Gallant by V. E. Schwab

Blub

Sixteen-year-old Olivia Prior is missing three things: a mother, a father, and a voice. Her mother vanished all at once, and her father by degrees, and her voice was a thing she never had to start with. 

She grew up at Merilance School for Girls. Now, nearing the end of her time there, Olivia receives a letter from an uncle she’s never met, her father’s older brother, summoning her to his estate, a place called Gallant. But when she arrives, she discovers that the letter she received was several years old. Her uncle is dead. The estate is empty, save for the servants. Olivia is permitted to remain, but must follow two rules: don’t go out after dusk, and always stay on the right side of a wall that runs along the estate’s western edge. 

Beyond it is another realm, ancient and magical, which calls to Olivia through her blood…

Review

This book was purchased because of all the hype I saw on Bookstagram about it and I couldn’t resist any longer. I was intrigued by the blurb of this book and was looking forward to reading it. 

I loved the beginning of this book and it hooked me in straight away. Olivia Prior is such an intriguing character and one I wanted to know more about especially her parents. Olivia has not had an easy life she has never known her father and can’t remember her mother. Olivia has spent her life at Merilance School for Girls and it has not been easy but she is a survivor and she has found ways to make life a little more comfortable for herself. 

Then Olivia has an opportunity to escape the school and hopefully find her family. Gallant is a mysterious place but Olivia’s family home and one she would like to stay in. Within Gallant there lives Olivia’s cousin, and two servants who are also more like family. 

I loved the character of Olivia, she is resourceful, brave, stubborn and has a never-ending thirst for knowledge. In fact it was only because of Olivia that I stuck with this book because quite frankly once Olivia got to Gallant the story got very boring and seemed never-ending. Nothing really happened which is such a shame as Olivia is such an excellent character and the descriptions in the book were beautiful, especially the description of Gallant. It was because of this that I decided to give the book 3 out of 5 Dragons instead of a lower rating. 

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About the author

Victoria Elizabeth Schwab (1987) is an American writer. She publishes children’s, young adults and adult fiction books. 

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