Gallant

Product Information

Perhaps it is the word— home—or the knowledge that someone is waiting for her there, the idea that she is wanted. Free-a small word for such a magnificent thing. I don't know what it feels like, but I want to find out.”

She (plus her ghost best friend, Jacob, of course) is in Paris, where Cass’s parents are filming their TV show about the world’s most haunted cities. Sure, it’s fun eating croissants and seeing the Eiffel Tower, but there’s true ghostly danger lurking beneathParis, in the creepy underground Catacombs. You’ve spoken about the long journey to bring Gallant to life and about how Olivia was always going to be non verbal, so what came first? Building the story around Olivia or crafting Olivia to fit into the world you wanted to tell this story in? Would I say read Gallant? Absolutely if you’re a Schwab fan, but I probably won’t have to tell my fellow Schwablins that. If you like old gothic mansions, ghosts & the paranormal and a quieter, creeping kind of magic, then you may enjoy this as well. But I’m still on the hunt for that incredible fantasy novel of 2022, and though I had hoped this would be that book—I’m going to have to keep looking. We’re thrilled to share an excerpt from Gallant by V.E. Schwab, out from Greenwillow Books on March 1.At first glance, Aria seems like your average twelve-year-old girl. But there’s much more to her than meets the eye. Aria is a guardian angel, sent here to earn her wings. But to do that she’ll have to help three different girls. . . . I wanted to feel connected to the characters, be immersed in their storylines, but I just felt a whole load of nothing towards them. I was so unaffected. At one point, I almost feel asleep while reading the book.

This book is very creepy, bit by bit things are revealed to Olivia and she unearths secret after secret. It is gothic, atmospheric, and contains a strong female lead sure to appeal to a teen audience, although adults should like the book as well. This book reminds me of a Guillermo del Toro movie--it has the right amount of mystery and the aforementioned gothic atmosphere, yet it's still quite approachable and easy to understand. I recently read another gothic-style horror novel (written for adults mind you)-- Sorrowland--and while that book was very impactful it was a difficult read that took a great deal of work for me to understand.This may be personal preference, but nothing was creepy enough. Gallant was basically a regular house. The staff weren’t suspicious at all. Not even Matthew felt threatening, and he was supposed to be. Even the literal embodiment of Death didn’t feel creepy. What does this book want to be? A Gothic thriller? Because I’m not feeling that. It had the elements of classic Gothic-style fiction (my love!): a haunted house, a precocious child, mysterious paranormal activity, a dead parent’s journal… But they didn’t fit together somehow. The atmosphere was almost there, but I didn’t feel invested in any part of the book. The house wasn’t foreboding enough. The hints weren’t strong enough to actually form some meaningful connection by the end. The final confrontation was very underwhelming. I kept waiting for everything to come together, but the stakes felt incredibly low.

Magneto and Professor X. Superman and Lex Luthor. Sydney and Serena Clarke. Victor Vale and Eli Ever. There was no plot whatsoever (until like over halfway), but in general I don't even care 99% if there isn't one as long as I'm invested in the characters. Which wasn't the case at all here. Goodreads Choice - Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction". Goodreads . Retrieved December 9, 2022.

The matrons stand on the steps like sentinels. The other girls do not come to see her off, but the doors are open, and she catches the silver whip of Anabelle’s braid glinting in the hall. One eye floats above a narrow chin, the features broken up by sunlight. It looks almost sad to see her go. Outside, the sun breaks through, and she looks up to find fields unraveling to either side, heather, wheat, and tallgrass blowing softly in the breeze. She wants to climb out, to abandon the car, sprawl among the waving blades and spread her arms the way the girls did when it snowed last year, even though it was only an inch of white and they could feel the gravel every time they moved. Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they’ll never see. It’s a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand. Given that up till this day, it took me ages to finish The Invisible Life of Addie Larue for how boring and repetitive it is, it’s a surprise that I find myself enjoying this one!