Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Gallant by V.E. Schwab

51 reviews

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

A hauntingly beautiful story of redemption, belonging, and the love of family. This book was very different from Addie Larue, but the storytelling is just as rich and luxurious and the images painted by the author come to life as you read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and War

skylar_cr_wolf's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, and Blood

Minor: Child death, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

catesaav's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Body horror, Mental illness, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicide

marareading's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.75

Alright, I get it. I finally understand why everyone was falling over themselves to get to this book. It's great. An orphan who sees ghouls, and finds her way to Gallant. An estate with a sorted history. She is mute and the adventure that is coming, so one could prepare her for. 

It is beautiful, Gothic, mysterious, and atmospheric. I devoured this book and will probably do it again. Highly recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

haylzno's review against another edition

challenging mysterious 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

4.5

I rather enjoyed this story! I thought the characters were well written and I loved the found family (literally). 

I found the pacing to be perfect and the magic/fantastical elements to be very entertaining! 

I started out listening to the audiobook and then switched to the ebook and as much as I enjoyed the narration, I would recommend reading this as an ebook/physical book as there are illustrations that I think add a lot to the story. 

There are areas of the story that I wish we got a little more information on, but that's really my only complaint. I binged this story so fast I almost wish I would have slowed down a bit so I could have spent a little more time in that world! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Child abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, and Death of parent

tilde_c_s's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Suicide, and Abandonment

Minor: Child death and Blood

elsea_readingelsea's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

katiieecat's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book would make a FANTASTIC movie!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Mental illness, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

edilyaaang's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

The story may be confusing at first but it kept me on the edge of my seat. The only downside is that I found the plot predictable

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Mental illness and Blood

hellaedra's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Self harm, and Murder

Moderate: Mental illness and Suicide