Gallant is a book I will think about for a long time. The theme of family is probably one of my favorites, and that’s exactly what this book relays. The main character starts out completely alone with no friends or family, and then she meets these strangers who take her in, although with hesitation. Olivia is such a loveable character, and I very much enjoyed that she is a teenager, and I got to watch her discover the world. The writing is simple due to the fact the narrator is a teenager, but that does not mean the writing is bad because Schwab’s writing is utterly amazing and whimsical.

This book is definitely not light-hearted. It is the most unsettling non-horror book I have read. It’s not that is was scary, but it was creepy. I believe this has to do with some of my personal issues surrounding nightmares and how they are described in the book, but the unnerving scenes become more uneasy as the book progresses. If you are not comfortable with ghosts and death, I would recommend not reading this.  V. E. Schwab doesn’t go into gory detail, but the way she expresses scenes is very poetic, and I feel that tugs even harder than blatantly describing death and wounds. 

I would say Gallant is a wonderful story for teenagers and older, especially people who love to read about darker subjects. It was such an emotional book, so grab some tissues if you read this!