Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - Gallant

Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Gallant by V.E. Schwab

106 reviews

ayoung720's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed this book, I felt like it was a great introduction to darker fantasy when I'm more used to "wizard and orc" fantasy. The world building was great, the main character is amazing, the role of her muteness in telling the story is fascinating - I never thought a mute character could say so much through internal thoughts. The setting is beautifully described and I'm sure it's even better for its intended YA audience.

HOWEVER, I have a gripe with the last 15 pages... Essentially everything the main characters do is completely irrelevant? They hatch a rescue plan but then William dies, Olivia nearly dies, Death escapes but then is recaptured, and everything ends the same way it started except now Olivia is in charge of keeping Death locked behind the door instead of William? It just felt incredibly inconclusive. The only "change" is Olivia's realization of her powers which felt completely underdeveloped.

I still enjoyed the book overall and am excited to read more of Schwab's works, but the ending has definitely knocked my rating a bit .

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justmys's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

An brilliant book that would be perfect reading on a stormy winter's night.
Beautifully paced with intriguing characters and a bone chilling ghost story woven throughout. It's not a hopeful read, but it's a gift of a story.

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rinku's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This review for Gallant is probably the shortest review I’ve ever written for a novel lmao. I liked it, hence the three stars, but there was not much more to it.

Olivia lives in an orphanage until one day, a strange letter arrives that she’s invited to Gallant. Arriving there, she soon realizes that something paranormal is happening her and that it’s connected to her mother. The story has some nice creepy vibes, especially with the ghouls. I also liked the mystery around the diary, even though it was a bit confusing. Furthermore, it was nice that we get a deaf rep with Olivia. Her backstory was a bit cliché though, especially the bullying part. I also liked Matthew;

his death was quite sad

. Besides this, the plot is sadly quite predictable. I’m also surprised that we get blood magic again because it was already there in the Shades of Magic series. At least the ending was nice with

the ghouls helping Olivia and how Olivia re-writes the diary, that was so wholesome

If you like Schwab’s writing, this book is probably for you. Otherwise, it unfortunately has not too much to offer besides creepy vibes.

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lisa_m's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

2.75

I liked a lot of things about this book but I feel like there isn't a lot of story to it, mostly just vibes and backstory.

I really liked reading about a mute main character and about how she is communicating with other people.
I liked Olivia as a character and her thoughts and storys where really interesting to read about.

But I constantly felt like I was stuck in the build-up phase of the book. The book is quite short and that also means that the main story is underdeveloped. All the characters besides Olivia are not really flushed out that well and even the main story of the wall and the not-Gallant felt under explained.

The ending was the biggest let-down for me.

It is not really an ending but just exactly the same as where we started. The big conflict of the book is not solved. The emotional conflict of her wanting a family does not have a conclusion either because the other characters don't have real personalities. It's just "you choose your family" but it glosses over the fact that she not only looses the last living family she has, the last piece connecting her to her mother (the diary) and does not get many real answers about her father & mother either.

Realistically she just took over Matthews place and is now probably going to die soon. What also bothered me was that the main "adventure" / rescue Mission was completely useless. Honestly the Priors would have been so much better off if Olivia hadn't come. Matthew would still be alive, the Master would be Locked away and nobody would have hope that then gets shattered. They truly do not gain anything from her being there which is sad when you think about it.

It was really beautifully written though. I enjoyed the spooky vibes and what we got from the worldbuilding was interesting too.
I just don't like how the story went and it feels unfinished.

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biobeetle's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious 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? No

4.0

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ju_harue's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

Acho que a escrita e ambientação dessa história são o ponto alto da história, que tornou tudo bem imersiva (especialmente na época que li, de Halloween). Ela é lírica e mais parada, mas isso não torna-a cansativa, pelo contrário, é mais degustativa.
A minha questão foi o final, que achei um tanto redundante, corrido... mas a trama, o jeito como lida com assuntos como morte, abandono, de um jeito que equilibra o real com a fantasia, achei interessante, condizente com a abordagem tradicional da autora.

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