Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Gallant by V.E. Schwab

78 reviews

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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singalana's review against another edition

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

2.75

I accidentally picked two very similar books to read at the same time: this and the audiobook In the Shadow of Spindrift House by Mira Grant. Both have young protagonists trying to figure out the mystery of a weird house. The main character of this story is a girl called Olivia - a girl with no voice. At the beginning of the story she lives in an orphanage, and the only thing she has from her family is her mother’s journal. She receives a letter from her uncle, inviting her to return to their family home - a house called Gallant. When Olivia arrives at the house, she realises there is much she doesn’t know about her family and the house.

The book has an interesting layout: spread throughout the book are illustrations and pages from her mother's journal. And the cover design and the end sheets are absolutely gorgeous. The content, however… I don’t know whether I was somehow distracted or if the writing style was not for me, but I noticed that I had to constantly reread pages and parts of the text because I realised my mind had just drifted and I hadn’t internalized anything I had read.

The reading experience felt heavy, I didn’t much care for the main character and the plot raised a lot of questions. 

I didn’t feel too connected to the characters, and somehow the mystery of the house was not explored enough for my taste. I didn’t understand the logic behind the plot: why were the Priors so determined to guard the secret? Why was the big bad dying? What would have happened if all of the Priors were to disappear? And my biggest pet peeve of them all: the main character falls into a trap that causes the death of another character. I don’t like this trope at all.
 
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alibrarymouse's review against another edition

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

2.0

Beautifully written with gorgeous aesthetics, but the characters weren’t much and I have to admit I wasn’t too fond of any of them. We weren’t really given too much to be fond of, and with Olivia there was a lot of potential that doesn’t get fully realized. Everything I wanted, I didn’t get, but maybe my expectations were too high? 

It’s modern gothic, catharsis in its own way, but—at the same time—fantasy offers a twist I think would have made for a better ending. Schwab has realism going for her at least. 
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naomidanae's review against another edition

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

3.5

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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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archer_w27's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

i'm honestly not sure what i was expecting from this book, as i have never read v.e. schwab's work, but it was really good. the writing was really nice and easy to read. When going into this book i would be careful, spirits and death is the whole plot of the book. if you are someone that gets easily paranoid i would suggest reading this during the day or when you are around people. it's not scary, but as someone who gets easily paranoid, the mentions of ghosts and death himself spooked me a little. i would definitely recommend!
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patchy_at_best's review against another edition

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adventurous dark sad 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

3.0

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diana_raquel'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? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

"Home is a choice."

Talk about impulse buying! I was browsing the shelves of a bookshop when I noticed this book! I have read other books by V.E. Schwab but didn't know what to expect from this book. But it was a pleasant surprise, mainly because I actually liked a story with horror elements. Usually, horror isn't something that I tend to gravitate toward, but I really liked this book. Maybe because the horror elements are mixed with other elements that I like, such as mystery elements and a darker tone.  The characters are well-developed and well-written. The story has good pacing and is well structured. I also liked the fact that the illustrations themselves are also part of the story and not only accessories, a means to show the scenes. To tell the truth, I think that  V.E. Schwab was the potential to become a must-read author to me since I really liked every book that I read by her. 
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japanasi's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

the first half was super slow, there’s a bunch of flashbacks, and then the ending was super rushed. the story was intriguing, the setting eerie but not too scary! the drawings and diary entries added a nice extra touch. I liked the writing for the most part, too; but I wish the characters had been fleshed out more. 

still this was a good read and if the ending hadn’t been as abrupt, I’d have given it an even better rating.
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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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