Pitched as being for fans of Neil Gaiman, The Secret Garden, and Holly Black in the marketing, I thought I knew what I was getting into with Gallant: a creepy house hiding a magical secret, an eccentric and tangled family, and horror-adjacent fantasy with a dreamlike quality.

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.īeyond it is another realm, ancient and magical, which calls to Olivia through her blood… The estate is empty, save for the servants. But when she arrives, she discovers that the letter she received was several years old. 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. She grew up at Merilance School for Girls. Her mother vanished all at once, and her father by degrees, and her voice was a thing she never had to start with.

Sixteen-year-old Olivia Prior is missing three things: a mother, a father, and a voice. All opinions my own.Ĭontent warnings: Death, haunting, and afterlife all prominent themes child neglect death of parents, children and animals minor injury suicide ableism.

Ownership: Proof copy sent free of charge by Titan Books. VE Schwab’s latest release is a haunting YA Gothic horror standalone that most fans will likely adore, but which missed the mark for me…

Gallant book ve schwab