we really got. Of the two side characters too. It almost felt more like an introduction to a grander story of Olivia.