Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Gallant by V.E. Schwab

127 reviews

hestia_28's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Blood, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal death, Bullying, and Abandonment

amandasky21's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

This novel is incredibly atmospheric  and detailed, so much so that it does create a movie in your head. However, because of how detailed visually the book seemed to be written as, I felt as though the character development with the main character, Olivia, fell flat. The pacing took too long in getting her accustomed to Gallant, that by the third act I was already bored, even with her meeting

Death

. Even with the found family trope of the book, it felt cliche and forced. I felt as though the author could have done more with her bonding with her found family, and maybe create a balance in her finding out about her parents and appreciating her found family. I genuinely think that this would make a great movie, but as a novel, it did fall flat. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Death, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Minor: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Gore, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

karydiazc's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

What was that ending?
I have to admit I was expecting more...

I mean, it was a fitting ending to the story, but at the same time I felt it rushed. 
And my question is... What is going to happen to Gallant once Olivia is not there anymore? What if she decides to have children? 

I liked Olivia as a character, she was interesting to read, how she could picture and feel the world around her. She felt real, a curious girl who has always wanted something and is finally getting it, although not as she expected. 
Matthew was very human. He was afraid and tired of everything.  You can definitely see how that shaped his actions throughout the book. 
Edgar and Hannah were mostly side characters, and didn't have much relevance to the actual plot, but I liked them. 

This book was dark and I was expecting some closure at the end, however, as I mention at the beginning, the ending was fitting for the type of story and the information given to Olivia. We as readers know the same about Gallant as she does. Therefore making her actions understandable and not childish or rash, since Olivia was filled with curiosity for a world she did not know anything about. 

I would have liked to rate the book higher, but I was expecting a bit more of action at the end and I would have liked more information about her parents. Still, in real life we don't always get the answers we seek. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Mental illness, Blood, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

kmoz's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

5.0

A simple yet hauntingly beautiful story

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Animal death and Abandonment

bessadams's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Death, Blood, and Death of parent

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, and Suicide

Minor: Animal death

thesuperawesomesarah's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Bullying and Child abuse

themichellegray's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-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? It's complicated

3.75

A dark, mysterious story told with stunning atmospheric writing! While I enjoyed my time reading this book, I was left wishing there was a bit more explanation behind Gallant's secrets.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Child death, Blood, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Suicide and Grief

Minor: Animal death

_pauline's review against another edition

dark

1.25

I felt like nothing happened, which tbf objectively isn’t true

however, if you love horror just for the vibes, maybe you’ll like it; I realised I prefer mysteries & thrillers. Gallant includes a lot of stuff like this:

Behind her eyes, she sees the corpses of small creatures rising at her touch, feels herself dragged into the darkness by dead hands, watches two dozen dancers turn to ash, bits of bone rattling on the ballroom floor as they skitter back to their master.

just not my genre I guess 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Mental illness, and Blood

Minor: Suicide

_marycappiello3's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

angeldevoursliterature's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad 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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence and Pregnancy

Minor: Suicide and Medical content